Rev. Dr. Chuck Currie

Portland Faith Leaders Stand Up For 26-151 #YesFluoride

Portland faith leaders are standing up for 26-151 and Healthy Kids Healthy Portland because "one of our core principles is that the blessings of our community should be felt by all, not just a few." Fluoridation of our water will help our kids and entire city. The numbers have gotten slightly better but we still face a true crisis. Read the arguments in support of 26-151 at

http://web.multco.us/sites/default/files/elections/documents/multco_vp_26-151_for_2013-05.pdf.

Statement On The Death Of The Rev. Bob Edgar

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

Psalm 23: Fear Not In The Valley | Reflecting On Our Week

Psalm 23: Fear Not In The Valley | Reflecting On Our Week from The Rev. Chuck Currie on Vimeo.

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Pray For Boston, Support American Muslims

We continue to be shocked and deeply saddened as a national community as events unfold in Boston.  There is still much that we do not know: including the motive of the terrorists. What we do know is that these violent attacks are attacks against all Americans and without excuse. Sadly, already there are people blaming all Muslims and attacks of retaliation have occurred.  FOX News regular guest Erik Rush tweeted earlier this week concerning Muslims: "Yes, they're evil. Let's kill them all."  All people of good faith - Christians, Jews and Muslims - must use this moment to support our nation and bring reconciliation.  It is vital that we protect those unfairly targeted as our nation's authorities seek to bring those responsible for the Boston attacks to justice.  We are better than the terrorists and we are better than those who would use this moment to divide our nation along religious lines with appeals to bigotry.    

Sinful Senate Vote Compounds Newtown Tragedy

This morning in The Huffington Post I address the Senate's failure to address gun violence in America:

"The ability of a minority of in the U.S. Senate to block common sense gun violence prevention measures is a victory for the NRA, whose leadership has sided with criminals over the common good of our nation. The Senators who sided with the NRA's leadership have sinned."

Sinful Senate Vote Compounds Newtown Tragedy

Praying For Boston, America

All Americans unite together in offering prayers and good thoughts for those impacted by the events that have occurred today at the Boston Marathon.  We especially left up the injured, any who might have been killed, first responders, and our elected officials who must respond to whatever caused this.  If this was an act of terrorism and not some sort of terrible accident those responsible must be held accountable.  Right now we have many questions but the people of Boston must know that they have the love of all Americans.

President's budget doesn't reflect our values

Today I've joined Sister Simone Campbell, leader of "Nuns on the Bus," in co-authoring an op-ed published in The Hill critical of the budget choices under consideration in Washington:

"As faith leaders, we have spoken out consistently about the moral bankruptcy of Republican federal budget proposals over the last 2 years, and we have supported President Obama’s commitment to protecting the poorest Americans from cuts to crucial programs like food stamps and Medicaid. The president's just released budget, however, falls short of the moral vision many faith leaders have for this country and the president's own ideals as embodied in his second Inaugural Address. While the Obama administration’s 2014 budget has some admirable measures and is far superior to the House GOP plan, it does not go far enough in promoting the common good and protecting the vulnerable."

President's budget doesn't reflect our values.

Fluoride Is A Public Health, Equity Issue

As a minister and father of eight year old twin daughters, health and dental care is a top concern.  Making sure that low-income children have every advantage should be a top priority of our city and right now that just isn't the case.  Portland, one of only two major cities in the nation without fluoride in the water, is a community where "21% of children suffer from untreated dental decay – that’s forty percent more than fluoridated Seattle Metro."  We can change all that by voting yes on 26-151 this May.  

The CDC calls fluoridation one of the top public health achievements of the last century, and for Portland this is an issue of equity - which is why not only the medical community backs fluoridation but so does the Coalition of Communities of Color. 

I've heard the arguments against fluoridation:  It's a conspiracy backed by big money, it will kill dogs and plants, fluoride is bad for kids, kids can get free dental care instead at public health centers and schools, etc.  You listen to these arguments and cannot help be reminded of those who deny the science that clearly shows a link between human activity and climate change.  The organizers of the campaign to stop fluoride are denying the reality of the scientific consensus that exists on this issue - that fluoride is safe - and arguing that their personal right not to use fluoride trumps the needs of children in our community suffering from a public health crisis.  And where is this free, universal dental care I keep hearing about?  

Good people can come to different conclusions on difficult issues but Portland has been ill served by the official campaign against fluoride which has used outright lies and fear to fuel their campaign.  

The Sins Of Kermit Gosnell

Here's a question making the rounds: is there enough media coverage of Kermit Gosnell, the physician charged with murdering babies in an abortion clinic? The answer is no (though as Salon's Irin Carmon notes there was much coverage when the story first broke in 2011). And we need to do everything in our power to make sure that women have access to safe and professional clinics - unlike Gosnell's - that the GOP and their allies are trying to shut down.

Ari Rabin-Havt writes:

Kermit Gosnell, currently on trial for murder, appears to be a monster. There are no adjectives strong enough to describe the horrors that a grand jury says took place at the Women's Medical Society...

The Women's Medical Society's "real business," the grand jury report explicitly states, "was not health; it was profit. There were two primary parts to the operation. By day it was a prescription mill; by night an abortion mill."

To achieve his ends, "Gosnell's approach was simple: keep volume high, expenses low - and break the law. That was his competitive edge."

Conservatives are making the argument that "the reason the media and pro-abortion politicians are ignoring Gosnell's trial is because Gosnell was an abortionist. Seven of his victims were killed after they had been aborted, and one died after she had aborted. Why would people who believe in legalized abortion want to shed negative light on bad things that happen during legalized abortions?"

But these were crimes, not "bad things that happened" within legal structures. What the grand jury established is that Gosnell preyed on poor women, performing illegal abortions in unsanitary conditions. Those on the right have spent ample pixels reciting all the abhorrent practice, but have failed to note the critical component - that the actions they cite are illegal.

Every bit of evidence points to this man's guilt. 

What would make the stituation worse? Forcing women back into the allies and dark rooms of pre-Roe vs. Wade where medical care was not safe or accessible.  That is exactly what the GOP wants:

During the first three months of 2013, legislators in 14 states introduced provisions seeking to ban abortion prior to viability. These bans fall into three categories: measures that would prohibit all abortions, those that would ban abortions after a specified point during the first trimester of pregnancy and those that would block abortions at 20 weeks after fertilization (the equivalent of 22 weeks after the woman’s last menstrual period, the conventional method physicians use to measure pregnancy). All of these proposals are in direct violation of U.S. Supreme Court decisions.

Legislators in 10 states have introduced proposals that would ban all, or nearly all, abortions. In eight states (AL, IA, MS, ND, OK, SC, VA and WA), legislators have proposed defining “personhood” as beginning at conception; if adopted, these measures would ban most, if not all, abortions.

Kermit Gosnell does appear to be a monster, a criminal.

We need to make sure the GOP does not create a market for more people like Kermit Gosnell to take advantage of women seeking professional care.

At the same time, we need to continue to work together - whatever our views on abortion - to reduce the need for abortion by making comprehensive sex education available, by expanding the availability and affordability of contraception, and by expanding funding that support mothers and families that decide to keep children (along with adoption programs).  No one should be forced into deciding to have an abortion because of financial considerations.      

The General Synod of the United Church of Christ has long maintained that:

Whereas, women and men must make decisions about unplanned or unwanted pregnancies that involve their physical, emotional, and spiritual well-being; and …Whereas, abortion is a social justice issue, both for parents dealing with pregnancy and parenting under highly stressed circumstances, as well as for our society as a whole; …

Therefore, be it resolved, that the Sixteenth General Synod:

• affirms the sacredness of all life, and the need to protect and defend human life in particular;


• encourages persons facing unplanned pregnancies to consider giving birth and parenting the child, or releasing the child for adoption, before abortion;


• upholds the right of men and women to have access to adequately funded family planning services, and to safe, legal abortions as one option among others;


• urges the United Church of Christ, at all levels, to provide educational resources and programs to persons, especially young persons, to help reduce the incidence of unplanned and unwanted pregnancies, and to encourage responsible approaches to sexual behavior.

These are the principles that should guide our thinking in this difficult area.

Doomsday vs Resurrection

NPR asked this week: is Doomsday near? Read my response today in The Huffington Post:

"We can turn the darkness around us in the brightness of noon, as the Prophet Isaiah said, if we live out the core principles of compassion and peace that are shared by the world's great religions."

Doomsday vs Resurrection.