Starting this coming week I'll be downsizing the scope of my activities for a month or so. Much of my time will be spent working on a class on public theology at Chicago Theological Seminary where I'm working on on a doctor of ministry degree. I'm serving as the TA for the course made up of MDiv, DMin and PhD students. The rest of my time will be spent with family as right now our family requires all the attention possible. For now, I'm largely declining meeting invitations, etc. A little downtime is good for the body and soul. But don't worry. I'll come roaring back in the next month.

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The White House Office of Faith Based and Neighborhood Partnerships decamped Washington, DC for Portland, Ore. this week where staff members from the office met with local faith and non-profit leaders to talk about ways the Obama Administration stands ready to partner with local leaders:

The White House Office of Faith-based and Neighborhood Partnerships works to build bridges between the federal government and nonprofit organizations, both secular and faith-based, to better serve Americans in need. The Office advances this work through 11 Agency Centers across government and a Strategic Advisor at the Corporation for National and Community Service.

So what exactly does the office do?

In addition to its daily work, President Obama has asked the Office of Faith-based and Neighborhood Partnerships to focus on four special priorities.  These priorities are:

1. Strengthening the Role of Community Organizations in the Economic Recovery
2. Reducing Unintended Pregnancies, Supporting Maternal and Child Health, and Reducing the Need for Abortion
3. Promoting Responsible Fatherhood and Strong Communities
   
4. Promoting Interfaith Dialogue and Cooperation

    

Unlike the office as operated under the previous administration, the White House Office of Faith-based and Neighborhood Partnerships does not hand out grants.  President Obama has also insisted that all people of faith - and secular neighborhood bodies -be welcomed at the table.  So you'll see progressive Christians working alongside conservative evangelicals, Muslims, Jews, atheists, and a wide-cross section of Americans committed to the common good.

The White House Office of Faith-based and Neighborhood Partnerships, along with the White House Office Of Public Engagement, works to make sure that diverse voices are heard as policy decisions are debated at the highest levels of government.   

President Obama has done a commendable job of creating a faith-based program that removes politics from funding decisions and is inclusive of all faith traditions - along with secular neighborhood groups. We can also be proud that this president has worked to protect religious liberty (despite what political partisans might argue) while tackling difficult issues.

Having the White House Office of Faith-based and Neighborhood Partnerships in Portland this week was of special importance to me, as it gave me to chance to see friends Joshua DuBois and Michael Wear.  Josh is special assistant to the president and executive director of the White House Office of Faith-based and Neighborhood Partnerships and Mike is one of his top aides.  I deeply admire their work and committment to our nation.

You can follow the work of the White House Office of Faith-based and Neighborhood Partnerships here. 

Rev. Chuck Currie and Joshua DuBois, Special Assistant to the President and Executive Director of the White House Office of Faith-based and Neighborhood Partnerships. 

I've joined religious leaders across the nation in calling for an end to partisan attacks on President Obama's faith. Please add your name. Faith should not be used as a political weapon. - Rev. Chuck Currie

As Christian leaders, pastors, and most importantly followers of Jesus Christ, we are greatly troubled by recent attempts to use faith as a political weapon. From Rick Santorum’s claim that the President’s theology is “not a theology based on the Bible,” to Franklin Graham’s implication that the President may be a Muslim, to the drum beat of false claims about Obama’s so-called “war on religion,” these cynical attempts to use faith as a weapon of political division are bad for our country and especially harmful to the Christian witness.

We can disagree about what it means to be a Christian engaged in politics, but Christians shouldn’t bear false witness. And the teachings of Jesus and the prophets call us in our imperfection to put the most vulnerable among us ahead of our self-interest. As the President said at the last Easter Prayer Breakfast, Jesus “took on the sins of the world – past, present and future – and he extended to us that unfathomable gift of grace and salvation through his death and resurrection.” This gift of grace should remind Christians to enter the public square with a spirit of humility and respond to all we’ve been given (and forgiven) by serving our neighbor and protecting the vulnerable. That’s how we strengthen our witness. Using faith as a partisan tool weakens it.

No politician or government will ever reflect God’s will perfectly, but we prayerfully call on political leaders and members of the media to return to the issues Jesus and the prophets were most concerned about and to stop using faith as a weapon to advance partisan politics and self-interest.

Kathryn M. Lohre, President, National Council of Churches & Director, Ecumenical and Inter-Religious Relations, Evangelical Lutheran Church in America

Clare J. Chapman, Esq., Interim General Secretary, National Council of Churches

Rev. Canon Peg Chemberlin, Executive Director of Minnesota Council of Churches

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

Rev. Dr. Richard L. “Dick” Hamm, Former General Minister and President, Christian Church (Disciples of Christ)

Jim Winkler, General Secretary, General Board of Church and Society, United Methodist Church

Dr. Joel C. Hunter, Senior Pastor, Northland – A Church Distributed

Ron Sider, President, Evangelicals for Social Action

Rich Cizik, President, New Evangelical Partnership for the Common Good

Steven Martin, Executive Director, New Evangelical Partnership for the Common Good

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

Rev. Jennifer Butler, Executive Director, Faith in Public Life

Rev. Beau Underwood, Partnership and Outreach Coordinator, Faith in Public Life

Burns Strider, President, American Values Network

Eric Sapp, Executive Director, American Values Network

Deborah Fikes, Executive Advisor, World Evangelical Alliance

Rev. Dr. Franklin I. Gamwell, Shailer Mathews Distinguished Service Professor Emeritus of Religious Ethics, the Philosophy of Religions, and Theology, University of Chicago Divinity School

Rev Elizabeth Shannon, Associate Chaplain, Eckerd College St Petersburg, FL and Co-Moderator, Presbyterian Peace Fellowship

Rev. Jonathan Hall, Pastor, First Christian Church (Disciples of Christ) Ventura, CA

Lisa Sharon Harper, Director of Mobilizing, Sojourners

Rev. Bryan N. Massingale, Associate Professor of Theology, Marquette University

Bishop Roy I. Sano

Rev. Dr. G. Wilson Gunn, Jr., General Presbyter, National Capital Presbytery

Rev. Dr. Stephen Gentle, Senior Pastor, National City Christian Church Washington, D.C.

Bishop Joe Wilson, retired United Methodist Bishop

Rev. Chuck Currie, United Church of Christ minister

Stephen Sapp, Professor of Religious Studies University of Miami Coral Gables, FL

James Salt Executive Director, Catholics United

Wes Granberg-Michaelson, General Secretary Emeritus, Reformed Church in America

Rev. Thomas J. Reese, S.J. Senior Fellow Woodstock Theological Center Georgetown University

Bishop C. Joseph Sprague, The United Methodist Church

Rev. T. Michael McNulty, SJ Justice and Peace Director Conference of Major Superiors of Men (CMSM)

Brian D. McLaren, author, speaker

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

Bishop Sharon Rader

Robert T. Hoshibata, Resident Bishop, Oregon-Idaho Annual Conference, United Methodist Church

Forrest C. Stith, Retired Bishop, United Methodist Church

Rev. Julian DeShazier, Senior Minister, University Christian Church Chicago, IL

Rev. Steve Copley, Director, Justice for Our Neighbors of Little Rock, AK

Reverend J. Stephen Jones, Southside Baptist Church Birmingham, AL

Marci Glass, Pastor

Rev. Michael McLaughlin

David Ensign, Pastor, Clarendon Presbyterian Church

Jill Tolbert, Pastor, Presbyterian Church U.S.A.

Rev. Heather Wood Davis, Presbyterian Church U.S.A.

Rev. John Wimberly, Pastor, Western Presbyterian Church Washington, D.C.

Julie Bailey, Associate pastor, Evergreen Presbyterian Church Memphis, TN

Rev. Dr. Bob Cornwall, Pastor, Central Christian Church Troy, MI

Rev. Randolph Bracy, Jr., Senior Pastor, New Covenant Baptist Church Orlando, FL

Rev. Angie Wright, Pastor, Beloved Community Church Birmingham, AL

Rev. Dr. Leslie Copeland Tune, Baptist minister

Rev. Fritz Gutwein, Associate Director, Presbyterian Peace Fellowship

Rev. Davis Bailey


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Ash Wednesday

February 22, 2012 

I urge all Oregonians to pray today for the two men experiencing homelessness who were shot early this morning under Portland, Oregon's Morrison Bridge in what police are calling a random attack.  Violence against those who are homeless is a national epidemic, according to the National Coalition for the Homeless (NCH).  Having served on the NCH board and worked on issues of homelessness and poverty for twenty-five years, I can tell you there are many levels of complexity to the homelessness crisis.  But this is a spiritual crisis as much as a political or economic crisis.  When we allow people living on our streets to become invisible we begin the process of dehumanization and thus we see the increase in hate crimes against the most vulnerable in our society - those Jesus would have called the "least of these."  Ash Wednesday begins the Lenten season of reflection and prayer.  Let our prayers this Lent be with those children, women and men living on our streets in the most prosperous nation on earth.  The attacks today were nothing short of a terrorist attack.  The crisis of homelessness is nothing short of sin.

- Rev. Chuck Currie 

The Collegium of Officers of the United Church of Christ responded to the release of President Obama's proposed budget by saying that while "we do not agree with all its provisions, we believe it moves the country in a positive direction."  I share that assessment.  Overall, the president's budget proposal seeks to make sure the wealthy begin to pay their fair share of taxes while helping promote the common good by investing in education and people by (via Half In Ten):

• Permanently extending expansions of the Child Tax Credit and the Earned Income Tax Credit that were passed in the Recovery Act, which will boost the incomes of millions of low-wage working families with children
• Combating hunger by providing full funding for the nutritional safety net that has been responding to high levels of unemployment and by continuing investments in programs that ensure children have the nutritional building blocks they need to thrive
• Providing funding to make progress on the administration’s strategic plan to end homelessness
• Preserving existing housing vouchers that help low-income families afford rent
• Creating new housing opportunities for veterans
• Proposing financing for the development and preservation of affordable housing through the Housing Trust Fund

As Deborah Weinstien, executive director of the Coalition on Human Needs points out, this is a budget meant to help put Americans to work and to continue moving us past the failed economic policies embraced by Paul Ryan and the House leadership:

The Obama budget calls for $350 billion in job growth measures, spread mostly between FY 2012 and FY 2015. These include $50 billion in road and transit maintenance and upgrading, $30 billion to modernize at least 35,000 schools and another $30 billion to hire and retain teachers and first responders, Project Rebuild, which will hire workers in low-income communities to "re-purpose" residential and commercial properties, and a new small business tax credit for companies that hire new workers. The new initiatives include Pathways Back to Work, a $12.5 billion project that will provide subsidized jobs and training for low-income, low-skilled workers and summer and year-round jobs and training for youth.

Still, there are areas of deep concern over the direction our nation is headed.  As the officers of the United Church of Christ rightfully note:

We recognize the constraints facing the nation and the President. A number of factors including the weak economy, high levels of unemployment, unfunded wars, corporate tax loopholes, and cuts in income taxes skewed to favor the wealthiest Americans have reduced tax revenues to historic lows and created a large federal budget deficit. These limit the ability of the federal government to perform its essential roles to help those in need and promote the common good. (See General Synod resolution “For the Common Good.”)

What does this mean in practical terms?  Half In Ten notes:

...the president proposes cutting more than $300 million from the Community Services Block Grant, a program that helps community action agencies in more than 1,000 localities throughout the country to provide services such as weatherization, job training, and Head Start to more than 20 million Americans.

And while the president proposes more funding than he did last year for low-income home energy assistance or LIHEAP, his blueprint would represent more than $450 million in cuts from last year’s enacted level—a hit to vulnerable households struggling to afford heating and cooling.

Cuts to affordable housing programs will also hit low-income families especially hard. The administration’s proposal requires struggling households to pay a $75 minimum rent, which would hit the lowest-income families who are already exempt from normal rents charged to Department of Housing and Urban Development recipients. These changes, coupled with small cuts to housing for people with AIDS and people with disabilities, could translate into real hardship for families on the brink of homelessness.

None of these cuts are acceptable and I'll share that view with both the White House and Oregon's Congressional delegation.

A fair conclusion to draw is that President Obama has drafted the most progressive budget possible considering the political realities faced by our nation.  

It remains the job of the church universal to engage both the President and Congress in this debate, along with the American public, to further protect the most vulnerable among us.

MSNBC: Take this hate group off the air via Faithful America

Rick Santorum weighed in with his thoughts on the death of pop singer Whitney Houston tonight.  He called Houston, who apparently died of a prescription drug overdose - possibly combined with alcohol - a " poor example" and said that celebrities with such problems have "a very harmful downstream effect."  It is true that celebrities (including politicians) are seen for good or bad as role models but addiction is a disease that kills the famous and the non famous alike.  I know.  My father died from an overdose of sleeping pills combined with alcohol in 1998.

My understanding is that Huston sought treatment on several occasions.  My father, C. Stephen Currie, did as well.  He was the child of abusive parents who, like he would become, were alcoholics.  His older brother and sister died in circumstances similar to his own years before he would.  Treatment works for many - and we should do everything in our power to expand treatment opportunities because addiction is a disease and not a lifestyle choice, as Senator Santorum implied - but it does not work for all.  How many in-patient programs did my father participate in? How many 12-step meetings?  My father was an award winning television producer and one-time president of NAPTE International.  Like Houston, however, his talent couldn't overcome his disease. 

Calling addicts a poor example misses the point.  There is more that we need to learn about the science of addiction and why some people overcome it and some don't.  Researches tell us it has a lot to do with the brain, genes, formative childhood experiences, and trauma that can be experienced later in life.

Flip answers from politicians trying to score political points don't help.  Personal choice and responsibility plays a role in addiction - no question, and those who face the terror of addiction still must be held accountable for their actions - but if politicians truly want to be helpful they'll advocate for additional research funding in this area and support programs that do help many people recover and go on to lead productive and happy lives.

I don't judge Whitney Houston.  I grieve for her.  In her death, I remember my father's.  In her face, I see the face of God.               

There is a double standard where the U.S. Conference of Catholic Bishops is concerned: you'll start a nuclear political war with a pro-choice Democrat but allow a pro-life Republican to get away with anything.

My latest on The Huffington Post.

Taken this morning at Portland's First Congregational United Church of Christ.

President Obama will speak at 9:15 am to announce an accommodation that expands contraception access for women and meets the needs of religious employers with objections to offering coverage.  I've been briefed by senior White House officials and the plan is sound.

Religious employers will not be required to offer insurance plans that cover contraception. But those insurance companies will be required to provide free contraception to women.  Insurance companies would prefer to offer free contraception than to cover the costs of an unwanted pregnancy or diseases that contraception can help prevent.  

This is creative thinking by President Obama and his staff.  Sister Carol Keehan, President of the US Catholic Health Association, and Planned Parenthood head Cecile Richards support the compromise.

So do I.

Many Christian denominations - the United Church of Christ included - strongly support contraception and have applauded the president's efforts to expand coverage.  

Any opposition to this new proposal will be partisan politics, pure and simple.

Like many religious leaders, I fully support President Obama's recent decision to expand contraception coverage as part of the Affordable Care Act.  That decision, however, has drawn fierce criticism from Roman Catholic leaders.  Is there room for a compromise.  I think so.

Melissa Rogers of Wake Forest Divinity School wrote this past fall that Hawaii might be a model for a federal law:

In terms of its definition of a “religious employer,” the state of Hawaii’s contraceptive coverage law has some of the same defects as the interim federal rule. But it appears to have taken some noteworthy steps to ensure that employees of objecting religious organizations may readily gain access to affordable coverage of contraceptives. Under Hawaii law, religious employers that decline to cover contraceptives must provide written notification to enrollees disclosing that fact and describing alternate ways for enrollees to access coverage for contraceptive services. Hawaii law also requires health insurers to allow enrollees in a health plan of an objecting religious employer to purchase coverage of contraceptive services directly and to do so at a cost that does not exceed “the enrollee’s pro rata share of the price the group purchaser would have paid for such coverage had the group plan not invoked a religious exemption.” A New York law has similar provisions.

Vice-President Biden, a Roman Catholic, said today that he wants a compromise to be worked out.

Some of the criticism of the new rules has been unfortunate and the rhetoric from New York Archbishop Timothy Dolan and others has been heated.  It is unclear if Dolan wants a compromise or a fight.  What the American people want, however, is clear: access to contraceptives as part of health care (and this includes a solid majority of Roman Catholics).  

I'd urge the U.S. Conference of Catholic Bishops to stop their nuclear attack on the White House and to work with the President to find a win-win solution.  Anything less than serious good faith negotiations from the Bishops will force a question about motives.

Why is it, for example, President Obama is coming under fire this election year from Dolan when Rick Santorum and Newt Gingrich, both Roman Catholics, have taken positions in opposition to the Roman Catholic Church on war, immigration, climate change, economics, and aid for those in poverty without as much as a word from the U.S. Conference of Catholic Bishops?

The Oregonian had a good editorial this week on how churches and other faith communities are working to fight homelessness in our community.  I deeply appreciate that the paper's editorial board shared my view in their piece that "this work cannot be outsourced to churches. Far from it. The faith community can only do its share. Every level of government has a role to play. Making the best use of churches and other volunteers requires the city and county to be smart and strategic."  Click here to read the full editorial.  

The courts have ruled - again - that California's Proposition 8 is unconstitutional.  Judges can rule on legality but it is up to people of faith to judge morality within our faith traditions.  Is same sex marriage valid within Christianity?  I'd argue yes.  In fact, I've preached just that.

For The Love Of All Creation: A Sermon On Genesis 1:1-2:4a for Pride Month 2011 from The Rev. Chuck Currie on Vimeo.

I was back with Carl Wolfson and the good folks at KPOJ this morning to talk about Komen, Planned Parenthood and why Mitt Romney should care about those living in poverty. Listen here:

As part of President Obama's commitment to increase health care for women and reduce the need for abortion services, the Affordable Care Act - broadly supported by religious organizations in the United States - will require that most insurance companies cover women's preventative services, including contraception, beginning this August.

Churches and other houses of worship are exempt from being required to provide contraception if they have a religious objection (some do, many don't) but some faith-based groups, such as those that receive federal funding and that hire people from various faith backgrounds, will be required over time to follow the same guidelines as other employers.  For some, this has been understandably controversial.  People of good faith sometimes come to different conclusions on difficult issues and President Obama has always respected even those who might occasionally disagree with him.

There is, however, strong support from religious Americans for contraception.  The Guttmacher Institute notes that 98% of Roman Catholic women have used contraception and just recently the Public Research Institute found that "85% of Catholics support expanding access to birth control for women who cannot afford it."  Many Christian and Jewish bodies have official positions that strongly support contraception to help stop unwanted pregnancies, reduce HIV/AIDS and other STDs, and to lower the overall costs of health care for women. Religious leaders from various traditions have praised the President.

As a minister, a husband and a father, I want to thank President Obama and his administration for making sure that the Affordable Care Act works well for women and families.  This is exactly what so many of us in the faith community hoped for when we called on Congress to pass this important legislation.

When voters in Oregon's First Congressional district decided to keep the seat in Democratic hands on Tuesday during a special election the vote prompted mid-Willamette Valley talk show host Bill Post to tweet: 

"I HATE Portland and everything about it."

Well, I suppose someone should first tell Mr. Post that the district only includes part of Portland, and also the northern Oregon coast along with communities such as Forest Grove, Hillsboro and Beaverton.

But my real response back to Mr. Post is that I love every part of this state - whether or not they vote for Democrats or Republicans.  The people in Greg Walden's conservative district are just as good and decent as anyone in Salem, where I've worked before, or Portland, where I live.

This is a great state with tremendous natural diversity.  We have mountains, and deserts, farmland, forests, rivers and the great Pacific.  We've produced great Republican leaders like Tom McCall and Mark Hatfield and great Democratic leaders like Les AuCoin and Gretchen Kafoury.

In Oregon, progressive Portlanders like Jefferson Smith can still team up with conservative leaders from Pendleton like Bob Jenson to tackle tough issues.

Some of our rural communities might produce politicans more conservative than my liking - more in line with the Tea Party views of Mr. Post - but in all my travels across Oregon (having spent most my life here) I've found the people to be good and kind regardless of politics.  There is something special to love in every part of Oregon and that is one reason I'm so proud to be an Oregonian...even when elections don't go my way (which happens quite a bit, I'm afraid).   

2/3 Breaking Update: Komen has just issued a statement apologizing and saying they will continue to fund Planned Parenthood.  This is the right move and I applaud their decision.

As a minister in the United Church of Christ, I have supported the Susan G. Komen for the Cure Foundation and urged others to do the same.  But with their 100% political - political, not medical - decision to defund Planned Parenthood because the GOP House is conducting a McCarthy-era like witch hunt of the organization, I can no longer support the organization.

This is not a decision I make lightly as my family, like many, has experienced the painful realities of breast cancer.

But I agree 100% with New York City Mayor Michael Bloomberg who said today: "Politics has no place in health care. Breast cancer screening saves lives and hundreds of thousands of women rely on Planned Parenthood for access to care."

Anti-abortion advocates for years have attempted to force Komen from working with Planned Parenthood.  They've won that battle for now.

I still hope Komen will step back from the politics - fire anti-abortion activist Karen Handel - and get back to medicine.  Click here to send them a message. 

And please join other people of faith at the Religious Coalition for Reproductive Choice in continuing the fight for women's health care. 

I still stand with Planned Parenthood:

Portland Stand With Planned Parenthood Rally from The Rev. Chuck Currie on Vimeo.

Update:  I'm glad to learn that Komen Oregon has issued a statement opposing their national organization that reads in part:

Komen Oregon is opposed to the new national Komen community grant eligibility policy. Not only will this decision affect Planned Parenthood, but also any other organization under investigation.  The implications will be far reaching, having an adverse effect on numerous grantees.  Ultimately it will compromise our ability to provide life-saving access to breast cancer screening and treatment for the most vulnerable women.

I hope this local leadership has a positive impact on the national organization.

President Obama spoke today about his Christian faith at the National Prayer breakfast.  What made the remarks important was the way in which he linked his concerns over policy - particularly poverty - with his understanding of Christian tradition, an understanding rooted not just in the larger United Church of Christ (his tradition and one shared by other U.S. presidents) and our work from the fight against slavery to the fight against modern day poverty, but within the larger context of progressive Christianity, American pluralism and respect for the separation of church and state.

We face many important moral issues in this nation, and President Obama understands this:

...when I talk about our financial institutions playing by the same rules as folks on Main Street, when I talk about making sure insurance companies aren’t discriminating against those who are already sick, or making sure that unscrupulous lenders aren’t taking advantage of the most vulnerable among us, I do so because I genuinely believe it will make the economy stronger for everybody.  But I also do it because I know that far too many neighbors in our country have been hurt and treated unfairly over the last few years, and I believe in God’s command to “love thy neighbor as thyself.”  I know the version of that Golden Rule is found in every major religion and every set of beliefs -– from Hinduism to Islam to Judaism to the writings of Plato.  

And when I talk about shared responsibility, it’s because I genuinely believe that in a time when many folks are struggling, at a time when we have enormous deficits, it’s hard for me to ask seniors on a fixed income, or young people with student loans, or middle-class families who can barely pay the bills to shoulder the burden alone.  And I think to myself, if I’m willing to give something up as somebody who’s been extraordinarily blessed, and give up some of the tax breaks that I enjoy, I actually think that’s going to make economic sense.

But for me as a Christian, it also coincides with Jesus’s teaching that “for unto whom much is given, much shall be required.”  It mirrors the Islamic belief that those who’ve been blessed have an obligation to use those blessings to help others, or the Jewish doctrine of moderation and consideration for others. 

When I talk about giving every American a fair shot at opportunity, it’s because I believe that when a young person can afford a college education, or someone who’s been unemployed suddenly has a chance to retrain for a job and regain that sense of dignity and pride, and contributing to the community as well as supporting their families -- that helps us all prosper. 

It means maybe that research lab on the cusp of a lifesaving discovery, or the company looking for skilled workers is going to do a little bit better, and we’ll all do better as a consequence.  It makes economic sense.  But part of that belief comes from my faith in the idea that I am my brother’s keeper and I am my sister’s keeper; that as a country, we rise and fall together.  I’m not an island.  I’m not alone in my success.  I succeed because others succeed with me.

And when I decide to stand up for foreign aid, or prevent atrocities in places like Uganda, or take on issues like human trafficking, it’s not just about strengthening alliances, or promoting democratic values, or projecting American leadership around the world, although it does all those things and it will make us safer and more secure.  It’s also about the biblical call to care for the least of these –- for the poor; for those at the margins of our society.  

To answer the responsibility we’re given in Proverbs to “Speak up for those who cannot speak for themselves, for the rights of all who are destitute.”  And for others, it may reflect the Jewish belief that the highest form of charity is to do our part to help others stand on their own.  

Treating others as you want to be treated.  Requiring much from those who have been given so much.  Living by the principle that we are our brother’s keeper.  Caring for the poor and those in need.  These values are old.  They can be found in many denominations and many faiths, among many believers and among many non-believers.  And they are values that have always made this country great -- when we live up to them; when we don’t just give lip service to them; when we don’t just talk about them one day a year.  And they’re the ones that have defined my own faith journey.  

And today, with as many challenges as we face, these are the values I believe we’re going to have to return to in the hopes that God will buttress our efforts.

There are times when I find fault with political tactics or matters of policy.  This speech, however, reminded me of why I have so deeply respected Barack Obama since 2004:  he is a person of deep faith who despite the political winds attempts to live out that faith even in these extreme times.  His policies, shaped sometimes by the imperfect times in which we live, reflect the values he articluated today.  

It is hard to imagine another politican of this age being able to deleiver a speech like this.

Mitt Romney told CNN this morning that "I'm not concerned with the very poor. We have a safety net there." He'll probably want to bet $10,000 to prove me wrong, but we aren't doing enough to fight poverty.

My latest piece in The Huffington Post.