The Rev. Chuck Currie

Statement On The Death Of The Rev. Bob Edgar

I am terribly shocked and saddened to learn of the sudden passing of The Rev. Bob Edgar, president of Common Cause and former General Secretary of the National Council of Churches.  Bob was a personal friend of many years.  In his different roles - minister, U.S. Congressman, advocate - he stood up for the voiceless and spoke truth to power.  My prayers are with his family today as I give thanks to God for the life of Bob Edgar and for all the gifts of his ministry.

Pastors Day at the Capitol: Tea Party Jesus Visits To Fight For "Religious Freedom"

The Oregon Family Council (OFC) called my office this morning to see if I’d be joining their "Pastors Day at the Capitol." This is where they bring “Tea Party Jesus” to the politicians.

On Facebook, the OFC has stated that the “Oregon Family Council serves over 2,000 Churches and over 40,000 families from across the state who come from a broad spectrum of denominational backgrounds within the Christian community” and that as a 501 ( c ) non profit they “are not affiliated with any political party. Party platforms or points of view play no role whatsoever in our evaluation and recommendations on ballot measures.”

What they fail to mention is they also operate a political action committee that gives 100% of their money to GOP candidates.

What ballot measures have they endorsed in the past? Those that benefit the wealthiest Oregonians at the expense of those Jesus would have called the “least of these.”

Their stances have been opposed by Ecumenical Ministries of Oregon, our state’s association of churches and other faith leaders who view public policy through Christian theology and not just a political agenda.

Let’s be clear: this isn’t a Christian organization but rather a political machine to support GOP candidates and causes.

At their "Pastors Day at the Capitol," the OFC claims to be coming to protect religious freedoms under attack:

Our religious freedoms are under direct assault on many fronts today. This year’s event is a must for every pastor and church leader from around the state. Local and national experts on religious liberty will be in attendance to address where we stand in regards to our religious freedoms and how we can preserve these freedoms for future generations.

The most hotly debated issue concerning "religious freedom" has centered around President Obama's health care law - passed with the strong support of the National Council of Churches - and the argument that it infringes on religious liberty has been rejected by nearly all.

Sally Steenland, Director of the Faith and Progressive Policy Initiative at the Center for American Progress, notes this is part of a national movement that has nothing to do with religious freedom:

…conservatives are setting up religious-liberty caucuses in states across the country. One of the goals of this effort is to pass laws with broad exemptions allowing those who oppose reproductive rights, same-sex marriage, adoption by same-sex couples, and other measures of gay and transgender equality the ability to opt out of antidiscrimination laws and policies without being sued. This is not a new political strategy. It turns out we’ve been down this road before. In fact it is a road that has deep and all-too-familiar ruts from similar fights decades ago.

During the civil rights battle in the 1960s, for example, segregationists used religious justifications to oppose interracial marriage and integration. God created the races to be separate, they argued, which was why he put them on separate continents. To support any kind of race mixing—whether in stores, restaurants, movie theaters, schools, churches, or businesses—was a sin. Civil rights opponents denied they were bigoted. On the contrary, they were simply following biblical teachings and obeying God’s will. Forcing them to abide by civil rights laws would be a grave violation of their conscience and an assault on their religious liberty.

Fortunately, segregationists did not get the religious exemptions they desired.

It is important that people of faith stand up to political groups like the Oregon Family Council and their agenda that in the name of Jesus seeks to shift ever further economic policies so that the rich get richer while the poor get poorer, while at the same time they advance proposals to discriminate against people all in the name of religious freedom.

I told the caller I won’t be attending the Oregon Family Council’s "Pastors Day at the Capitol." Instead, I’ll be joining with people of faith to oppose their plans.

People Of Faith #DemandAVote For Gun Violence Prevention #NowIsTheTime

Yesterday supporters of President Obama's gun violence prevention measures - including people of faith - rallied across America to demand that Congress vote on the proposals.  I spoke at the Portland press event. Over 70% of NRA members support President Obama's call for universal background checks.  This isn't a fight between the White House and gun owners but a fight between Americans and a radicalized NRA leadership that has lost touch with their membership. A few of those out-of-the mainstream voices tried to shout down speakers yesterday - one of them yelling a racial slur - but the vast majority of Americans reject such views and believe that in a democracy it isn't the loudest voice but the strongest ideal that should win the day. 

Statment in Support Of Universial Background Checks Delivered

by Rev. Chuck Currie at Portland's Pioneer Courthouse Square.

Feb 22, 2013

Last month I joined President Obama and Vice-President Biden at the National Prayer Service in Washington, DC as part of the Inaugural celebration. There we prayed for an end to violence in America. Certain issues sometimes divide people of faith but there is strong agreement from the National Council of Churches, representing Protestant and Orthodox Christians, and the U.S. Conference of Roman Catholic Bishops - along with the larger interfaith community – that we must support common sense proposals to reduce gun violence in America. Our schools, houses of worship and movie theaters are places we should expect to be safe. In these places we worship, we learn and we are entertained. But in recent years all these places -- along with shopping malls and restaurants and public parks -- have in moments of terror become killing fields as people with often great mental instability who have access to weapons meant for battlefields open fire on innocent crowds causing mass deaths. President Obama has proposed several important measures, including universal background checks for those purchasing guns, which would make America safer. People of faith support efforts to reduce gun violence. NRA members, many of who are people of faith, support universal background checks. I call on all members of Oregon’s Congressional delegation – both Democrats and Republicans – to put the common good of our nation and the safety of our children before the out-of the-mainstream demands of a radicalized NRA leadership that is out-of-touch with their membership.

(Download PDF of statement)

Organizing For Action call on Congress to support plan to close background check loopholes. twitter.com/MikeTurnerKXL/…

— Mike Turner (@MikeTurnerKXL) February 22, 2013

Repairing the Breach in the Union

My latest in The Huffington Post:

"The faith community has an important role to play in advancing an agenda that addresses the important moral issues faced by our nation. We have a big job ahead of us but there is hope."

Repairing the Breach in the Union: A Respone to the President's Address 

 

Response to Multnomah County Sheriff Dan Staton On Gun Violence Prevention #orpol

I am deeply concerned that Multnomah County Sheriff Dan Staton  and other law enforcement officers are informing the public they will not enforce laws meant to reduce gun violence enacted by Congress or executive order of the president.  Most concerning is that some local sheriffs have promised to prevent federal officials from enforcing laws in their respective counties.  In a democracy our government has a system of checks and balances.  No where does the constitution provide Sheriff Staton authority to determine the constitutionality of a law.

The Multnomah County Board of County Commissioners should immediately pass a resolution that cuts off funding for Sheriff Staton's salary if he refuses to do his sworn duty and uphold the Constitution.  Oregon Attorney General Ellen Rosenblum should also investigate whether or not carrying out these threats is a breach of law. These threats certainly undermine our democracy.      

President Obama's common sense proposals to reduce gun violence are supported by the National Council of Churches and other faith bodies, along with many law enforcement officials who respect the rule of law and want to keep police officers safe from well armed and dangerous criminals.  Our schools, malls and houses of worship should be safe from violence, and Sheriff Staton should run for or seek appointment to a judgeship if he wants to interpret the law (though without a law degree he does not have the most basic qualification for such a position).

Rev. Chuck Currie

"The Rev. Chuck Currie Fund"

Every once and awhile folks from outside my churches ask how they can support progressive Christianity. We've set up The Rev. Chuck Currie Fund just for that purpose. Donations will be split 50/50 between my two congregations - Sunnyside Church and University Park Church, two progressive Christian churches working to build up the Beloved Community. Donate online today. Your donations will allow us to expand our ministries and support my work with other Christian leaders across the country to promote a Social Gospel for the 21st Century. We worship each Sunday at 9:30 am at University Park Church and at 11am at Sunnyside Church. All are welcome. We'll be hosting Christmas Eve in Portland - a joint service with both congregations - in Sunnyside Church's historic Sanctuary at 6:30pm on December 24th and hope you can join us if you live in the Portland-Metro area.

- Posted using BlogPress from my iPad

Churches Must Help Nation From Falling Off The Cliff

My latest op-ed today in The Huffington Post:

Falling off the cliff would mean that we would not only stop progress toward faithful goals but that we would fall further behind as the nation returns to recession and economic turmoil.

Churches Must Help Nation From Falling Off The Cliff

Christian Principles in an Election Year

Are there principles that Christians can agree on when determing which candidates to vote for this fall?  The National Council of Churches put forth a set during a previous election cycle that still hold true:

Our Christian faith compels us to address the world through the lens of our relationship to God and to one another. Public discourse is enhanced as we engage civic leaders on the values and ethics affirmed by our faith. At the same time, religious liberty and the integrity of our democracy will be protected as candidates refrain from using faith-based organizations and institutions for partisan gain. We offer these ten principles to those seeking to accept the responsibility that comes with holding public office.

1. War is contrary to the will of God. While the use of violent force may, at times, be a necessity of last resort, Christ pronounces his blessing on the peacemakers. We look for political leaders who will make peace with justice a top priority and who will actively seek nonviolent solutions to conflict.

2. God calls us to live in communities shaped by peace and cooperation. We reject policies that abandon large segments of our inner city and rural populations to hopelessness. We look for political leaders who will re-build our communities and bring an end to the cycles of violence and killing.

3. God created us for each other, and thus our security depends on the well-being of our global neighbors. We look for political leaders for whom a foreign policy based on cooperation and global justice is an urgent concern.

4. God calls us to be advocates for those who are most vulnerable in our society. We look for political leaders who yearn for economic justice and who will seek to reduce the growing disparity between rich and poor.

5. Each human being is created in the image of God and is of infinite worth. We look for political leaders who actively promote racial justice and equal opportunity for everyone.

6. The earth belongs to God and is intrinsically good. We look for political leaders who recognize the earth's goodness, champion environmental justice, and uphold our responsibility to be stewards of God’s creation.

7. Christians have a biblical mandate to welcome strangers. We look for political leaders who will pursue fair immigration policies and speak out against xenophobia.

8. Those who follow Christ are called to heal the sick. We look for political leaders who will support adequate, affordable and accessible health care for all.

9. Because of the transforming power of God’s grace, all humans are called to be in right relationship with each other. We look for political leaders who seek a restorative, not retributive, approach to the criminal justice system and the individuals within it.

10. Providing enriched learning environments for all of God’s children is a moral imperative. We look for political leaders who will advocate for equal educational opportunity and abundant funding for children’s services.

Finally, our religious tradition admonishes us not to bear false witness against our neighbor and to love our enemies. We ask that the campaigns of political candidates and the coverage of the media in this election season be conducted according to principles of fairness, honesty and integrity.

I've made clear my personal preference in some races - including the presidential contest.  In doing so, I've been clear that I believe there is no "ordained" candidate in the presidential contest or any other race and good people of faith can come to different conclusions as to how they will vote.

People of faith should reject voices like those of Roman Catholic Bishop Thomas John Paprocki - who like Jerry Falwell and Pat Robertson before him - has argued this year that you can only vote for one party and remain in good standing with God.  Bishop Paprocki has confused party platforms with the Gospel of Jesus.  That's bad theology and poor pastoral leadership. 

Romney Using Faith As Tool To Divide Americans

Mitt Romney's new false ad claiming that President Obama is waging a "war on religion" can only be called sad and pathetic.  President Obama is himself a faithful Christian who has worked across religious lines to promote the common good of our nation.  His health care reform plan has been supported by the National Council of Churches and many religious groups.  Governor Romney - who was pro-choice and pro-birth control until he decided to run for president - should be ashamed of the gutter politics his campaign is playing.  He is using religious faith as a tool to divide Americans.  Someone hoping to be president should have better judgement and ethics.

God, Guns and the Church: The Darkest Valley

The text of my sermon from this Sunday - a reflection on Psalm 23 and gun violence - is now live on The Huffington Post:

God, Guns and the Church: The Darkest Valley

God, Guns And The Church - The Darkest Valley from The Rev. Chuck Currie on Vimeo.

People Of Faith Will Rejoice Over #SCOTUS Ruling Upholding Health Care Reform

Many people of faith supported President Obama's health care reform plan and today rejoice in the Supreme Court ruling that largely upholds the Affordable Care Act.  30 million Americans will receive coverage under the president's plan.  Millions already have.  All this moves us closer to the Beloved Community.  President Obama and those leaders in Congress who voted for reform are to be applauded for their commitment to fixing a broken system that has long created a moral crisis in our nation.  The Supreme Court has surprised many with their ruling and they too must be applauded for a wise decision.  There is more to do, of course, to fix the health care system.  But President Obama has moved us further down the path toward universal health care than any other president since Teddy Roosevelt first made the effort.  This has long been a goal of the National Council of Churches and many Christian denominations, along with other interfaith leaders.  Today is a good day for our nation.   

Related: Faith Leaders Celebrate Supreme Court Ruling on Affordable Care Act: “God is smiling down on today’s decision”

Related: Reason rules for Court, but Christians need to continue to advocate for the poorest

People Of Faith Must Condemn Tucker Carlson Racist Gun Stunt

Does Tucker Carlson crave publicity so badly that he's willing to embrace a racist gun dealer or does he himself harbor hatred toward the president of the United States of America based on the color of his skin and wish him harm? It's a legitimate question as Carlson's website gives away guns from a known bigot.

The Coalition to Stop Gun Violence Reports:

Washington, DC—That Tucker Carlson and the Daily Caller would promote a man like firearms manufacturer Jim Pontillo to their readers is a testament to how far the American Conservative movement has moved to the right in the last several years. It is not just that Pontillo’s dislike of President Obama is tinged with not-so-subtle racism (“He will never be President of the United States; that job requires he represent all Americans, not just the angry black ones.”). Pontillo also believes that political violence has a legitimate place in American politics. He states that armed resistance to democratic government is “integral to the American DNA” and warns, "I can't imagine how much more insult the American people are willing to endure under the 'enterprises of ambition' by our politicians, but I do know, gun ownership and an understanding of our American Founders' vision will have positive and deliberate effect on the psyche of our populace and can subdue the overzealous and prejudicial effect of this ambition. When law is abused to achieve political ends where do the gallant citizens turn? Quite possibly to their guns." 

Such commentary would have been inappropriate and dangerous even before Gabby Giffords was shot in the head by Jared Loughner (“You don’t have to accept the federalist laws”). That the Daily Caller would associate itself with such rhetoric in the wake of Tucson is unfathomable. 

Tucker Carlson has already attempted to downplay the controversy, suggesting that the only relevant detail about Pontillo is the fact that he’s a licensed gun maker. But giving away a handgun with the Bill of Rights engraved on its side is an overtly political statement. It is therefore relevant and worth asking whether Carlson embraces Pontillo’s ideas about “Second Amendment remedies.” 

Finally, it is ironic that while Pontillo sees Liberals as a bunch of Socialists and Communists that are subverting all that is great about America, he seems to see no contradiction in his own effort to void sacrosanct democratic institutions like political equality and the rule of law.

Threats against President Obama and our democracy must be taken seriously.  There is room for debate in our nation - that is what elections are all about - but Carlson crosses a line here that must be condemned.

People of faith must demand an end to gun violence and a return to civility in public life.  

A Proposal: Creating a New Progressive Ecumenical Church Relationship

I simply do not believe that at this point in time the distinctiveness of our different churches is more important than the values and common understandings of Scripture that unite us.

My latest on The Huffington Post.

2012 Portland CROP Hunger Walk Set For Sunday, April 29th

I'm looking forward to particpating this year in the Portland CROP Hunger Walk benefiting the important programs of Church World Service and Ecumenical Ministries of Oregon - and I hope you'll join me.

The 2012 Portland CROP Hunger Walk will start and finish on SW Park Ave. and SW Market St., in front of Portland State University. The course is 2.7 miles and will take walkers along the picturesque waterfront and park blocks. Please use public transportation or car pool to site as there is very limited parking. This is an interfaith event and all are welcome. 

Seventy-five percent of the funds raised will go to Church World Service's international relief and development programs. Fifteen percent will go to Ecumenical Ministries of Oregon's Northeast Emergency Food Program at Luther Memorial and ten percent to Oregon Food Bank-West.

Church World Service works with partners to eradicate hunger and poverty and to promote peace and justice around the world. For example, American Jewish Joint Distribution Committee, Islamic Society of North America (social policy partner), and Unitarian Universalist Service Committee. Together we reach out to neighbors in need near and far--not with a hand out, but a hand up. So, if you’re looking to help build a better world—a world where there’s enough for all—you’ve come to the right place!

Around the world, Church World Service supports sustainable grassroots development, disaster relief, and refugee assistance, and we educate and advocate on hunger-related issues. In the U.S., we help communities respond to disasters, resettle refugees, promote fair national and international policies, and provide educational resources. 

Contact Ron MacKenzie, Coordinator, at ron.w.mackenzie@gmail.com for more information. Please "like" the Portland CROP Hunger Walk Facebook Fan Page to keep posted regarding important dates leading up to the event and to network with participants.

For additional information visit the Portland CROP Hunger Walk homepage where you can sign-up to participate or donate directly.

Iraq: America's "Dumb" War Comes To An End

A Promise Kept

President Obama officially ended the war in Iraq today.  Final combat troops will return by the end of the month.  This is a war that never should have been fought.  President Bush lied to the American people and said Iraq had weapons of mass destruction and were part of the 9/11 plot.  Neither claim was true.  

The National Council of Churches and nearly every other Christian body in the United States and across the globe opposed the Bush's administrations rush to war.  But Democratic presidential candidates gearing up for the 2004 and 2008 presidential races - including John Kerry, John Edwards and Hillary Clinton - backed President Bush and the result was nine years of war - nearly 5,000 Americans killed, many more wounded, and tens of thousands of Iraqis killed and wounded.

Barack Obama, however, opposed the war from the start and promised to end it if elected.  He has kept that promise.  I supported Barack Obama in 2007 in large part because of his moral clarity on this important issue that has defined the last decade.

Today President Obama wrote:

Part of ending a war responsibly is standing by those who have fought it. It's not enough to honor our heroes with words; we must do so with deeds. 
 
That's why we've worked to send 600,000 veterans and family members back to school on the Post-9/11 GI Bill. That's why one of Michelle's top priorities as First Lady has been to support military families and why she's worked with the private sector to get commitments to create 100,000 jobs for those who've served and their spouses. That's why we worked with Congress to pass a tax credit so that companies have an incentive to hire vets and have taken steps to help veterans translate military experience to the private sector job market.
 
In America, our commitment to those who fight for our freedom and our ideals doesn't end when our troops take off the uniform. 
 
You can be a part of this effort to honor our heroes. 
 
Help mark this moment. Write a quick note that troops and veterans all over the world will be able to see: 

http://www.whitehouse.gov/iraq

Please take this opportunity to thank our troops and we must all commitment to stronly supporting effortings undertaken by President Obama and Secretary Clinton to help re-build Iraq.  Our humanitarian responsibility is clear.  

With Thanks To Michael Kinnamon

The Rev. Dr. Michael Kinnamon has announced his resignation as general-secretary of the National Council of Churches due to health reasons.  Dr. Kinnamon was one of my professors at Eden Theological Seminary and I served as his teaching assistant.  There are few people I admire more.  As the general secretary of the NCC, he has worked with incredible energy to develop ecumenical partnerships and to find common ground among diverse groups of Christians.  His commitment to a Gospel-centered social gospel is unquestioned.  Many of us have been worried about Michael's health for some time but Michael being Michael he wanted to do all he could to promote the cause of Christian unity.  I pray for healing for Michael Kinnamon and give thanks for his leadership, the mentorship he has provided me over the years, and the friendship we share.    

Occupy America: A New Great Awakening @HuffPostRelig #OWS #occupyamerica @occupyoregon

For Christians, supporting the Occupy America protests should be clear-cut. The protesters are lifting up principles of compassion, justice and love. These principles are central to the Christian faith.

My latest op-ed on The Huffington Post.

"NCC releases four 'webisode' videos promoting quality education for children"

Reprinted from the National Council of Churches

New York, September 21, 2011 -- Equal and quality education for all children is the focus of four brief web videos released today by the National Council of Churches.

The videos are embedded with a study guide on the Council’s website at http://www.ncccusa.org/elmc/publiceducationwebisodes.html 

The four films, each six or seven minutes long, feature Dr. Diane Ravitch, education historian at New York University and author of the best selling book, The Death and Life of the Great American School District; and Dr. John Jackson, President and CEO of the Schott Foundation for Public Education. 

Jackson and Ravitch discuss foundational values that have historically defined society’s commitment to public education but which the Council believes have become controversial:

● Educational Opportunity for All 
● Public Schools and the Common Good 
● Public Schools, Part of the Community or Marketplace? 
● Supporting Our Teachers 

The films, created by the NCC’s Committee on Public Education and Literacy were designed to stimulate conversation about issues raised by the Governing Board of the National Council of Churches in a May 18, 2010 Pastoral Letter  that was sent to the President, Congress, and the Secretary of Education. 

In the letter, the Governing Board declared, “At a moment when childhood poverty is shamefully widespread, when many families are under constant stress, and when schools are often limited by lack of funds or resources, we know that public schools cannot be improved by concentrating on public schools alone… In this context we must address with prayerful determination the issues of race and class, which threaten both public education and democracy in America.” 

The Governing Board also questioned test-based accountability as the philosophy that dominates today’s media conversation around public education: “We worry that our society has come to view what is good as what can be measured and compared… As people of faith we do not view our children as products to be tested and managed but instead as unique human beings, created in the image of God, to be nurtured and educated.”

In the short clip that introduces each video, the Rev. Dr. Michael Kinnamon, NCC general secretary, endorses public school justice reform as a priority for the churches. 

“Each child has special, sacred gifts that need to be nurtured, and all children are special and precious in God’s eyes,” Kinnamon declares, “which means that a system in which some children have access to excellent instruction while others don’t is simply unacceptable.”

Jan Resseger of the United Church of Christ Justice & Witness Ministries, chair of the Council’s Committee on Public Education and Literacy, said she “looks to the four short films as a comfortable context for church study groups to confront what have become heated issues and to read and reconsider last year’s NCC Pastoral Letter in the context of the values the videos explore.”

Fewer Jobs, More Poverty

Today President Obama signed the debt ceiling compromise with these words:

I’ve said it before; I will say it again:  We can’t balance the budget on the backs of the very people who have borne the biggest brunt of this recession.  We can’t make it tougher for young people to go to college, or ask seniors to pay more for health care, or ask scientists to give up on promising medical research because we couldn’t close a tax shelter for the most fortunate among us.  Everyone is going to have to chip in.  It’s only fair.  That’s the principle I’ll be fighting for during the next phase of this process.   

And in the coming months, I’ll continue also to fight for what the American people care most about:  new jobs, higher wages and faster economic growth.  While Washington has been absorbed in this debate about deficits, people across the country are asking what we can do to help the father looking for work.  What are we going to do for the single mom who’s seen her hours cut back at the hospital?  What are we going to do to make it easier for businesses to put up that “now hiring” sign?

For the record I called U.S. Rep. Earl Blumenauer - my representative - and urged him to vote for the compromise because default was simply not an option - no matter how bad the deal might have been.  Rep. Blumenauer voted no.   

But creating jobs in this economy just got a lot harder, as Think Progress notes:

The Economic Policy Institute, a top nonpartisan think tank, estimates that the deal struck this weekend to raise the nation’s debt limit will end up costing the economy 1.8 million jobs by 2012...

The agreement would reduce spending by at least $1 trillion over 10 years, but even the near-term cuts could shrink already sluggish GDP growth by 0.3% in 2012. According to EPI, the plan “not only erodes funding for public investments and safety-net spending, but also misses an important opportunity to address the lack of jobs.” In particular, the immediate spending cuts and the “failure to continue two key supports to the economy (the payroll tax holiday and emergency unemployment benefits for the long term unemployed) could lead to roughly 1.8 million fewer jobs in 2012.”

As joblessness, poverty and homelessness continue to grow the question is this: does President Obama have a plan to move us forward as a nation?  No one questions the president's values or aspirations but he quickly needs to lay out a progressive platform that he'll fight for.  Where will he draw a line in the sand to fight for those principles he believes in?

There needs to be a more forceful repudiation of the Tea Party movement which rejects traditional religious understandings of justice, compassion and the social contract that has made America a great nation.

People of faith need to continue to put pressure on both parties to address poverty and homelessness.  I agree with what the National Council of Churches stated at Easter time:

...the debate over the national budget has ignored the most vulnerable members of our society -- millions of the working poor, the homeless, children, and disabled persons -- while political leaders of both parties jockey for tactical advantages as if they were more interested in pursuing power and office than a balanced budget.

As we continue to hold President Obama and members of Congress in prayer, let us pray that our nation addresses the sin of poverty and that those held captive by hopelessness find freedom from despair.  It will take renewed efforts from us all to build up the Beloved Community we still dream of. 

Breaking: Christian leaders meet with President, ask him to protect programs for the poor

Press Release from the National Council of Churches

Washington, July 20, 2011 - In a meeting with President Obama and senior White House staff this afternoon, national Christian leaders asked the president to protect funding for programs for hungry and poor people in the ongoing budget debate and in any deal concerning the default crisis.

All agreed that we can get our fiscal house in order without doing so on the backs of those who are most vulnerable. The shared concern was to cut the deficit in a way that protects the safety net, protects the vulnerable, and maintains our investments in the future.

Christian leaders at today's meeting included representatives from the National Council of Churches, the National Association of Evangelicals, the United States Conference of Catholic Bishops, Bread for the World, Sojourners, the Alliance to End Hunger, the Salvation Army, the National African American Clergy Network, the National Baptist Convention of America, the Evangelical Lutheran Church in America, and the National Hispanic Christian Leadership Conference.

They are part of the "Circle of Protection," a nonpartisan movement that insists budgets are moral documents and that poor and vulnerable people should be protected-not targeted-in efforts to reduce long-term deficits. White House staff in the meeting included Senior Advisory Valerie Jarrett, Director of Domestic Policy Council Melody Barnes and Director of the Office of Faith Based and Neighborhood Partnerships Joshua DuBois.

Leaders have been urging policy makers to recognize that a commitment to protect vulnerable people is a moral-not partisan-concern. They will continue to talk with policy makers as well as educate other Christians and voters about the moral issues at stake in the budget.

"As Christian leaders, we are committed to fiscal responsibility and shared sacrifice. We are also committed to resist budget cuts that undermine the lives, dignity, and rights of poor and vulnerable people," the leaders wrote in a joint statement. "Therefore, we join with others to form a circle of protection around programs that meet the essential needs of hungry and poor people at home and abroad."

The Circle of Protection statement has been signed by more than 60 heads of Christian denominations and religious organizations, and endorsed by 45 heads of development agencies as well as leaders of other faiths. The Circle of Protection movement has worked to uphold the bipartisan consensus that has long prevailed in deficit-reduction agreements-that programs serving poor and hungry people should be protected and exempted from any automatic cuts.

"As Christian leaders, we urge Congress and the administration to give moral priority to programs that protect the life and dignity of poor and vulnerable people in these difficult times, our broken economy, and our wounded world," they wrote.

National Council of Churches representatives at the meeting included the Rev. Dr. Mark Hanson, presiding bishop of the Evangelical Lutheran Church in America, and the Rev. Michael Livingston, director of the NCC's poverty initiative.

Related Link: A Pastor's Plea to The President: Protect the Poor in Budget Debate

"Religious leaders urge President Obama to take bold action for peace in Middle East"

Press Release from the National Council of Churches

Washington, June 30 -- National Council of Churches officers and heads of NCC member communions have joined other faith leaders in calling on President Obama to take bold action for peace between Israel and Palestine.

The Rev. Peg Chemberlin, NCC president, and the Rev. Dr. Michael Kinnamon, NCC general secretary, signed onto a message that points out that "time is not on the side of peace."

The letter, drafted by Churches for Middle East Peace, urges the president to issue a comprehensive statement prior to the convening of the United Nations General Assembly this fall "that addresses all final status issues, including the need for Jerusalem in the future to be the shared capital of both states, a just resolution on the issue of all refugees, and assured access for all faiths to their holy places."

The letter to the president comes at a time when the path to peace is strewn with hurdles and both Israeli and Palestinian leaders face unprecedented domestic political challenges.

Recent weeks have seen comments by both President Obama and Prime Minister Netanyahu and a reconciliation agreement between the Palestinian Authority and Hamas. Currently, a humanitarian flotilla is about to head to the Gaza strip, and the Palestinian Authority is considering bringing the question of statehood before the United Nations in the fall. There is a growing recognition of the increasingly desperate situation on the ground and that time is not on the side of peace.

“All of these events make it even more pertinent for President Obama to take immediate leadership toward a comprehensive peace agreement,” said Jordan Blevins, Advocacy Officer and Ecumenical Peace Coordinator for the National Council of Churches and Church of the Brethren.

The letter is signed by a wide range of evangelical, Protestant, Catholic and Orthodox leaders. In addition to Chemberlin and Kinnamon, signers representing NCC member communions include:

Father Mark Arey, Ecumenical Officer, Greek Orthodox Archdiocese of America; Archbishop Vicken Aykazian, NCC past president, Armenian Orthodox Church of North America; Rev. Geoffrey Black, General Minister and President, United Church of Christ; Rev. Paula Clayton Dempsey, Minister for Partnership Relations, Alliance of Baptists; and Rev. Wesley Granberg-Michaelson, General Secretary Reformed Church in America.

Also, the Rev. Mark S. Hanson, Presiding Bishop, Evangelical Lutheran Church in America; The Most Reverend Katharine Jefferts Schori, Presiding Bishop and Primate, The Episcopal Church; His Beatitude Jonah, Archbishop of Washington, Metropolitan of All America and Canada, Orthodox Church in America; and His Eminence Mor Cyril Aphrem Karim, Archbishop of the Archdiocese of the Syriac Orthodox Church,in the Eastern United States.

Also, the Rev. John L. McCullough, Executive Director and CEO, Church World Service; the Rev. Dr. A. Roy Medley, General Secretary, American Baptist Churches USA; the Rev. Dr. Betsy Miller, President, Provincial Elders' Conference, Moravian Church in America, Northern Province; Stanley J. Noffsinger, General Secretary, Church of the Brethren; and Dr. Harriett Jane Olson, Deputy General Secretary, the Women’s Division of General Board of Global Ministries, The United Methodist Church.

Also, the Rev. Gradye Parsons, Stated Clerk of the General Assembly, Presbyterian Church, (USA); the Rev. Tyrone Pitts, General Secretary Emeritus, Progressive National Baptist Convention, Inc.; Bishop Sharon Zimmerman Radar, Ecumenical Officer, Council of Bishops, United Methodist Church; Dr. T. DeWitt Smith Jr., Immediate Former President, Progressive National Baptist Convention, Inc.; the Rev. Dr. Sharon E. Watkins, General Minister and President, Christian Church (Disciples of Christ); and Bishop John F. White, Ecumenical and Urban Affairs Officer, African Methodist Episcopal Church.

Add you name to the statement by clicking here.

Since its founding in 1950, the National Council of the Churches of Christ in the USA has been the leading force for shared ecumenical witness among Christians in the United States. The NCC's 37 member communions -- from a wide spectrum of Protestant, Anglican, Orthodox, Evangelical, historic African American and Living Peace churches -- include 45 million persons in more than 100,000 local congregations in communities across the nation.



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Religious Leaders to President Obama: Aid, Not War in Afghanistan

President Obama tonight announced his intention to begin a significant troop withdrawal from Afghanistan.  He said that:

...starting next month, we will be able to remove 10,000 of our troops from Afghanistan by the end of this year, and we will bring home a total of 33,000 troops by next summer, fully recovering the surge I announced at West Point.  After this initial reduction, our troops will continue coming home at a steady pace as Afghan security forces move into the lead.  Our mission will change from combat to support.  By 2014, this process of transition will be complete, and the Afghan people will be responsible for their own security.

Those on the left were quick to say the president isn't moving quick enough and those on the right complained the president wasn't finishing the mission ( those left and right lines have become increasingly blurred over time).

A significant number of religious leaders wrote the president a letter this week which read: 

As your target date to begin U.S. troop withdrawals from Afghanistan approaches, we are compelled by the prophetic vision of just peace to speak. We represent a diversity of faith communities -- ranging from just war to pacifist traditions. As leaders of these communities, some of us initially supported the war in Afghanistan as a justified response to the September 11, 2001, attacks on New York City and Washington, D.C. Others opposed the war, believing there were better ways than military force to address the al Qaeda threat. Today, however, we are united in the belief that it is time to bring the U.S. war in Afghanistan to an end.

After nine years, what began as a response to an attack has become an open-ended war against a Taliban centric insurgency -- which itself is largely motivated to drive out foreign troops and has no designs beyond its own borders. The military operation has so far resulted in the deaths of over 2,500 Coalition troops, including 1,600 from the U.S. Estimates are that over 20,000 Afghan civilians have died. And yet, the security situation is deteriorating and Taliban influence is spreading. The military situation is at best a stalemate. Al Qaeda barely exists in Afghanistan, but it has metastasized into Pakistan and has established itself in Yemen, Somalia, and other places around the globe.

Relief and development aid, desperately needed after three decades of war, have been integrated into and are subservient to military operations. Civilian aid organizations that attempt to provide much-needed relief are often seen as part of the foreign military occupation and have faced increasing attacks. Additionally, this form of militarized aid has worked to undermine long term sustainability while proving ineffective in addressing immediate poverty concerns. As the faith community, we have experience doing this kind of work, and maintain relationships with partners on the ground. We see and hear the need for relief and development aid to be provided through these civilian aid organizations while untying it from a counterinsurgency strategy and involving and empowering local Afghan partners to the greatest extent possible.

Moreover, this type of aid is most effective -- both in terms of the development in Afghanistan, and the cost of the conflict. The past ten years have shown that we cannot broker peace in Afghanistan by military force; it is time to transition toward a plan that builds up civil society and provides economic alternatives for Afghans. At a time of economic turmoil, as we are presented with difficult financial and budgetary decisions at home, we have an opportunity to invest in aid that both supports the people of Afghanistan, and saves our country much needed funds.

We recognize that legitimate ethical and moral issues are at stake in Afghanistan -- U.S. national security, protecting the lives of Coalition servicemen and women, protecting Afghan civilians, defending the rights of Afghan women, supporting democracy and, of course, saving innocent lives from the inevitable death and destruction that accompany war. We humbly believe there is a better way than war to address these important issues.

What is needed now is a comprehensive package of interlocking arrangements to enhance security and stability. This alternative path is not without some risk, but it is preferable to the known dangers of war. As you said in December 2009, the U.S. should begin a responsible but accelerated withdrawal of troops, beginning with a significant number in July 2011 and continuing along a set timetable. This must be linked to a comprehensive security agreement, a regional multi-lateral diplomatic initiative, and increased public & private assistance for locally based economic and social development programs. We must commit to proactively share the costs of war, which have been borne disproportionately by the veterans of these wars, their families and thousands of Afghan civilians.

We reaffirm our religious hope for a world in which "they shall beat their swords into plowshares, and their spears into pruning hooks; nation shall not lift up sword against nation, neither shall they learn war any more; but they shall all sit under their own vines and under their own fig trees, and no one shall make them afraid."

Like these colleagues of mine (listed below), I want this war to end.  It cannot be stressed enough, however, the the international community has an obligation to rebuild Afghanistan and to protect human rights there.  A return of the Taliban will be a humanitarian nightmare - particularly for women.  In late 2001, a joined a very small number of religious voices in opposing the invasion of Afghanistan because I believed U.S. intervention would fail and that we would leave the civilian population worse off.  President Bush did lead us into failure and President Obama has been forced to make very difficult decisions since taking office.  I believe that the proposals made by religious leaders to the president this week will help further advance the goals set forth by the White House.

Here is the list of those who signed the letter:

Rev. Geoffrey A. Black
General Minister and President
United Church of Christ

Pastor Geoff Browning
Peacemaking Advocate
Presbytery of San Jose

Simone Campbell, SSS
Executive Director
NETWORK: A National Catholic Social Justice Lobby

Marie Dennis
Director, Maryknoll Office for Global Concerns
Co-President, Pax Christi International

Rev. Dr. Cheryl F. Dudley
President
Baptist Peace Fellowship of North America

Rev. Dr. David J. Fekete
Ecumenical Officer
Swedenborgian Churches of North America

Dr. Linda Gaither
Chair
Episcopal Peace Fellowship

Glen Gersmehl
National Coordinator
Lutheran Peace Fellowship

Diana Gibson
Christian Peace Witness

Evelyn Hanneman
Operations Coordinator
Baptist Peace Fellowship of North America

Dr. Robert Hanson
Chair of Peace Committee
Mt. Diablo Unitarian-Universalist Church

Rev. M. Linda Jaramillo
Executive Minister
United Church of Christ, Justice and Witness Ministries

Mark C. Johnson, Ph.D.
Executive Director
Fellowship of Reconciliation

Rev. Dr. Michael Kinnamon
General Secretary
National Council of Churches

Rev. Dr. Ken Brooker Langston
Director
Disciples Justice Action Network

Paul LaRue
Oregon-Idaho Chapter of the Methodist
Federation for Social Action

Bishop Chuck Leigh
Apostolic Catholic Church

Rev. John R. Long, DD
Retired Presbyterian Minister
Presbytery of Western New York

Rev. Dr. Dale E. Luffman
Ecumenical and Interfaith Officer
Community of Christ

The Rev. Dr. Betsy Miller
President, Provincial Elders' Conference
Moravian Church, Northern Province

Douglas Morgan
Director
Adventist Peace Fellowship

Mr. Stanley Noffsinger
General Secretary
Church of the Brethren

Rev. Gradye Parsons
General Assembly Stated Clerk
Presbyterian Church (U.S.A.)

The Rev. Nathaniel W. Pierce
American Secretary
Anglican Pacifist Fellowship

Diane Randall
Executive Secretary
Friends Committee on National Legislation

Dave Robinson
Executive Director
Pax Christi USA

Rachelle Lyndaker Schlabach
Director
Mennonite Central Committee US, Washington Office

Sandy Sorensen
Director
United Church of Christ, Justice and Witness Ministries

Dr. Sayyid M. Syeed,
National Director
Office for Interfaith & Community Alliances, Islamic Society of North America

Haris Tarin
Director, Washington Office
Muslim Public Affairs Council (MPAC)

Eda Uca-Dorn
Director
Hosanna! People's Seminary

Rick Ufford-Chase
Executive Director
Presbyterian Peace Fellowship

Stephen M. Veazey
President
Community of Christ

Jim Wallis
President and Chief Executive Officer
Sojourners

Rev. Dr. Sharon Watkins
General Minister and President
Christian Church (Disciples of Christ)

Rev. Dr. Craig M. Watts
Co-Moderator Disciples Peace Fellowship

Rabbi Simkha Y. Weintraub, LCSW

James E. Winkler
General Secretary
General Board of Church and Society, The United Methodist Church

Rep. Peter King Plans New Anti-Muslim Hearings

U.S. Rep. Peter King is planning another round of congressional hearing into "Muslim radicalization," reports NPR and other media outlets.  The hearings are scheduled for June 15th.  King held hearings earlier this year that were widely condemned by interfaith religious leaders.  King's principle charge - one disputed by the FBI, Homeland Security and other anti-terrorism agencies - is that American Muslims have not condemned terrorism or that they even support it.  At that time, The Rev. Dr. Michael Kinnamon, General Secretary of the National Council of Churches in Christ USA, firmly declared: "No matter what Rep. King may say, his hearings convey the implicit message that Muslims aren’t part of 'us'—and to this sort of bigotry, all citizens of conscience must say NO!"

Let me repeat that Rep. King's hearings to investigate Muslim Americans are the definition of un-American.  As I have said before, these hearings bring to mind the Salem witch trials and the McCarthy hearings, dark periods in this land.  We should never forgot the lessons of those experiences.  The U.S. House of Representatives should not be used as a venue for religious or political persecution. 

Church World Service Emergency Appeal: 2011 Spring Storms - Update

Note:  Church World Service is continuing to respond to disasters in places like Haiti and Japan as well as to recent events in the United States.  Please support their work generously.  Help now:  Text CWS to 50555 to donate $10 or donate online!  You can also assemble and donate Emergency Clean-up Buckets, which are desperately needed at this time.

Situation:

At least 116 people have died in a tornado that hit Joplin, Mo., Sunday – the deadliest of 68 weekend tornadoes that affected seven states in a sweep from Oklahoma to Minnesota.

Officials said the Joplin tornado may be the single deadliest tornado in the U.S. since 1953.  The tornado left a mile-wide path of destruction through the center of the town and directly hit Joplin's main hospital, officials said.

Among other tornadoes was one in Minneapolis which killed one person and affected a predominately low-income community.

The weekend of tornadoes is the latest in a series of serious domestic disasters in recent months, which aside from tornadoes have included floods.  While numerous states are beginning the clean-up process, the flood crest continues down the Mississippi Valley.  In Louisiana, for example, flood gates have been opened on the Mississippi and Atchafalaya Rivers flooding numerous low-lying communities.  The full impact of this flooding will not be known for several weeks.

The list of states with significant damage from the flooding include Indiana, Illinois, Missouri, Kentucky, Arkansas, Mississippi, Tennessee and Louisiana.  The states with significant spring storm and tornado damage, aside from Missouri (which had already been affected by previous tornadoes and storms) include Alabama, Illinois, Arkansas, Mississippi, Texas, North Carolina, South Carolina, Kentucky, Ohio, Virginia, Georgia and Ohio.

Many of the larger communities are well organized to conduct long-term recovery programs.  However, some larger communities and numerous smaller communities were severely impacted.  In these small and vulnerable communities long-term recovery committees are being formed.  Many of these organizations will require training programs by CWS and its partner denominations.

Affected communities will be seeking material goods, training, mentoring and long term recovery committee start up assistance, as well.

CWS Response:

• CWS will respond to any requests from Joplin, Mo., as needed.
• CWS has shipped the following to impacted areas, some directly to requesting agencies and some to community warehouse for rapid distribution by requesting communities: 868 Clean up Buckets, 1,020 Blankets, 780 Baby Kits, 4260 School Kits and 33,960 Hygiene Kits.  The material resources are valued at $492,067 and our processing and shipping costs total $15,625.  Communities served include: Butler, AL; Tuscaloosa, AL; Birmingham, AL; Raleigh, NC; Monmouth, IL; Gray, TN; Little Rock, AR; Hoover, AL; and Atlanta, GA.  CWS has depleted its supplies of CWS Clean up Buckets.  In those cases where CWS could not meet the need we have collaborated with denominational partners to fill requests.
• CWS, along with partner denominations, is organizing on-site Recovery Tools and Training and First Steps Training in Arkansas, Mississippi, Tennessee, Kentucky, Illinois, Alabama and Louisiana.  This training will be for communities in the vicinity of Birmingham, Tuscaloosa, Chattanooga, Memphis, Paducah, and Jasper.
  
  Communities expected to attend this training include: Lomax, IL, Vilonia, AR, Hot Springs, AR, Pocahontas, AR, Morgan City, LA, Clinton, MS, Smithville, MS, Cleveland, TN, Vicksburg, MS, Mound City, IL, Cairo, IL, Metropolis, IL, New Madrid, MO (and other small communities in the Missouri boot hill region), Mississippi County, MO, Owensboro, KY, and Greenville, MS.
  
  This is an incomplete list and is growing daily, and will grow extensively as additional communities become organized after the assessment of tornado damage and after the flood waters recede.  CWS and partners are also developing training activities in southeast United States with the Wakefield Interfaith Committee in North Carolina.  As many as a hundred communities can be expected to attend the training being planned.
• CWS Emergency Response Specialists continue to monitor and assess the many situations and are in discussions with the numerous long-term recovery committees being organized.  As they organize they are appealing for funds to assist with the organization and set up costs.  Many of the communities CWS is in discussion with are listed above.
  
  While the total number of communities needing assistance cannot be made at this time, 50 or more should not be unexpected.  CWS Emergency Response Specialists are in constant contact with these communities to mentor and guide them through the long term recovery start up process.  They are also in contact with churches and faith based organizations, our member partners, FEMA Volunteer Liaisons, state and local Voluntary Organizations Active in Disasters to determine where the needs are greatest for material goods, training and long term committee start up support

Budget:

Total is $280,000.  This includes $240,000 for long-term recovery start-up, with a minimum of 30 groups at an average grant of $8,000 each.  Other expenses: $20,000 for material resources and shipping; $20,000 for long-term recovery group training.

HOW TO HELP: Contributions to support CWS emergency response efforts may be made online, sent to your denomination, or to Church World Service, Appeal #627-P, 2011 Spring Storms, P.O. Box 968, Elkhart, IN 46515.

 

Help Church World Service With U.S. Tornado Relief Efforts

Church World Service will be in need of assistance as they respond to the violent storms that have hit the Midwest and Southern U.S. this week:

CWS emergency response specialists are in contact with state and local officials across the southern U.S. following a rampage of violent storms. Our initial response in any U.S. emergency is to provide CWS Kits and emergency response grants to community groups helping in recovery.

Our hallmark, however is in supporting affected communities in the long term as they work to fulfill unmet needs in vulnerable communities. More information on our long-term response will take shape as the disaster unfolds.

Click here to donate. CWS is already engaged in relief efforts in Japan, Haiti and many other places across the globe.


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Happy Easter: A Video Message From Rev. Chuck Currie

Happy Easter from The Reverend Chuck Currie 2011 from The Rev. Chuck Currie on Vimeo.

An Easter Message from the National Council of Churches

Is it nothing to you, all who pass by?

The phrase is from the Hebrew scriptures -- Lamentations 1:12 -- but for many Christians, it's an Easter provocation. A Lutheran church in Pottstown, Pa., places a crude wooden cross on its front lawn on one of the borough's busiest streets, and drapes it with a pointed question: "Is it nothing to you, all you who pass by?"

Persons passing by must think of the question as a rebuke, insinuating that for many of us, the true meaning of Easter is lost amid stacks of candy and hats and other finery.

The truth is, it's not an easy question to hear. As the world's 2 billion Christians enter the holiest time of their year, the contrast between what many believe and what they do can be upsetting.

In simple terms, this is the story. "God so loved the world that he gave his only son, so that everyone who believes in him may not perish but have eternal life." (John 3:16). "God proves his love for us in that while we still were sinners Christ died for us." (Romans 5:8). God "has anointed me," Jesus said in the midst of his earthly ministry that led up to his Easter sacrifice, "to bring good news to the poor. He has sent me to proclaim release to the captives and recovery of sight to the blind, to let the oppressed go free, to proclaim the year of the Lord's favor." (Luke 4:18-19).

That's the good news.

The bad news is that God's intervention in human history seems to have lost its power in many human hearts. The lilt of Easter joy is hard to hear amid the din of sin.

As we prepare to celebrate the victory of the Prince of Peace over death and decay, human violence is as rife as at any time in our history. Peaceful revolutions against oppressive regimes in Northern Africa are collapsing into bloody civil wars. Autocrats on the continent of Africa, some of them professed Christians, use torture, murder and rape against their opponents. Drug cartels in the Americas show utter contempt for human life as they assault law enforcement officers and market their poisons. Belligerence and horrific violence replace peace talks between the Palestinian Authority in Israel.

Here in the United States, the debate over the national budget has ignored the most vulnerable members of our society -- millions of the working poor, the homeless, children, and disabled persons -- while political leaders of both parties jockey for tactical advantages as if they were more interested in pursuing power and office than a balanced budget. Incessant gun violence continues to take thousands of lives and injures tens of thousands more.

Given this background, the common prayer of the 37 member communions of the National Council of Churches is this: that the true and complete meaning of Easter be visited upon us all. May peace be restored in human hearts and on battlegrounds around the world. May the poor hear God's good news. May those who live in oppressive lands experience God's justice and freedom. May the blind and uninformed see God's truth. And may God's economic justice be experienced by all.

"Is it nothing to you, all you who pass by?"

This Easter, may the message of the cross change hearts and lives forever.

The Lord is risen.

The Lord is risen indeed.

Since its founding in 1950, the National Council of the Churches of Christ in the USA has been the leading force for shared ecumenical witness among Christians in the United States. The NCC's 37 member communions -- from a wide spectrum of Protestant, Anglican, Orthodox, Evangelical, historic African American and Living Peace churches -- include 45 million persons in more than 100,000 local congregations in communities across the nation. 

GOP Sets Fire To Matthew 25; Will President Obama Put Out The Flames?

The GOP's budget proposals - which I've already called immoral - keep getting worse.  Their latest fiscal blueprint, offered up by U.S. Congressman Paul Ryan, would continue tax cuts for the wealthiest Americans while cutting $4 trillion from the budget over ten years - 3/4 of which will come from programs meant to support the most vulnerable in America.  The Center on Budget and Policy Priorities reports: 

House Budget Committee Chairman Paul Ryan’s budget plan would get about two-thirds of its more than $4 trillion in budget cuts over 10 years from programs that serve people of limited means, which violates basic principles of fairness and stands a core principle of President Obama’s fiscal commission on its head.

The plan of Erskine Bowles and Alan Simpson, who co-chaired President Obama’s National Commission on Fiscal Responsibility and Reform, established, as a basic principle, that deficit reduction should not increase poverty or inequality or hurt the disadvantaged. The Ryan plan, which the chairman unveiled in a news conference, speech, and Wall Street Journal op-ed today, charts a different course, turning its biggest cannons on these people.

So what exactly does the GOP hope to cut while they protect tax cuts for millionaries?

$2.17 trillion in reductions from Medicaid and related health care. The plan shows Medicaid cuts of $771 billion, plus savings of $1.4 trillion from repealing the health reform law’s Medicaid expansion and its subsidies to help low- and moderate-income people purchase health insurance.

$350 billion in cuts in mandatory programs serving low-income Americans (other than Medicaid).  The budget documents that Chairman Ryan issued today show that he is proposing $715 billion in cuts in mandatory programs other than Medicare, Medicaid, and Social Security, but do not specify how much will be cut from various programs (although they imply that cuts in the food stamp program will be large). In this analysis, we make the conservative assumption that savings from low-income mandatory programs (other than Medicaid) would be proportionate to their share of spending in this category. Thus, we derive the $350 billion figure from the fact that about half of mandatory spending other than for Medicare, Medicaid, and Social Security goes for programs for low- and moderate-income individuals and families. This likely substantially understates the cuts that the plan would make in low-income programs. The Ryan documents show that $380 billion in cuts would come from programs in the income security portion of the budget (function 600), and the overwhelming bulk of the mandatory spending in that category goes for low-income programs. The documents also show $126 billion in mandatory cuts in the education, training, employment, and social services portion of the budget (function 500), which, based on the discussion in those documents, would likely come mainly from cuts in the mandatory portion of the Pell Grant program for low-income students.

$400 billion in cuts in low-income discretionary programs. The Ryan budget documents show that he is proposing $1.6 trillion in cuts in non-security discretionary programs, but again do not provide details about the size of cuts to specific programs. (The documents do identify some major low-income program areas, including Pell Grants and low-income housing, as prime targets for cuts.) Here, too, we make the conservative assumption that low-income programs in this category would bear a proportionate share of the cuts. Thus, we derive the $400 billion figure from the fact that about a quarter of non-security discretionary spending goes for programs for low- and moderate-income individuals and families.

You'll continue to see the U.S. Conference of Catholic Bishops and the National Council of Churches, among others, work to oppose these cuts because:

There is no greater concern among the churches of Christ than for those in this nation who live in poverty. This could hardly be otherwise because Jesus himself lived among the poor: loving them, eating and drinking with them, healing them, and speaking words of justice and assurance that God's own love for the poor is unsurpassed.

This question is what will President Obama will do?  We know what we need him to do.  But as we await his speech this Wednesday on the economy it appears that he is letting the GOP set the agenda.  His Wednesday address needs to offer up a vision for America that is starkly different from the GOP's and inline with his historic 2008 campaign.

Why I Can Support The Strikes Against #Libya As A Christian

Like many, I'm wary of U.S. military intervention in other nations. I opposed the war in Afghanistan early because, along with the church I served at the time, I felt that U.S. intervention there would be harmful to the civilian population and that the United States would leave Afghanistan in a position similar to that of the Soviet withdrawal, weakened and humbled, without achieving our legitimate goal of defeating the terrorists who attacked the U.S. on 9/11. I also opposed the war with Iraq. Here I had more company as nearly every Christian denomination across the globe that issued a statement concerning the matter opposed invading Iraq. A preemptive war is never legitimate. What is happening in Libya today is not the same as Afghanistan or Iraq. The United Nations, not a U.S.-led coalition under cover of a UN mandate, is working to stop the slaughter of a civilian population. This is what should have occurred in Rwanda.

I'm not sure how other Christian leaders will react. Already, many people I respect have been critical of President Obama and the allied forces attacking Col. Muammar el-Qaddafi and his forces. There are legitimate concerns to be raised about civilian causalities. But I agree with Peter Daou, a former campaign aide to John Kerry and Hillary Clinton, who tweeted tonight: "I don't see a parallel between a war Bush launched based on lies and Obama's action to prevent atrocities in #Libya." So far I have seen no statements from the National Council of Churches or op-ed pieces from religious leaders offering support or criticism. But while I believe that war is always a failure of the human imagination and tainted by sin, I also believe there are times where it can be necessary. Much of my own thinking on the use of violence to protect civilian populations is informed by Samantha Power's book A Problem from Hell: America and the Age of Genocide. Power now works in the Obama Administration. For now, I will offer support and prayers for President Obama, prayers for the allied forces, and prayers for all the people of Libya that the violence there ends quickly and that the civilian population can be free from terror. I extend that prayer for all the people of the world and hope for the day when democratic nations no longer support governments that commitment human rights violations with weapons contracts and other forms of aid that prop up too many corrupt governments.

I will also continue to closely monitor the events as they unfold and continue to reassess my views as needed.

April 9th Portland CROP Hunger Walk Benefiting Church World Service Takes On New Importance After #Japan @CWS_CROP

Church World Service is busy providing assistance in Japan this week - just like the humanitarian agency does in the United States and across the globe whenever a disaster strikes.  Right now...

CWS's response centers on emergency relief support to at least 5,000 families, about 25,000 individuals, now living at 100 evacuation sites in the northeastern area of Japan – the prefectures of Miyagi, Fukushima, Iwate, Ibaragi and Tochigi.  Assistance will include immediately required food items and non-food items through a partnership with the Japan Platform, known by the acronym JPF.

You can help by texting CWS to 50555 to donate $10 or clicking here to help now.

Those of us in the Portland area will have a special opportunity to support Church World Service on Saturday, April 9th at the Portland CROP Hunger Walk.  Here's the basic information:

10 a.m. start and finish in front of the Union Gospel Mission, 3 NW Third Ave., Portland. The course is 2.64 miles on public sidewalks and will pass several homeless agencies in downtown Portland, as well as City Hall. Please use public transportation or car pool to site as there is very limited parking. Contact Ron MacKenzie, the Coordinator, at ron.w.mackenzie@gmail.com for more information.

Seventy-five percent of the funds raised will go to Church World Service's international relief and development programs. Fifteen percent will go to Northeast Emergency Food Program at Luther Memorial and ten percent to Oregon Food Bank.

You can learn more about the Portland CROP Hunger Walk benefiting Church World Service, register to participate and even donate by clicking here.

Founded in 1946, Church World Service is a cooperative ministry of 37 Christian denominations and communions working together to eradicate hunger and poverty and promote peace and justice among the world's most vulnerable people.  The United Church of Christ is an active member of Church World Service and CWS works with interfaith partners all across the world.

"U.S. churches reach out to earthquake-stricken Japan"

Press Release from the National Council of Churches

New York, March 13, 2011 -- As news from earthquake-stricken Japan and Tsunami-devastated coastal areas worsens, U.S. churches and religious groups are pulling out all the stops to assess how they can help.

Church World Service and National Council of Churches member communions responded within minutes after the 8.9 magnitude earthquake struck Japan on March 11.

"The damage and loss of life is almost impossible to comprehend," said the Rev. Dr. Michael Kinnamon, NCC general secretary. "It's natural to feel helpless in situations as overwhelming as this. But prayer is an important first step -- prayer that asks God to be with the families of the dead, the injured, the homeless, and the responders at every level."

But Kinnamon said it is also crucial for persons of faith to provide financial support to Church World Service and other relief organizations that are providing food, water, shelter and comfort on the ground in Japan and other stricken areas.

"Spiritual support and healing ministry will be required long after the initial impact of the disaster," Kinnamon said, citing Haiti as another venue where U.S. churches will have a role for many years to come. "Along with everything else, we pray for the faith and patience to remain committed for as long as it takes."

Church World Service said its emergency response staff are monitoring the unfolding situation around the Pacific Rim, where CWS has programs. The CWS Bangkok office is following the situation in Japan and across the region, while in Hawaii, where tsunami waves reached the islands, CWS’s domestic team is monitoring that situation, working with local contacts in Hawaii.

In Indonesia, where Church World Service has extensive operations, a tsunami of about 10 centimeters was detected in the North Sulawesi and Maluku islands.

CWS Indonesia staff report they are staying in contact with two of the agency’s local partners in North Sulawesi who say that communities who have been under tsunami alerts were advised to take precautionary measures and many people have done so. Wave heights of up to 8 feet had been expected in some of those areas. Further reports, assessments and emergency response as needed will be issued as the situation unfolds. Information about how to help can be found atwww.churchworldservice.org.

Several NCC and CWS member communions announced responses over the weekend.

American Baptist Churches USA announced a $20,000 grant from One Great Hour of Sharing (OGHS), to be sent to its mission partner, the Japan Baptist Union, for relief efforts. See www.abc-usa.org for developments.

The Christian Church (Disciples of Christ) said it was closely watching the situation along the U.S. Pacific Coast and around the Pacific Rim and will respond to needs through its Week of Compassion. See www.disciples.org for developments.

Writing on behalf of the combined world mission of the United Church of Christ and Christian Church (Disciples of Christ),Global Ministries co-executive directors told mission partners in Japan that the churches "will continue praying for you and seek ways to accompany you in the path that lies ahead." See www.ucc.org for developments.

The letter to the Rev. Aobora Taemae, general secretary of the United Church of Christ in Japan, was sent by the Rev. David Vargas, president of the Division of Overseas Ministries in the Christian Church (Disciples of Christ), and the Rev. Cally Rogers-Witte, executive minister of the UCC's Wider Church Ministries. Following the devastating 8.9-magnitude earthquake and resultant tsunami, Global Ministries staff have been actively attempting to make contact with mission personnel in Japan.

The Church of the Brethren’s Mission and Ministry Board was meeting in Elgin, Ill. when word of the earthquake and tsunami came. The Board immediately issued a call to prayer and announced that Brethren Disaster Ministries has begun planning to support Church World Service (CWS) and its partners in relief efforts in Japan. See www.brethren.org for developments.

The Brethren board called on its members to join in the following prayer:

Merciful Lord, in their hour of anguish, hear and answer the cries of the Japanese people. Hear our prayers as our tears exclaim our compassion for all people who suffer. May your love, grace, and compassion bring a sense of comfort for those who mourn. Be with the many who work to bring relief, food, water, and shelter to those in need. And gracious God especially touch those mourning the loss of loved ones.

"God is our refuge and strength, a very present help in trouble. Therefore we will not fear, though the earth should change, though the mountains shake in the heart of the sea; though its waters roar and foam, though the mountains tremble with its tumult.... The Lord of hosts is with us; the God of Jacob is our refuge" (Psalm 46:1-3, 11).

Anglican Communion churches and agencies said they are planning how best to respond to the earthquake. An Episcopal priest in Kailua on the east cost of Oahu, the Rev. Kate Lewis, told ENS via e-mail that warning sirens began sounding at 10 p.m. local time. She had not heard of any damage to Episcopal churches, some of which are very close to beaches. Seewww.ecusa.anglican.org for developments.

The Evangelical Lutheran Church in America said it has 22 missionaries serving in Japan, working in partnership with the Japan Evangelical Lutheran Church. Many of the ELCA's missionaries in Japan have communicated that they are safe, said the Rev. Y. Franklin Ishida, ELCA program director for Asia-Pacific Continental Desk, the church said. Seehttp://www.elca.org for developments.

The Orthodox Church in America said its hierarchs, clergy and faithful are being asked to remember in prayer all those affected by the disaster and to support efforts undertaken by International Orthodox Christian Charities [IOCC], which has assembled its emergency response team to assess needs and possible responses.

"The devastation being experienced in Japan is numbing, and it is only appropriate that we respond in kind with our prayers for the suffering and departed and support for any and all humanitarian efforts," said His Beatitude, Metropolitan Jonah. "Not only has the earthquake -- the strongest in Japan's recorded history -- caused incalculable damage, but the tsunami it released and the attendant destruction of much of the nation's infrastructure are almost beyond comprehension. In addition to our prayers, our support of IOCC's efforts are crucial at this time." See www.oca.org for developments.

The Presbyterian Church (USA) said it has 10 mission co-workers in various cities across Japan. By mid-day March 11 staff in Presbyterian World Mission had received word from four that they were safe. None of the mission workers are based close to the northern coastal city of Sendai, which has taken the brunt of the impact.

Denominational leaders have issued a call to prayer. The Rev. Gradye Parsons, stated clerk; Elder Cynthia Bolbach, moderator of the 219th General Assembly; and Elder Linda Valentine, executive director of the General Assembly Mission Council urged Presbyterians to pray for all those affected by the disaster — victims and their families, aid workers, faith communities and leaders. “The magnitude of this kind of tragedy is difficult to grasp. Yet, our faith leads us to affirm that in even greater measure is the presence of God in the midst of the devastation,” states the call. See www.pcusa.org for details.

Reformed Church in America missionaries said, "Japan has just experienced the most significant earthquake in decades, some sources are saying the worst in 100 years," RCA missionaries Nathan and Nozomi Brownell said in an email to RCA Global Mission staff, "The worst hit area is Sendai City, the Miyagi Prefecuture and North Eastern coastal areas. The tsunami wave has been estimated at up to 7 meters (23 feet) high and reached up to 10 kilometers (6 miles) inland. There is significant damage and fatalities." See www.rca.org for developments.

United Methodist reporter Linda Bloom filed this story after the earthquake:

The Rev. Claudia Genung Yamamoto was having a late lunch with two church members in west Tokyo when the restaurant was shaken by the most powerful earthquake to strike Japan in at least a century.

As they rushed outside on what was a Friday afternoon in Tokyo, the earthquake stopped but the aftershocks began.

“The ground kept moving and the telephone lines were swaying, so we were afraid,” said Yamamoto, a United Methodist missionary and California native. “By this time, everyone had come out of the buildings to wait in the street. I told my members to keep praying, and I did the same.”

Hours later, Japan was struggling with the aftermath of a combined earthquake and tsunami that killed several hundred people, touched off dozens of fires and raised concerns about a possible radiation leak at a nuclear power plant. The impact was felt around the globe as tsunami alerts were posted in other countries.

United Methodists expressed concern and offered prayers for the people of Japan. The United Methodist Committee on Relief and Church World Service were consulting with partners in the region on emergency-relief needs. Seewww.umc.org for developments.

Most of the member communions of the National Council of Churches and Church World Service were assessing their best responses to the earthquake this weekend and will announce their plans as they develop.

---

Since its founding in 1950, the National Council of the Churches of Christ in the USA has been the leading force for shared ecumenical witness among Christians in the United States. The NCC's 37 member communions -- from a wide spectrum of Protestant, Anglican, Orthodox, Evangelical, historic African American and Living Peace churches -- include 45 million persons in more than 100,000 local congregations in communities across the nation.

Peter King Targets Muslims And Ignores White Supremacists

Peter King's anti-Muslim Congressional hearings get underway tomorrow just as news breaks that the bomb planted at an MLK march this January was allegedly left by someone with ties to white supremacists.  This begs the question:  Why is King - a man with terrorist ties of his own - only investigating Muslims and not violent extremism in general?

First, The Seattle Times reports:

A Stevens County man charged with the attempted bombing along the route of the Martin Luther King Jr. Day parade in Spokane has links to a neo-Nazi group, according to the Southern Poverty Law Center.

Kevin William Harpham, 36, was a member of the neo-Nazi National Alliance in late 2004, Mark Potok, director of the center's Intelligence Project, said following Harpham's arrest Wednesday.

The bomb was said to have been large enough to have caused mass casualties.  

As the Southern Poverty law Center notes, right-wing extremism and the threat of domestic terrorism (not from Muslims but from people who often self-identify as Christian) continues to grow in the United States. 

But we are ignoring that reality and focusing in only on Muslims even though the U.S. Department of Justice clearly has stated - despite Rep. King's claims - that U.S. Muslims are active partners in the fight against terrorism.  Religious bigotry is the fuel for these hearings.  

The Rev. Dr. Michael Kinnamon, general secretary of the National Council of Churches, said at a New York rally this weekend that:

In 2011, Americans are in danger of succumbing to a bigotry that will scar our generation in the same way that bigotry scarred those who came before us.

Three hundred years ago, Europeans came to these shores with a determination to conquer and settle at the expense of millions of indigenous peoples who were dismissed as sub-human—certainly not part of “us.”

One hundred fifty years ago, white Americans still subjugated black human beings to a cruel slavery that was justified with Bible prooftexts and a self-serving belief that Blacks are inferior—not part of “us.”

Seventy years ago, in a time of war and fearfulness, tens of thousands of Japanese-Americans were deprived of their property and forced into detention camps because surely persons of such ancestry aren’t part of “us.”

Today, we look back on these horrifying events with anguished remorse; and yet I wonder if we’ve learned anything from history. Today, millions of Muslim Americans are subjected to thoughtless generalizations, open discrimination, and outright hostility because of a tiny minority whose acts of violence deny the teachings of the Quran and are denounced by other Muslims! No matter what Rep. King may say, his hearings convey the implicit message that Muslims aren’t part of “us”—and to this sort of bigotry, all citizens of conscience must say NO! When the family portrait of this country is painted, Muslims should have, must have, an honored place in it.

One of our closest partners at the National Council of Churches is the Islamic Society of North America (ISNA). This past week, to take only one example, ISNA issued a statement condemning in the strongest possible language the murder of Shahbaz Bhatti, a Christian who was Pakistan’s Minister for Minorities. According to ISNA’s statement, Mr. Bhatti’s work for religious and civic tolerance is more in line with Quranic teachings than those Muslims who justify or engage in violence. To quote from the statement, “we believe strongly in the responsibility of Muslims to ensure the safety and dignity of religious minorities in Muslim majority countries,” and “convey our deepest condolences for the burning of churches and the murder of Christians over the past few months.”

As this indicates, Rep. King’s assertion that Muslims have not spoken out forcefully enough against extremism is simply wrong—indeed, it is slanderous. If he wants to investigate extremism, then do so—but do not target one entire religion!

As General Secretary of the National Council of Churches, I care deeply about US security and about the wellbeing of Christians in places where extremism is prevalent. But so do millions of Muslims across this country! In the same way, the churches of the NCC affirm that we must care about the wellbeing, the dignity, of Muslims in our midst. On behalf of the fifty million members of our churches, I declare as loudly as possible that whenever Muslims are threatened or demeaned, so are we—because “today we are Muslims, too”!

We all need to stand up against religious extremism, violence and bigotry wherever we might find it.  But we shouldn't allow a witch hunt against an entire religion.  It is un-American.

National Council Of Churches General Secretary To Speak At Times Square Rally Opposing Peter King Hearings On Islam

From the Nationl Council of Churches:

New York, March 4, 2010 -- the general secretary of the National Council of Churches will be among the religious leaders addressing a 2 p.m. rally in Times Square Sunday to protest Congressional hearings aimed at investigating Muslims in the United States.
 
The hearings are organized by Rep. Peter King (R-N.Y.), chair of the House Homeland Security committee. Critics say the hearings on Islam are reminiscent of McCarthyism and will tend to "demonize" Muslims.

The Rev. Dr. Michael Kinnamon, NCC general secretary, has been at the forefront of activities supporting the freedom of religion for all U.S. residents, including Muslims who have been targets of anti-Islam discrimination and open attacks for years, especially in the decade following the terror attacks of September 11, 2001.
 
Last year Kinnamon defended the building of the Cordoba Community Center and Mosque in downtown Manhattan, and helped organize an interfaith summit to protest a threat by a Florida church to burn the Quran.
 
In earlier statements, Kinnamon has strongly affirmed religious liberty and tolerance for all groups. "We are made richer and deeper in our Christian community by our relationship with Muslim and Jewish groups."
 
The March 6 rally, meeting under the banner, "I Am a Muslim, Too," is expected to be attended by more than 75 interfaith, nonprofit, governmental and civil liberties groups.

Full story.

Dr. Kinnamon was one of my professors at Eden Theological Seminary and I had the pleasure of working as his teaching assisant my final semester in 2005.

Rep. King's hearings to investigate Muslim Americans are the definition of un-American.  As I have said before, these hearings bring to mind the Salem witch trials and the McCarthy hearings, dark periods in this land.  We should never forgot the lessons of those experiences.  The U.S. House of Representatives should not be used as a venue for religious or political persecution.

"Budgets: Can’t cut moral responsibility to save lives, say faith leaders"

Press Release from Church World Service

WASHINGTON./NEW YORK--As the Senate moves towards compromise on massive cuts as outlined in House bill H.R. 1, humanitarian agency Church World Service and leading faith groups say that, even as lawmakers address current financial challenges, the United States has a moral responsibility to maintain the nation’s capacity to save lives in the United States and internationally.

In letters sent yesterday and today to members of Congress, CWS and other religious leaders are raising their voices "against the proposed deep cuts in FY2011 discretionary domestic and poverty-focused foreign aid spending."

In a Monday letter to the Senate, Church World Service Executive Director and CEO John L. McCullough urged lawmakers to oppose the House cuts for fiscal year 2011 and enact funding for global disaster assistance and poverty-focused development assistance "at least at the level of the President’s request." Such programs are "less than one percent of the U.S. budget," McCullough noted, and cutting them will "not help solve the nation’s fiscal problems," but instead will "harm American long-term interests."

The House bill represents "a devastating blow for millions of children and adults struggling to overcome hunger and poverty and to rebuild from crises," McCullough added.

CWS, faith coalition entreat Congress today 

The faith coalition reminded lawmakers that "unchecked increases in military spending combined with vast tax cuts helped create our country’s financial difficulties and restoring financial soundness requires addressing these root imbalances."

The religious leaders say discretionary programs that serve the poor and vulnerable "are a very small percentage of the budget, and they are not the drivers of the deficits. Cutting discretionary programs will devastate those living in poverty at home and around the world, cost jobs, and in the long run will harm, not help, our fiscal situation."

"While ‘shared sacrifice’ can be an appropriate banner, those who would be devastated by these cuts have nothing left to sacrifice," they said.

McCullough’s caution to the Senate on Monday reflected the vantage point of a humanitarian agency that daily works with hunger, poverty and people displaced by conflicts and climate migration. He said cuts to bilateral and multilateral programs for clean technology, disaster risk reduction and adaptation funding for communities suffering climate change impacts "will cost us much more in the future when the U.S. may be required to respond to once-preventable disasters threatening to destabilize vulnerable countries."

CWS states that only minimal savings would result from H.R. 1’s proposed 67 percent cut in International Disaster Assistance (IDA) and the proposed 45 percent cut in Migration and Refugee Assistance (MRA).

"These are not worth the loss of life, human suffering and destabilizing impact of discontinuing programs that provide emergency health, safe shelter, and clean water for millions of survivors of conflicts, human rights abuses and natural disasters," said McCullough.

CWS similarly urges that the Office of Refugee Resettlement budget, stagnant for decades, should not be additionally cut, to prevent additional burdens on already-strapped state and local governments to assist refugees.

CWS and McCullough also urge preserving a level of funding as outlined by President Obama’s FY2011 request for "sustainable, life-saving global agriculture, nutrition and food aid programs [CR1]."

Leaders of U.S. churches who signed today’s letter to Congress along with CWS’s McCullough include:

Rev. Donald H. Ashmall, Council Minister, International Council of Community Churches; Dr. Carroll A. Baltimore, Sr., President, Progressive National Baptist Convention, Inc.; Rev. Geoffrey A. Black, General Minister and President, United Church of Christ; Bishop Larry M. Goodpaster, President, Council of Bishops, The United Methodist Church; Rev. Mark S. Hanson, Presiding Bishop, Evangelical Lutheran Church in America; Rev. M. Linda Jaramillo, Executive Minister, United Church of Christ Justice and Witness Ministries; The Most Reverend Katharine Jefferts Schori, Presiding Bishop and Primate, The Episcopal Church; Rev. Dr. Michael Kinnamon, General Secretary, National Council of Churches USA; Arthur M. Larrabee, General Secretary, Philadelphia Yearly Meeting of the Religious Society of Friends; Bishop Chuck Leigh, President, Apostolic Catholic Church; Roy Medley, General Secretary, American Baptist Churches USA; Stanley J. Noffsinger, General Secretary, Church of the Brethren; Gradye Parsons, Stated Clerk of the General Assembly, Presbyterian Church USA; Stephen M. Veazey, President, Community of Christ; and Dr. Sharon E. Watkins, General Minister and President, Christian Church (Disciples of Christ) in the United States and Canada.

Related CWS Action Alert: Tell Congress not to cut humanitarian foreign aid

What I Told KPOJ About The GOP's Proposed Budget Cuts

This morning I was on KPOJ talking about the GOP's budget proposal in the U.S. House and my op-ed this week in The Huffington Post regarding the proposed cuts.  You can download the podcast below:

Download 2-23-11 hr 2 POJ-cast

(some browsers - like Firefox or Google Chrome - will allow you to simply click on the link and listen...otherwise click with the RIGHT mouse button on the hyperlink and choose “Save Target As” and save to your desktop or other folder – once downloaded click on the file to listen).

Now On ITunes

You can now subscribe to my podcasts on ITunes by clicking here. 

God Not Guns: Tucson Argues For Gun Limits To Reduce Violence

In the aftermath of the Tucson shooting earlier this month, The Rev. Dr. Susan Thistlethwaite wrote:

... responsible religious leaders need to speak out and say, without equivocation, that God and guns don't mix. When one of the disciples uses a weapon to defend Jesus from arrest, Jesus rebukes the disciple. God's own son warns us about what happens to those who live by weapons. What happens is they die by weapons."

Newsweek is reporting that President Obama will soon offer Congress new gun control proposals. The last two years has seen little evidence of a willingness on the part of the White House to delve into this politically charged topic - much to the frustration of Mayor Michael Bloomberg.

The New York City Mayor, along with family members of The Rev. Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr. and U.S. Senator Robert Kennedy, recently called for a new push for gun control in an "Open Letter" to the president and Congress:

Forty-three years ago, following the shootings of Martin Luther King, Jr. and Senator Robert F. Kennedy, Congress passed a law to prevent dangerous people from possessing guns. The 1968 law bars felons, the mentally ill, drug abusers, and other dangerous people under federal law from possessing guns.

In 1993, Congress passed the Brady Bill, named for President Reagan's press secretary James Brady, who had been critically wounded in the assassination attempt on President Reagan. The Brady Bill created a system of background checks that helped to make real the purpose of the 1968 law.

But in the wake of the tragic shooting in Tucson, it is clear that the system is flawed and too many dangerous people are still able to buy guns. In Tucson and at Virginia Tech, the killers should have been barred from buying guns, but their records were not in the background check database as they should have been. At Columbine High School, the shooters went around the system by getting their guns through a purchase from an unlicensed seller at a gun show.

Altogether, in the years since 1968, 400,000 Americans have been murdered with guns. That's 34 Americans each and every day.

Specially, U.S. mayors are calling for fixes that would:  

• Ensure the names of all the people who should be prohibited from buying a gun are in the system
• Close the loopholes in the background check system by requiring a background check for every gun sale

Richard Land, president of the Ethics & Religious Liberty Commission of the Southern Baptist Convention, quickly re-affirmed after the Tucson tragedy the long-held Southern Baptist position of opposition to gun control:

"Gun control would not solve this problem...People who are crazy and intent on criminal activity will get guns. When you have gun control, the problem is that the only people who have guns are the crazy people and the outlaws. Guns are not the problem. Human beings with criminal intent are the problem."

What Land fails to note is that there was a 66% decline in assault weapon use after the 1994 passage of the Federal Assault Weapons Act.

For Christians debating this issue, are there theological principles that can be drawn from to inform the discussion? Ending Gun Violence: A Resolution and Call to Action by the National Council of Churches of Christ, U.S.A. offers a sound theological rational for supporting gun control efforts:

When thinking about the problem of violence, Christian faith is both "idealistic" and "realistic." On the one hand, there is a stream within the Christian tradition that counsels non-violence in all circumstances. A seminal text is the Sermon on the Mount, found in Matthew's gospel, where Jesus instructs his followers to bear violence rather than inflict it.

"You have heard that it was said, 'An eye for an eye and a tooth for a tooth.' But I say to you, Do not resist an evildoer. But if anyone strikes you on the right cheek, turn the other also.... You have heard that it was said, 'You shall love your neighbor and hate your enemy.' But I say to you, Love your enemies and pray for those who persecute you . . . (Matt. 5: 38-39, 43-44).

It is difficult to imagine that the One whose own Passion models the redemptive power of non-violence would look favorably on the violence of contemporary U.S. society. Present-day violence is made far worse than it otherwise would be by the prevalence of weapons on our streets. This stream of the Christian tradition insists that it is idolatry to trust in guns to make us secure, since that usually leads to mutual escalation while distracting us from the One whose love alone gives us security.

On the other hand, Christians also know, from both experience and scripture, that all humans are sinful, capable of acting with hostile aggression toward their neighbors. This "realistic" view of human nature also argues for restricting access to guns which, in the wrong hands or without adequate supervision, can make violence ever more deadly. Christians can certainly contend that it is necessary for public authorities to take up arms in order to protect citizens from violence; but to allow assault weapons in the hands of the general public can scarcely be justified on Christian grounds. The stark reality is that such weapons end up taking more lives than they defend, and the reckless sale or use of these weapons refutes the gospel's prohibition against violence.

As a minister in the United Church of Christ, I've preached on this topic and know that in our pews there is debate and disagreement about the right course of action to reduce gun violence. The National Rifle Association has a powerful hold on the American political system. The question for people of faith is where we place our trust: with God or guns?

GOP House Votes To Repeal Health Reform As Religious Leaders Spoke Out In Support Of Reform

The GOP-controlled U.S. House of Representatives voted today to repeal the historic health care reforms passed by the last Congress and signed into law by President Obama.  The repeal has no chance in the U.S Senate and even if it did President Obama has said he would veto the bill.

This was just a day about politics as usual in Congress but it also tells us something about the values of those now leading the House.  As my friend U.S. Rep. Earl Blumenauer noted today, repeal would mean:

• Children with pre-existing conditions will again be denied coverage and families will again have devastating annual and lifetime caps;
• Middle class Americans will lose the tax breaks that help millions of families and small businesses pay for coverage.
• Seniors will see their prescription drug costs rise again when the donut hole is reinstated.
• The federal deficit will increase by $230 billion over the next ten years and by more than $1.2 trillion in the following decade
• And the Republican proposal would simply give everyone under 55 a voucher and involve them in a serious experiment in personal sacrifice by arbitrarily cutting the value of care without any regard to quality or cost increases

Thankfully, the Senate and the White House are there as a firewall to stop ideas like this from advancing.  Leaders from America's faith community - like the National Council of Churches - fought hard for passage of healthcare reform and spoke out strongly against the repeal vote held today.  

"National Council of Churches communions ask that poverty be remembered in State of the Union"

Press Statement from the National Council of Churches

New York, January 17, 2011 -- Heads of National Council of Churches member communions and NCC staff leaders used the Martin Luther King, Jr. birthday weekend to urge President Obama to use his January 25 State of the Union message to reassert his dramatic campaign pledge to "cut poverty in half" in the next ten years.

In an open letter to Mr. Obama, the NCC staff and communion leaders said, "There is no greater concern among the churches of Christ than for those in this nation who live in poverty. This could hardly be otherwise because Jesus himself lived among the poor: loving them, eating and drinking with them, healing them, and speaking words of justice and assurance that God's own love for the poor is unsurpassed."

The Rev. Michael Livingston, who directs the NCC's poverty program, said it was appropriate to send the message to the President as the nation observed Dr. King's 82nd birthday.

"Martin Luther King, Jr. was the prophet who inspired all of us to work for justice and to end poverty," Livingston said. "We know the President shares our views, and we want him to know we are behind him as he takes up this challenge."

Despite hopeful signs that the recession is abating, the letter told the President, "there are millions in our nation who live in the profoundest poverty -- persons unable to find work to sustain themselves or their families, children and elderly who go to bed hungry each night, persons who have lost homes and the comfort of safe places to lay their heads -- persons who for the most part have been hidden from the national view," the letter said.

These persons "have neither a political power block nor an influential constituency that makes it worthwhile for politicians to notice them. The only real political advocate they have, as Harry Truman said, is the President of the United States."

During the 2008 campaign, then Senator Obama said on more than one occasion that he would commit his presidency to the goal of cutting poverty in half in the next decade. "I absolutely will make that commitment," Mr. Obama said in a forum in Grantham, Pa., in April 2008.

"Understand that when I make that commitment, I do so with great humility because it is a very ambitious goal. And we're going to have to mobilize our society not just to cut poverty, but to prevent more people from slipping into poverty."

The ecumenical leaders said in their letter to the President: "We who lead the member communions of the National Council of Churches believe it is time for you to renew the pledge you made in the campaign to cut poverty in half in the next decade ... Mr. President, we urge you to renew this pledge like a clarion call in the 2011 State of the Union Message."

As the President takes this step, the letter said, "be assured that we stand with you and that you have the support and prayers of all 37 member communions of the National Council of Churches.

The full text of the letter follows:

January 17, 2011

The President
The White House
Washington, DC

Dear Mr. President

     "I absolutely will make that commitment (to cut poverty in half in ten years) ...Understand that when I make that commitment, I do so with great humility because it is a very ambitious goal. And we're going to have to mobilize our society not just to cut poverty, but to prevent more people from slipping into poverty ..." (Barack Obama, Democratic Candidates Compassion Forum, Grantham, Pa., April 13, 2008).

     (Cutting poverty in half) "is a goal that I will set as president of the United States of America." (Barack Obama, speech, Grand Rapids, Mich., May 14, 2008).

All of us -- the heads of member communions of the National Council of Churches -- listened to your historic words with hope.

There is no greater concern among the churches of Christ than for those in this nation who live in poverty. This could hardly be otherwise because Jesus himself lived among the poor: loving them, eating and drinking with them, healing them, and speaking words of justice and assurance that God's own love for the poor is unsurpassed.

Mr. President, the recession that reached its nadir in 2008 continues to have a profound effect on all of us. There are millions in our nation who live in the profoundest poverty -- persons unable to find work to sustain themselves or their families, children and elderly who go to bed hungry each night, persons who have lost homes and the comfort of safe places to lay their heads -- who have for the most part been hidden from national view. They have neither a political power block nor an influential constituency that makes it worthwhile for politicians to notice them. The only real political advocate they have, as Harry Truman said, is the President of the United States.

As we see hopeful signs that the recession may be abating, we know that millions in our nation will continue to live in poverty and hopelessness unless immediate and decisive action is taken to help them.

We who lead the member communions of the National Council of Churches believe it is time for you to renew the pledge you made during the campaign to cut poverty in half in the next decade. We ask that you use the influence of your office to assure those living in poverty that this nation has not forgotten 
them.

Mr. President, we urge you to renew this pledge like a clarion call in the 2011 State of the Union Message.

As you have noted, this is a very ambitious goal and there are far too many politicians in this nation who might not take the risk or pursuing it without the strong advocacy of the President. But as you renew this commitment, be assured that we stand with you and that you have the support and prayers of all 37 member communions of the National Council of Churches.

Grace to you, and peace,

Bishop John F. White, Ecumenical Officer, African Methodist Episcopal Church

The Rev. Dr. A. Roy Medley, General Secretary, American Baptist Churches USA

Bishop Charles Leigh, Apostolic Catholic Church

H.G. Bishop Serapion, Coptic Orthodox Diocese of Los Angeles, Southern California and Hawaii

The Rev. Dr. Sharon Watkins, General Minister and President, Christian Church (Disciples of Christ)

Bishop Thomas L. Hoyt, Jr., Christian Methodist Episcopal Church

Bishop Ronald M. Cunningham, Christian Methodist Episcopal Church

Mr. Stanley Noffsinger, General Secretary, Church of the Brethren

The Most Rev. Katharine Jefferts Schori, Presiding Bishop, the Episcopal Church

The Rev. Mark S. Hanson, Presiding Bishop, Evangelical Lutheran Church in America

The Rev. Dr. Betsy Miller, President, Moravian Church (Northern Province)

The Rev. Canon Peg Chemberlin, President, National Council of Churches

The Rev. Dr. Michael Kinnamon, General Secretary, National Council of Churches

The Rev. Michael Livingston, Director, Poverty Initiative, National Council of Churches

The Rev. Gradye Parsons, Stated Clerk, Presbyterian Church (USA)

Rev. Walter L. Parrish III, General Secretary, Progressive National Baptist Convention, Inc.

The Rev. Dr. Wesley Granberg-Michaelson, General Secretary, Reformed Church in America

The Rev. Ken Turley, President, General Convention of the New Jerusalem (Swedenborgian)

H.E. Metropolitan Mor Cyril Aphrem Karim, Syriac Orthodox Church of Antioch, Archdiocese of the Eastern U.S.

The Rev. Geoffrey A, Black, General Minister and President, United Church of Christ

Bishop Larry M. Goodpaster, President, Council of Bishops, United Methodist Church

Bishop Sharon Zimmerman Rader, Ecumenical Officer for the Council of Bishops, United Methodist Church

Related Link:  Honor Dr. King With Message to President Obama About Poverty

Related Link:  Letter to President Obama regarding poverty in the United States.

Tucson Victim Threatens Tea Party Member: A Sad Postscript

One of the victims of the Tucson shootings was arrested tonight after making verbal threats against a Tea Party member.  J. Eric Fuller has been taken to a facility for a mental health evaluation, reports The New York Times.  You can imagine the anguish this U.S. veteran feels after being shot last weekend in the back and knee.  Trauma victims often live with on-going mental health issues long after events such as the Tucson shootings.  We should keep Mr. Fuller in our prayers, as we continue to pray for reconciliation and an end to violence. 

In the meantime, it should be noted that earlier today The Rev. Dr. Michael Kinnamon renewed his call for an end to gun violence in America:

On the eve of the Week of Prayer for Christian Unity, the general secretary of the National Council of Churches has called on individual NCC governing board members, communion heads and other representatives to let their political officials know they oppose the easy availability of fire arms.

"I strongly urge you to write your own congressional delegates and state governor, letting them know that you, too, are the NCC -- and that together we say an emphatic 'No!' to laws that allow assault weapons and handguns with oversize magazines to be readily available on our city streets," Kinnamon wrote today in a letter to NCC representatives.

Kinnamon said his message comes "in the aftermath of the tragic shooting in Tucson, an event which I am sure we have all named in our personal times of prayer."

A surge of voices from national, state and local bodies will remind political leaders of the scope of the NCC's partnerships, Kinnamon noted. "When we send letters from the NCC office to Congress and/or the Administration, they are too often dismissed as the message of a single organization instead of the collective witness of a community of communions," Kinnamon wrote.

Kinnamon noted that the NCC Governing Board adopted a resolution against gun violence last May.

"Ending Gun Violence: A Resolution and Call to Action by the National Council of Churches," calls upon the NCC's member communions to "prayerfully, financially, and otherwise support the NCC staff in coordinating ecumenical efforts for gun violence reduction, including preparing educational materials about the magnitude of gun violence, developing avenues for dialogue among gun owners and gun control advocates within our congregations, and offering a faithful witness in cooperating with inter-faith and nonreligious anti-gun advocacy organizations."

The full text of the resolution can be downloaded at  http://www.ncccusa.org/NCCpolicies/gunviolence.pdf

Kinnamon wrote: "In addition to prayer and calls for civility, I believe this is also the moment to press our long-standing concern as a community of Christian communions for laws aimed at reducing gun violence in America.  It is not exploiting (Tucson) tragedy for followers of the Prince of Peace to say, 'Enough!'  Every serious study on the subject shows that easy access to guns is a menace to our nation's public health."

Kinnamon cited a column by Nicholas Kristof in the New York Times calling for regulations "to regulate guns as seriously as toys."

Visit Heading God's Call and the Brady Campaign to learn more about how your faith community can become involved in the work to end gun violence in America.

As we continue to reflect on both gun violence and the need for more civility in our political and religious lives, I want to offer again these two sermons on the topics:

A Sermon On 1 Corinthians 12:16-26: Unity In The Midst Of Division (A Post-Election Reflection)

God, Guns & American Violence: Turning Weapons Into Ploughshares

"50+ Prominent Faith Leaders to Congress: After AZ Shootings, Time for 'Soul Searching' about Toxic Rhetoric"

Faith In Public Life Press Release

In an open letter to Congress published today as a full-page advertisement in Roll Call newspaper, faith leaders are calling for national "soul searching" and praying for Members of Congress after Saturday's shooting spree in Arizona, which left six people dead and Congresswoman Gabrielle Giffords critically injured.

The open letter is signed by more than 50 prominent national religious leaders, including heads of evangelical, mainline Protestant, Catholic, Jewish, and Muslim denominations, congregations, and organizations. The signers urge Members of Congress to reject vitriolic and rancorous rhetoric and consider the consequences of their words, engaging political adversaries in a spirit of shared American values of civility and cooperation.

Signatories of the letter include megachurch pastors Bishop T.D. Jakes and Rev. Joel Hunter; Rev. Jim Wallis of Sojourners; Nathan J. Diament, the Director of Public Policy for the Union of Orthodox Jewish Congregations of America; and Rabbi David Saperstein of the Religious Action Center of Reform Judaism. Rev. Peg Chemberlin, President of the National Council of Churches and Rev. Michael Kinnamon, General Secretary of the National Council of Churches, which represents 45 million people and 100,000 congregations in the U.S., and Rev. Sam Rodriguez, president of the National Hispanic Christian Leadership Conference, which serves 15 million Hispanic Christians, also signed the letter. Arizona faith leaders, including Bishop Minerva Carcaño of Desert Southwest Conference of the United Methodist Church, Rev. Jan Olav Flaaten, Executive Director of the Arizona Ecumenical Council, and Rt. Rev. Kirk S. Smith, Bishop of the Episcopal Diocese of Arizona, also joined the letter.

The full letter with signatories is below:

Dear Members of Congress,

As Americans and members of the human family, we are grieved by the recent tragedy in Tucson, Arizona. As Christian, Muslim and Jewish leaders, we pray together for all those wounded, including Congresswoman Gabrielle Giffords as she fights for her life. Our hearts break for those lives lost and for the loved ones left behind. We also stand with you, our elected officials, as you continue to serve our nation while coping with the trauma of this senseless attack.

This tragedy has spurred a sorely needed time of soul searching and national public dialogue about violent and vitriolic political rhetoric. We strongly support this reflection, as we are deeply troubled that rancor, threats and incivility have become commonplace in our public debates.

We appreciate the sacrifices you make and risks you incur by accepting a call to public service, and we urge you to continue to serve as stewards of our democracy by engaging ideological adversaries not as enemies, but as fellow Americans.

In our communities and congregations, we pledge to foster an environment conducive to the important and difficult debates so crucial to American democracy. In our churches, mosques and synagogues, we come together not as members of a certain political ideology or party, but as children of God and citizens called to build a more perfect union. We pray that you do the same.

Naeem M. Baig
Executive Director
Islamic Circle of North America
Council for Social Justice

Dr. Carroll A. Baltimore, Sr.
President
Progressive National Baptist Convention, Inc.

The Rev. Geoffrey Black
General Minister and President
United Church of Christ

Bishop John R. Bryant
Senior Bishop
African Methodist Episcopal (AME) Church

Dr. Zahid H. Bukhari
President
Islamic Circle of North America

Rev. Jennifer Butler
Executive Director
Faith in Public Life

Simone Campbell, SSS
Executive Director
NETWORK, A National Catholic Social Justice Lobby

Bishop Minerva Carcaño
Desert Southwest Conference
United Methodist Church

The Rev. Canon Peg Chemberlin
President
National Council of Churches

Rev. Richard Cizik
President
New Evangelical Partnership for the Common Good

Nathan J. Diament
Director of Public Policy
Union of Orthodox Jewish Congregations of America

Faithful America

Rev. Jan Olav Flaaten
Executive Director
Arizona Ecumenical Council

Rev. Wesley Granberg-Michaelson
General Secretary
Reformed Church in America

Simon Greer
President and CEO
Jewish Funds for Justice

Dr. David P. Gushee
Board Chair
New Evangelical Partnership for the Common Good

Rabbi Steve Gutow
President and CEO
Jewish Council for Public Affairs

Rev. Dr. Derrick Harkins
Senior Pastor
Nineteenth Street Baptist Church
Washington, DC

The Rev. Dr. Katharine Rhodes Henderson
President
Auburn Seminary

The Rev. Anne S. Howard
Executive Director
The Beatitudes Society

James E. Hug, SJ
President
Center of Concern

Dr. Joel C. Hunter
Senior Pastor
Northland - A Church Distributed

Bishop T. D. Jakes
The Potter's House

Rev. Dr. Michael Kinnamon
General Secretary
National Council of Churches

Chris Korzen
Executive Director
Catholics United

Leadership Team of the Sisters of Mercy of the Americas
Eileen Campbell, RSM
Anne Curtis, RSM
Pat McDermott, RSM
Mary Waskowiak, RSM
Linda Werthman, RSM

Rabbi John A. Linder
Temple Solel
Paradise Valley, AZ

Marie Lucey, OSF
Associate Director for Social Mission
Leadership Conference of Women Religious

Rev. Steven D. Martin
Executive Director
New Evangelical Partnership for the Common Good

Brian McClaren
Author/Activist

T. Michael McNulty, SJ
Justice and Peace Director
Conference of Major Superiors of Men

Rev. Peter Morales
President
Unitarian Universalist Association

Bishop Paul Morton
International Presiding Bishop
Full Gospel Baptist Church Fellowship

Muslim Public Affairs Council

Stanley J. Noffsinger
General Secretary
Church of the Brethren

Dr. Walter L. Parrish III
General Secretary
Progressive National Baptist Convention

Rev. Gradye Parsons
Stated Clerk
Presbyterian Church (USA)

Nancy Ratzan
President
National Council of Jewish Women

Rev. Meg Riley
Board Chair
Faith in Public Life

Dave Robinson
Executive Director
Pax Christi USA

Rev. Samuel Rodriguez
President
National Hispanic Christian Leadership Conference

Rev. Gabriel Salguero
President
National Latino Evangelical Coalition

Rabbi David Saperstein
Director
Religious Action Center

Dr. William J. Shaw
Immediate Past President
National Baptist Convention USA, Inc.

Dr. T. DeWitt Smith, Jr.
Immediate Past President
Progressive National Baptist Convention

Rt. Rev. Kirk S. Smith
Bishop, Episcopal Diocese of Arizona

Dr. Sayyid M. Syeed
National Director, Office for Interfaith & Community Alliances
Islamic Society of North America

Rev. Dr. Stephen J. Thurston
President
National Baptist Convention of America, Inc., Intl.

Rev. Jim Wallis
President and CEO
Sojourners

Rev. Dr. Sharon E. Watkins
General Minister and President
Christian Church (Disciples of Christ)

Rev. Heyward Wiggins, III
PICO National Network
Camden Bible Tabernacle Church
Camden, NJ

Jim Winkler
General Secretary
United Methodist General Board of Church & Society



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National Council of Churches Renews Its Call For Control Of Guns and For Non Violent Discourse

NCC PRESS RELEASE

National Council of Churches renews its calls
for control of guns and for non-violent discourse

New York, January 10, 2010 -- Less than eight months after the National Council of Churches governing board called for action to end gun violence, a U.S. Congresswoman lay in critical condition after a 9 mm bullet passed through her brain, six people lay dead and 14 were recovering from wounds.

But the January 9 attack on Rep. Gabrielle Giffords and innocent bystanders in Tucson was only the most visible eruption of gun violence in the new year, said the Rev. Dr. Michael Kinnamon, NCC general secretary.

"Death and suffering from guns -- legally and illegally attained -- is virtually a daily occurrence in the cities and villages of this country," Kinnamon said. "This latest tragedy in Tucson is just the latest reason we should reexamine how guns are so easily attained
"Ending Gun Violence: A Resolution and Call to Action by the National Council of Churches," by is asking its members to add to note the number of rounds this weapon could hold. The organization has added to its Prevent Gun Violence Resolution a call for action to "decrease the firepower available to civilians by prohibiting high capacity ammunition magazines of more than 10 rounds."

Kinnamon also expressed concern that the nature of political debate in the U.S. "has become increasingly vitriolic with overtones of threats of violence. It may be free speech to use of words like 'targeting' to identify candidates whose political views differ from other individuals or groups," Kinnamon said. "But in the current climate they add nothing to political discourse and can be dangerous provocations."

Reports say Rep. Giffords, a Democrat, was occasionally the recipients of threats because of her support of national healthcare legislation and was "targeted" for defeat by her opponents in the recent campaign. The motivations of her accused assailant are unknown.
unanimously by the NCC Governing Board on May 2010, calls upon local, state and federal officials "to enact reforms that limit access to assault weapons and handguns, including the so-called federal 'gun show loophole,' which allows for the purchase of firearms from private sellers without submitting to a background check, or providing documentation of the purchase."

The resolution also calls upon the NCC's member communions to "prayerfully, financially, and otherwise support the NCC staff in coordinating ecumenical efforts for gun violence reduction, including preparing educational materials about the magnitude of gun violence, developing avenues for dialogue among gun owners and gun control advocates within our congregations, and offering a faithful witness in cooperating with inter-faith and nonreligious anti-gun advocacy organizations."

The full text of the resolution can be downloaded at http://www.ncccusa.org/NCCpolicies/gunviolence.pdf

In September 2009, alarmed by the intensity of angry and sometimes violent language coming out of public meetings on healthcare and other issues, the Governing Board called for "civility in public discourse."

"This clash of views demeans the dialogue and ultimately risks subverting the democratic process itself," the Governing Board said in the statement that passed without dissent. "Individuals cannot express their best hopes and acknowledge their deepest fears within a climate of intimidation and character assassination, and all too often this climate is the product of racism and xenophobia."

The message calls on churches, political leaders and persons of good will to reflect "on the ways we might restore dignity and civility to the national discourse."

Two prayer-hymns on gun violence by the Rev. Carolyn Winfrey Gillette, for use in worship, can be found at http://www.ncccusa.org/news/110110gillettehymnprayers.html

Since its founding in 1950, the National Council of the Churches of Christ in the USA has been the leading force for shared ecumenical witness among Christians in the United States. The NCC's 37 member communions -- from a wide spectrum of Protestant, Anglican, Orthodox, Evangelical, historic African American and Living Peace churches -- include 45 million persons in more than 100,000 local congregations in communities across the nation.

NCC News contact: Philip E. Jenks, 212-870-2228 (office), 646-853-4212 (cell), pjenks@ncccusa.org



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6 Dead, 18 Hurt By Anti-Government Activist In Attack On U.S. Rep. Gabrielle Giffords

The attack today on U.S. Rep. Gabrielle Giffords left 6 dead, including a nine year old girl, and 18 wounded.  The congresswoman, who had been reported killed by NPR and other media outlets, survived and is in ICU after being shot in the head.  U.S. District Judge John Roll is reported to be among the dead.  Both Rep. Giffords and Judge Roll have been the target of threats.

An anti-government activist is reported to have been the gunman, according to Slate.

The New York Times reports on threats to Rep. Giffords:

Last March, after the final approval of the Democrats’ health care law, which Ms. Giffords supported, the windows of her office in Tucson were broken or shot out in an act of vandalism. Similar acts were reported by other members of Congress, and several arrests were made, including that of a man who had threatened to kill Senator Patty Murray, Democrat of Washington.

And in August 2009, when there were demonstrations against the health care measure across the nation, a protester who showed up to meet Ms. Giffords at a supermarket event similar to Saturday’s was removed by the police when the pistol he had holstered under his armpit fell and bounced on the floor.

During the fall campaign, Sarah Palin, the former Republican vice-presidential candidate, posted a controversial map on her Facebook page depicting spots where Democrats were running for re-election; those Democrats were noted by crosshairs symbols like those seen through the scope of a gun. Ms. Giffords was among those on Ms. Palin’s map.

AZCentral.com is also reporting this afternoon that Judge Roll was the target of threats:

In 2009, he faced death threats over a $32 million civil-rights suit filed against an Arizona rancher by illegal immigrants.

At the time, Roll and U.S. Marshal's officials attributed the threats to hysteria from talk radio.

He and his wife were placed under federal protection for a month, a process he described as "unnerving and invasive."

Sources told The Republic that Roll was among the six killed Saturday at Arizona Congresswoman Gabrielle Giffords' event in Tucson.

Judge Roll was appointed to the bench by President George H.W. Bush in 1991.

In 2009, as the debate over health reform raged and town hall meetings deteriorated into near brawls, the National Council of Churches issued a statement urging civil discourse:

Individuals cannot express their best hopes and acknowledge their deepest fears within a climate of intimidation and character assassination, and all too often this climate is the product of racism and xenophobia.  Too much is at stake for the good of our society for us to continue down this dangerous path.  The essential nature of our national compact, to enfranchise the views of all, is imperiled in a hostile and suspicious environment. In this moment, then, we call the members of our churches, our political leaders, and all people of good will to somber reflection on the ways we might restore dignity and civility to our national discourse both as a matter of social ethics and to bolster the highest traditions of democratic process.

The prophet Isaiah (1:18) declares God’s message to the people to “Come let us reason together”. This injunction might serve us well in the present moment.  Reason, (yakah), in this passage does not refer to a dispassionate meeting of the minds but, rather calls for convincing, persuading and presenting a case for a point of view. Vigorous, principled debate advances our thinking and clarifies the challenges before us. Respect for neighbor strengthens the fabric of our communities.

Let us then, as a people, draw from our deepest traditions of faith and heritage to gain a renewed sense of community marked by honesty and mutual respect. Let our moments of rigorous debate be tempered with a profound sense of the dignity and worth of each person. Let us debate ideas on their merits and exercise restraint in expression of our own best conceptions. Such a disciplined dialogue holds great promise, honoring our differences and confirming our perception that we are a people joined in our mutual aspiration to live the lives for which we were created. 

Let us as member churches and brothers and sisters of other living faiths model the civility to which our sacred texts command.  Throughout its history, the conciliar ecumenical movement has provided a common venue for persons to express and debate differing viewpoints in an atmosphere of mutual respect. Let us make clear to ourselves and others those marks of civility that represent the best of our faiths and that can serve as foundational to rigorous, honest public discourse for the common good.

There is too much violence in our society today and politicians like Sarah Palin  and media figures like Glenn Beck seek with intention to fan those flames with full knowledge of what the consequences might be.  We do not know enough about the alleged gunman to say what set him off on this mass killing spree but we do know that rhetoric can provoke those who are unstable.  We need to tone down our politics, tone down our language, keep our political opponents off Palin-style "hit lists," and treat each other with respect and kindness even when we have profound disagreements over public policy or theology.  All Americans should pray today for an end to violence and for the families involved in this shooting.  

6:34 PM Update:  Pima County Sheriff Clarence W. Dupnik said this evening:

“The anger, the hatred, the bigotry that goes on in this country is getting to be outrageous. And unfortunately, I think Arizona has become sort of the capital, we have beome the Mecca for prejudice and bigotry...”  “There’s reason to believe that this individual might have a mental issue, and I think that people who are unbalanced might be especially susceptible to vitriol.”

In the meantime, the sheriff's office also announced that a search for a possible second suspect was underway.   

U.S. Senate Ratifies New START Treaty; Pact Strongly Backed By Religious Leaders

The New Start treaty was ratified by the U.S. Senate today with a strong bi-partisan vote despite the efforts of the GOP leadership to kill the arms control deal which allows the U.S. to monitor Russian nuclear stockpiles - keeping them out of the hands of terrorists and off the black market.

Ratification of the treaty is another victory for President Obama who signed the treaty with the Russian president and helped to led the fight for ratification in the senate.

Religious leaders - including the National Council of Churches - strongly supported the treaty and urged members of the senate to but partisanship behind them.  The Rev. Dr. Michael Kinnamon, general-secretary of the National Council of Churches, was critical of efforts to delay ratification:  "Peace is a major theme of the Advent season and celebration of Christmas.  The National Council of Churches looks forward to being able to celebrate ratification of this treaty to reduce nuclear stockpiles and improve verification.  Any delay would be contrary to our commitment to peace on earth.”

In the end, the vote was 71-26 in favor of the treaty.  Vice-President Biden presided over the vote in his role as Senate president.

Photo credit:  Official White House Photo by Pete Souza 

GOP Seeks To Kill New START Treaty Despite Calls From Religious Leaders

President Barack Obama, former President Bill Clinton, former President George H.W. Bush and the nation's military leaders have all endorsed New START, the arms control treaty being debated in the U.S. Senate.  The treaty allows the U.S. to keep watch over Russia's stockpile of nuclear weapons and thus reduces the chances that one might fall into the hands of a rouge state or terrorist group. 

"On behalf of Christians across this country, we strongly urge you to bring the treaty to a vote, and to support ratification of START," wrote The Rev. Dr. Michael Kinnamon, general secretary of the National Council of Churches, and The Rev. John L. McCullough, executive director of Church World Service, in a letter to members of the Senate.  The pair said it was vital the treaty not "be caught in the gridlock of Capitol Hill. Its ratification is too important for the future and security of the United States and the world."

But U.S. Senator Mitch McConnell, the Republican Senate leader, is waging a fight against the treaty.  McConnell, you'll recall, has said defeating President Obama's 2012 re-election is his #1 priority in the new Congress.  Republican Lindsay Graham of South Carolina, who in the past has said he might vote for the treaty, is now telling people he might vote against it out of anger that Don't Ask, Don't Tell was repealed.  Leaders of the minority party in the Senate are clearly putting politics before national - even world - security. 

75% of Americans support the treaty, according to a CNN poll.  Leith Anderson, president of the conservative National Association of Evangelicals (NAE), said earlier this month:  “As I travel around the country, I see ‘Support Our Troops’ signs everywhere. Despite political conflicts on many issues, our nation’s security has always been a unifying issue that draws Americans together across party lines...  I urge all Senators to set aside any partisan consideration and join their colleagues – both Republicans and Democrats – in swift action on the New START treaty.”  

Click here for information on how you can contact your Senate representatives.  Tell them to ratify the treaty. 

GOP Leaders Say Vote On Arms Control Treaty At Christmas "Sacrilegious."

As the National Council of Churches reports, two GOP senators are trying to use the upcoming Christmas holiday as an excuse not to consider the NEW Start II treaty this month:

Washington, December 15, 2010 -- With perhaps unintended irony, two U.S. senators have declared that Christmas is not the time to move toward peace by reducing the number of nuclear arms in the arsenals of the United States and Russia.

But the general secretary of the National Council of Churches and several heads of NCC member communions have sent the lawmakers a gentle reminder that the Prince of Peace is the reason for the season.

Senators Jim Demint (R-S.C.) and Jon Kyl (R-Ariz.) have both declared their intention to delay ratification of the Strategic Arms Reduction Treaty (New START II) during the lame duck session of Congress. Observers suspect the senators may be taking the stand for partisan reasons, but each has declared that Christmas is not the time to support arms reduction.

"You can't jam a major arms control treaty right before Christmas," Demint said in an interview with Politico, calling the whole thing "sacrilegious."

"What's going on here is just wrong," Demint said. "This is the most sacred holiday for Christians. They did the same thing last year - they kept everybody here until (Christmas Eve) to force something down everybody's throat. I think Americans are sick of this."

Earlier,  Kyl complained that efforts by Senate Majority Leader Harry Reid (D-Nev) to get the Senate to ratify START II as well as pass other legislation was too much at Christmas time.

"It is impossible to do all of the things that the majority leader laid out, frankly, without disrespecting the institution and without disrespecting one of the two holiest of holidays for Christians and the families of all the Senate, not just the senators themselves but all of the staff," insisted Kyl.

But Kinnamon sent the senators a peaceful admonishment that they have overlooked the true spirit of Christmas.

"If anything this time of year should be an encouragement for our leaders to work harder for peace on earth in response to God who wills peace for all," Kinnamon said. "Peace is major theme of the Advent season and celebration of Christmas.  The National Council of Churches looks forward to being able to celebrate ratification of this treaty to reduce nuclear stockpiles and improve verification.  Any delay would be contrary to our commitment to peace on earth."
        
Last month the general assembly of the NCC and Church World Service, meeting as a Centennial Ecumenical Gathering in New Orleans, unanimously adopted a call to ratify the treaty. Kinnamon and CWS executive director and CEO, the Rev. John L. McCullough, sent copies of the statement to U.S. senators. See www.ncccusa.org/news/101118starttreaty.html

Meeting today with the heads of several NCC member communions, Kinnamon said several other leaders endorsed the call to senators to recognize that the Christmas season is indeed the appropriate time to support measures for peace.

The leaders include the Rev. Dr. Wesley Granberg-Michaelson, general secretary, Reformed Church in America; Bishop Serapion of the Coptic Orthodox Church in North America; the Rev. Michael Livingston, representing the International Council of Community Churches; the Rev. Dr. Betsy Miller, president of the Moravian Church Northern Province Provincial Elders' Conference; Stan Noffsinger, general secretary of the Church of the Brethren; Presiding Bishop Mark S. Hanson of the Evangelical Lutheran Church in America; the Rev. Gradye Parsons, stated clerk of the Presbyterian Church (USA); Presiding Bishop Katharine Jefferts Schori of the Episcopal Church; and Dick Hamm, executive director of Christian Churches Together.

Kinnamon and the heads of communion also reminded the Senate that the theme of peace at Christmas time is unmistakable in scripture.

The song of the angels on the night Christ was born makes it clear that the word on high is "Peace on Earth," Bishop Serapion said, citing Luke 2:14.

The Prophet Isaiah declares the coming of a messiah called, "Wonderful Counselor, Mighty God, Everlasting Father, Prince of Peace." (Isaiah 9:6)

"In this advent season we anticipate the birth of the Prince of Peace and hear the good news to 'fear not,'" said Noffsinger. "The theme of 'fear not' calls us to a world freed from these weapons that are based on the response of fear."  

Since its founding in 1950, the National Council of the Churches of Christ in the USA has been the leading force for ecumenical cooperation among Christians in the United States. The NCC's 37 member faith groups -- from a wide spectrum of Protestant, Anglican, Orthodox, Evangelical, historic African American and Living Peace churches -- include 45 million persons in more than 100,000 local congregations in communities across the nation. 

Tell the Senate to ratify the treaty now.  Click here for additional information on how you can contact your Senators. 

Congress Approves Church-Backed Child Hunger Bill Despite Opposition From Sarah Palin, Greg Walden

It is good news that Congress passed the Child Nutrition Reauthorization Act - legislation backed by many church groups - despite the opposition of figures such as Sarah Palin.  It is disappointing, however, that Oregon's Greg Walden sided with Palin and voted against providing food for hungry kids.  But since Walden is also taking the lead in blocking employment uninsurance assistance for millions of workers this holiday season while backing tax cuts for the wealthiest Americans it is no surprise.    

Religious Leaders Support Extension Of Unemployment Benefits; GOP Fails Moral Test

 "Woe to him who builds his house on unrighteousness, and his upper room by injustice, who makes his neighbors work for nothing, and does not give them their wages." (Jeremiah 22:13)

This afternoon I joined a conference call with officials at the White House to talk about the elimination of unemployment insurance  - which expires today because of GOP obstructionism in Congress.  Over 2 million people will lose benefits in December (7 million over the next year).  GOP leaders are insisting on extending $700 billion in tax cuts for the wealthiest Americans as the unemployed lose their only source of income during the holiday season.

President Obama has opposed the extension of the Bush tax cuts and insisted that unemployment insurance and middle class tax cuts stay in place.  The wealthiest Americans don't need tax cuts as the government's deficit explodes and we pay for two wars.    

Religious leaders across the country have called for an extension of the unemployment benefits.

In a related matter, the National Council of Churches and other Christian bodies released a statement this fall that read in part:

As people of faith, we often talk about the federal budget being a moral document because where we choose to commit our resources demonstrates our values. Our nation’s tax policy functions in much the same way. Paying taxes to enable government to provide for the needs of the common good is an appropriate expression of our stewardship in society. Every year, billions of dollars are generated in tax revenue that are then reinvested in ways that serve the public interest, like providing for our security and building our roads, bridges, and schools.

The tax system also creates financial incentives for individuals to act in ways that are thought to strengthen our social fabric, such as investing and saving for retirement, starting a business, owning a home, getting a college education--even charitable giving. Because of the way tax benefits are structured, however, too often low-wage workers do not earn enough to access those benefits. This results in a system that perpetuates inequality by rewarding behavior that generates financial security for those who already have it, while excluding those who are working hard at low-wage jobs and need help the most. An equitable, moral tax code should reward the efforts of low-income people to work and save at every level.

Leaving unemployed Americans without financial support will clearly increase poverty and homelessness in America.  Every great economic question is in reality a great moral question, once said William Jennings Bryan.  Those that oppose extending benefits today are failing a moral test of leadership that will hurt families in very real ways.  Click here to send a message to Congress supporting the extension on unemployment benefits.

President Obama would help set the tone for a larger debate if - as he promised during the 2008 election - he would set a goal of reducing poverty by 50% within ten years.  The president needs to be pro-active on these issues and not just reactive.  His stimulus plan saved millions more from falling into poverty, according to the Center on Budget and Policy Priorities, but now we need the president to offer a road map for substantially decreasing poverty.

I've written the president a letter asking him to do just that and to use a major national venue - such as the 2011 State of the Union Address - to outline his plans moving forward.  I hope readers here will contact the White House and both thank him for his leadership on these issues and encourage him to led a national effort to reduce poverty. 

"Churches ask House to pass child nutrition act"

Press Release from the National Council of Churches

Washington, November 29, 2010 -- Representatives of 19 Christian church bodies today called upon the U.S. House of Representatives to pass the Senate approved child nutrition bill.

"As leaders of faith communities, we see first-hand the suffering that food insecurity causes, particularly for families and children," said the letter addressed to House Democratic and Republican leaders and to all members of the House.

"Our children cannot wait any longer for improvements in nutrition programs.  We regard passage of Child Nutrition Reauthorization as essential to combating the poverty that is engulfing growing numbers of children in the United States.  One in five children in the United States now lives in poverty in our nation, the wealthiest nation in the world.  Our faith compels us to speak out and to act on behalf of "the least of these" (Matthew 25: 40)."

The leaders expressed disappointment in the Senate bill, S. 3307, because it had been "weakened by compromise." Even so, they said, "it is the best remaining hope for some relief for hungry children who face dim prospects for lives of abundance if their early years are compromised by childhood hunger."

House members were also implored not make additional cuts in the Supplemental Nutrition Assistance Program (SNAP), once known as Food Stamps.

Healthful child nutrition and food for families and individuals living in poverty are equal responsibilities in a society where resources are abundant and the common good is our aim. They are not competing objectives; rather they are worthy and complementary expressions of a national commitment to care for our neighbors.  We urge you to find ways to restore cuts to the SNAP program as earnestly as our religious convictions move us to press for your action to pass this bill for the benefit of our children."

The full text of the letter can be downloaded at www.ncccusa.org/pdfs/childnutritionletter.pdf.            

           
Since its founding in 1950, the National Council of the Churches of Christ in the USA has been the leading force for ecumenical cooperation among Christians in the United States. The NCC's 37 member faith groups -- from a wide spectrum of Protestant, Anglican, Orthodox, Evangelical, historic African American and Living Peace churches -- include 45 million persons in more than 100,000 local congregations in communities across the nation.

Fighting Poverty With Faith Mobilization Concludes with Capitol Hill Briefing

Press release from the National Council of Churches

Leaders representing a coalition of 52 national faith-based organizations join together to celebrate the nation’s largest interfaith anti-poverty effort  

November 22, 2010 WASHINGTON – As millions of Americans begin to prepare their Thanksgiving meals, faith leaders representing organizations from across the country convened on Capitol Hill this week to remind Congress and the Administration that there are many Americans who don’t know when their next meal may be and that there are reforms Congress and the Administration can implement today that will go a long way towards cutting poverty in half over the next ten years.  

As a conclusion to the Fighting Poverty with Faith mobilization, Rabbi Steve Gutow, Rev. Larry Snyder and Rev. Dr. Michael Kinnamon, the heads of the Jewish Council for Public Affairs, Catholic Charities USA, and National Council of the Churches respectively, met with members of Congress and staff, Administration officials, and coalition partners to discuss national efforts to reduce poverty.  Kevin Concannon, the Under Secretary of Agriculture for Food, Nutrition and Consumer Services; David Hansell, the Acting Assistant Secretary for the Administration for Children and Families in the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services; and Max Finberg, Director of USDA Center for Faith-Based and Neighborhood Partnerships also provided remarks.  

Fighting Poverty with Faith is a nationwide effort co-chaired by the Jewish Council for Public Affairs, Catholic Charities USA and the National Council of Churches. Now in its third year, Fighting Poverty with Faith includes 52 national faith-based organizations and mobilizes thousands of individuals across the country to take action to address poverty, making it the largest interfaith anti-poverty effort in the country.  The Fighting Poverty with Faith mobilization focuses attention on the causes of poverty, highlights strategies to reduce poverty, and aggressively seeks new economic opportunities for the nation’s most vulnerable.  

Rev. Dr. Michael Kinnamon, General Secretary of the National Council of Churches of Christ in the USA states, “At a time when the number of people in poverty is rising, when one in every five children lives below the poverty line, it is imperative for people of faith to speak up with even louder voice on behalf of the poor.  This effort is too large for any single church or religion, which is why the member communions of the National Council of Churches are so pleased to join with the Jewish Council on Public Affairs and Catholic Charities in Fighting Poverty with Faith.  As Andrew Young once said, ‘The existence of poverty in the 21st Century is the moral equivalent of slavery in the 19th Century.’  In this sense, Fighting Poverty with Faith is a test case of our religious convictions and commitment.”   

Rabbi Steve Gutow, president of the Jewish Council for Public Affairs, continues “As we sit down at our Thanksgiving Day tables with friends and family and give thanks for the bountiful food we will share, we must remember that there are millions of Americans who aren’t as fortunate and don’t know when their next meal will be.  The Fighting Poverty with Faith mobilization highlights our responsibility to our neighbors in need and encourages our nation’s leaders to address poverty issues head-on, providing lasting relief for those who need it the most.” 

Rev. Larry Snyder, president and CEO of Catholic Charities USA, adds “We must come together not only as organizations but as a nation and work harder to seriously reduce poverty in America.  To achieve that, we must develop fresh approaches providing long-term solutions so that individuals and families can move beyond safety net support and sustain a life of independence and dignity.  We have no choice but to meet this challenge head on.”  

This year’s Fighting Poverty with Faith mobilization was launched on October 5 with a national teleconference discussing the role of faith-based organizations in fighting poverty.  The teleconference featured Joshua DuBois, Executive Director of the White House Office of Faith-Based and Neighborhood Partnerships, and Martha Coven from the White House Domestic Policy Council.   

Among the numerous forums and events held across the country through October and November were a free community health fair staffed by Jewish and Muslim healthcare professionals in Detroit, a homeless resource fair in New York City, and a prayer vigil and community service day in Omaha.   

In Detroit, Muslim and Jewish healthcare professionals offered free health screenings to those who lack insurance but do not qualify for government-provided or other no- or low-cost health care programs. 

At the homeless resource fair in New York City, students from Yeshiva University, the New York University Hillel and the Columbia University Hillel volunteered to provide clothing, blankets and food to homeless individuals and families. The student volunteers listened to and recorded the participants’ stories about their lives and experiences being homeless, and these stories are being compiled into a journal the student volunteers will present to New York City and State elected officials as part of continuing efforts to inspire and enact reforms that help address New York City’s homeless population.  

In Omaha, members of the First Christian Church joined together with other Christian and interfaith partners to pray and learn about homelessness in their midst.  Community participants also volunteered with local agencies providing critical services to the homeless and underserved.  

The 2010 Fighting Poverty with Faith mobilization is endorsed by:  African Methodist Episcopal Church; Alliance of Baptists; Alliance to End Hunger; American Baptist Home Mission Societies; Apostolic Catholic Church; AVODAH: The Jewish Service Corps; BBYO, Inc.; Bread for the World; Catholic Charities USA; Center of Concern; Christian Church, Disciples of Christ; Church of the Brethren Global Partnerships; Diocese of the Armenian Church of America; Disciples Justice Action Network; The Episcopal Church; Evangelical Lutheran Church in America; Evangelicals for Social Action; Hazon; Hindu American Foundation; Hindu American Seva Charities; International Association of Jewish Vocational Services; International Council of Community Churches; Islamic Circle of North America; Islamic Relief USA; Islamic Society of North America; Jewish Council for Public Affairs; Jewish Funds for Justice; Jewish Labor Committee; Jewish Reconstructionist Federation; Jewish Women International; Lutheran Services in America; MAZON: A Jewish Response to Hunger; Metropolitan Community Churches; Moravian Church Northern Province; Muslim Public Affairs Council (MPAC); National Advocacy Center of the Sisters of the Good Shepherd; National Council of Churches of Christ in the USA; National Council of Jewish Women; NETWORK, A National Catholic Social Justice Lobby; Presbyterian Church (U.S.A) Office of Public Witness; Progressive National Baptist Convention; Repair the World; Sisters of Mercy of the Americas, Institute Justice Team; The Jewish Federations of North America; The New Evangelical Partnership for the Common Good; The Rabbinical Assembly; The Swedenborgian Church; Union for Reform Judaism; United Church of Christ, Justice and Witness Ministries; The United Methodist Church-General Board of Church and Society; Women of Reform Judaism; World Student Christian Federation – North America.

More information on this year’s Fighting Poverty with Faith mobilization, including a full list of events that took place across the country, can be found at www.fightingpovertywithfaith.com.

Faith Leaders Call For Immediate Ratification Of New START Treaty

The Senate must ratify the new START this year.  Delay endangers our national security and the security of the world.  The White House noted today:

This morning the President went to a meeting hosted by the Vice President to discuss the New START treaty and why it is in our clear national security interest that the Senate approve it this year.  The President said that "the key point here is this is not about politics, it’s about national security" -- and indeed the names on the attendee list spoke to the gravity of the issue and overwhelming support from America's foremost national security experts: Secretary of State Hillary Clinton; Chairman of the Senate Foreign Relations Committee Senator John Kerry; Senator Richard Lugar; former Secretaries of State Madeleine Albright, James Baker, and Henry Kissinger; former Secretaries of Defense William Cohen and William Perry; former National Security Advisor General Brent Scowcroft; Vice Chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff General James Cartwright; and Senator Sam Nunn.

President Obama told those gathered:

There is no higher national security priority for the lame duck session of Congress.  The stakes for American national security are clear, and they are high.  The New START treaty responsibly reduces the number of nuclear weapons and launchers that the United States and Russia deploy, while fully maintaining America’s nuclear deterrent.

If we ratify this treaty, we’re going to have a verification regime in place to track Russia’s strategic nuclear weapons, including U.S. inspectors on the ground.  If we don’t, then we don’t have a verification regime -– no inspectors, no insights into Russia’s strategic arsenal, no framework for cooperation between the world’s two nuclear superpowers.  As Ronald Reagan said, we have to trust, but we also have to verify.  In order for us to verify, we’ve got to have a treaty.

The New START treaty is also a cornerstone of our relations with Russia.  And this goes beyond nuclear security.  Russia has been fundamental to our efforts to put strong sanctions in place to put pressure on Iran to deal with its nuclear program.  It’s been critical in supporting our troops in Afghanistan through the Northern Distribution Network.  It’s been critical in working with us to secure all vulnerable nuclear materials around the world, and to enhance European security. 

We cannot afford to gamble on our ability to verify Russia’s strategic nuclear arms.  And we can’t jeopardize the progress that we’ve made in securing vulnerable nuclear materials, or in maintaining a strong sanctions regime against Iran.  These are all national interests of the highest order.

Bi-partisan leaders in Congress support the treaty.  The treaty also has supported from military leaders and past and present officials from the Reagan, Bush, Clinton, Bush and Obama administrations.  Public opinion is strongly behind the treaty.  

Faith leaders also support the treaty.  The leaders of the National Council of Churches and Church World Service issued an appeal today for the passage of the treaty:

New York, November 18, 2010 -- The staff leaders of the National Council of Churches and Church World Service have sent messages to U.S. senators urging the ratification this year of the Strategic Arms Reduction Treaty (START II) signed by President Obama and Russian President Dmitry Medvedev.

The message by the Rev. Dr. Michael Kinnamon, NCC general secretary, and the Rev. John L. McCullough, CWS executive director and CEO, comes at a time when ratification of the treaty is uncertain during the lame duck period before the 111th Congress adjourns.

Last week the general assembly of the NCC and CWS, meeting as a Centennial Ecumenical Gathering in New Orleans, unanimously adopted a call to ratify the treaty. Kinnamon and McCullough sent copies of the statement to U.S. senators.

The statement urging passage of the treaty was sent to Senator Harry Reid (D-Nev.), majority leader of the Senate, and to Senator Jon Kyl (R-Ariz.), minority whip, and all U.S. senators. Kyl has cast doubt on the timing of a vote on the treaty, saying senators needed more time to study its implications.

"This treaty is a vital step in moving the United States into greater partnership with the world as it turns away from nuclear weapons," said the letter from Kinnamon and McCullough, quoting the General Assembly resolution. “The United States as a whole has the chance to contribute to this global movement by shrinking the largest nuclear arsenal in the world.”

"This treaty is a vital step in moving the United States into greater partnership with the world as it turns away from nuclear weapons," said the letter from Kinnamon and McCullough, quoting the General Assembly resolution. “The United States as a whole has the chance to contribute to this global movement by shrinking the largest nuclear arsenal in the world.” 

This treaty "cannot be caught in the gridlock of Capitol Hill. Its ratification is too important for the future and security of the United States and the world. On behalf of Christians across this country, we strongly urge you to bring the treaty to a vote, and to support ratification of START," the letter said.

The Rev. Jan Olav Flaaten, executive director of the Arizona Ecumenical Council, joined in the letter to Mr. Kyl.

The General Assembly resolution declared the member communions and other groups are raising their collective voice to say to the U.S. Senate: "Approve the START II treaty without delay!"

"We add that, while START II is important, it is not enough," the delegates said. "We live in a time when the tide is turning worldwide in the direction of complete nuclear disarmament. More than half the world's nations now live in regions classified by the United Nations as Nuclear Weapon Free Zones, and many cities in the United States have declared themselves nuclear free zones as well. The United States as a whole has the chance to contribute to this global movement by shrinking the largest nuclear arsenal in the world  -- toward the goal of their total elimination."

The full text of the resolution can be downloaded at http://www.ncccusa.org/pdfs/SALTII.pdf.

The letter to U.S. senators can be downloaded at http://www.ncccusa.org/pdfs/STARTletterreid.pdf     

Please contact your members of the Senate immediately.  Tell them to continue the bi-partisan tradition of arms control.  Don't let political extremists derail this treaty and endanger the people of the United States and the world.  Click here for additional information on how can contact your Senators.

Catch Me 7:20 AM (Mon.) On @1190kex Re: Clergy Support For Gun Violence Prevention @NRAILA

Catch me at 7:20 at on 1190 KEX tomorrow (Monday) morning talking with Paul Linnman about why Portland clergy have offered both words of support and concern over proposed gun control ordinances to come before the Portland City Council this Thursday.  The Oregonian and The Portland Mercury have both published stories over the weekend about reaction from area clergy concerned about growing gun violence in our city.  The NRA has been urging their members to oppose these common sense proposals that would, among other things, establish a "child safety law that would hold adults responsible if their gun gets into a child's hands" and "a theft reporting law that would penalize gun owners who don't report the theft or loss of a firearm."  The National Council of Churches In Christ, which has backed gun control, noted earlier that year that it is "idolatry to trust in guns to make us secure, since that usually leads to mutual escalation while distracting us from the One whose love alone gives us security."