Read my October 10, 2004 Update on Sinclair's anti-Kerry show

Tonight some ABC stations across the nation will be airing a special edition of the program Nightline where anchor Ted Koppel will read the names and show photos of the over 700 Americans killed in Iraq. Unfortunately, ABC affiliates owned by Sinclair Broadcast Group will be unable to see the program. The owners of Sinclair Broadcast Group, who are top contributors and political backers of George W. Bush, have claimed that by focusing on the American casualties the program promotes an anti-war agenda. CNN reports that US Senator John McCain (R-Arizona) wrote Sinclair about the controversy. His letter read:

"Your decision to deny your viewers an opportunity to be reminded of war's terrible costs, in all their heartbreaking detail, is a gross disservice to the public, and to the men and women of the United States Armed Forces," McCain, a Vietnam veteran, wrote in a letter to David Smith, president and CEO of Sinclair Broadcast Group. "It is, in short, sir, unpatriotic. I hope it meets with the public opprobrium it most certainly deserves."

The St. Louis ABC affiliate is owned by Sinclair Broadcast Group – that means I won’t be allowed to see the program. But ABC’s web site does list all the names they’ll be reading along with some biographical information. You can find it here.

And you can e-mail your thoughts to Sinclair Broadcast Group at these addresses.

Sinclair CEO: [email protected]

VP of Programming and Promotions: [email protected]

Planned Parenthood Action Alert

On April 25, after the largest showing of support for reproductive rights in history, presidential adviser Karen Hughes invoked the memory of 9/11 and essentially equated pro-choice advocates to terrorists in her attempt to defend President George W. Bush's anti-choice policies.

BLITZER: Karen, how big of an issue will this abortion rights issue be in this campaign?

HUGHES: Well..I think after September 11th the American people are valuing life more and realizing that we need policies to value the dignity and worth of every life...particularly at a time when we're facing an enemy, and really the fundamental difference between us and the terror network we fight is that we value every life...
--Source: Karen Hughes, CNN Late Edition with Wolf Blitzer, April 25, 2004

Invoking 9/11 to defend this administration's policies regarding reproductive rights was an insensitive and divisive overreach. We are all Americans, and we are patriots, too. An apology is in order.

Click here to sign the petition, which will be hand delivered to Karen Hughes at her upcoming book tour.

My twin sisters, Heather and Jennifer, turn 31 today! Happy birthday! Above are a few photos of them at various stages of their lives.

CBS News ran a report last night with pictures of US forces torturing Iraqi prisoners. You can see those pictures and hear a report about the fall out on the BBC web site.

Update: The National Council of Churches USA has released a statement on this issue. Click here to read it.

The Rev. William Sloane Coffin is one of the founders of the Clergy Leadership Network. He was very kind to spend some time this afternoon on the telephone with me to discuss his views on the 2004 elections, the conflict in Iraq, and his views on what role churches should play on public policy issues.

Rev. Coffin just published his latest book, Credo, which is a great read. If you missed his recent interview with Bill Moyers it is available online here.

Rev. Coffin, how important is it to you that George W. Bush not serve a second term as President?

Since 9/11 he has squandered the solidarity we had with the people of the world. The French said on 9/11 that “we are all Americans.” Our wonderful relationship with so many nations has been squandered.

He has turned enormous profit and surplus in the United States into deficits and cutbacks for programs for the poor.

I can’t say he gets high marks on security because the effect of his policies is that terrorism has spread and not receded.

When he calls himself a Christian, I think he should remember that it was the devil who tempted Jesus with unparalleled wealth and power. What does that say about Bush’s dreams about wealth and power? He has reversed Biblical priorities by making our economic policies be about helping the wealthy to acquire more wealth while abandoning the poor.

How does the Iraq conflict compare with Vietnam?

Both were about deception.

In the first place, this is a very unilateral effort. Few support us in Iraq and that was true of Vietnam.

We had an overblown ideology of anti-communism in Vietnam that got us into trouble. Now we have an equally over simplified notion that we can bring democracy to Iraq.

We were misled into Vietnam with the Gulf of Tonkin resolution and of course we were lied to about going into Iraq on the basis of weapons of mass destruction and a connection to 9/11. No evidence of either exists. Iraq has been a combination of deception and self-deception on the part of the Bush Administration.

You’ve worked through Vietnam and two Gulf Wars, you’ve worked on an international scale to stop nuclear proliferation, and you’ve worked to expand civil rights for African-Americans and gays and lesbians. Do you have much hope for the future?

I think that hope reflects the state of our soul rather than the circumstances that surround our lives. So hope is not the equivalent of optimism. Its opposite is not pessimism but despair. So I’m always hopeful. Hope is about keeping the faith despite the evidence so that the evidence has a chance of changing.

As I wrote in my book Credo:

Hope criticizes what is, hopelessness rationalizes it. Hope resists, hopelessness adapts.

What is the most important role the church can play in this century? What issues should we be focusing on?

Live and let live….

We need to get beyond that to live and help live. In America, “We The People” is meaningless unless it really means all of us. In the world at large, people have made the world great for some and now it is time to make the world great for all.

Economic justice is a great big, fat issue that churches need to address. Charity is not the same as justice. Charity mitigates some of the horrors of injustice, but the Bible is far more interested in ending injustice.

The second issue for our churches is peace. It is stunning to realize that individuals and small groups will shortly have the means of using weapons of mass destruction. As far as terrorism goes, economic justice would certainly slow down the recruiting of terrorists. Several billion dollars should be taken off the military budget to wage real war on poverty. Our policies energize terrorists, help recruit more of them, and are totally self-destructive. Iraq has become Bush’s West Bank.

The two great Biblical mandates are peace and justice. They need to be at the top of our agenda as churches.

That’s asking a lot, but we have to ask a lot. The country is now in spiritual recession.

Make sure that you register and attend the Clergy Leadership Network’s National Gathering where you will be joined by other religious progressives working to address the “spiritual recession” Rev. Coffin is talking about.

US Rep. John Lewis (D-GA) may be under consideration for the vice-presidential slot under John Kerry, reports the Associated Press. Lewis joins a list of prospective candidates that includes Richard Gephardt and John Edwards.

Lewis would be an interesting choice. He is a hero of the civil rights movement and a well respected member of Congress. As an African-American, his spot on the ticket would be historic and energize Democrats. I could get pretty excited about a Kerry-Lewis ticket.

Please let it last.

The headline caught my attention:

“Course on feminist theology to be taught by Mary Kassian”

The name doesn’t actually mean anything to me. It was the fact that Southwestern Baptist Theological Seminary was the school where the course was being taught that made me stop and notice the article from Baptist Press News. Feminist theology at a Southern Baptist school? How progressive! I should have known better. The BP News story explains the reason behind the class:

“In order to combat the slippery slope created by the feminist movement, we must understand the arguments and perspectives presented by its supporters,” said Terri Stovall, assistant professor of adult education at Southwestern’s Fort Worth, Texas, campus. The feminist movement incorrectly advocates the feminism of God and holds to a unique interpretation of Scripture for women, Stovall said.

“Feminism has attacked our understanding of biblical manhood and womanhood,” Kassian said. “The struggle between men and women has intensified. Marriages, divorce rates, children, educational philosophy and sexuality have all been impacted by feminism. The foundational question of who am I as a woman or man has experienced a paradigm shift as a result of the feminist movement.”

Maybe they should have named the course anti-feminist theology. Well, at least we know none of the women taking the class will be wearing hats. That would be against the Gospel.

United Church of Christ Action Alert

Despite promises to Congress to keep the U.S. military out of Colombia's "quagmire," Bush Administration officials have proposed to increase the number of U.S. troops and private military contractors allowed in this war-torn country. The number is currently fixed at 800 (400 troops and 400 contractors), but the Administration has proposed nearly doubling the U.S. military presence in Colombia to 800 troops and 600 contractors.

These U.S. troops and private contractors will be sent to support Colombian armed forces in the aerial fumigation of illegal drug crops and to protect oil pipelines. The impact of this presence, however, may well be to escalate Colombia's internal conflict and to fan the flames of Colombia's brutal war. Authorization of a larger U.S. presence at this time will discourage reform by the Colombian military, which has a long history of collaboration with paramilitary forces in human rights abuses -- particularly against union members, religious leaders, human rights and peace workers, and innocent Colombian civilians caught in the crossfire.

Log onto http://www.ucctakeaction.org/ctt.asp?u=6223&l=31401 to send a clear message to Congress to force a floor debate on Colombia and to oppose any increase in U.S. military or contract personnel on the ground in Colombia when Congress considers the FY2005 Defense Authorization Bill, likely in late May or early June. Ask Congress to shift U.S. assistance to social and economic development, strengthening democracy, and protecting human rights defenders.

*******

Now take a minute today to sign the National Petition on Colombia. You can read and sign the petition at http://www.ucctakeaction.org/ctt.asp?u=6223&l=31399. The petition is addressed to presidential hopeful John Kerry, who needs public pressure to re-think his stand on U.S. policy and aid to Colombia's military, and to clarify his policy stand on humanitarian and economic aid, as well as his policy position on drug treatment and prevention in the U.S. The goal is to deliver 50,000 signatures to members of Congress at the end of May, as they begin debate over Colombia's aid package for next year, and to deliver the petition to John Kerry the end of August.

The Beaverton-Tigard Chapter of the Full Gospel Businessmen's Fellowship & Concerned Citizens has canceled their “Mayor’s Prayer Breakfast” after their decision to exclude a Muslim leader resulted in most of Washington County’s mayors pulling out. The Oregonian recaps the story that I also mentioned yesterday:

BEAVERTON -- Organizers canceled a planned prayer breakfast Tuesday after learning that most of Washington County's mayors and one of two main speakers wouldn't attend the May 5 event because a Muslim leader was excluded from participating.

Uniting the community's pastoral, political and business people in prayer had been the purpose of the Mayors' Prayer Breakfast of Washington County, he said. Without the host -- Beaverton Mayor Rob Drake -- and other mayors, he said, that couldn't happen.

Shahriar Ahmed, president of the Bilal Mosque Association in Beaverton, along with Rabbi David Rosenberg of Portland, had been invited to the otherwise Christian breakfast at Drake's request.

Ahmed had been scheduled to give the breakfast's closing prayer from the dais before the fellowship informed him he couldn't.

The fellowship apologized to Drake for placing him in an awkward position that caused him to withdraw as host and also to the Muslim community for any offense "taken to remarks related" to the breakfast. The apologies came in a news release.

Drake told fellowship members late last week he would not attend because they had withdrawn their invitation to Ahmed. Rosenberg also decided not to attend. And several other county mayors and Tom Brian, chairman of the county's Board of Commissioners, quickly followed Drake's lead.

A fellowship spokesman, Peter Reding, had said the invitation was withdrawn by the steering committee because Muslims pray to a God they call Allah and they aren't part of the fellowship's "Judeo-Christian tradition."

Religious representatives including Muslims criticized the reasoning, saying tenets of the Muslim faith intertwine historically with those of Christianity and Judaism.

Drake said Tuesday he had received about 600 e-mail and other responses at City Hall about his decision to skip the breakfast. "And you can count on two hands the negative comments," he said.

"I appreciate the community's outpouring of support for diversity, tolerance and understanding," Drake said after learning the breakfast was canceled.

Meanwhile, the fellowship's Dancer said that Oregon Air National Guard Col. Garry Dean, scheduled as one of the breakfast's two inspirational speakers, had also decided not to participate.

"The Oregon National Guard does not and cannot support an organization that excludes others based on religion," said Air Guard Capt. Misti Mazzia, a spokeswoman. "When it comes to any discrimination against anyone, that's a no-brainer in the military."

It is wonderful that so many people took the time to e-mail Mayor Drake to offer support for his decision. Hopefully, the Beaverton-Tigard Chapter of the Full Gospel Businessmen's Fellowship & Concerned Citizens will use this experience to learn more about the Muslim faith and consider sponsoring interfaith events in the future if they intend to hold events with public officials.

Religious progressives have been active this month on a range of issues important to the American people.

The National Council of Churches Justice for Women Working Group has published a new guide for churches “that equips churches to act on public policy and justice issues affecting families. The resource For the Good of All Families: Affirming Our Interdependence offers basic information on these issues, Bible study ideas and other helps. Click here to download the book.

The Religious Coalition for Reproductive Choices was one of the major sponsors of the historic March for Women’s Lives held in Washington, DC over the weekend. Click here to visit their site and click here to see photos of the march.

The Clergy Leadership Network is gearing up for their National Gathering to be held May 16-18.

At the National Gathering, progressive religious leaders will come together to speak and to be heard! Outraged by economic policies that pander to greed and favor the rich, and international policies that set our nation against the world, we are inviting all clergy and religious community leaders to gather in Cleveland to stand together. The Gathering will express the Clergy Network's passion for change in national leadership and national policy directions.

In Cleveland, we will offer a brief but dramatic witness to God's gift of hope and to a future marked by integrity and compassion.

Make sure you attend this important event. Click here to register.

Call to Renewal is all set for their Pentecost 2004 Call to Unity: Making Poverty a Religious and Electoral Issue Conference from May 23-25, 2004 at the Washington Plaza Hotel, Washington, DC. Bill Moyers, Rev. Dr. James Forbes, Jr., Jim Wallis and others will speak.

Earth Day was the occasion when thousands of religious leaders sent a letter to President Bush saying that his 'Clean Air' policy is immoral. Read the press release and the letter.

The Interfaith Alliance, the nation’s largest interfaith organization called on the United States Congress to reject a proposed amendment to the Constitution, known as the Federal Marriage Amendment. Click here to read their statement.

No one can legitimately charge that progressive religious folks aren’t speaking out and organizing on some of the most important issues of our day.

Each year the Beaverton-Tigard Chapter of the Full Gospel Businessmen's Fellowship and Concerned Citizens hosts a “Mayor’s Prayer Breakfast” for mayors in Oregon’s Washington County. This year Beaverton Mayor Rob Drake invited a Muslim leader to join him at the event to offer a prayer. The businessmen’s group voted to disinvite Shahriar Ahmed, president of the Bilal Mosque Association in Beaverton, from participating. In response, Mayor Drake and most - if not all - of the county’s other mayors have withdrawn from participating as well. The Oregonian reports:

As the traditional host mayor of the breakfast, Drake had invited Ahmed and a rabbi to take part on the breakfast meeting's dais.

Peter Reding, the fellowship's communications director, said Muslims pray to Allah rather than God and contended they are not part of "Judeo-Christian tradition." Both suppositions figured into the steering committee's 7-1 vote to bar Ahmed from praying. Ahmed has said he will skip the event.

Reding defended the vote. "We have received quite a number of people calling up and supporting our position," he said. "Everybody is invited to come to the breakfast," he said, but added that the group has a "Jewish-Christian tradition only on the dais."

David Leslie, executive director of Ecumenical Ministries of Oregon, called Reding's comments "vitriolic." He said the businessmen's fellowship should learn more about common theological roots of Islam, Judaism and Christianity, especially in times of conflict in the Middle East. Muslims view Jesus as a prophet.

Mayor Drake deserves the congratulation of us all for his stand. He was right to invite Shahriar Ahmed and then right to withdrawal from the event. Mayor Drake can be reached at [email protected]. You can reach the Beaverton-Tigard Full Gospel Businessmen's Fellowship at 503-521-3197 to share with them how you feel about this act of discrimination.

The US Supreme Court let stand a lower court decision banning prayer before meals at publicly funded educational institutions. Good news. I’m happy to pray before meals, but I don’t want someone in the government to write or approve that prayer. And it is reasonable in the extreme to think some students would not wish to pray at all. That’s ok. We can leave prayer to churches and private occasions and we’ll all be just fine.

George W. Bush – the man who hid from military service during Vietnam – is actually trying to criticize John Kerry’s war record. MoveOn.org has produced a new commercial that contrasts some of the facts between how Bush and Kerry spent the Vietnam years. Click here to watch the video and make sure to share it with your friends.

From The NCC Web site: Brenda Girton-Mitchell, the NCC's Associate General Secretary for Public Policy (pictured), took a message to the International Monetary Fund and the World Bank on April 21: Cancel the debt that is crippling development in many impoverished companies. At a Jubilee U.S.A. "UnHappy Birthday Party" marking the IMF/World Bank's 60th anniversary, Girton-Mitchell said, "(D)o not joyfully celebrate your 60-year existence, but rather take time to reflect on your mission and accept the challenge to fulfill your purpose. Our prayer is that you will become a beacon of light for those living in the darkness caused by poverty, hunger, sickness and lack of education." Read Girton-Mitchell's message.

Not a lot.

This morning I preached three services at Grace United Methodist Church here in St. Louis. I've been working with Grace UMC since September as part of my field study in seminary. The sermon I wrote for this morning is now posted and you can download it here. Feel free to offer feedback.

We had a lot going on over the weekend. Liz's mother Alice was in town. The two of them worked to organize the house for the coming twins. Here they are doing some painting in the basement.

Liz also got our new baby stroller this weekend. Our kids will travel in style.

I preached three services today. Liz and Alice were able to attend one of them. When I get the chance I'll post the sermon. (Update: you can now find the sermon here) In the meantime, here are a couple photos from this morning.

Yesterday I wrote about my concerns regarding a post written by Atrios about religion. The topic has been picked up by a lot of different sites. Most of the feedback I’ve received regarding my views has been pretty negative. Though I find some humor in the fact I’m now getting attacked on the left and the right for my religious views. Take these two examples:

Frank wrote in last night and said:

Personally, I couldn’t agree more with Atrios. Perhaps, though, that’s because, like him, I’m one who doesn’t suffer from the delusion of religious faith, tempting and comforting (as) it might seem, and therefore find myself at the receiving end of an incredible amount of bigotry, ignorance and intolerance.

On the other side of the spectrum, a fellow named John wrote me this week and said:

You call yourself Christian and believe in abortion? You're a fraud.

You can find more from Atrios today (My tone generally was too harsh in places, and as is all too frequently the case I painted with too broad a brush - but, on the other hand when people throw a punch they shouldn't be too upset when someone punches back) and my fellow blogger on The American Street Patriot Boy takes issue with my post (As for the historical accomplishments of religious progressives, I list Dorothy Day and Martin Luther King among my heroes, but what have progressive Christians done for us lately?).

Talk Left has links from several blogs who have been writing about the debate.

Questions over the relationship between the secular political left and the progressive Christian left have been making the rounds of blogs this week. A few people, me included, have questioned why some on the political left react with such anger toward the religious community – regardless of our theological beliefs or social stands. The debate started this week because of a perceived anti-religious bias on the part of some at Air America Radio. Liberal blogger Atrios answered those questions with broad attack on the religious community. He wrote, in part:

… I'm a bit fed up with people hand-wringing about anti-religious sentiment from "the Left." First of all, "the Left" which has any clout or power in this country is explicitly "pro-religion" to a degree which disturbs me. My retinas still burn with the image of the members of Congress on the steps of the Capitol screeching out "UNDER GOD" while performing the pledge of allegiance. Left-leaning people with strongly held religious views need to stop worrying about what some comedian says on some radio show and need to start worrying that the public faces of their religion are people who, if they had their way, would establish their own flavor of theocracy and revoke our right to worship as we please (or not at all).

I'm tired of liberalish Christians telling me it's my job to reach out to Christian moderates who feel that "the Left" is hostile to them. Screw that. It's time for liberalish Christians to tell their slightly more right-leaning brethren that those of us who fight to maintain the separation between Church and State do it to protect freedom of religion - not destroy it.

Atrios is one of the nation’s best known bloggers and has done more than his fair share in fighting off the conservative tide. Unfortunately, his remarks on religion are spiteful and bigoted and must be answered. My friends over at The Village gate (formerly The Right Christians) have made the attempt:

Atrios is mightily offended at the complaints raised about gratuitous slamming of Christianity by Melanie and me and picked up by Kevin Drum here. It's also clear how he really feels about religious progressives or at least Christians. We're "liberalish," not liberal or progressive. And the fundamentalists are only "slightly more right-leaning" than we.

Atrios makes the standard claim that, "I'm not hostile to religion," but there is obviously a great deal of anger that always appears against columnists like Kristof and Easterbrook who write about religion, and now against progressive Christian bloggers like Melanie and me who dare to consider themselves both Christians and progressives. That same anger is expressed again and again in the 400+ comment thread that follows the post.

Clearly, Atrios is hostile towards religion and obviously uneducated over the hard work done by religious progressives over the nation’s history to fight for social justice. On many issues (slavery, nuclear weapons, globalization, etc) Christians have been at the table long before the secular community. Somehow he even missed that the head of Americans United for the Separate of Church and State is a United Church of Christ minister. Atrios’ voice has served in this case to inflame and divide. No one needs that a time when the stakes are so high on so many important issues.

Update: Read comments on this post left at The American Street.

US Senator John Kerry is under fire from some Roman Catholic leaders in Rome (and St. Louis) because of his pro-choice views. How do American Catholics view the issue of abortion? According to the Religious Coalition for Reproductive Choice, “82% of Catholics think abortion should be legal, at least in some circumstances; specifically, 39% say a woman should be able to get an abortion if she decides she wants one, no matter what the reason.” If the Roman Catholic Church is going to ban pro-choice Catholics from taking communion there won’t be many people left to serve.

Associated Press

WASHINGTON - A survey released Monday found that U.S. Roman Catholic voters are about evenly split between President Bush and presumed Democratic presidential nominee John Kerry.

The poll by the Center for Applied Research in the Apostolate at Georgetown University found 45 percent of likely Catholic voters supported Kerry, while 41 percent backed Bush. The margin of error is 3.5 percentage points.

The split is similar to that found by the same survey in 2000, when Bush faced Democrat Al Gore.

This year's poll of 1,001 adults was conducted March 15-21. About 23 percent of voting age adults identify themselves as Catholic.

A separate survey on U.S. evangelicals released Tuesday found that 74 percent of white evangelicals said they favored Bush, while 23 percent said they would vote for Kerry.

Sixty-nine percent of white evangelicals identify themselves as Republican, while 84 percent of black evangelicals say they're Democrats.

And while white evangelicals overwhelmingly oppose gay marriage and civil unions for homosexual couples, about half said in the poll that they would prefer that state laws be changed to ban gay marriage instead of amending the U.S. Constitution.

The survey of 1,610 adults was conducted between March 16 and April 4 for U.S. News & World Report and PBS' "Religion & Ethics Newsweekly." It has a margin of error of plus or minus 2.5 percentage points.

I wonder if there have been any polls done of mainline Protestant voters….

Reporters don’t often become heroes. Women reporters, seldom given opportunities for real news reporting until recent years, have numbered few among the superstars of American journalism. Mary McGrory was one of the rare exceptions to those rules and she died this week. For The Washington Star and The Washington Post she covered the McCarthy hearings, the Kennedy administration, Vietnam, Watergate, the Clinton impeachment and countless other huge stories. The New York Times reports that in 1998:

….when accepting the National Press Club's Fourth Estate Award, Ms. McGrory described her view of a Mary McGrory column. "No great men call me," she said, proudly. "You know who calls me? Losers. I am their mark." She added, "If you want to abolish land mines. If you want to reform campaign spending" or "if you want to save children from abuse, or stupid laws, or thickheaded judges, you have my telephone number."

"All the places of little hope, that's my constituency," she said.

Since I found out that I’m having little girls I’ve been trying to think of stories I want them to know about powerful women who did great things. The life of Mary McGrory makes the list.

My sister Heather sent these pictures of my nephew Dylan’s first baseball game. Dylan, 6, is an all-around athlete. He routinely scores upwards of 6 goals or more each soccer game and is now sure to take the 6-year-old baseball world by storm.

US Senator Chuck Hagel (R-Nebraska) told the media over the weekend that he thinks the military occupation of Iraq might require the United States to reinstitute the draft. Hagel is a conservative Republican who has been sometimes critical of the Bush Administration’s Iraq policy.

Liz and I are taking twin classes at the hospital where we'll give birth in a few months. We were lucky to have Alice, Liz's mom, here visiting with us today. She took us out for a great dinner and then went to class with us. Alice is also a twin. I'd write more, but there is a thunderstorm making lots of noise out my window and I'm thinking the computer should be turned off. But I'll leave you with one great photo of Hugo from just a few minutes ago.

The Seattle Times ran a photo this week of flagged draped coffins that contain the remains of dead American soldiers returning from Iraq. The Bush Administration doesn’t want you to see this photo and the American contractor who took it has been fired. Read The Seattle Times story and see the photo.

National Council of Churches Earth Day Press Release

April 22, Washington, D.C. - With a major mobilization of its base, U.S. Christian leaders are using their clout to call attention to the Bush Administration’s "clean air" policy that they say goes against Christian principles of stewardship and care for God’s creation and God’s children.

In a letter sent today to President Bush, 100 national and state Christian leaders in the country, representing millions of congregants, expressed grave moral concern and dismay over the President’s stewardship of America’s environment and the implications for Americans’ health - particularly for children, women and the elderly.

“Ever since taking office, the Administration has weakened critical health standards, especially the Clean Air Act,” said Bob Edgar, General Secretary of the National Council of Churches, whose 36 member denominations count 45 million adherents in more than 100,000 congregations nationwide.

Edgar, one of the faith leaders who signed the letter to the President, added that President Bush “says that moral values are a cornerstone in this Administration, but this Administration is failing the call to protect God’s children. As our Bible teaches us, whatever one fails to do to the humblest of our brothers and sisters, one fails to do to God (Matthew 25:45).”

Citing passages from the Bible such as “defend the poor and the orphan; do justice to the afflicted and the needy” (Psalm 82:3), the letter highlights Christian values of protecting God’s creation, caring for one’s neighbor, and protecting the least fortunate among us. Other signatures include those of Bishop Melvin G. Talbert, Ecumenical Officer, Council of Bishops, The United Methodist Church and the Rev. Dr. A. Roy Medley, General Secretary of the American Baptist Churches (U.S.A.)

Their concerns also are reflected in a national advertisement set to run in The New York Times, calling on President Bush to stop dismantling the New Source Review (NSR) provisions of the Clean Air Act and to vigorously enforce the integrity of the Act, to protect public health against mercury pollution, and to include carbon among the pollutants regulated from power plant emissions.

Religious Americans from across the country have joined national religious leaders in a growing concern over the quality of the air they breathe. Over 100,000 congregations have received a resource titled “Life-giving Breath of God: Protecting the Sacred Gift of Air” (available on-line at www.nccecojustice.org), resulting in a coordinated national congregational effort to celebrate Earth Day Sunday on April 25.

Sunday services will include liturgy praising the “Creator God, the ruler of the sky,” and study pieces on the state of air quality that includes ideas for personal and congregational actions. Congregants will also be called to pressure the president to strengthen air quality standards. In addition to congregational efforts, nearly 4,000 local religious leaders have signed “A Call for Power Plant Cleanup” that applies moral principles of justice and stewardship and concludes with: “Cleaning up dirty power plants that cause harmful pollution must therefore be a policy priority.”

“These are moral values shared by millions of people across America,” Edgar added. “Yet the Bush Administration continues to prioritize the interests of polluting energy corporations over the health and well-being of God’s children.”

According to information recently released by the Environmental Protection Agency, more than half of Americans live in or around areas where air pollution levels exceed clean air standards. Most of them are minority groups from low-income families who often lack the means to relocate to cleaner, environmentally safer neighborhoods and have limited access to health care.

President Bush’s record on the environment has repeatedly come under fire not only from environmentalists, but from leading scientists as well as other Republicans. In February, the Union of Concerned Scientists issued a statement signed by dozens of scientists, medical experts, and Nobel laureates questioning the integrity of the scientific research behind administration environment policies, and leading U.S. Senators sent a letter to EPA Administrator Michael Leavitt asking him not to stall expected implementation of mercury protections from dirty power plants.

Read the letter to the President.

Creator God,
whose Spirit moved over the face of the waters,
who gathers the seas into their places
and directs the courses of the rivers,
who sends rain upon the earth
that it should bring forth life:
we praise you for the gift of water.

Redeemer God,
who spared Noah and creatures of every kind
from the waters of the flood,
who led your people over dry land through the sea
and across the Jordan to the land of promise,
who marks our adoption as children
with the sign of water:
we thank you for the gift of water.

Sustaining God,
create in us such a sense of wonder and delight
in this and all your gifts,
that we might receive them with gratitude,
care for them with love
and generously share them with all your creatures,
to the honor and glory of your holy name.

— Litany by the Rev. John Paarlberg

There have been some occasions listening to Air America I’ve flinched when the topic has turned to religion. They seem to have an anti-religious bias that lumps Pat Robertson into a category that includes all Christians. Our friends on the left-side of the dial need to do a better job. Maybe they should offer a religious talk show. The Right Christians and A Religious Liberal Blog are also raising questions.

The Oregonian’s new religion blog is just about what one might expect from a paper that has recently teamed up with The Christian Coalition of Oregon to recall the four Multnomah County Commissioners who support gay marriage. The author is a fellow by the name of Jim Slagle and is a member of Village Baptist Church. The church prominently features commentary on their web site from conservative icon Albert Mohler (see here, here and here for more on Mohler) and information on why gay marriage is wrong. Slagle has used his blog on The Oregonian’s web site to criticize modern Biblical scholarship and to proclaim Mel Gibson’s The Passion of the Christ as realistic and free from anti-Semitism. He also uses FOX News’ Bill O’Reilly as his primary source of information on the debate surrounding the sacraments and pro-choice Catholic politicians like John Kerry. His views seem to be consistent with a very conservative theology.

Because of the staggering diversity of theological views there is little chance that the paper could have made everyone happy with their choice of a writer for a religion blog.

Franky, there is nothing wrong in showcasing Slagle in this way. He is a good writer and represents one viewpoint in a very large debate. But his site ought to be labeled as the "conservative view on religion" instead of the "religion blog." I'm pretty sure he doesn't represent many of my religious views. And The Oregonian should bring in more moderate and progressive writers if they really want to have a good theological dialog (not to mention Jews, Hindus, Muslims and other who might have a different world view than Christians).

John Negroponte has been named the new US Ambassador to Iraq. What's on his record? He was a key figure in the Iran-Contra scandal and was US Ambassador to Honduras when that nation's US-sponsored army was using death squads to fight off advocates of democracy. He'll feel right at home in Iraq.

As I mentioned in an earlier post, the March for Women’s Lives will feature a wide range of religious groups. United Methodist News reports:

United Methodists will be among the participants in an April 25 “March for Women’s Lives” in Washington.

A delegation of 50 to 100 will march under the banner of the Women’s Division, United Methodist Board of Global Ministries, according to Julie Taylor, a division executive based in Washington.

Leading the Women’s Division delegation are Genie Bank of Lexington, Mich., and Brenda Brown of Spring Lake, N.C., division president and vice president; Joyce Sohl, the division’s chief executive; and Lois Dauway, who heads the division’s Section of Christian Social Responsibility.

According to Bank, the division’s participation “recognizes the basic human right to education and planning one’s family” and the responsibility of women, not politicians, for their own family planning practices.

The United Methodist Board of Church and Society also is a co-sponsor of the march, said Linda Bales, program director of the board’s Louise & Hugh Moore Population Project. The agency supports advocacy efforts for women’s health, such as the United Nations Population Fund, which provides reproductive health services and HIV/AIDS prevention for women.

The Union of Reform Judaism is also among the participants. Their Religious Action Center web site states that:

On Sunday, April 25, 2004, the Reform Movement will join with hundreds of thousands of people from around the country in a historic March in Washington, D.C., to protect reproductive freedom and women’s health. The Religious Action Center of Reform Judaism is coordinating our Movement's participation, working closely with all arms of the Movement, especially Women of Reform Judaism.

Groups like the Christian Coalition and the Traditional Families Coalition want people to believe that the only option for Christians is to be pro-life. The over 25 religious groups co-sponsoring the march prove otherwise.

United Church of Christ Action Alert

Thanks to House and Senate members who stood up for balanced and effective budget rules, congressional leaders have thus far been unable to finalize the FY 2005 budget resolution. Now that Congress is back from its spring recess, they are back to negotiating and once again cuts for human services hang in the balance.

The Senate version (S Con Res 95) contains key principles that the House version (H Con Res 393) does not. One key difference is the "pay-as-you-go" rule in the Senate that is designed to thwart efforts to make the 2001 tax cuts for the wealthy permanent features of future budgets. The Senate version also opposes the $2.2 billion in cuts to Medicaid included in the House version and protects up to $13 billion from proposed cuts to the Earned Income Tax Credit and other entitlement programs in the budget given to Congress by President Bush.

Join a national call-in with the UCC and a coalition of over 500 national organizations by calling your member of Congress toll-free (1-888-508-2974) on Wednesday April 21st from 9am-5pm EST. Urge them to include these principles in the FY05 Budget Conference Report:

- The final agreement must not include cuts to Medicaid or other entitlement programs.

- The final agreement must require that new tax cuts be paid for with the Senate's "pay-as-you-go" rule.

- The final agreement must not include the $100 billion in cuts over 5 years in programs serving low and middle income people that is in both the House and the Senate version.

- The final agreement must not include new tax cuts for the wealthy, especially if they are not paid for fairly and sensibly.

Multnomah County, Oregon’s experiment in legal equality for gays and lesbians has been at least temporarily halted. Worldwide Pablo has the story:

worldwide pablo: Same-sex marriages halted

(Liz at 25 weeks)

The Countdown has begun. We are in the third trimester. Our due date is August 2, but we have been told that twins often come early. So will when the little ones arrive? The question can only been answered with a contest. In the comments sections leave your best guess on when Baby A and Baby B will be born. You’ll need to include the exact time and date. The winning prize: That’s still a state secret. Let the games begin!

All the pictures from Liz's Portland babyshower have been downloaded and are online. Check them out.

The World Council of Churches has started a new web site for their Ecumenical Accompaniment Programme in Palestine and Israel.

The EAPPI is an initiative of the World Council of Churches under the Ecumenical Campaign to End the Illegal Occupation of Palestine: Support a Just Peace in the Middle East. Its mission is to accompany Palestinians and Israelis in their non-violent actions and concerted advocacy efforts to end the occupation. Participants of the programme are monitoring and reporting violations of human rights and international humanitarian law, supporting acts of non-violent resistance alongside local Christian and Muslim Palestinians and Israeli peace activists, offering protection through non-violent presence, engaging in public policy advocacy and, in general, standing in solidarity with the churches and all those struggling against the occupation.

Both the Israelis and Palestinians need to be held responsible for ending the violence in the region. Suicide bombings must be halted. Check out this United Methodist Action Alert for ways you can put pressure on both sides of the conflict.

Bob Woodward is reporting that Prince Bandar bin Sultan of Saudi Arabia has promised to help lower gas prices before the November elections in an attempt to influence the presidential vote in George W. Bush’s favor. Reuters has picked up the story:

WASHINGTON (Reuters) - A Saudi envoy has assured the Bush administration that it will keep oil prices in a range of $22 to $28 per barrel and will not take actions that would harm the U.S. economy, the White House said on Monday….

Woodward, author of the new book "Plan of Attack" on Bush's preparations for the Iraq war, said Prince Bandar pledged the Saudis would try to fine-tune oil prices to prime the U.S. economy for the election, a move they understood would favor Bush….

Prince Bandar has been the Saudi envoy to the United States for 20 years and is part of the Saudi royal family, which has had a close relationship with the Bush family for years.

On April 1, Bandar reassured the White House that the kingdom would not allow oil shortages to hurt world economic growth after Saudi Arabia led a push by OPEC to cut output by 1 million barrels a day from April.

It ought to be concerning to the American people that the Bush Administration is conspiring with a corrupt foreign government to bring about a Bush victory in 2004. If this isn’t illegal it ought to be.

WASHINGTON (Reuters) - Years after President Bush set off alarm bells in the Muslim world by referring to his war against terrorism as a "crusade," the word that Arabs equate with Christian brutality has resurfaced in a Bush campaign fund-raising letter, officials acknowledged on Sunday.

The March 3 letter, which Bush-Cheney Campaign Chairman Marc Racicot sent to new campaign charter members in Florida, lauded the Republican president for "leading a global crusade against terrorism" while citing evidence of Bush's "strong, steady leadership during difficult times."

However, the word "crusade" recalls a historical trauma for the Muslim world, which was besieged by Christian crusaders from Europe during the Middle Ages.

In other news...

The President's "strong, steady leadership during difficult times" looked a little more unsteady today when it was reported that that US death toll in Iraq has now reached 700.

Liz is in Portland for a quick visit. Today FOL Deborah Kafoury hosted a small baby shower that several of Liz's longtime friends were able to attend.

Liz reported to me that there were lots of wonderful gifts for the twins. Her doctors agree that after she returns on Sunday to St. Louis she is grounded until the babies arrive. But this was a great chance for Liz to be with her friends.

The flu kept my sisters away, but my mother was there. She made two dolls for the kids and is working on matching quilts.

What did I do this weekend? Well, I wrote an outline for a paper in theological foundations, read for my New Testement course, worked on the outline of the Sunday school class I'll be starting tomorrow, cleaned out a closet that the babies will be using, and made the house a general mess. I have 24-hours to clean-up before Liz comes home. Pray for me.

Once Liz gets home I'll add more photos. These are the ones my mother took and e-mailed. Don't forget to check out my mom's way cool web site.

Back on February 1 our friends Michelle and John welcomed little Madeline into the world a bit early. She was just 2lbs 9 oz. Madeline came home on April 2nd and is now nearly 8 pounds and is doing great. Welcome home, Madeline!

Copyright this, Donald.

United Church of Christ Action Alert

The House and Senate have held hearings concerning a proposed constitutional amendment aimed at banning same-sex couples from getting married. House and Senate leaders are considering whether to move ahead with floor votes on the proposed amendment. Amendments to the U.S. Constitution have historically expanded the rights of persons, not limited them.

The right to marry is a fundamental civil right. However, like other fundamental rights, such as the right to vote, it has taken decades - even centuries - to be recognized in law for all citizens. During slavery, African-American slaves were not allowed to marry so that family ties would not interfere with their worth as a "commodity." Into the middle of the 20th century, there were laws prohibiting interracial marraige based on theories of "protecting the purity of the races."

The right to marry is not only about constitutional theory, it is about access to over a thousand rights and responsibilites afforded to married couples under federal, state and local law. Making these protections and obligations available to same-sex couples will strengthen all families and strengthen society.

Though they number only in the dozens, there are good examples of legal, long-term marriages between same-sex couples that would be destroyed by this legislation. Trannsexual marrriages, as well as the de facto marriages of gay, lesbian and bisexual couples clearly demonstrate that such relationships can be postive for raising children, for functioning as an economic unit, and for strengthening society as a whole.

A package of educational resources, " God is Still Speaking, About Marriage," designed to help congregations understand and talk about this issue is available on the UCC website at www.ucc.org/justice/marriage.htm. Or you may contact Rev. Mike Schuenemeyer at 216-736-3217.

Click here to send a message to Congress.

George W. Bush said at his press conference that he could not think of any mistakes he has made in Iraq. A few people got together and came up with some sugguestions in case he is asked again. Watch the video.

In another foreign policy disaster the Bush Administration has abandoned the international sponsored peace process in the Israeli-Palestinian conflict. The Center for American Progress reports:

In a dramatic shift on Wednesday, President Bush and Israeli Prime Minister Ariel Sharon put out a plan to unilaterally settle the future of Israeli settlements in Gaza and the West Bank. In doing so they have created an imbalance in the Middle East peace process. Seemingly abandoning the United States' traditional role, as an evenhanded negotiator in the peace process, Bush appeared to endorse Israel's long-standing claim to parts of the West Bank and suggested that Palestinian refugees should never expect to return to their homes in Israel. Wednesday's announcement drew immediate and sharp criticism from around the world and came at a time when U.S.-Arab relations are at an all-time low. Although Arab support for American policies in Iraq and the Middle East is critical right now, analysts say Bush's new policy will likely undercut U.S. goals in the region.

The decision by President Bush drew immediate criticism from a broad spectrum of American religious leaders. Churches for Middle East Peace issued a statement:

Corinne Whitlatch, executive director of the coalition, stated, “We had hoped that the Gaza withdrawal could be a first forward step toward peace.” Whitlatch continued, “Instead, President Bush has betrayed decades of diplomatic advances, undercut the future of the Road Map peace plan and ignored its cosponsors - the U.N., the European Union and the Russian Federation. His repeated assurance that he wants a viable Palestinian state alongside a secure Israel is losing credibility. The President’s blatant disregard for Palestinian and Arab participation and sentiment places a future peace and our own security as risk.” “The President’s decision,” said Father Drew Christiansen, S.J., a member of CMEP’s Leadership Council and an editor of the Jesuit magazine America, “makes U.S. policy hostage to Prime Minister Sharon’s expansionist goals. Legitimating West Bank settlements is a recipe for protracted conflict which will continue to impact adversely the dwindling Christian presence in the Holy Land.”

Fr. Christiansen asked the President to consider the consequences of his decision on Christians in the region, saying, “Mr. Sharon has talked about his unilateral initiative delaying negotiations for another generation. But this is a generation in which, under the pressure of endless conflict, the endangered indigenous Christian population in the Holy Land could well disappear. I doubt this is an outcome that President Bush would like to see, but it is very likely one that he is setting in motion.”

Other church leaders questioned whether the “war on terrorism” itself may have blinded President Bush to the possible outcomes of his actions on Israelis and Palestinians.

Jim Winkler, General Secretary of the United Methodist Church General Board of Church and Society, observed, “President Bush responded yesterday to a reporter that ‘the best way to achieve peace is to fight terror.’ I disagree. The way toward peace is to work for a just resolution of the conflict between Israel and Palestine. That will lead to the end of the terror of suicide bombers and targeted assassinations.

Winkler continued, “Instead of telling Prime Minister Sharon that it’s ok now to violate international law and United Nations resolutions, President Bush should be pressuring both sides to stem the violence and start talking again. President Bush has effectively told the world that what Israel has taken by force from the Palestinians is now acceptable. This is a road map to war."

Churches for Middle East Peace is a Washington-based program of the Alliance of Baptists, American Friends Service Committee, Antiochian Orthodox Archdiocese, Catholic Conference of Major Superiors of Men’s Institutes, Christian Church (Disciples of Christ), Church of the Brethren, Church World Service, Episcopal Church, Evangelical Lutheran Church in America, Franciscan Mission Service, Friends Committee on National Legislation, Maryknoll Missioners, Mennonite Central Committee, National Council of the Churches of Christ in the USA, Presbyterian Church (USA), Reformed Church in America, Unitarian Universalist Association of Congregations, United Church of Christ and the United Methodist Church.

Air America is back on the air in Chicago and LA. Reuters reports:

A New York judge ordered the owner of two radio stations on Thursday to put the 2-week-old, liberal radio network known as Air America back on the air.

Judge Marilyn Diamond issued a temporary restraining order on the condition that Air America post a $156,000 bond. The judge will hold a hearing on the dispute on Monday.

"We won the first round. We'll be back on the air sometime before the end of the day on Friday," Air America Chairman Evan Cohen said.

Liu did not return calls seeking comment.

"Arthur Liu received a clear message in court," Cohen said. "Temper tantrums are not the way to conduct business."

Score one for the good guys!

Religious people from many different denominations will be taking part in the National March for Women’s Lives in Washington, DC. The march has been called to show support for the freedom of reproductive choices. One new conservative appointment to the US Supreme Court could bring about the overturning of Roe vs Wade. Members of the United Church of Christ will be among the participants:

We in the UCC are coordinating our activities with the Religious Coalition for Reproductive Choice. If you are planning to attend, please go to the website for the Religious Coalition for Reproductive Choice (www.rcrc.org) and register as a participant. This site also has up-to-the-minute information about the March and activities being sponsored by faith groups.

UCC Hospitality at our Washington office: Please come by the Justice and Witness Ministry office (Public Life and Social Policy Ministry Team) in the Methodist Building (110 Maryland Ave., NW, Room 207—across from the Supreme Court) on Friday to say hello, and stop by the 100 Maryland Ave., NW, entrance on Sunday morning for coffee and bagels (available at 8:30 am). You can walk from there to the Interfaith worship service on Sunday.

24 Hour Prayer Vigil—On Saturday, April 24. If you would like to offer prayers for a 10 minute segment between 10 am on Saturday and 10 am on Sunday, please sign up at the RCRC website. The prayer vigil will be held at the Capitol Reflection Pool, the same location for the Prayerfully Pro-Choice Interfaith Service (between Pennsylvania Ave., NW and Maryland Ave. NW and 1st and 3rd Sts. NW).

If you cannot attend but want to take part, send your prayers to [email protected]. Please include your name, denomination, and phone number. Prayers will also be posted on our website (www.rcrc.org) and sent out to the Clergy for Choice Network, to be used in local worship services and vigils the weekend of the March.

Liz and I wanted to attend but school responsibilities and the coming twins will keep us grounded that weekend. After this week, Liz cannot fly any longer. We wish all our friends a good march!

T o t a l F e d e r a l F u n d s ( O u t l a y s ) : $ 1 , 9 2 6 B i l l i o n

- source: War Resisters League

Oh, the FOX News folks are going to love this.

Air America is off the air in Chicago and LA. Media reports are saying the new left-wing radio network bounced a $1 million check. Not so fast. Here’s the story from Franken and Company:

After just two weeks on the air, Air America Radio, the fledgling liberal talk-radio network featuring Al Franken, Janeane Garofalo, and that really loud woman from Florida, appears to have encountered serious cash-flow problems.

Stop the presses!!! There’s nothing more exciting than half a story from a third hand source!!!!

Insiders tell SLUDGE, that the reason the network was pulled off the air this morning in Chicago and Los Angeles, the network's second- and third-largest markets, was because, the owner of both stations, Arthur Liu of Multicultural Broadcasting, said, the network bounced a check and owes him more than $1 million! The run-on sentence, tortured grammar and the exclamation point clearly means it’s true!!

Only it isn’t.

Normally we’d let this go because “habitual liars” like Drudge are laughable, and ridicule is our business.

But Arthur Liu --- not funny. He lied to us, he ripped us off and now we’re chasing him down with a pipe wrench. It’s a metaphor.

Here’s what really happened:

This Liu-ser was ripping off our boss Evan Cohen big time (he can’t do that, that’s our job). Evan found out about it and he stopped payment on a check to keep Liu-cifer from ripping him off even more. You can touch Evan for the occasional meal or drinks but a million bucks is crossing the line. And if we ever get low on cash, we can always call Barbra Streisand. Or any of the
Baldwins. Except Stephen.

So we got screwed, Liu’d, and tattooed. How Liu can you get? In Liu of payment. Liu’d and lascivious behavior. These write themselves. What we’re getting at is that we hate him.

So now everyone’s saying we’re going down the dumper in Chicago and Los Angeles, but what they don’t tell you is that we’re still on in Portland. And we OWN Portland. And let’s not forget Riverside and Plattsburgh. And New
York. And streaming on the internet. And XM. And Sirius. Actually we’re fine.

So cool your jets. Air America Radio isn’t dead, we’re in court and we’re going to slam Liu’s head in a car door. Another metaphor. We hope to be back on the air tomorrow or the next day in those markets.

In the meantime, why don’t you give Arthur a call at (212)966-1059, or check out his website www.mrbi.net

Or just listen on the internet. That's what those of us in the middle of nowhere have to do (Portland actually being the center of the universe).