John Kerry and Teresa Heinz Kerry will be in Portland on Monday promoting their new book This Moment on Earth: Today’s Environmentalists and Their Vision of the Future.

Today I had the chance to talk with them both on a conference call with a small group of bloggers. You can listen to a podcast of the call where I have the opportunity to ask the U.S. senator from Massachusetts and his wife, a noted environmental activist, about how their faith informs their decisions on these issues.

I was also able to ask the senator to rank Oregon’s congressional delegation on their dedication to the environmental cause.

Use the below link to download the podcast for your IPod or computer.

Download KerryBookInterview.m4a

(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).

Click here for more information on the Portland event being held Monday, April 2nd at 7pm.

Related Link:  John and Teresa Kerry Speak With Bloggers

Related Link:  Chatting With John and Teresa Heinz Kerry about ‘This Moment On Earth’

Related Link:  Your mother needs you -- please help her now

Related Link:  Moral leadership needed to stop global warming: Q & A with the Kerrys

Press Release from Community of Welcoming Congregations

(GRESHAM, OREGON) – Religious leaders across Oregon take exception to statements made by the Oregon Family Council, and say the time is now to end discrimination.

The Community of Welcoming Congregations, an interfaith association of more than 80 member congregations, calls on religious leaders to stand in solidarity with gay, lesbian, bisexual and transgender persons seeking equality. Joy Wallace of the Catholic Coalition of Welcoming Parishes comments, "Many people who identify themselves as members of the ‘faith community' strongly support SB 2, because we believe that all God's people must be respected and be equally protected by the law."

The faith leaders of Community of Welcoming Congregations were deeply disturbed by a recent press release by the Oregon Family Council criticizing SB2 (dated 3/21/07), in which the organization claimed to speak for "Oregon's religious community" and "on behalf of Oregon's churches, religious leaders, sectarian and non-sectarian religious organizations, schools, and other religious non-profit charitable organizations".

"The Oregon Family Council does not speak for all or even the majority of Oregon's religious community," says Rev. Tara Wilkins, Executive Director of Community of Welcoming Congregations. "Our congregations feel that the language of the bill more than adequately protects churches and religious organizations."

Rev. John Gantt, interim conference minister for the United Church of Christ's 50 area churches asserts, "Contrary to claims of the Oregon Family Council that our religious liberties are violated by SB 2, I believe the employment practices of non-profit religious groups are well protected by the provisions of the bill, if such groups want to be exempted."

"Senate Bill 2, contrary to what one religious group might say, is a powerful step forward towards recognizing that all human beings are created in the image of God," states Rabbi Joseph Wolf, Havurah Shalom in Portland. "That we may soon see the day when discriminating against people of different sexual orientations, when it comes to work opportunities and housing, is something that members of all faiths should be celebrating. As Jews, we understand clearly the impact of centuries of disenfranchisement, and we rejoice that citizens of our state are broadening the horizons of responsible human discourse."

The Community of Welcoming Congregations urges all faith leaders to contact their representative and show their support of Senate Bill 2.

"Make no mistake, the Oregon Equality Act (SB2) is right, good, and moral," says Rev. Wes Mullins, associate pastor of Metropolitan Community Church of Portland.

Related Post:  Equality For Gays & Lesbians In Oregon Is The Christian Position

Eden Theological Seminary has a new and expanded website. This United Church of Christ-related institution (where I had the privilege of graduating from in the Master of Divinity degree program) boasts a remarkable ecumenical history:

Eden Theological Seminary was established in the summer of 1850 at Marthasville, Missouri. It was established because a European education was not adequate to prepare pastors for Evangelical churches on the North American frontier.

From its beginning, Eden has embodied an ecumenical spirit. Its first graduating class included six Evangelicals as well as a Methodist and a Mennonite.

The first class had the discipline of both study and work as the institution was self-maintained. So the Seminary grew just west of present-day Saint Louis, serving frontier congregations which in turn supported the Seminary.

In 1883, the Seminary moved to Wellston, Missouri, on the outskirts of Saint Louis, where it acquired the name Eden. The move was to orient seminary education to the increasing urban character of American life.

In 1924, another relocation brought the Seminary to its present location in Webster Groves, Missouri. A 20-acre campus was acquired and six buildings were erected. Since that time, three apartment buildings have been built. A library building was completed in 1969. Conference and administrative centers were added in 1990, which expanded the campus to 22 acres.

In 1934, Eden Theological Seminary completed a merger with Central Theological Seminary and Oakwood Institute of Cincinnati, Ohio, which was one of the first fruits of the formation of the Evangelical and Reformed denomination.

Conversations held at the Eden campus that included Samuel D. Press, the seventh president of Eden, gave rise to the formation of the United Church of Christ. Dr. Press and the Reverend Truman Douglass, pastor of a Saint Louis Congregational Church, began the talks in an ecumenical discussion group. The Evangelical and Reformed denomination and Congregational-Christian churches merged to become the United Church of Christ in 1957.

Eden admitted its first African American student in 1933. In 1965, the late Joseph Cardinal Ritter of the Saint Louis Archdiocese became the first Roman Catholic Cardinal to address a graduating class in a Protestant seminary. Today, students from many different denominations are engaged in theological education at Eden. Eden remains committed to educating faithful and effective leaders for church and society. The seminary counts among its distinguished graduates Reinhold and H. Richard Niebuhr and Walter Brueggemann.

Eden Theological Seminary is committed to the study of theology in the context of the ecumenical Christian community and the contemporary world.

Check out their new site.

...no religious test shall ever be required as a qualification to any office or public trust under the United States.

- The Constitution of the United States of America (Article VI, section 3)

Shhhh! Nobody tell James Dobson. This silly constitutional stuff will just break his heart if he ever hears about it.

Action Alert from sojo.net

Congress is deciding on the outlines of this year's federal budget. At stake are billions of dollars for working families and poor children in the United States and around the globe.

For years now, people of faith have been fighting bad budgets that prioritize tax cuts and military spending over social supports for the poorest in our society. This year, Congress has an opportunity to pass a budget that puts people first.

Tell your representative to vote for a moral budget that honors our commitment to "the least of these"!

Click here to send a message to Congress.

Related Link:  Bush Budget Fails To Uplift The Common Good

On Wednesday, April 18th the 2007 Community Faith Forum will be held in Portland at St. Vincent Hospital.  The focus will be on homelessness.  Click here for more information.   

I'm looking forward to being there.

This past Sunday in church we offered prayers for Elizabeth Edwards and Tony Snow - and all those who battle cancer.  Few families have gone untouched by cancer.  What can we do as a nation to help?  Plenty.

Former United States Senator Thomas Eagleton, a short-lived vice-presidential candidate, recently passed away. In his last days the Missouri Democrat wrote his own “final words” to be shared at a memorial.  Former U.S. Representative Les AuCoin (now a professor and blogger), a friend of Eagleton's (and a friend of mine as well), posted the comments this week on BlueOregon:

I am most proud that the "Eagleton Amendment" was the legislative act that finally ended U.S. participation in the dreadful Vietnam War. I am proud of the original version of the War Powers Act, which, had it been enacted as the bill left the Senate, would have re-established the shared powers of the president and the Congress when our nation went to war. This is what our Founding Fathers envisioned.

I am proud that, when Sen. Muskie ran for president in 1972, he directed me to take over our Environmental Subcommittee, and we passed the first major Clean Air and Clean Water Acts. By Muskie's anointment, I was the first vice chairman for a standing committee in the Senate.

After leaving the Senate, I never missed being there - except for the debate on the nomination of Bork and the horrible, disastrous Iraq war. That war will go down in American history as one of our greatest blunders. It will be remembered, in part, as a curse to our Constitution when Attorney General John Ashcroft attempted to put a democratic face on torture. Vice President Richard Cheney and Secretary of Defense Donald Rumsfeld also will go down in history for their total lack of planning for post-war Iraq.

Eagleton has a record anyone could be proud of. What most people remember about the senator, of course, is that concerns about mental health treatment he had received drove him from the 1972 race for the White House. His legacy, however, will be that the controversy didn’t keep him from serving with distinction in the senate.

But what struck me most about his self-written eulogy were his thoughts on faith:

Finally, a word about the Catholic Church. This may seem to be a strange topic to be raised by me, but we are here in church, and this is my final word. I do not pretend to be the world's greatest Catholic. Nevertheless, I think the Catholic Church is a vital part of American life, conscience and thought. Just as our Constitution is a remarkable, living code of governance and made relevant to the time in which we live, so, too, the doctrine of the Catholic Church is a living code of moral behavior and belief which must be relevant to the time in which we live. Its timeliness relies upon its capacity to adapt.

I am a Pope John XXIII and an Archbishop John L. May Catholic, believing in what they said and what I believe they would have said had they lived longer.

The outreach of the Catholic Church from Pope Pius IX to Pope Pius XII was not the outreach of Pope John XXIII. It is John XXIII who made the Catholic Church relevant to the 20th century, and future popes must make it relevant to the 21st century. It was Archbishop May who made the Catholic Church relevant to the 20th century in St. Louis. In the era of a Christian right, we seem to have merged God's power into political power.

I am an optimist about death and believe there is a there there. Somehow, in some manner, I will be meeting my parents, my brother and my friends. Somehow, Bob Koster will be waiting for me to tell me where I can buy everything 10 percent off.

So go forth in love and peace - be kind to dogs - and vote Democratic.

Amen.

By day I’m a mild mannered minister in the United Church of Christ. But by night I’m a potty training progress monitor with a vested interest in twin two and a half year olds coming to the conclusion that a happy face on a chart tacked to the bathroom door is worth abandoning diapers for.

Before you know it they'll be driving.   

Talk to Action notes that a new documentary is out about the Institute on Religion and Democracy, the group set-up by far-right political groups to fight the Gospel-centered advocacy efforts of mainline churches in the United States.  IRD, unlike Biblical Christianity, argues for economic policies that benefit the wealthy at the expense of the least of these, favors military intervention to solve nearly every problem, and opposes efforts to protect the environment.  This is a group so far to the right that Neo-Nazis once republished their materials bashing gays.

Related Post:  Institute on Religion on Democracy Report Written By Bush Campaign Worker

Democrats in the House rounded up the necessary votes today for their $124 billion bill to fund the war in Iraq. The good news: the bill comes with a date certain for leaving Iraq (August 2008) and extra funding to support returning veterans. That’s progress. Republicans, of course, stuck with the president and his calls to stay the course in a war that has failed by every measure. But I still wish the bill had been voted down (though for much different reasons than the Republicans). $124 billion for another year of war is largely wasted money. Regardless, the Speaker and the Democrats in the House deserve credit for moving the debate in the right direction. U.S. Congressman Earl Blumenauer faxed me a handwritten note today (in response to a letter I sent earlier this week) in which he said voting for the bill was the only way to “end the madness” unleashed by Karl Rove and George W. Bush. The Oregon congressman wrote that the vote today will prove to be “an important set back” to the White House. The president promises to veto the bill (if the Senate were to side with the House and send the bill for a signature). We are fortunate to have people in charge of Congress that share our goal of ending the war and bringing stability to the Middle East.

Elizabeth Edwards does have cancer but her husband will continue his presidential race.  Let us all pray for Mrs. Edwards and her family as she receives treatment.  America can be grateful that John Edwards will stay in the race.  He is the only candidate for president who has offered detailed plans to fight poverty - one of America's great issues.  I'm not going to endorse a candidate today but it is clear that Edwards brings an important voice to the 2008 campaign and I'm glad that he will continue to be heard.       

This does not sound good. From The Washington Post:

Former senator John Edwards (D-N.C.) and his wife, Elizabeth, have scheduled a news conference for noon today in their home state of North Carolina, in what aides described as a major development in his 2008 presidential bid.

Advisers declined to discuss the details of the hastily arranged announcement ahead of time. "He's talking tomorrow," said Jonathan Prince, Edwards's deputy campaign manager, last night. "Listen to what he says tomorrow."

The appearance comes on the heels of a last-minute decision by Edwards this week to cancel an event in Iowa to accompany his wife to a doctor's appointment on Wednesday. Elizabeth Edwards was diagnosed with breast cancer at the end of her husband's unsuccessful 2004 campaign as the Democratic vice presidential nominee. She subsequently underwent extensive treatment.

Her husband has repeatedly said he would put his wife's well-being first; he announced that he would mount a second bid for the presidency after she was given a clean bill of health.

After a doctor's appointment Monday, Elizabeth Edwards, 57, was summoned for further tests.

Pray for the good health of Elizabeth Edwards and for the people all around her.

John Edwards has been a excellent contributor to the national dialogue about the future of America and I hope his campaign continues.  Pray for him and their children.

MoveOn.org are other progressives are supporting the Iraq Accountability Act.  From MoveOn's e-mail alert this morning:

85 percent of MoveOn members want to work to pass Speaker Pelosi's plan for Iraq. Today, we have to get to work. This vote is going to be incredibly close and it'll be one of the most important ones of the year. Every member of Congress should hear from their constituents today.

The critical piece of this plan is that it sets a timeline for withdrawing our troops from Iraq—it sets a date certain to end the war. President Bush doesn't want to set a deadline to exit Iraq1—his policy would strand our troops in the middle of what has become a religious civil war.

But MoveOn.org and the Speaker are wrong.

U.S. Congressman John Lewis is right:

Rep. John Lewis (D-Ga.) a staunch pacifist, civil rights icon and part of the House leadership team, says his philosophy of non-violence will not allow him to vote for the Democrats’ Iraq spending bill.

“In matters of foreign policy, violence and war is obsolete. The money is there to support a continuation of the war,” Lewis said in a brief interview with The Hill. “I just cannot do it.”

Lewis’s position, announced late Monday from the House floor, leaves House Majority Whip James Clyburn (D-S.C.) without his senior chief deputy whip as Democrats head into the closest vote of the 110th Congress.

In his floor speech, Lewis said that “as an individual committed to a world of peace with itself, I will not and I cannot in good conscience vote for another dollar or another dime to support this war.”

War is contrary to the will of God. The House leadership might be taking a politically wise (or politically possible) stand but they are not advancing the cause of peace far enough – no matter how good their intentions. So if you write your congressman tell them to vote with John Lewis.  Tell them to work for peace (which you can do on the FaithfulAmerica.org website).

That’s what I did when I wote U.S. Congressman Earl Blumenauer today .

BOISE -- A Boise State University group has angered Latino leaders and other organizations by promoting a speech with a "food stamp drawing" that requires climbing through a hole in a fence and offering fake identification for a chance to win a dinner at a Mexican restaurant.

The school's College Republicans organization is offering the dinner for two to promote a speech it is sponsoring by Canyon County Commissioner Robert Vasquez, a vocal critic of U.S. immigration policy who is planning to run for the U.S. Senate in 2008.

The speech scheduled for Thursday by the College Republicans is in the midst of the university's Cesar Chavez Week, sponsored by the Boise State Cultural Center….

The flyer on the College Republicans' Web site is headlined "America's Illegal Alien Invasion" and has a picture of Vasquez as well as examples of a resident alien card, a Texas Health and Human Services Medicaid Card, Idaho driver's license and Social Security card.

It also contains an image of a highway caution sign that has a couple running while dragging a young child.

Above the sign at a slanted angle is "Celebrate Cesar Chavez Week."

The flyer also contains the dinner drawing information: "Win dinner for two at a local Mexican Restaurant! Climb through the hole in the fence and enter your false ID documents into the food stamp drawing!"

Jonathan Sawmiller, president of the College Republicans, defended the flyer as "It's more of an attention-getting device," Sawmiller said. The group's Web site calls the dinner drawing "humorous."

Full story.

A lot of candidates are going to run to the right on immigration in 2008. This will be the new wedge issue meant to divide Americans along racial and geographical lines. The College Republicans might think they are being humorous, or even just partisan, but their tactics are racist and such behavior must surely be an affront to God.

Related Link:  The Bible as the Ultimate Immigration Handbook 

Thousands of Oregonians took to the streets of downtown Portland this afternoon in a peaceful march protesting the Iraq War. Ecumenical Ministries of Oregon was one of the co-sponsors. The march started in the South Park Blocks as the bell at Portland's historic First Congregational United Church of Christ rang out.

Earlier this morning at Parkrose Community United Church of Christ our readings included Isaiah 2:5-11, Matt 5:9 and Romans 12:9-21 as we noted the fourth anniversary of the war during worship.

Use the below link to download the podcast of my sermon - War Is Contrary to the Will of God - for your iPod or personal computer.

Download ParkroseIraq.m4a

(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).

(There are more pictures of the march below the fold)

When Senator John McCain was asked yesterday if he supported federal funding for condoms to help stop the spread of HIV/AIDS the republican presidential candidate responded:

Are we on the Straight Talk express? I’m not informed enough on it. Let me find out. You know, I’m sure I’ve taken a position on it on the past. I have to find out what my position was. Brian (a campaign aide), would you find out what my position is on contraception – I’m sure I’m opposed to government spending on it, I’m sure I support the president’s policies on it.”

Condoms save lives, Senator. Don't ask the president. Ask the medical professionals.

When Obama, Edwards and Clinton where asked yesterday to comment on General Pace’s remarks that homosexuality was immoral only Edwards forcefully condemned it. Clinton and Obama, after being given several chances to do so yesterday, finally did today. Good for them (better for Edwards who didn’t hesitate to say what was right).

My post on this yesterday received a reaction that was pretty diverse.

John wrote:

Rev. Currie, I was uplifted to read your comment on the article re: Sen. Obama's statement on gays and immorality. You wrote in no uncertain terms that gays are not immoral and it is not a sin. I was even more pleased when I checked out your website and saw that your congregation is in Portland. I am a gay man born and raised in Eastern Oregon, and I left that rural setting after high school to relocate to a more tolerant (at least at that time, 30 years ago) Southern California. Thank you for your leadership and compassion on this issue. I think of the brave gay men and women who are putting their lives on the line in combat service for this country who are yet again the target of political posturing and scapegoating. And that's not to mention the young people still struggling to come to terms with their sexuality and self esteem who are confronted by the ignorance and intolerance of General Pace's remarks. God bless you.

Amber e-mailed (five times actually) to say (among other things):

I am a conservative, Bible believing Christian who looks to a grammatical-historical method of interpretation of the Bible. I believe that the Scripture is God-breathed and inerrant. Jesus is God in flesh, he was born to Mary (a virgin) and lived a perfect life. That ALL his teachings are that of the Almighty God. I believe that the only way to salvation is through faith in Jesus Christ as your Lord and Savior. I believe that all who have put their faith in Jesus Christ, are indwelled with the Holy Spirit. I believe that all Christians are called by God to bear fruit and to spread the Good News of Christ to ALL the nations. I believe that the Bible teaches that homosexuality is a sin, just as adultery, lying, stealing, etc. The wages of sin is death, but we have the free gift of God through Jesus' work on the cross to be redeemed. So I do love my fellow man and whatever their sin may be, I am called to show them God's love and through doing that show them that God calls them to repent of their sins. I am called to repent of my sins as well. It is not discrimination to teach what God's word says. That's like saying that I am discriminating against Liars,Thieves, & Murders because what I say they do is wrong, immoral and sinful. And by the way, I have choosen to follow Jesus Christ, my Lord and Savior.

And then there were a few from people like this….

HELL NO HILLERY DOESN'T LIKE F****S LIKE THE REST OF DECENT PEOPLE YOU ARE SICK F*****G CREEPS >>>>>>>> BOB LUCAS

My two cents today are the same as yesterday: Homosexuality is not immoral and it is not a sin.

There is politicking going on in Congress of the worst kind:

The General Secretary of the National Council of Churches USA (NCC) today called on Congress to account for linking federal minimum wage legislation with the bill to fund the Iraq war.

"It is reprehensible for Congress to attach the federal minimum wage to a funding request for what most religious leaders in America have called an immoral war," said the Rev. Bob Edgar in a message to the more than 105,000 members of FaithfulAmerica.org, NCC's online advocacy community. Edgar urged the online members to email their Congressional representatives.

"Whatever the political maneuvers that led to this situation, it is clear Congressional leadership has lost sight of the value of working men and women in our nation who have gone too long without a raise," said Edgar.

Edgar also reiterated his opposition to linking a minimum wage increase to tax breaks or other incentives to businesses who may hire minimum wage workers.

Send Congress a message today demanding that they “restore a clean bill, a just bill, a moral bill on increasing the federal minimum wage, without amendments or add-ons or tax incentives for anyone. We need a measure that is fair, just, and moral. Most importantly, our nation's poorest must never be used as bargaining chips for military spending.”

This Sunday (March 18th), my sermon topic will be “War Is Contrary To The Will Of God” at Parkrose Community United Church of Christ (105th and NE Wygant). The service begins at 10 am.

This week marks the 4th anniversary of the U.S. invasion of Iraq. Hundreds of thousands have died since then and the region has been left in chaos. The invasion was opposed by the Vatican and the World Council of Churches and here at home the National Council of Churches USA helped led opposition to the war. Jesus calls on us to be peacemakers but our government has chosen a different, more destructive path.

Last fall the National Council of Churches issued a statement that read in part:

“….united together as the National Council of Churches USA, we call upon the U.S. Government to recognize that the continued presence of occupying forces has not provided meaningful security for Iraqi citizens and only exacerbates escalating violence, and begin an immediate phased withdrawal of American and coalition forces from Iraq with a timetable that provides for an expeditious final troop withdrawal. And we further call upon our government to link this withdrawal plan to benchmarks for rebuilding Iraqi society, since the reconstruction of infrastructure, the restoration of essential services, and a foundation for economic growth are necessary to nurture Iraqi hopes for a stable future, and to steps to meet the security concerns of all Iraqis, including the more vulnerable, smaller ethnic and religious communities.”

I will join protesters later in the day in downtown Portland calling on the U.S. to withdrawal troops from Iraq.

The good folks at Faithfully Liberal asked me a few questions about homelessness, religion and politics this week and I offered some answers (a few of which might have even been coherent).  Check it out.

Do they think homosexuality is immoral? I would have thought we knew the answer to that with both of these presidential candidates.  But maybe we don't.

The correct answer here – in case anyone is wondering – is that it isn’t.

The Pope this week “reaffirmed a strict ruling forbidding eucharistic concelebration with ministries of non-Roman Catholic churches.” Translation: non-Catholics aren’t welcome at the Pope's communion table.

The United Church of Christ celebrates an open table where all are welcome. Many other denominations, such as the United Methodist Church, do the same. In the UCC we generally believe that:

In the sacrament of Holy Communion, also called the Lord's Supper or Eucharist, meaning "thanksgiving," Christians hear, taste, touch and receive the grace of God revealed through Jesus Christ in a unique way. Communion is:

* a joyous act of thanksgiving for all God has done, is doing, and will do for the redeeming of creation;

* a sacred memorial of the crucified and risen Christ, a living and effective sign of Christ's sacrifice in which Christ is truly and rightly present to those who eat and drink;

* an earnest prayer for the presence of the Holy Spirit to unite those who partake with the Risen Christ and with each other, and to restore creation, making all things new;

* an intimate experience of fellowship in which the whole church in every time and place is present and divisions are overcome;

* a hopeful sign of the promised Realm of God marked by justice, love and peace.

We’re celebrating communion every Sunday during Lent at Parkrose Community United Church of Christ. Protestants and Catholics alike are welcome.

Related Link: A Podcast Sermon For World Communion Sunday 2006: All Are Welcome At God's Table

Our nations have a relationship that is strong and warm. Our people share the bonds of friendship, a commitment to prosperity and peace and regional stability. Egypt is a strategic partner of the United States and we value President Mubarak's years of effort on behalf of the peace and stability of the Middle East.

- President George W. Bush hosting President Mubarak at his Texas ranch on April 12, 2004

The Egyptian government today for the first time sentenced a blogger to prison for his writings, threatening a window of free speech that has emerged on the Internet, Human Rights Watch said today.

A court in Alexandria this morning convicted and sentenced `Abd al-Karim Nabil Sulaiman, to four years in prison on charges of insulting Islam, defaming the president, and “spreading information disruptive of the public order.” According to reporters who attended the hearing, Judge Ayman al-Akazi issued the verdict in a brief five minute session.

Sulaiman, a 22-year-old former student of Islamic jurisprudence at Al-Azhar University, is better known by his pen name, Karim Amer. Following a complaint filed by the university, Sulaiman appeared before a public prosecutor on November 7 to answer charges related to items he wrote on his blog criticizing Islam, the authorities at Al-Azhar and President Hosni Mubarak. Prosecutors ordered him detained pending investigation and renewed his detention four times before his trial opened at Muharram Bek Court in Alexandria on January 25.

Plainclothes officers had previously arrested Sulaiman at his home on October 26, 2005, four days after he criticized Muslim rioters and Islam in a blog post about sectarian clashes in his neighborhood. Authorities held him for 12 days after this first arrest and released him without charge.

- Human Rights Watch on February 22, 2007

Anyone else think we’re doomed if Egypt is our friend and partner in the quest for stability and peace in the Middle East?

Take a moment and e-mail President Bush. Tell him to tell his friends in the Egyptian government to release `Abd al-Karim Nabil Sulaiman.

Respect for (or at least understanding of) religious pluralism still has a long way to go in America. Religious News Service reports:

A high school graduation ceremony held last year in a Newark church has sparked a lawsuit over religious freedom.

A senior who was graduating from West Side High School says he could not attend the ceremony because his Muslim faith prohibited him from entering a building with religious icons, such a pictures of God or the cross, according to a lawsuit filed against the Newark Public Schools by the American Civil Liberties Union.

"Schools should not sponsor activities that exclude some students from participating on the basis of religious belief," said Edward Barocas, the group's legal director.

The suit, filed on behalf of Bilal Shareef, is asking the court to grant the 18-year-old damages because both the graduation and a religious baccalaureate service violated his right not to be discriminated against on the basis of his religion.

The lawsuit alleges West Side officials told students if they attended the separate religious baccalaureate ceremony at a Catholic church, they would receive two additional tickets for the graduation ceremony.

Bilal Shareef is only asking that the principles enshrined in the American Constitution be honored but it doesn’t take much to find anti-Muslim bigotry on the march in this case. From MaxRedline:

There they go again. The ACLU is filing suit against the Newark, N.J. school system because West Side High School held its graduation ceremonies inside (gasp!) a Baptist church! As a result, Bilal Shareef, a Muslim, could not attend. This violated the poor boy's religious freedom, according to the suit. Golly. Jews and Catholics didn't seem to have a problem, but the poor little Muslim boy did. Well certainly, we should all bend over backward to accommodate the poor little Muslim. How about this, instead: Tell the poor little Muslim boy to go pee up a rope, and hand the ACLU a hefty fine for bringing frivolous lawsuits.

As a Christian minister, I pray that we all learn to be reconciled to one another and to God. In advocating for his faith and freedom Bilal Shareef is advocating for the freedom of all people of faith – and even the freedom of those who do not believe. Hate filled blog posts dishonor God and poison the atmosphere of civil debate in our democratic society.

Dr. Stephen Patterson, professor of New Testament at Eden Theological Seminary, has a new article posted on the seminary's website outlining his observations about the documentary "The Lost Tomb of Jesus."

As you may have heard, "The Lost Tomb of Jesus" aired earlier this month on The Discovery Channel and reports the extraordinary claim that ossuaries (burial boxes) containing the remains of Jesus and his family members have been found.   

Patterson, author of The God of Jesus and a noted expert on Thomas, opens his article with a critique of the methods used to make such a claim:

No one involved in this film is an archaeologist; none is an ancient historian; none is an epigrapher (someone able to read ancient inscriptions). It did employ one New Testament scholar, James Tabor, an able, but idiosyncratic scholar from the University of North Carolina at Charlotte. Tabor has no archaeological experience. This does not mean the film makers are wrong. But it does mean they haven't the expertise necessary to prove they are right. Their method was a film-making method. They begin with a theory--that this is the family of Jesus. They then assemble certain facts that seem to establish it as true. These facts are then woven into a narrative, with dramatizations, to establish its plausibility. This is how a good documentary film is made. Archaeologists, however, do not work this way. Archaeologists begin by assembling all the relevant facts and information. Then they formulate various alternatives of interpretation, and weigh each of them against all the evidence. This would not make a very interesting film, but it is the way good archaeology is done.

Others have made similar observations.  What Patterson offers that is perhaps more unique is his insight into the theological questions raised by this film:

The significance of the film's claims for Christian faith really depends on the way one understands Christianity, and the foundations upon which it rests. For many Christians, the literal physical resurrection of Jesus is the miracle that proves Jesus was the Son of God, and that we should therefore believe in Jesus. If this miracle were shown to be untrue--by the discovery of Jesus' body, in this case--then Christian faith would itself be shown to be untrue. But for many other Christians, the resurrection of Jesus is not to be understood in this way. The earliest resurrection confession, reflected in Paul's letter, First Corinthians, did not present Jesus' resurrection as physical in this way. Paul argues that resurrection is only possible insofar as God gives to the dead a new body, which he calls a "spiritual body" (1 Cor 15:44). "Flesh and blood," he says, "cannot inherit the Kingdom of God, nor does the perishable inherit the imperishable" (1 Cor 15:50). Of course, Paul's view is not the only one in the New Testament. The writers of Matthew and Luke, and possibly John, all believed Jesus' physical body was raised from the dead. This is why many insist on it today as fundamental to Christian faith. But to insist on it, as so many do, is to ignore the diversity of the New Testament itself, which ought to authorize similar diversity among Christians today.

In my view, the earliest followers of Jesus believed God had raised Jesus from the dead because they believed in Jesus. That is, they believed God had authorized his words and deeds, and that the change they had embraced in their lives was God's will. After his death they continued to experience the spirit of Jesus alive in their midst....

It is possible, historically, that in the aftermath of the crucifixion, no one really knew what happened to Jesus' body. Today historians cannot be sure what happened to Jesus' body. But if the fate of his body is unclear, the fate of the faith and trust in God that Jesus inspired in others, before his death, after his death, and still today, is not. And this faith need not be undermined in the least, even if the claims made by Cameron and Jacobivichi prove credible with further investigation. "Why do you seek the living among the dead?" says Luke the evangelist (Luke 24:6). Christianity is a living faith in which the life of Jesus is continued in the lives of those who embrace his spirit as determinative for their own existence.

Did the resurrection of Jesus have to occur bodily for our faith to be valid?  What do you think?  I'm inclined to agree with Patterson but then again he was one of my seminary professors.

Two important civil rights bills are being debated in the Oregon Legislature and they have my support as a Christian, a minister in the United Church of Christ, a citizen, a husband and a father:

The Oregon Family Fairness Act (HB2007) would create a new Oregon law to legally recognize the committed relationships of same-sex couples and their families.

The Oregon Equality Act (SB2) would prohibit discrimination based on sexual orientation and gender identity in housing, employment and public accommodation.

My friend and colleague The Rev. Gene Ross recently wrote in The Oregonian:

Most Oregonians believe that discrimination is wrong. What many don't know, however, is that it's perfectly legal. Some Oregonians -- our neighbors who live and work here, pay taxes and contribute to their communities -- can be denied a job, refused housing or turned away from a restaurant for no other reason than that they are homosexuals.

That kind of discrimination is hurtful, but it doesn't end there. Oregonians in committed same-sex partnerships lack the most basic protections for themselves and their children -- the right to make medical and end-of-life decisions, to access a child's school or medical records, to sue for wrongful death or to access state-provided services for families.

In 2005, the General Synod of the United Church of Christ adopted a statement in support of full marriage equality. Neither one of the bills under consideration here in Oregon goes that far but both would bring use closer to a place of justice and compassion – two central concepts in the Christian tradition.

As our General Synod said so well nearly two years ago:

The message of the Gospel is the lens through which the whole of scripture is to be interpreted. Love and compassion, justice and peace are at the very core of the life and ministry of Jesus. It is a message that always bends toward inclusion. The biblical story recounts the ways in which inclusion and welcome to God’s community is ever-expanding – from the story of Abraham and Sarah, to the inclusive ministry of Jesus, to the baptism of Cornelius, to the missionary journeys of Paul throughout the Greco-Roman world. The liberating work of the Spirit as witnessed in the activities of Jesus’ ministry has been to address the situations and structures of exclusion, injustice and oppression that diminish God’s people and keep them from realizing the full gift of human personhood in the context of human communion.

The biblical call to justice and compassion (to love one’s neighbor as one’s self) provides the mandate for marriage equality. Justice as right relationship seeks both personal and communal well being. It is embodied in interpersonal relationships and institutional structures, including marriage. Justice seeks to eliminate marginalization for reasons of race, gender, sexual orientation or economic status.

Building up the Kingdom of God here on earth means fully extending freedom to all God’s people. Many gays and lesbians still live in forms of bondage and the Christian responsibility in such moments is to set the captives free. Christians can and do come to different conclusions about where homosexuality fits into the church - and I respect that different churches might not come to the same conclusions that I do - but no one should use the Bible as an excuse for opposing civil rights for others.  And so I join with my gay and lesbian brothers and sisters in urging the Oregon Legislature to adopt HB2007 and SB2.

Liz Smith Currie explains it all to The Muskogee Phoenix newspaper.

Is Obama afraid of the right-wing blogs?

CHICAGO, March 5 -- The Rev. Jeremiah A. Wright Jr., senior pastor of the popular Trinity United Church of Christ in Chicago and spiritual mentor to Senator Barack Obama, thought he knew what he would be doing on Feb. 10, the day of Senator Obama's presidential announcement.

After all, back in January, Mr. Obama had asked Mr. Wright if he would begin the event by delivering a public invocation.

But Mr. Wright said Mr. Obama called him the night before the Feb. 10 announcement and rescinded the invitation to give the invocation.

"Fifteen minutes before Shabbos I get a call from Barack," Mr. Wright said in an interview on Monday, recalling that he was at an interfaith conference at the time. "One of his members had talked him into uninviting me," Mr. Wright said, referring to Mr. Obama's campaign advisers.

Some black leaders are questioning Mr. Obama's decision to distance his campaign from Mr. Wright because of the campaign's apparent fear of criticism over Mr. Wright's teachings, which some say are overly Afrocentric to the point of excluding whites.

Click here for a little background on Trinity's theology.

Bill Burton, a spokesman for the Obama campaign, said the campaign disinvited Mr. Wright because it did not want the church to face negative attention. Mr. Wright did however, attend the announcement and prayed with Mr. Obama beforehand.

"Senator Obama is proud of his pastor and his church, but because of the type of attention it was receiving on blogs and conservative talk shows, he decided to avoid having statements and beliefs being used out of context and forcing the entire church to defend itself," Mr. Burton said. (emphasis mine)

Instead, Mr. Obama asked Mr. Wright's successor as pastor at Trinity, the Rev. Otis Moss III, to speak. Mr. Moss declined.

Full story

If Obama is going to let right-wing blogs define for the world the theology of his church and dictate who is and isn't aboard his campaign he might as well pack-up now.  The right is "Swift Boating" his church.  How he ultimately responds will offer voters insight into how principled his presidency might be.

I think that Jesus would be disappointed in our ignoring the plight of those around us who are suffering and our focus on our own selfish short-term needs. I think he would be appalled, actually.

- Senator John Edwards on Beliefnet.com

So what would the senator do as president to address this issue? Unlike most presidential campaigns in recent memory he has a plan to reduce poverty in America.

Senator Barack Obama in Selma:

Jesus wandered alone for 40 days.

How long have you?

Last summer the people of Parkrose Community United Church of Christ extended an invitation for me to serve as their interim minister.  Over the last several months our goal as a congregation has been to explore how best to be disciples in a new age.  The church was established to serve a distinct part of the Northeast Portland area known as Parkrose but the neighborhood has changed since 1913 and now welcomes more and more immigrants who often bring with them their own traditions and theologies.  Our church has experienced a decline in membership as the neighborhood has changed.  So how do we need to change as a church to continue?

That is a question we’ve discovered will take some time and so the church has asked that I stay on until the summer of 2009 as we explore new ways of doing ministry.  We are seeking, for example, to expand our participation in community outreach through a new partnership with Stand for Children and we are working to increase Christian education programs for adults and youth.  The church has also increased the number of times communion is offered during worship as a way of connecting more intentionally with the Spirit. 

How we as a church respond to the challenges before us over the next year or so will help the congregation to better decide what kind of permanent pastoral leadership is needed at the conclusion of the interim period.  I’m really excited about the future of this church.  The people are welcoming and thoughtful and I think anyone who visited would feel that way.  So if you live in the Portland area stop by and visit.  Services are at 10 am on Sunday mornings.  The church is located at 4715 NE 106th Ave (just off Sandy).  We’re easy to find.      

Isn’t it time for religion with relevance? The United Church of Christ. We’re about justice, understanding and exploration. So no matter who you are, or where you are on life’s journey you - and your questions - are welcome here.

Chucky is faster on his feet. 

My new blogging adventure at news.ucc.org/blog came to a screeching halt this morning when the blog crashed after a system upgrade yesterday. The tech guru at UCC HQ in Cleveland assures me that this really is just some computer software problem and not divine intervention. Once we get things moving along again I’ll post a note here. Stay tuned.