mzmolly

I would love to see someone like Jim Wallis with his own weekly TV show. I know there is a radio show in the works, but it's in the very beginning stages. Anyone know of any rational Christian voices in TV/Radio? Thanks.

Very interesting, thanks for the recommendation.

I haven't done so, but would be interested .. where can one find a copy?

Adding, I have requested many of these from my local library. "Old Turtle" sounds wonderful and my library is stocked with other books by the same author! Thanks again to all, off to search for more of your suggestions.

Thanks to all who replied for the wonderful recommendations. My child is 6 years old, sorry I did not mention that earlier.

I like the idea of "reclaiming" the name of Jesus. Defining Jesus in a way that meets the understanding of Progressive Christians. Much like the UCC is doing now.

I am struggling with wanting to teach my daughter about Jesus/God etc. but most of the information available to kids is promoted from a "Conservative Christian" point of view. Are their any good progressive Christian childrens books you all can recommend? And, if not, who wants to help me write some. Thanks.

No wonder I continually peruse Canadian real estate boards. Excellent article, I've read this before. Sadly, we are in for another four years of this mentality in the US.

Agreed. And, I think we need a VOCAL movement that expresses "Progressive Christianity" our own version of the PTL. We need Liberal "televangelist" to come OUT with their faith. :hi: Heck, I recently found out Billy Graham is a registered Democrat.

Great ideas. I'd love to see this group grow.

I'm not familiar with OC. Can you explain? Are the masses in latin? How can these Churches be liberal leaning without Vatican II? Is there a directory? Thanks. A Church in my area has a Lakeside service in the summer. I also went to a Quaker meeting that was held on someones backyard deck. There was an outstanding view of the surrounding nature, a gentle breeze, the warmth of the sun, and the faint sound of birds in our presence. It was quite peaceful. Good luck in your search.

I agree with both of you. And, I think we need to take the phrase "moral values" and re-define it in OUR terms. What is moral about killing innocent people in Iraq? What is moral about the continued lies from this administration? What is moral about not caring for the poor? What is moral about cutting pell grants/opportunities for Americans to succeed? What is moral about increasing poverty? What is moral about a lack of health care? What is moral about ... X We need to stop running from the issue(s) they supposedly champion and expose their hypocricy with fervor.

We need one umbrella group that welcomes all progressive christians who wish to have a political voice. We have the so called "Moral Majority" so why not have our own counter group ?

Brotherrog, and others ... you are so helpful, thanks!

Wow, what a great article. I can very much relate to this: Only another liberal born into a fundamentalist clan can understand what a strange, sometimes downright hellish family circumstance it is -- how such a family can love you deeply, yet despise everything you believe in, see you as a humanist instrument of Satan, and still be right there for you when your back goes out or a divorce shatters your life. As a socialist and a half-assed lefty activist, obviously I do not find much conversational fat to chew around the Thanksgiving table. Politically and spiritually, we may be said to be dire enemies. Love and loathing coexist side by side. There is talk, but no communication. In fact, there are times when it all has science fiction overtones...times when it seems we are speaking to one another through an unearthly veil, wherein each party knows it is speaking to an alien. There is a sort of high eerie mental whine in the air. This is the sound of mutually incomprehensible worlds hurtling toward destiny, passing with great psychological friction, obvious to all, yet acknowledged by none. I married into such a family ... THIS ARTICLE IS SUCH A WAKE UP CALL ... It's a must read IMHO. But to blow The Rapture off as amusing-if-scary fantasy is not being honest on my part. Cheap glibness has always been my vice, so I must say this: Personally, I've lived with The Rapture as the psychologically imprinted backdrop of my entire life. In fact, my own father believed in it until the day he died, and the last time I saw him alive we talked about The Rapture. And when he asked me, "Will you be saved?" Will you be there with me on Canaan's shore after The Rapture?" I was forced to feign belief in it to give a dying man inner solace. But that was the spiritual stuff of families, and living and dying, religion in its rightful place, the way it is supposed to be, personal and intimate -- not political. Thus, until the advent of the Reconstructionist Christian influence, I'd certainly never heard The Rapture spoken about in the context of a Texan being selected by God to prepare its way. Now however, this apocalyptic belief, yearning really, drives an American Christian polity in the service of a grave and unnerving agenda. The pseudo-scriptural has become an apocalyptic game plan for earthly political action: To wit, the messiah can only return to earth after an apocalypse in Israel called Armageddon, which the fundamentalists are promoting with all their power so that The Rapture can take place. The first requirement was establishment of the state of Israel. Done. The next is Israel's occupation of the Middle East as a return of its "Biblical lands," which in the Reconstructionist scheme of things, means more wars. These Christian conservatives believe peace cannot ever lead to The Rapture, and indeed impedes the 1,000 year Reign of Christ. So anyone promoting peace is an enemy, a tool of Satan, hence the fundamentalist support for any and all wars Middle Eastern, in which their own kids die a death often viewed by Christian parents as a holy martyrdom of its own kind. "He (or she) died protecting this country's Christian values." One hears it over and over from parents of those killed.