Rev. Dr. Chuck Currie

Pastor Dan Interviews Barack Obama

Pastor Dan at Street Prophets got an interview this week with Barack Obama.  Check it out.

Progressive Faith Blog Con

My original plan this week was to fly off to New York for the Progressive Faith Blog Con. Unfortunately, I’ll be staying home for some minor surgery. Make sure that you check out the sites of all those attending this important first-ever event:

Rachel Barenblat, Velveteen Rabbi

David Buckley, Faith in Public Life: Blogging Faith

Jennifer Butler, Faith in Public Life: Blogging Faith

Rep. Mark B. Cohen, Phillyblog

Thurman Hart, Xpatriate Texan

Mata H., Time's Fool

Debra Hafner, Sexuality and Religion: What's the Connection?

Islam O. Yankee, Islamicate

Rabbi Jill Jacobs, JSpot and Radical Torah

Mik Moore, JSpot and Jewish Funds for Justice

Michelle Murrain, Pearlbear's blog

Jon Niven, State of Belief

Rev. Bruce Prescott, Mainstream Baptist

Stephen Rockwell, Stephen Rockwell's blog, Crossleft

Emily Ronald, The Pluralism Project

Sophia, Seeking Sophia

Andrew Schamess, Semitism.net

Lorianne Schaub, Hoarded Ordinaries

Pastor Dan Schultz, Street Prophets

Timothy Simpson, Christian Alliance for Progress

Chris Tessone, Even the Devils Believe

Jenna Tiltsman, Auburn Theological Seminary

Chris Walton, Philocrites

Rabbi Arthur Waskow, The Shalom Center

Bruce Wilson, Talk 2 Action

1/2 Million Hits

Over the course of last night someone became the 500,000 visitor to this blog. Thanks for stopping by and thanks to all who have read and commented here.

More Barack Obama Reaction

One of the brightest starts of the blogging world is author Frederick Clarkson, the force behind Talk to Action. He wrote an analysis this weekend of U.S. Senator Barack Obama’s big speech on religion and politics. Like Pastor Dan at Street Prophets, Frederick disagrees with my positive take on the speech. But unlike some of the heated anti-religious rhetoric coming from some of the liberal blogs no one can accuse Frederick or Dan of anything but the best of motives.

Alex Carpenter, writing at the new Faith in Public Life Blog, also wrote on the speech and is more in agreement with how I read the senator’s remarks. His post also links to several other blogs debating Obama’s stand. Make sure you bookmark this important new site.

Related Post: Barack Obama Takes On Issue Of Religion & Politics At Call To Renewal Conference

Liberal Blog Reaction To Barack Obama

U.S. Senator Barack Obama delivered an important speech today on religion and politics - which you can read here - and the reaction from the political left and the Religious Right has been highly critical.  Obama, who both defended the separation of church and state in his address before Call to Renewal and restated his support for gay rights and abortion, used his speech to call on progressives to be more supportive of religious voices in their ranks.  Here's a snapshot of how the speech is playing on the liberal blogs:

AlterNet's Jan Frel:

There's the argument that religion gets more acceptable as it becomes less marginal; that a tolerant, pro-science outfit like the United Church of Christ is a reasonable vehicle for the worship of the Christian God. But ultimately, the insane component -- the God-worshipping component, orchestrated by priests and higher-ups who enjoy playing games of mind control -- is still there. Why cling on to this BS in desperation, I ask?

Sure, the Jehovah's Witnesses have an environmental bent, but it doesn't make the religious component any less crazy. Or, to go to slightly saner grounds, just because Jim Wallis talks about economic justice doesn't make his Christianity any less crazy to me. And, if I remember correctly, he's out in the public sphere because he's a Christian; his positions on various issues are there to burnish his Christian creds.

And that's where we get to an evangelical suck-up like Barack Obama, who recently attacked Democrats and lefties failing to "acknowledge the power of faith in the lives of the American people." I think most of us acknowledge it, but why the hell bow to it? A long chunk of Kevin Phillips' most recent book is one long "Oh my God, this country is filled with religious nutcases -- what the hell are we going to do?!!" Folks like Phillips have acceded to the fact that fanatics are there in abundance, but that doesn't mean in the slightest that the Godless and misotheistic wing in America should stand quietly in the face of that truth.

While Rabbi Michael Lerner has been right to point out that liberals need to offer a language and lifestyle that appeals to the same grievances that attract evangelicals and other believers to megachurches, the long-term right thing to do is politely, but stiffly refuse to accept any religious recourses to explain reality, even when they would appear to help our cause. And that means for me that the starting place is to challenge him on the grounds of what he has in mind when he calls himself Rabbi.

(In)Sanity Check's Screw You, Barack Obama:

Courting any religious stripe results in a government indistinguishable from any Middle Eastern nation ruled by Islamic law, and bodes ill for the hopes of a civil society of free ideas and independent thought.

The Renegade of Junk’s Why Barack Obama just lost my respect:

"Kneeling beneath that cross on the South Side of Chicago, I felt I heard God's spirit beckoning me. I submitted myself to his will and dedicated myself to discovering his truth."

Sounds like something President George W. Bush might say, doesn't it? Actually these are the words of Democratic Illinois Senator Barack Obama as he admonished his fellow democrats for neglecting to pander to the evangelists and the rest of the God-loving people of America.

"Not every mention of God in public is a breach to the wall of separation. Context matters"

says Sen. Obama. My question to him is, how is the mention of God even relevant to the duties of a public servant? Why the need to mention God at all?

Sirotablog's Obama, Bayh & reinforcing dishonest storylines:

One of the most infuriating behaviors among some Democrats these days is their willingness to create fake straw men that undermine progressives and reinforce false narratives about the Democratic Party? A while back, it was Sen. Evan Bayh (D-IN) who ran around claiming "some" Democrats are supposedly "afraid" of national security. He, of course, didn't name any names. Why? Because they don't exist - his whole narrative is based on a false straw man. Now, unfortunately, we see the same behavior from Illinois Sen. Barack Obama (D).

The Associated Press reports that in a speech about religion, Obama said "I think we make a mistake when we fail to acknowledge the power of faith in the lives of the American people and join a serious debate about how to reconcile faith with our modern, pluralistic democracy."

Obama, of course, is trying to portray himself as having the courage to stand up against these supposed Democrats that constitute the "we" in his rhetoric - the "we" that supposedly make this mistake of "fail[ing] to acknowledge the power of faith." Yet, again, he doesn't offer any names to tell us who constitutes the "we." Why? Because there are none. What Democrat of any prominence at all in America "fails to acknowledge the power of faith in the lives of the American people?" I can't think of one. It is a straw man - one that might make Obama look like a man of "courage" or "principle" - but one that dishonestly reinforces right-wing stereotypes about supposedly "godless" liberals/Democrats.

Maybe some of these writers would have been better served had they actually read the senator's speech before commenting on it. 

Want to read the take from someone who did read the speech?  Visit Religious Left Online.

Read the comments on this post from Street Prophets

Hillary Rodham Clinton Hires Peter Daou

The Washington Post reports this evening that Hillary Rodham Clinton has hired Peter Daou, author of The Daou Report on Salon.com, as a new adviser to her senate re-election campaign. The hiring of a campaign staffer isn’t something that I would normally write about but Peter, who was director of blog operations for John Kerry’s 2004 presidential campaign, is a regular reader of my site and often links back here. Senator Clinton will be well served with Peter on her staff. Congratulations, Peter, on your new position.

"Faith in Public Life"

Press Release from Faith In Public Life

Washington, DC – After the Religious Right's decades-long dominance of the American values debate, Faith in Public Life officially launched today as a new Resource Center to strengthen the effectiveness, collaboration and reach of faith movements that share a call to pursue justice and the common good. A non-profit, non-partisan organization, Faith in Public Life (www.faithinpubliclife.org) provides strategic organizing and communications resources to diverse faith leaders and organizations.

From the abolition of slavery to the civil rights movement, faith leaders have led many of the greatest victories for justice in the course of American history. But despite a continued commitment to justice and the common good by myriad faith leaders, the religious right continues to dominate public discourse on matters of faith, often advancing a narrow and exclusive definition of what it means to be moral and faithful in America.

Yet millions of people of faith in the United States do not feel that the religious right represents them – nor do they feel they have a public voice of their own. Religious leaders established Faith in Public Life to ensure that voices for justice and the common good are heard, respected, and included in all issues of Faith in Public Life – and that those who use religion as a tool of division and exclusion do not dominate public discourse.

“Our existence represents an unprecedented demonstration of leaders from individual organizations coming together to create a resource center to serve the movement as a whole,” says Rev. Jennifer Butler, Executive Director of Faith in Public Life. “This is an exciting time in the revitalization of collective and faith voices working for justice and the common good.”

As a Resource Center, Faith in Public Life offers tools, strategic services, and informational resources to its partner groups, including an interactive website featuring a searchable database directory of more than 2,000 leading faith advocates for justice and the common good working in 21 states. Communications tools include Voicing Faith, a media bureau of faith leaders from across the country, representing Catholic, Evangelical, Mainline Protestant, Jewish and Muslim perspectives, as well as a comprehensive set of communications resources available to faith leaders. Faith in Public Life’s website also features a blog, a daily news reel, a movement calendar, case studies demonstrating best practices in the movement, faith movement facts, and issue resources.

Since becoming operational six short months ago, Faith in Public Life has supported dozens of groups, including We Believe Ohio, the National Religious Campaign Against Torture, the Samuel DeWitt Proctor Conference, Sojourners, Catholic Alliance for the Common Good, the Progressive Faith Blog Conference, and CrossWalk America.

Rev. Jennifer Butler, Faith in Public Life Executive Director, is available to discuss the resurgence of faith communities working for justice and the common good, and to discuss Faith in Public Life’s mission, capacities and recent successes. An ordained Presbyterian minister, Jennifer most recently served as the Presbyterian Church (USA) Representative to the United Nations (UN). During her nine years at the UN, Butler represented the denomination on a range of issues, including women’s rights, genocide in the Sudan, and the war in Iraq. Her book on the Christian Right and international policy will be published by the Pluto Press in December 2006.

Interviews with Jennifer, or other Faith in Public Life partner groups, can be arranged through Jessica Watson at 202.544.7921, or [email protected].

Faith in Public Life envisions a country in which diverse religious voices for justice and the common good consistently impact public policy; and those who use religion as a tool of division and exclusion do not dominate public discourse.

Progressive Faith Blog Con Line-up

The first ever Progressive Faith Blog Con will - as I wrote a couple of weeks back - be held outside of New York on July 14-16 and I'm planning on attending.  Who else will be there and what are they writing about?  Check them out:

Rachel Barenblat, Velveteen Rabbi

Kety Esquivel, CrossLeft

Thurman Hart, Xpatriate Texan

Mik Moore, JSpot and Jewish Funds for Justice

Michelle Murrain, Pearlbear's blog

Jon Niven, State of Belief

Rev. Bruce Prescott, Mainstream Baptist

Andrew Schamess, Semitism.net

Lorianne Schaub, Hoarded Ordinaries

Pastor Dan Schultz, Street Prophets

Chris Tessone, Even the Devils Believe

Rabbi Arthur Waskow, The Shalom Center

Bruce Wilson, Talk 2 Action

This is a great collection of writers and faith-based activists.  You can attend as well.  Registration is available online.

New Good Faith Sites To Visit

New web sites / blogs to check out:

"Save Yourselves From This Corrupt Generation: God-Based News, Commentary, and Nonsense" is written by Josh Tinley, a United Methodist in Nasville and includes contributions from Cole Wakefield.

Straight into Gay America is written by Lars Clausen, a "heterosexual pastor ordained by the ELCA (Evangelical Lutheran Church in America)." Lars went on a 5 week unicycling trip where he covered 1,000 miles in support of gay rights. He also has a blog.

Progressive Faith Blog Con

The Progressive Faith Blog Con will be held Friday, July 14th - Sunday, July 16th at The Conference Center at Montclair State University outside of New York. I'm planning on attending if the funding comes through. Pastor Dan has more info on Street Prophets.

New Blogs Worth Reading

Kevin Hayden has a new blog: Wagon Tongues. The site reports on Oregon politics.

Danny Fisher, MDiv., is also back on the web. Check out The Blog of an American Buddhist Chaplain. Congratulations to Danny on his recent graduation from the Master of Divinity program at Naropa University.

The Les AuCoin Blog

Former US Rep. Les AuCoin (D-OR) has a new blog.  Check it out.  I volunteered on everyone of his campaigns from 1982-1992 and would still do anything for this guy.  He represented a swing district and instead of walking down the middle of the road thinking about the next election he fought hard against the Reagan military build-up, he worked to help create a federal response to the homeless crisis, and became the first westerner in Congress to break ranks with the NRA and endorse gun control legislation.  Now he teaches and writes.  I still can't think of who to vote for in the democratic primary race for governor.  Maybe I'll write-in Les AuCoin. 

Oversight

I've been reading Faithful Progressive, well, forever and somehow never put the site on my blog roll.  That's a mistake I'll correct tonight. 

Another UCC Blog

Another United Church of Christ-related blog that I didn't know about is out there:

My Blurred Vision is written by The Rev. Ryan Lambert.  Ryan is the associate pastor at First Congregational UCC in Corvallis, Oregon.

I've read a few of Ryan's sermons online before.  Good stuff.  Make sure you check out his site.   

New United Church Of Christ Pastor's Blog

It is a beautiful Sunday morning.  Where I should I be right now?  Church, of course.  But I managed to misplace my keys and Liz is off with the twins looking to replace our dishwasher.  I'm stuck.  Stranded.  So I'm going to take Hugo and Hazel off the to park by our house and throw the ball the around for awhile.  Later we're going to navigate mud slide closed roads and head to my mother's for Sunday dinner.  In the meantime, I'd like to note a new UCC-related blog:

Rev. Jim's Journal written by Pastor Jim Hollister from First Congregational UCC in Sheboygan, WI.

New Feedback From Readers

Everyonce and awhile I go through my e-mails and search the web for feedback regarding this site. Some of what people write is a little nutty. On the other hand, some of the e-mails are great and I learn a thing or two from people who write in.  Here is a small selection of recent e-mails:

When 1 UCC church was vandalized, you condemned conservative evangelicals for being slow to the draw in condemning that act. Well, some angry liberal who hates Southern Baptists just torched 6 of their churches in Alabama. It's your turn. How long are you gonna wait to condemn it and how many words will you use? Are you gonna condemn every single liberal religious voice out there that hesitates the least bit? Let's see how consistent you are.

- February 3, 2006

Martin Luther King was almost entirely a media-created hero. Even the idealized King would be useless against a Bin Laden, a Hitler or just anybody who's determined to be violent.

- February 9, 2006

Hi there I saw that you were encouraging Email. I want to highlight one of the founders of Evolution a man named Earnest Haeckel. He can be quoted as saying "...where faith commences, science ends...". I think it is an important quote. I'm sure glad he said it. Earnest is credited with the theory of recapitulation, the idea that we all go through the evolutionary stages as embryos, "the fish stage" may ring a bell. Haeckel likely was a brilliant man who believed that we evolved. His works on the embryonic stages we go through have been in many books. Even today the idea is still contained in some science books. During his time, his contemporaries challenged the accuracy of the drawings were. We now just take pictures; photographs do not have any opinions and are much more objective. Embryologists of today have shown that his drawings we’re wrong, this has been known for a while now. Embyos do not look like each other, especially not as Earnest depicted them. As Earnest so eloquently put it, ..."where faith commences science ends." His faith, belief in evolution, guided his drawings, his drawings are not scientific. The photos are irrefutable. I'd be happy to send you a copy of the evidence against his work in the regard to recapitulation theory. As for the rest of his work I'm sure he believed in it too. It has taken 100 years until we could photograph the evidence and it still won’t go away. That is because Evolution is not a theory, it is a hypothesis that can be loosely supported when you throw out the evidence that doesn't fit and then, find a platform that can not be challenged like the public schools and the universities. May you consider the "cleverly invented stories" that have been told and examine them, but also consider the great Christian men and women today who are scientists and find much reason to question the last 100-150 years of evolutionary indoctrination?

- February 8, 2006

Republicans have cut college funding and doubled Army enlistment bonuses to ensure only the poorest will suffer the burden of arrogant Republican foreign policies.

- February 7, 2006

I just finished listening to the interview and it sounded great. Welton, myself and the entire staff really do appreciate your work and determination to make sure religion is used properly in American life. Jon Niven Deputy Press Secretary, The Interfaith Alliance

- February 7, 2006

Good to hear you are feeling better and great to see you back on your blog. I just recently read Bono's speech at the National Prayer Breakfast on Feb. 2 and was wondering if you have read it yet. I know you are probably busy with your new appointment, settling in and playing with the twins. I thought I would send along the speech in case you haven't read it.

- February 5, 2006

The fact that Christians, believers in god could support abortion shows just how phony most Christians are, I guess if you're involved in a convoluted belief in an imaginary god you can justify anything. Christians worship a god that murders children....it's in the bible many times, so I guess that's ok,,,,,what a f-------- joke. Take your bible and throw it in the garbage, it's MADE UP NONSENSE, A FABRICATION OF ANCIENT STORIES MEANT TO SCARE PEOPLE INTO COMPLIANCE, HA HA HA HA ! A JOKE!

- January 28, 2005

Much to my dismay, my own congregation chose to leave the UCC this year. It was one of the oldest, largest, and most properous within the State of Illinois, and generally felt that the UCC had departed from the founding faith. Most members are conservative in religion or at least mainline and also in politics. From my travels, that appears to be the case in most UCC congregations. Within the leadership of the denomination, there seems to be less and less toleration for such positions. We really were a "community church" and mainline in orientation. The congregation continues to grow rapidly, and intolerance within the UCC was restraining it.

- December 27, 2005

I came across your site while looking for discussion on being a Christian and being pro-choice. I found this entry and its comments

http://chuckcurrie.blogs.com/chuck_currie/2004/11/can_christians_.html

particularly helpful. I'm from a fairly fundamentalist background, and I'm just now finding out that I can make my faith my own -- and not what someone tells me I should think/believe. I'm now starting to articulate where I stand, and the resources and discussion I've found through your site have been very helpful. Thanks so much! I'm bookmarking your site so I continue reading (and maybe participating in?) the discussions you generate.

- December 25, 2005

Im not sure why Archbishop Burke is the lightening rod, he is only holding fast to the unending teachings of the magisterium of our mother church. His stand is just what an archbishop is to do and I applaud him.

- December 23, 2005

John Dorhauer: New UCC Blogger

The Rev. Dr. John Dorhauer, minister for the St. Louis Association of the United Church of Christ, is a new writer on the blog Talk To Action. John will be writing weekly “on the attacks on the mainline churches and what is being done about it,” according to Talk To Action founder Frederick Clarkson. I had the good fortunate of working with John during my time in St. Louis and look forward to reading what he has to say on these critical issues. John is widely admired across the UCC for his work (he get bonus points with me for being an Eden grad). His first post, Religion Under Attack, is available today.

400,000 Hits

Today this site received its 400,000 hit (since going live on October 22, 2003).   

To date there have been 1691 posts and 4405 comments.

Not bad for a blog written by a simple peasant.

Thanks for visiting!

Advent Musings

It is, of course, Advent and something about this season should really slow us down.  For most of us, however, the opposite occurs.  There are final papers to write and exams to take, projects to finish, parties to attend (and maybe even a worship service - at least on Christmas Eve), and shopping for presents.  Added to my list this year: moving back to Portland from St. Louis. 

It will still be awhile before I start to regularly update this site again.  My computer is in boxes - along with everything else we own - and other more important priorities besides writing are occupying my time.

Visit Street Prophets for all the latest information on the world of progressive religion.  There is always lots of good content there.

I'll be back. 

Visit The John F. Kennedy Library and Museum Web Site

Today another anniversary marks the assassination of President John F. Kennedy. President Kennedy’s campaigns and later writings inspired me to become involved in political issues as a young man and a portrait of the president hung in my bedroom as I walked the streets of Portland passing out flyers for Walter Mondale in 1984. We didn’t win in that year (or for several to come) but the vision President Kennedy laid out for America still drew me in – even 20 years later. I appreciate so much how many of the Kennedy family have become leaders in social justice campaigns. I invite you to visit the web site of the John F. Kennedy Library and Museum and to see (maybe for the time) what a difficult task he faced as president during those times. My hero worship of the former president went right out the door once I’d developed critical thinking skills. But I still greatly admire the vision he offered the world of peaceful progress.

Talk To Action: A Must See Blog

Congratulations to the folks at Talk To Action – the new site launched today that will track the activities of the Religious Right. A must see blog. Some of my favorite people are writers for the site. Check it out.

Read Street Prophets This Reading Week

This is Reading Week at the old seminary.  It is a week without classes where we can catch up on the mountains of books needed to be read before the fall semester starts to come to a close.  I'm using the week to do just that - and to catch up on spending some time with the twins, my wife, and extended family and friends.  So I just don't have time to blog much this week.

Head over to Street Prophets - the other site I write at - if you want to read some quality and updated stuff.

2 Years

This blog first went live two years ago. In that time there have been:

1600+ posts

3800+ comments

340,000+ hits

Two years ago I couldn’t have imagined the response to this site. It has been mentioned in newspapers and radio shows and drawn both praise and criticism.

What I’ve been debating internally is what to do with the site in the future. My original intention was to publish this site during my seminary carrier and that phase of my life is coming to a close in less than two months. I’m really tempted to keep with that original plan and retire from blogging by the end of the year.

But I enjoy being able to highlight the work being done by progressive Christians across the country and even the world. So maybe I’ll stick around for a bit longer. Stay tuned.

Street Prophets Update

For the last week I’ve been posting on the new blog Street Prophets (which was mentioned in Newsweek, btw). Material from this blog is being cross-posted over there when appropriate and I’m also writing some original content (like last night’s Pro-Choice Christians Are Everywhere). It’s a great site and if you haven’t visited yet please do so. It is modeled after Daily Kos – actually it is a spin-off of Daily Kos – and allows you to create your own online dairy and is much more interactive than the average blog.  Take a look.

Street Prophets

A new blog – Street Prophets – has opened up for business. It has been put together by The Rev. Dan Schultz, a United Church of Christ minister, and is built on the same model as Daily Kos. I’ll be one of the writers and encourage you to drop by. Over 1400 people have already registered to participate on the site and I’ve made my first contribution.

300,000 Hits

Sometime yesterday this blog received its 300,000 hit since going live on October 22, 2003.  Thanks for reading and for your support.

Frederick Clarkson: Keeping Track Of The Religious Right

Daily Kos has an online book group going and right now they're reading Eternal Hostility: The Struggle Between Theocracy and Democracy by blogger Frederick Clarkson. Check it out. Clarkson's work is important and his blog is a first read for me most days.

It Is Nice To Be Loved

If you’ve ever thought I was wrong, over-the-top, or full of bs this is the post for you:

Why I love Chuck Currie from the blog Joseph Barsabbas: The Rejected Disciple.

He might be wrong (and misquotes me on a few occasions) but at least he is nice.

More Feedback From Readers

Not everyone who writes into this web site posts their comments. Some people simply send me an e-mail expressing their thoughts. Again, tonight I thought I'd give you - the readers of this blog - a chance to see a little of the feedback I'm getting (good and bad).

Just a note to say that I enjoy your blog alot, especially in terms of what is happening in UCC.

- August 8, 2005

You open border types are more dangerous than the minutemen ever will be. Our infrasturcture from schools, to roads, to social services are being destroyed by illegal immigrants, not undocumented workers liberal policitcal correctness. The more I hear and read from the likes you, the more committed to political action I become. Smile all you want, this battle is just becoming engaged.

- August 6, 2005

I agree that the battle flag has a negative connotation, but that happened 100 years ago, not in recent years. A man of religion should know that to find forgiveness one must offer forgiveness. The Governor was not raising the flag to dishonor anyone, he had it raised to honor those soldiers who died fighting for a cause. I would think that someone of your intelligence could see that these men fought and died for what they believed in. Would you not fight and die if someone was attacking your your belief system and your family? That's what the flag means. It is a shame to see such narrow mindedness in today's world. We should all be proud of our heritage. Whether your family was slave owning or whether your family was enslaved.

- August 6, 2005

I go to Cathedral of Hope. Jo Hudson (pastor) is one of the most impressive persons I have ever seen. Keep up the great work with your blog!

- August 4, 2005

If you have not been to Israel, can you speak with any credibity? Do you realize that Hamas wants to kill you? I guess you don't understand nor do you care.

- August 3, 2005

I recently came across your weblog, and I just want to say that I appreciate your work and your thoughtful writing. I'm a United Methodist pastor who has been trying to offer a theologically progressive perspective in and out of the pulpit (sometimes not so easy in the UMC!).

- July 23, 2005

I'm so glad I found your blog. I linked to it off the UCC blog site. Did you go to the Synod meeting? I watched most of it online...and I'm very grateful they invested in the technology to do so! Anyway...I'll put you on my bookmarks. Keep up the good work!

- July 20, 2005

It is very sad that individuals use an issue to mask and vent the violence in their hearts, and I am sorry that St. John's has been the recipient of that misguided action. But I am equally saddened by your comments and the easy dismissal of God's Word. As a pastor-in-training, what is the foundation of your theology and how do you view that definition and authority from God in your life and future ministry? As a pastor for over 20 years, I pray you will take the time personally and professionally to reexamine the accuracy of the Scriptures to address with clarity these issues that even the church has surrendered to human experience and choice, not eternal truth. "There is a way that seems right to a man, but in the end it leads to death. (Proverbs 14:12)

- July 15, 2005

Chuck, it is a relief to find sites like yours, where the spirit of Christ is paid attention to.

- July 18, 2005

I’m a new UCC member and even newer to the world of blogs. Thanks a lot for your time and energy in making contributions at the UCC website regarding Synod’s resolutions. I have been educated and informed by the resulting discussions.

- July 12, 2005

My reaction to General Synod is this: It is scandalous and shameful that there was (and is) so much hoopla and whining about the gay marriage issue and there was NOT A SINGLE resolution to STOP the war on Iraq. Are these people blind? Deaf? Blind AND deaf?

- July 11, 2005

I am a 61-year old woman living on the upper Left corner of these United States and I am very pleased to be able to thank you for your refreshing message concerning the United Church of Christ and its recent decision on Gay and Lesbian marriage. We are fortunate in the Seattle area to have some progressive legal protections for gays and lesbians here, although much work remains to be done throughout this state. As a straight person with many gay friends and a member of a non-denominational Christian-based church, I am appalled at the behavior of so many fundamentalist allegedly-Christian groups who embody anything but Christian behavior. The vandalism of churches as reported in the article you posted provides an image of these fundamentalist groups more closely resembling terrorists than they do Christians. I hope your efforts, and those of others working to reduce hatred, have a positive effect on the perpetrators. They are most likely giving God a migraine and so far, are unable to see how misguided they are.

- July 10, 2005

Holy Relationships: A Conference on Theology and Sexuality

What Is Your Only Comfort has information posted on an upcoming conference that progressive Christians should be taking note of:

An exciting group of theologians and other church folk is planning an excellent conference for this fall called Holy Relationships: A Conference on Theology and Sexuality. It is going to be an amazing event, with loads of great speakers including Dr. David Myers, who testified at my dad's trial (and is one of the smartest most amazing men on the planet). There are plenty of other great folks involved as well including:

Virginia Ramey Mollenkott, Letha Dawson Scanzoni, John Selders, Miguel De La Torre and Mel White.

The conference will be held October 16-18 in New Brunswick, NJ and early registration is going on now. I'm asking everyone to please pass on information about this wonderful event. If you have a blog, please consider posting a link to the event, or forwarding along this information in an email to your friends. You can review the entire schedule of events as well as register online at www.holyrelationships.org.

Mark your calendar.  And bookmark this new blog.

So What Are The Religious Bloggers Talking About This Week?

A lot.

Father Jake Stops The World – one of the best faith blogs out there – writes today about the ongoing attempt by theological conservatives to take over the Episcopal Church.

World Wide Pablo, written by prominent Oregon United Methodist Paul Nickell, is taking on the gay rights community with his advice they not settle for civil unions and separate but equal class status.

Christian musician Kent Gustavson hasn’t written much lately on his blog Three Sumach-Red Dogs I Run With but his last post includes links were you can hear some of his music.  That's a good thing.  Listen in.

Writer Frederick Clarkson wants us to seriously consider the language we use to describe the religious right and their movement.

At Bethquick.com a discussion is taking place on how people find churches they connect with.

Pastor Dan - a UCC pastor - writes on his site at Daily Kos about Orrin Hatch’s recent comparison of conservative Supreme Court nominee John Roberts and….wait for it…. Jesus.

Radical Hapa is reporting that a leader of the so-called Minutemen - a group that has written me many times to decry my charges the group is racist - is resigning because the group is racist.  Who could have seen this coming....

Rethinking Blog Comments

Typepad (my blog hosting service) has provided new tools for moderating comments left on their sites. It is a welcomed development. Now all comments can be reviewed for content before being posted. This has already cut down dramatically on spam. It has also helped me from letting a few of those hateful comments degrading different religions or groups of people from slipping in.

A few people have been banned from this site for making such comments. But it is hard to actually ban people. They start posting under false names and change their IP addresses in an effort to slip through (even a conservative Catholic priest has used this dishonest and kind of obsessive tactic). What I don’t have is the time to track down who people are being dishonest with who they are. I do have the time, however, to review each individual post for content (since I read them all anyway) and that is the path I’ll be using from now on instead of trying to ban individuals.

The site will also now request that people who wish to comment to first create an account with TypeKey. This will help cut down further on spam comments.

So if you’ve been banned from this site in the past – and there are only about 12 of you out there – the ban is lifted and you’re welcome comment away but play nice.

Comment Policy For This Blog

There has been a lot of comment spam on my site as of late and several people have broken my very lax rules about comment content. People are encouraged to leave comments. However, comments meant to simply offend others – or that are personal attacks – will either be deleted or the commenter banned from the site. We can disagree with each other and still be respectful. Over the course of the last 2+ years I’ve had to actually ban about a dozen people for breaking these rules (out of over 3,000 comments made) and don’t mind banning more in the future. To help facilitate better dialogue on this site I’ve changed the settings so that all comments have to be approved before they are posted. My apology if that means it takes awhile for your comment to appear. What I don’t want on this site – besides that annoying spam that comes in each day – are the hateful and spiteful remarks that so many seem to mistake for conversation. Thanks for your patience and understanding.

Blogging United Church of Christ General Synod

Over the next several days I will be blogging at the United Church of Christ Blog - providing commentary and analysis as our denomination’s General Synod meets to consider many important issues. Links to these posts will be provided here. Pleased drop by and leave a comment.  Regular posts here will resume in about a week.

UCC Blog Post:  Tear Down The Wall (posted Tues., July 5)

UCC Blog Post:  National Religious Leadership Roundtable Praises UCC General Synod (posted Tues., July 5)

UCC Blog Post:  America Must Have A Moderate Supreme Court Nominee (posted Tues., July 5)

UCC Blog Post:  Reaction From The Same Sex Marriage Vote (posted Tues., July 5th)

UCC Blog Post:  General Synod Votes In Favor Of Same Sex Marriage (posted Mon., July 4)

UCC Blog Post:  Discerning God's Will On Difficult Issues (audio file of my sermon this week posted on Sun., July 3)

UCC Blog Post:  Message To Albert Mohler: Open Up Your Heart And Join Us (posted Sat. July 2)

UCC Blog Post:  Investment vs Divestment (posted Sat., July 2)

UCC Blog Post:  Others Bloggers Weigh In (posted Sat., July 2)

UCC Blog Post:  Divestment Rethoric Heats Up (posted Sat., July 2)

UCC Blog Post:  IRD-Supported Group Calls On John Thomas To Resign (posted Fri., July 1)

UCC Blog Post:  What Is Being Said About The UCC On The Web? (posted Thurs., June 30)

UCC Blog Post:  What Path Should People Take To Ministry? (posted Thurs., June 30)

UCC Blog Post:  Human Rights Campaign Applauds UCC (posted Wed., June 29)

UCC Blog Post:  AP Headline Shows Confusion Over UCC Polity (posted Wed., June 29)

UCC Blog Post:  UCC President Backs Gay Marriage (posted Tues., June 28)

UCC Blog Post:  A General Synod Blog (posted Tues., June 28)

Feedback From Readers

Not everyone who writes into this web site posts their comments. Some people simply send me an e-mail expressing their thoughts. Tonight I thought I'd give you - the readers of this blog - a chance to see a little of the feedback I'm getting (good and bad).

I found your blog while searching for articles about Brett Kavanaugh, one of the current administration's nominees to the D.C. Circuit. (I agree completely with your assessment.) I've been reading blogs for over 2 years, and yours strikes me as one the finest and most thoughtful I've seen. I look forward to reading it regularly.

- June 19, 2005

As a Christian, I forgive you.

- June 14, 2005

If this is your Dribble. We can see why you are so upset with the Minute man project. They are raining on your Pocket book. You have aligned yourself with one Morris Dees. Now that is a virtuous man. Yeah right. The two of you are of the same small minded Pea brained why of thinking. I am neither part of any White Supremacist group or any anti-immigration group. In fact I work, as a pastor, with inner city minorities in East L.A. and Sepulveda CA for 21 years. I worked with Illegals and legals alike. Even they know that this latest crop of illegals is different. Unlike the Two of you I had to work in contruction to maintain my lifestyle and support my ministry. My hands are not Baby-but soft. I think that your main concern is that the minute men may take away your source of identity. That would be to bad. Change your focus

- June 11, 2005

My wife and I joined FCUCC a couple of weeks ago. We moved to Portland last year from Virginia, and while we were looking for a new church, I ran across your posting:

http://chuckcurrie.blogs.com/chuck_currie/2004/11/first_congregat.html

which really encouraged me to check it out. It was really hard for us to find somewhere that expressed Christianity the same way we do, so thanks for the help.

- June 8, 2005

You and your site are a disgrace to the Christian Faith. If you are representative of United Church of Christ seminarians, then I can only conclude that you're denomination is doomed. I'll be praying that you and your ilk won't be able to lead too many people astray. Feel free to go ahead and banish me from your site, but don't worry as I won't be back.

- June 7, 2005

Last year my wife and I decided to return to church, but could not bring ourselves to go back to the Unitarian denomination. After some research we came to what was basically a coin-flip between UCC and the Episcopalians.

Well, the Episcopalians won that flip—but I’ve been noticing the great work you guys have been doing ever since. Don’t get me wrong, I love the Episcopalian church (we are being confirmed this weekend), including its liturgy and relatively liberal philosophy. But UCC has been so dynamic with the “God is Still Speaking” campaign, the commercials and the continued political involvement you note on your web page.

I’m sorry you will be leaving St. Louis when you finish at Eden Seminary. I’m glad to know you were here.

- May 13, 2005

I stumbled upon your website and simply couldn't believe what I had found -- a religious blog that actually promotes tolerance, progressive ideas, compassion and liberal thoughts and ideas. The mainstream media simply refuses to represent those who call for such dialogue in society.

Deep down, I truly believe that God is all about love. And we simply need to remember what it means to love eachother again. Thanks for making my day.

- May 11, 2005

I have long regarded the Religious Right as just short of FASCIST in their approach to dogmatizing American government and policy. Keep up the good work; you are touching people and connecting with thousands you'll never see.

- May 10, 2005

Faith Blogs In The News

Faith blogger Bill Tammeus, a columnist for The Kansas City Star, has an article out today on religion blogs that has been distributed by the good folks at Knight Ridder Newspapers. He was kind enough to mention my site. Thanks, Bill.

Blog Heaven: Where Faith Blogs Go If They're Good

Beliefnet has just added this site to their section “Blog Heaven.” This is where they link to what Beliefnet considers the “best blogs about religion and spirituality.” You’ll find sites like Andrew Sullivan (political site), Father Jake Stops The World (Christian site), Velveteen Rabbi (Jewish site), Muslim Wakeup Blog (Muslim site), and Woodmoor Village (a Buddhist site). Click here to see them all.

Is Rush Limbaugh On Drugs Or Something?

Faithful Progressive has a post up about Rush Limbaugh’s latest assault on progressives. In the wake of “Justice Sunday” he is saying "the religious left in this country hates and despises the God of Christianity and Catholicism.” Crazy. And when did Catholicism become a separate religion apart from Christianity?

Progressive Christian Bloggers Unite

Chris Tessone (author of Progressive Protestant) and Dwight Welch (author of A Religious Liberal Blog) came through St. Louis today with their partners and stopped off to have lunch with me and visit the Eden campus. Both write great blogs so make sure you drop by and visit.

Blogs You Must Read Today

Joseph Santos Lyons stopped by this site the other day to make a comment. You should take a look at his blog. Joseph is the Director of Campus Ministry and Field Organizing for the Unitarian Universalist Association and a seminarian studying at Harvard University. He has an impressive resume of working on important social justice issues in Portland. Check him out.

And while you’re checking out blogs go visit Danny Fisher’s Buddhist blog and read an interview Danny did with Acharya Judith Simmer-Brown, Ph.D., an important figure in American Buddhism. For those of us who do not know much about Buddhism this article provides the reader with some real insight regarding the theological issues involved. Make sure you check both sites out.

Republican-party aligned Focus On The Family Urges Followers To Start Blogs

The Republican-party aligned Focus on the Family wants their followers to start blogs. An e-mail sent out to supporters today reads:

Want to increase your effectiveness as a public-policy/pop-culture activist?

Author Hugh Hewitt says it's all about the blogosphere…. Hewitt, a nationally syndicated conservative radio talk show host who operates one of the Web's most-visited blogs, documents their rise and growing influence in "Blog: Understanding the Information Reformation That's Changing Your World." Part history, part how-to manual, Hewitt's book makes a fascinating case for the power of what those in the know call the "blogosphere," the interconnected network of Internet journals that helped re-elect George W. Bush and send Dan Rather into early partial retirement.

Focus on the Family is a powerful conservative group run by religious right icon James Dobson. Dobson received unflattering press attention earlier this year after asserting that the cartoon character SpongeBob SquarePants was gay.

"It is a sad day when Focus on the Family, a group claiming to speak for Christians in America, finds reason to celebrate assaults on tolerance in the name of its own version of family values," the Rev. John H. Thomas, the United Church of Christ's general minister and president, told United Church News at the time.

Rejecting tolerance in favor of a right-wing ideological agenda is what Focus on the Family is all about. Over Christmas and while most religious groups were responding to the tsunami crisis Dobson sent out letters to supporters urging the defeat of six democratic senators unless they voted to approve George W. Bush’s appointments to the federal courts. Bush’s appointments have a history of opposing civil rights protections for African-Americans, curtailing health care options for women, and limiting civil liberties in favor of intrusive government powers.

Don’t let these folks rule the internet. If you’re a progressive Christian start your own blog and tell the world that the Jesus who preached the Sermon on the Mount wouldn’t recognize the political activism of Dobson as a faithful response to the will of God.  You can create a free blog here.

200,000 Hits and Counting

A few days ago this blog registered it’s 200,000 hit. It took a year to register the first 100,000 hits and just five months for the second 100,000 hits to be counted. Thanks to all who visit and contribute.

The Internet Is No Longer Safe

My Eden colleague Willie Deuel (that's The Rev. Willie Deuel to you) has a blog.  Deuel's United Methodist Church will never be the same.     

Run The UCC Ad On Your Blog

Last week the United Church of Christ announced that the denomination would start advertising on blogs to help get the church's "God Is Still Speaking" message out to the public.  The UCC's Bob Chase reports below that blogs are even offering to run the ad for free and now there is an easy way to download the code for your web site or blog:

Bloggers Come Through Again
Posted by Rev. Robert Chase, 3/11/2005 09:13:00 AM

While the UCC has received some great feedback throughout the blogoshere for our blogad campaign, such as comments on oliverwillis.com, Henry at Blogads and a great post by David Corn, I have been particularly moved by the bloggers that came knocking on our door asking to run the ad for free on their websites.

The first the requests came from bloggers within the UCC family, including Chuck Currie, a UCC Seminarian who blogs at http://chuckcurrie.blogs.com/chuck_currie and Pastordan a UCC minister who blogs at http://www.faithforward.blogspot.com.

At the urging of these bloggers and Roger Harkness who posted a comment that he would like to post it to his blog at http://okcitykid.bravejournal.com we went ahead and created a page for bloggers to copy the code and add the blog to their sites.

Since then we have seen the ad starting to appear throughout the blogosphere from blogs such as http://www.squirrelly.org , http://hereatmydesk.blogspot.com, http://bloohoo.blogspot.com and http://spronk.blogspot.com.

Thank you, thank you and thank you. It is exciting to be a part of what David Corn calls this "historic blog campaign." Those who seek to control the airwaves have a whole new force to contend with! And, as the saying goes, "may the force be with you."


Blessings,

Bob
The Rev. Robert Chase
Director of Communication
United Church of Christ

ps - To add the ad to your own site visit http://www.accessibleairwaves.org/blogad.html

Iran Sends Blogger to Prison For 14 Years

The government of Iran recently sentenced a blogger to 14 years in prison for expressing his views on political issues on the web, according to Human Rights Watch. “The Iranian government is sending a message to its critics: keep silent or face years in prison,” said Widney Brown, deputy program director of Human Rights Watch. Click here to read the full story.

GE recently announced it would quit doing business in Iran. Quit? Isn’t it illegal for US businesses to be operating there? “American companies are forbidden by law from doing business in Iran, but many have gotten around the law by working through foreign subsidiaries,” reports NPR. Listen to the story.

Support A Seminarian

Blog fans don’t forget that this is a reader supported site. Gifts can be made to help defray costs associated with the blog and more importantly to help fund my seminary education. Click here to make a gift.

The Right Weighs In

Every-once and awhile I search through sites that are linking to my blog. Political conservatives largely rule the internet and the same is true for conservative evangelicals on the web. That means a lot of the feedback I receive is more on the negative side.

The site Scattered Words has been upset over my views on homosexuality.

Chuck says Jesus taught tolerance, then references Matthew 22:36-40. That passage is a well-known one to most evanglicals:

“Teacher, which is the greatest commandment in the Law?” Jesus replied: “ ‘Love the Lord your God with all your heart and with all your soul and with all your mind.’This is the first and greatest commandment. And the second is like it: ‘Love your neighbor as yourself.’All the Law and the Prophets hang on these two commandments.”

I can't find the word tolerance in there. I can't find it in the greek either (I checked in case this passage was loosely translated).

Lets put it this way. Say I have a son. I find out my son has a malignant cancer growing in his body. I find a doctor who can treat him, first with surgery, then radiation, then chemotherapy. The treatments are rough. They involve cutting him open, barraging his body with toxins -- just to get rid of something that eventually will overtake him and kill him. He gets sick, he can barely get out of bed. His hair falls out. The treatments I've chosen for my son have ravaged him -- it doesn't mean I don't love him.

It means that I really did love him -- I just wouldn't tolerate something being inside him that was going to eat away at him until there was nothing left. I did whatever I could to save him, even if it meant causing him some temporary pain and discomfort.

Comparing homosexuality to a disease ignores modern science and offers us a pre-modern view of human society. The writer is within her rights to take such a position. Her church is even free to treat gay and lesbians as sinners. However, a solid case can be made that she misinterprets the teachings of Jesus. That becomes problematic when voters endorse ballot measures taking rights away from gays and believe it is the Christian position to do so. The same theology that was used to defend slavery is used today to defend the subjugation of gays and lesbians.

Several conservative Roman Catholics took umbrage over recent posts taking the Vatican to task for their positions on abortion and homosexuality. SoDakMonk – a Catholic blogger – had this to say:

There are anti-Catholic extremists both on the right, e.g. Jack Chick & his comic tracts, and on the left, e.g. this "Chuck Currie" persona. Don't waste your time arguing with them. I did do a quick scan of this UCC seminarian's blog, enough to make the following observations.

1) What Mr. Currie says about the Catholic Church is technically true. The Church is a large, inclusive organization, with over 60 million members in the US alone. Not to mention all the other nations and cultures around the world. There is room for people of different political views, as long as those views do not intrinsically conflict with Catholic doctrine. This makes the Catholic Church much different from the UCC, a former Protestant church that has now lapsed into politically correct irrelevancy. People of traditional views are not welcome in such a church.

2) If people of liberal politics are also committed to the sanctity of human life on issues like abortion and euthanasia, they are more than welcome in the Church. In fact they are needed, because Democrats should hear the Good News too. But, there are some who have compromised their faith for their political views, or just see the church as an organization they can use to spread their own views. These are the type that would be better off leaving the Church. Sometimes they choose to do just that. In rare cases, the Church will formally excommunicate them. But the Church is slow to give up on anyone, because we know people can change.

3) We can all take comfort in the fact that someone like this Chuck Currie would never pass the screening process to be a Catholic seminarian. Can you say, "Unresolved issues with male authority figures"?

The response wasn’t surprising. After all, the radical Catholic League sent out a press release last summer claiming that my blog was anti-Catholic. All the notes from Catholics defending my posts were very heartening. We need to remember – even when we face difficult issues – that it is best to treat people with respect and dignity.

When is a blog a blog? That is a technical answer that I cannot provide. But the folks at the conservative anti-UCC site UCCtruths know a blog when they see one and mine doesn’t fit their criteria:

UCC seminarian Chuck Currie has a blog... but he doesn't quite get it either. Instead of making good use of excerpts of newsworthy information and applying his own context to it, he habitually posts whole press releases and statements. Some of the information is interesting and thought provoking - if you don't fall asleep trying to read it all. Oh... and don't think about disagreeing with Chuck or challenging his facts and expect the posted comments to last more than an hour. One of the great thing about blogs - and the internet as a whole - is the ability to interact collectively. When you restrict comments in blogs to just those comments that are supportive, it loses credibility, fast. Chuck doesn't get it.

My policy, by the way, is only to ban people from commenting that are making comments meant to simply offend others – or that are personal attacks.  It appears the policy of the UCCtruths folks is to make personal attacks against UCC leaders while pushing a conservative social agenda.  Their message board is filled with talk this week about teaming up with the group Biblical Witness to pass conservative resolutions at the UCC's General Synod.  Though to be honest the content is less political and more personal.  You get the feeling they really hate anything that has to do with the UCC. 

One of the blogs that has routinely attacked my site has vanished. Ecumenical Insanity was written by conservative North Carolina pastor who hoped to keep his identity secret. His site was used as a tool for spreading false information about the National Council of Church USA and the United Church of Christ. I posted his identity and church affiliation on this site several weeks ago. Now his site has been taken down. The issue begs a larger question: should people blogging on the internet be allowed to hide their identity while making political statements and sometimes personal attacks? How do you hold them accountable for their actions if they hide behind a mask? My position is that if you’re going to take political and social stands – and do so from a Christian perspective – you have no business trying to conceal your identity. You ought to be able to know the context in which attacks are being made against you.

Not All Roman Catholics Are The Same

This post has been updated

If you are following writings of the Pope or have been observing the right-wing political advocacy of some Roman Catholic bishops you could come to the conclusion that all Catholics are conservative and unconcerned with matters of social justice. There is, however, great diversity among Roman Catholics in the United States and worldwide. Roman Catholic parishioners in the US, for example, widely support the legality of abortion and contraceptives. There are also pro-life leaders who see that cause as one among many and spend their enormous talents working ecumenically to address world-wide poverty, environmental issues, and health care needs. Here are a few sites to visit that offer a progressive take on the Catholic faith:

Pax Christi International “is a non-profit, non-governmental Catholic peace movement working on a global scale on a wide variety of issues in the fields of human rights, security and disarmament, economic justice and ecology.”

Pax Christi USA “strives to create a world that reflects the Peace of Christ by exploring, articulating, and witnessing to the call of Christian nonviolence. This work begins in personal life and extends to communities of reflection and action to transform structures of society.  Pax Christi USA rejects war, preparations for war, and every form of violence and domination. It advocates primacy of conscience, economic and social justice, and respect for creation.”

Catholic-Labor Network “hopes to be a place for those Catholics, lay, religious and clergy, who are active in their churches and in unions to learn about their Church's teachings as regards to labor issues, pray for those who are working for economic justice and share information about events and struggles that may be taking place in their area.”

Commonweal is a lay Catholic magazine that “publishes editorials, columns, essays, poetry, reviews of books, movies, plays, the media, a selection of apposite and/or funny cartoons, & lots of letters to the editors. Liberal? Conservative? Depends on the issue & the writer. From its founding in 1924(!), the journal has held that America has much to learn from Catholicism, and vice versa-a core belief that has survived severe testing in disputes over the Spanish Civil War, civil rights, Vietnam, Humanae vitae....”

Catholics for a Free Choice is a group of pro-choice Catholic leaders that has been around for over 25 years.

DignityUSA is a group that "works for respect and justice for all gay, lesbian, bisexual, and transgender persons in the Catholic Church and the world through education, advocacy and support."

There is even a “liberal” Catholic blog called “In Today’s News.” The author is pro-life but also committed to a range of important social justice issues that progressive Christians will enjoy.

Roman Catholics are diverse in their understanding of God – just like every other group of Christians. I’m glad these organizations are out there doing their best to be faithful disciples of the Gospel. All Christians can take strength from their courage in speaking out for a progressive theology over the objections of some of their most senior institutional leaders.

Update:  Sojourners has a good article discussing the diversity of Catholics and future of the Catholic Church in their recent edition.  It is written by Heidi Schlumpf, managing editor of U.S. Catholic magazine.  Click here to read it.

I've Been Blogged

Faithful Progressive interviewed me as part of what I understand will be a series of Q & A with progressive Christian bloggers.  Click here to check it out (this saves me the time of having to write anything original this evening). 

Old Professors Don’t Die – They Blog

Dr. Russ Dondero, Pacific University’s long-time political science guru, is set to retire this spring from his teaching position. Oregon will never be the same. Who will organize the Tom McCall Forums that Dondero started? Who will set-up all those prized internships with Congressional leaders? Where will the press turn for insightful commentary on election nights? And who is going to write me recommendations when I need them? Someone has to explain away my tenure as a student at Pacific.

Well, there is some good news in the midst of all this darkness. One of Russ’ former students has set-up RussDondero.com so that Oregon’s best known political junkie can blog. Head over and check out his first commentary on who won this month’s McCall Forum: The Prince of Darkness (Richard Pearle) or The Man (Howard Dean). For the record, I was in St. Louis and therefore unable to throw that shoe.

The truth is that Pacific simply won’t be able to replace Russ Dondero.  He is a good man committed to education and the exchange of ideas.  Russ – I’ll proudly point out – is a member of the United Church of Christ.  I’m glad he is blogging so that we can keep up-to-date with his insights.