Speaking A Word of Truth: Religious Leaders Call For End To Partisan Faith Attacks

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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