Stephen Rockwell's blog

Originally posted on Civic Direct: http://bit.ly/5ljRvl

Protests heated up again in Iran over the last few days, and the American media finally started to pay attention to the news last night. This latest round of protests started as a leading opposition cleric died and protesters used the mourning period as time to re-state the case for democracy and fair elections in Iran. While other Western and Middle Eastern news outlets such as the BBC were reporting protests as they started, the American media has been slow to pick up on this significant news item.

Washington DC May 16, 2009 Among the most prominent opponents of President Obama's commencement speech at Notre Dame is Bishop Robert Finn of Kansas City- St. Joseph who in a recent incendiary speech described Catholicism as "the Church militant" and told his audience, "We are at war."

In the course of his speech Bishop Finnhe named as "enemies" in this war, not only those who disagree strongly with the Church on various matters, but those who believe in religious tolerance and who reach out in respectful difference in search of "common ground."

Bishop Finn went on to describe dissenters as "dangerous." He also denounced people "in our own ranks... who claim a certain 'common ground' with us, while at the same time they attack the most fundamental tenets of the Church's teachings...". And who are these dangerous enemies of the Church? Finn singles out Rev. John I. Jenkins, president of the University of Notre Dame for having invited President Barack Obama to speak. The principle problem is that the president is prochoice. Finn also gratuitiously notes that the president,"is, of course, not Catholic."
'"The more dangerous 'human enemies' in our battle" declared Finn, "are those who in this age of pluralism and political propriety seek ways to convince us of their sincerity and good will."

Zimbabwe is gradually, precariously, beginning to stabilize. The cholera epidemic is slowing and teachers have ended a year long strike, reopening schools across the country. But the country still hangs by a thread. The improvements are fragile, and Zimbabwe needs strong support from the African Union (AU) to keep things moving forward.

In a few weeks, we’ll deliver our petition with signatures from more than 86,000 ONE members calling on the AU to support the new Zimbabwean government. Before we do, will you help us reach the goal of 100,000 signatures on this petition by adding your name

http://www.one.org/zimbabweandtheau/o.pl?id=859-3689617-k3GFKXx&t=2

The petition reads:

Please ensure that the African Union executes its role as guarantor of the new Zimbabwe unity government.
This petition won’t be the end of the line for our work on Zimbabwe, there will be much more to do, but it is a critical first step. Zimbabwe is on the verge of being able to function again and with strong AU support, there is a chance that things could get back on track for people who have been through extraordinarily tough times.

Thank you for making a difference,

David Lane, ONE.org

http://www.instituteforprogressivechristianity.org/?q=node/92800

Washington DC March 9, 2009 The Institute for Progressive Christianity ("IPC') applauds President Obama's long-awaited Executive Order lifting the Bush administration's restrictions on the federal funding of embryonic stem cell research.

According to The National Institutes of Health, embryonic stem cells "are derived are typically four or five days old and are a hollow microscopic ball of cells called the blastocyst." They are pluripotent, meaning that they "can become all cell types of the body."

On August 9, 2001 former President Bush restricted the federal funding of the research to stem cell lines available on that day and before. The administration claimed that sixty such lines were available for research when in fact twenty-two could be utilized.

IPC Director Frank L. Cocozzelli commented, "Today reason has prevailed over fear. The President has stepped up to the plate and hit one out of the park. He brushed aside the neoconservative-led Religious Right's often misleading arguments in opposition.

Cocozzelli, a Catholic who has LMG muscular dystrophy, and co-author of the IPC White Paper, An Unholy Alliance: How Neoconservatives and the Religious Right Have Joined Forces to Fight Stem Cell Research further elaborated:

TORTURE IS A MORAL ISSUE

Dear Friends:

Please join NRCAT in encouraging the Obama Administration to fulfill its pledge to move toward greater transparency and accountability.

An important legal case being argued in a United States Court of Appeals concerns allegations of torture by five victims of the Bush Administration's extraordinary rendition program. Unfortunately, last week, the Department of Justice affirmed the "state secrets" argument used by the previous Administration to bar crucial evidence from the courtroom.

You can read more about the case in this Andrew Sullivan piece and this commentary by legal scholar Scott Horton, who will be a panelist at a NRCAT event on March 14 in Arlington, VA.

A major focus of our work this coming year will be securing an independent Commission of Inquiry to uncover all the facts surrounding the use of torture by the United States. The success of such an investigation will rest on the willingness of our government to quit hiding evidence of abusive practices behind a cloak of secrecy.

Please join NRCAT in expressing our concerns by contacting President Obama and Attorney General Holder.

Please click here to access a form e-mail that you can use.

Thank you for your help!

Sincerely,

Linda Gustitus, President, NRCAT
Rev. Richard Killmer, Executive Director, NRCAT

Find the white paper here: http://www.instituteforprogressivechristianity.org/?q=node/65337
Press Release Forthcoming.

Preview of White Paper:Reclaiming Capitalism Through Principles of Distributive Justice

By Frank L. Cocozzelli, IPC Associate Director

The Issue

Is it possible to support a market-based economic model while being a progressive Christian? The answer is yes, because economics is as moral or immoral as anything else.

Addressing matters of morality and the marketplace is a rich tradition that stands at the center of how Americans have resolved -- and sought to prevent -- the problems wrought by reckless profit-driven factions. Indeed, significant portions of New Deal economics coming out of the Great Depression were influenced by the then-ascendant Social Gospel of mainline Protestantism; Catholic notions of Distributive Justice; and religious Jewish intellectuals inspired by the tradition of tikkun olam –making the world whole.

It is important for religious progressives therefore, to reconnect with our tradition and accomplishments in the arena of economic justice: in order to rebut the neoconservative argument that economics is inherently amoral, and to contend with the economic challenges of our time, that are in many ways analogous to those of the 1930s.

Originally posted at: http://www.managementconsultingservices.org/node/167

"Most prefer the security of known misery to the misery of unfamiliar security." Sheldon Kopp

There is no doubt that a great wave of fear has fallen over the nonprofit sector and indeed the nation. The constant barrage of bad news, while tempered by the jubilation surrounding the historic inauguration in Washington, affects our psyches as we approach each day a bit more unsure than the previous. Einstein said that problems can not be solved at the level of analysis that created them and yet we try. We are attempting to solve problems in which the allusive answers seem to create their own host of other problems. Downsizing may temporarily help our organization, but how then will we continue to provide essential services? We attempt to expand our individual donor base, but if all nonprofits make the same attempt how effective will we be? The conversation about the generational shift in leadership change has shifted to a fear that the sector will lose its young and
entrepreneurial talent to layoffs. In most cases there are no good answers, only better solutions.

Hi All,

Just a reminder...if you were looking for a last minute gift for someone, why not give the gift of Progressive Christianity. I serve as a board member and occasional writer for the The Progressive Christian. I would really encourage people to get a subscription for yourself, your minister, a family member or friend.