BrotherRog

FYI, there is already a thread on this topic on this bulletin board. Just scroll down the listing a bit, or go to:How "Christian" is Zionism? "How 'Christian' is Zionism?"

"ME...ME say I'm sorry!? Kings never say 'I'm sorry!' And I am the mightiest king in all the world!" Bartholomew looked the King square in the eye. "You may be a mighty king," he said. "But you're sitting in oobleck up to your chin. And so is everyone in your land. And if you won't even say you're sorry, you're no sort of a king at all!" - Dr. Seuss, Bartholomew and the Oobleck

Amen sister Amen!! : )

Jesus lived a radical Way of life fully in sync with, and allied to God's will. The rivaling way of the world/empire was threatened by this alternative way of life, and they responded by attempting to exterminate this threat via execution. Jesus taught, modeled and invited us to live abundantly in relation to God instead of being in bondage to the ways of the world/empire. Christians are called to follow and imitate these abundantly life-giving ways of Christ (to claim Jesus as Lord of their lives instead of other worldly forces & powers), and invite others to do the same. Good Works accompany faith. If one’s faith is real & authentic, then one can’t help but respond by engaging in service to persons and a world in need. Jesus modeled, lived-out, and manifested a truly liberating way of life – the way of humble self-giving and nonviolent direct action - the "Way of the cross". By living such a life, Jesus proved that it is in fact possible for other humans to live this way as well. Jesus is the Jewish Messiah promised to Israel in the Old Testament. The salvation provided by God through Jesus is a gift to humanity by God’s grace . People who are aware of this make the decision to accept the free gift of the life, death, and resurrection of Jesus and all that He meant in their lives. Even before Jesus was executed, He provided atonement (at-one-ment – reconnection with God and social reacceptance) to hurting souls via His gracious interaction in their lives. People are saved from the ways of the world and for the ways of God’s Kingdom when they accept and live-out this truth. Salvation is both personal and societal, and it is experienced here and now and also later in Heaven.

PHILADELPHIA CHURCH THAT ENDORSED BUSH GETS $1 MILLION ‘FAITH-BASED’ GRANT ‘Faith-Based’ Initiative Seems To Have Political Slant, Says AU’s Lynn A Philadelphia church appears to be reaping a windfall of government funds following its pastor’s endorsement of presidential candidate George W. Bush, said Americans United for Separation of Church and State. During the Republican Party’s 2000 national convention, the Rev. Herbert H. Lusk II, heartily endorsed Bush for president in a satellite television uplink from his church. Since that time, Lusk has repeatedly advocated for Bush’s “faith-based” initiative that seeks to fund church-run social service programs. Today as the president was preparing to speak at Lusk’s Greater Exodus Baptist Church on combating AIDS at home and abroad, the Associated Press reported that the church’s charitable operation, People For People, has been awarded a nearly $1-million “faith-based” grant. The article also noted that Lusk hopes President Bush’s “faith-based” agenda will help garner more black votes for the president’s re-election bid. Lusk told the AP that Bush “is worthy of the African-American vote.” The Rev. Barry W. Lynn, Americans United executive director, called the grant of money “a clear and sad example of how government grants can lure supposedly nonpartisan churches into partisan politics.” “The Rev. Lusk endorsed candidate Bush, and wound up getting a $1-million faith-based grant from the Bush administration,” Lynn said. “Now there’s a heavenly payoff.” Lynn noted that Americans United filed a complaint with the Internal Revenue Service against Lusk’s church in 2000, noting that religious and other tax-exempt charitable organizations are forbidden from endorsing political candidates. Lynn noted that Lusk’s “faith-based” grant was not the first one to appear with a political taint. In 2002, The Washington Post reported that Jim Towey, head of the White House Office of Faith-Based and Community Initiatives, had made repeated public appearances with Republican candidates in hotly contested races for Congress and other offices to discuss or award grants. In a recent interview with the evangelical magazine World, Towey warned that if Democrat John Kerry were elected, he probably would “stick the faith-based initiative in the Smithsonian.” In addition, televangelist Pat Robertson, a Bush ally, was converted from being a harsh critic of the faith-based initiative to being a supporter by a well-timed government grant. In early 2001, Robertson warned his “700 Club” viewers that the initiative “could be a real Pandora’s box” because religious monitories might wind up receiving faith-based grants. In fall 2002, Robertson’s Operation Blessing received a half-million-dollar faith-based grant from the Department of Health and Human Resources. Since then, the TV preacher has not criticized the initiative. Americans United is a religious liberty watchdog group based in Washington, D.C. Founded in 1947, the organization educates Americans about the importance of church-state separation in safeguarding religious freedom. www.au.org

Oh good grief, the House killed it, but now it's in the Senate: OPPOSE THE WORKPLACE RELIGIOUS FREEDOM ACT (S. 893) Stop Workplace Protection Bill From Being Used as a Weapon Against Civil Rights and other Individual Rights! The Workplace Religious Freedom Act (WRFA) is gaining momentum in the Senate. The main co-sponsor, Senator Rick Santorum, is pushing for floor action in the near future! WRFA would change the current standard in Title VII of the Civil Rights Act for religious accommodations in the workplace in order to expand employees' rights to these accommodations. Although Americans United believes that the current standard in Title VII is insufficient for religious accommodation rights in the workplace, WRFA will have harmful effects on the civil rights and personal rights of third parties in the workplace, including co-workers, patients, and customers. Organizations opposed to full civil rights enforcement and proper access to health care are ready to misuse WRFA. For example, the American Family Association and the American Center for Law and Justice have relied upon the current Title VII religious accommodations standard in representing employees seeking to cause harm to others in the workplace. WRFA could: Undermine civil rights laws and employer nondiscrimination policies and practices. WRFA could strengthen the legal basis for employees who want to invoke the religious accommodation requirements to violate state and local civil rights laws that protect against marital status or sexual orientation discrimination. Moreover, employees could use WRFA to claim that their religious beliefs require them not to have to comply with important voluntary employer policies that go beyond the scope of applicable laws. For example, many employers have their own civil rights policies, including anti-harassment and diversity training policies, that provide key protections against discriminatory harassment in the workplace. Employers may face significant difficulties under WRFA for protecting employees or third parties -- particularly religious minorities -- from religious harassment caused by unbridled proselytization by religiously-motivated employees. Harm the health or safety of people seeking health care or other important information. WRFA will make it much easier for employees to win harmful religious claims that they are now losing under the applicable Title VII standard. For example, a maternity ward nurse refused to scrub for an emergency caesarian section based on her religious beliefs and left a woman "standing in a pool of blood," a nurse insisted on telling an AIDS patient and his partner her views of salvation and that God "doesn't like the homosexual," and a police officer refused to guard an abortion clinic. Further, employees would be granted, through WRFA, a significant predicate for asserting that their religious beliefs prevent them from providing emergency reproductive health care services or HIV-related counseling. No employee should be allowed to discriminate against or harass their coworkers or customers simply because they can claim a religious reason for discriminating. And certainly no police officer, health care worker or counselor should ever be able to jeopardize another person's health or safety by claiming a religious reason for refusing to do his or her job. TAKE ACTION NOW! Please CALL, FAX, E-MAIL your Members of Congress and urge them to oppose the Workplace Religious Freedom Act, as currently drafted, because it would be used to undermine key civil and individual rights.___________________________________ SUGGESTED MESSAGE: As your constituent, I urge you to oppose the Workplace Religious Freedom Act (S. 893). This broad-based legislation would have a harmful and dangerous effect on employees' civil rights. I believe religious liberty is one of the most cherished features of American life. But no employee should be allowed to discriminate against or harass their coworkers or customers simply because that they can claim a religious reason for discriminating. And certainly no police officer, health care worker or counselor should ever be able to jeopardize another person's health or safety by claiming a religious reason for refusing to do his or her job. Americans should be allowed certain employment accommodations in the workplace, but WRFA, as currently drafted, will be used to undermine the civil rights of co-workers and third parties. Once again, I urge you to oppose the "Workplace Religious Freedom Act" (S. 893). This is an important issue and one I will be following. I look forward to hearing your thoughts on this matter. see www.au.org for more info ___________________________________

Even the House of Reps gets things right from time to time!! HOUSE COMMITTEE SCUTTLES PLAN TO ALLOW CHURCH ELECTIONEERING Americans United Hails Removal Of 'Safe Harbor' Provisions Americans United for Separation of Church and State has hailed yesterday's vote by a House committee to remove provisions from a tax bill that would have allowed houses of worship to intervene in partisan politics. The so-called "Safe Harbor for Churches" section of the "American Jobs Creation Act of 2004" (H.R. 4520) would have revised current law, which forbids churches from endorsing candidates for public office, and replaced it with watered-down language giving churches the right to intervene in electoral politics. The House Ways and Means Committee voted unanimously last night to remove the provisions after it became clear that the proposed change had no support. "Far from creating a 'safe harbor,' this scheme would have set houses of worship adrift on the stormy seas of partisan politics," said the Rev. Barry W. Lynn, Americans United executive director. "I'm glad the committee decided to torpedo it. "Americans do not want to see their churches politicized," continued Lynn. "Our houses of worship are already free to speak out on public concerns, and they don't need politicians trying to turn them into cogs in a political machine." The church politicking provisions would have allowed religious leaders to "unintentionally" endorse or oppose candidates up to three times per year. Under current law, a house of worship can lose its tax-exempt status for intervening in partisan politics. Some Washington observers noted that the provisions were quietly placed in the tax bill at the same time that the Bush/Cheney re-election campaign was waging an outreach effort to "friendly congregations." The 'Safe Harbor' provisions ran into trouble from the start. Shortly after their place in the bill was discovered, officials with the Southern Baptist Convention and other Religious Right groups announced they would not support the language. Organizations that promote separation of church and state also attacked it. With the move garnering virtually no support from any quarter, its backers agreed to withdraw it. AU's Lynn warned, however, that the battle over church politicking is still under way. He noted that U.S. Rep. Walter B. Jones (R-N.C.) is promoting a bill that would remove language from the IRS Code and allow houses of worship to engage in politicking with no penalties. "We won this skirmish in Congress, but the larger battle is far from over," Lynn said. "We will continue to oppose misguided schemes that would politicize America's houses of worship." Americans United is a religious liberty watchdog group based in Washington, D.C. Founded in 1947, the organization educates Americans about the importance of church-state separation in safeguarding religious freedom. www.au.org

Ratel, Greetings and welcome to our humble forum! 1. Most all of us on this board have travelled from the more conservative notions of God and the Christian faith that we were exposed to as children and have grown toward various new places where we still identify ourselves as Christians - but on our own terms - and in a more mature, nuanced, etc. way. 2. Most of us here take the Bible seriously, just not always literally. 3. Some books that I think might be very helpful to you as you move forward in your journey include: The God We Never Knew: Beyond Dogmatic Religion to a More Authentic Contemporary Faith, by Marcus Borg The Essense of Christianity, by Marcus Borg Meeting Jesus Again for the First Time, Marcus Borg Ten Things I Learned Wrongn From a Conservative Church, John Killinger Open Christianity: Home by Another Road, Jim Burklo The Good Book: Reading the Bible with Mind and Heart, Peter Gomes (Go to www.amazon.com to read reviews of these books)

Hmm.. My experience with Catholics is a bit more limited, but I have these thoughts to offer: * Brothers/sisters (nuns) of the Franciscan persuassion seem to be very open minded and progressive theologically. * Matthew Fox's Creation Spirituality rose out of Catholicism (though I think he's been booted out) * Hans Kung - I think - is a progressive Cath. theologian * Fathers Daniel and Philip Berrigan (brothers) are/were (respectively) what I'd call "radical activists." (Along with the late Dorothy Day) * The Pax Christi organization seems to be the peace and justice wing of the Catholic Church. You would do very well to check out their websites and get on their mailing lists.

OPPOSE POLITICIZING HOUSES OF WORSHIP Remove "Safe Harbor for Churches" provisions in H.R. 4520! TAKE ACTION NOW! BACKGROUND: Republican members of the House of Representatives are attempting to clear the way for partisan politicking by houses of worship by slipping an important change to the nation's tax laws into a job-creation bill. Two sections of H.R. 4520, the "American Jobs Creation Act of 2004," deal not with jobs but with partisan politicking by churches. The so-called "Safe Harbor for Churches" provisions would alter current law, which forbids churches from endorsing candidates for public office, and replace it with watered-down language giving wide latitude to such activity. The "Safe Harbor for Churches" provisions are similar to legislation introduced by Rep. Walter Jones (R-NC) that was soundly defeated on the House floor during the 107th congress. Although the current version is a modification of previous legislation, its effects are equally troubling. In particular, the current provisions appear to grant churches up to three "unintentional" political endorsements per calendar year without losing their tax-exempt status, though with increasing tax penalties for each violation. Rather than protecting our houses of worship, these provisions will have a deeply coercive effect on them and our country by enticing congregations and religious leaders to participate in campaigns. Churches may rely on political campaign committees, rather than the law itself, for instruction on what activities are and are not permitted. Please CALL, FAX, E-MAIL your Members of Congress and urge them to OPPOSE final passage of HR 4520 unless the church politicking provisions are removed. SUGGESTED PHONE MESSAGE: I have read H.R. 4520, the "American Jobs Creation Act of 2004," and as your constituent, I urge you to oppose final passage unless the "Safe Harbor for Churches" provisions are removed. Sections 692 and 4956 have nothing to do with jobs but with partisan politicking by churches. The so-called "Safe Harbor for Churches" provisions would change current law, which forbids churches from endorsing candidates for public office, and replace it with watered-down language giving wide latitude to such activity. I believe religious leaders have a right to speak out on important issues and current restrictions on houses of worship do not exist as an impediment to that right. These provisions encourage willful ignorance of the law by houses of worship, amending the tax code to permit churches, and only churches, to engage in political campaigns while maintaining their status as tax-exempt organizations. I understand this is similar to legislation introduced by Rep. Walter Jones (R-NC) that was soundly defeated on the House floor during the 107th Congress. Although the current version is a modification of previous legislation, its effects are equally troubling. Federal tax law serves our nation's religious community well, preventing houses of worship from being drawn into partisan politicking. It does not need "fixing." Once again, I urge you to oppose the "Safe Harbor for Churches" provisions of H.R. 4520. This is an important issue and one I will be following. www.au.org

Want to really help win the War on Terror? Put an end to the Arab-Israeli War! ------------------------------------------------ WANTED: A Global Movement to End the Arab-Israeli Conflict How much more death, suffering and humiliation must Palestinians and Israelis endure before the world's human conscience wakes up and says enough is enough? The Israeli attacks and the slaughter of Palestinian men, women and children who took part in a peaceful demonstration to protest the destruction of their homes in Rafah (a city in the Gaza Strip) illustrates that the current Israeli leadership is becoming ever unabashed and brazen in committing crimes against a weakened and a crushed population. It is futile to assume that the United States will act decisively to put an end to the Arab-Israeli conflict in a fair way unless a massive world-wide protest movement makes it morally, politically and economically too expensive for the US to stay on the same course. It is therefore time for those who wish to see justice in Israel and in Palestine to set aside their fear of being labeled "anti-Semitic" and to openly speak out against the atrocious Israeli measures carried out against Palestinians. All through history, men and women of conscience courageously stood against tyranny, slavery, colonialism, segregation, and apartheid, and they succeeded in bringing emancipation, freedom, equality and dignity to hundreds of millions around the world. Must Palestinians and Israelis continue to suffer endlessly? Should we allow radical Zionist policies, controversial Christian theologies and domestic US political and economic interests to justify the inhumane treatment of the Palestinian people? Take a look at the following list of repressive measures that Palestinians face on a daily basis and join millions of people all over the globe who are committing themselves to speak out and take a stand against these grave Human Rights violations. 1. According to UN reports, in the last three years Israel has destroyed over 3000 Palestinian houses. Each of these houses comprises a multi-level complex (between two and six flours), which serves as homes for many families. Most of those families first became refugees in 1948 when Israel grabbed their land and now they are refugees for the second or third time. While Israeli settlers are encouraged by their government to build and expand within Palestinian territories, Palestinians in Jerusalem and the West Bank have unrealistic restrictions on building homes on their land. 2. High cement walls, razor-sharp fences and heavily fortified checkpoints are besieging all Palestinian towns and cities and imprisoning a population of over three and half million people. Israel claims that it is taking these measures to stop suicide attacks. Why doesn't Israel construct these barriers around Israeli cities, towns and settlements? Or at least on the internationally acknowledged borders? 3. These fences cut off Palestinians from 50% of their total land territories causing untold economic and social woes to Palestinians. Thus a situation is created whereby over 60% of the Palestinian population exists on less that $2 a day. 4. Palestinians control no borders that connect them to the outside world. Israel closed off their seaport, destroyed the only Palestinian Airport in Rafah and placed a permanent ban against Palestinians flying via Ben Gurion Airport. 5. No Palestinian man, woman or child is allowed to travel from one Palestinian city in the West Bank to another without a permit from Israeli officials. Most Palestinian villages have also been cut off from neighboring city centers by trenches, rocks, and other barriers so that access to and from the villages is only by foot. 6. No Palestinian, man woman or child is permitted to travel to Arab East Jerusalem or anywhere in Israel without a permit from the Israeli officials. This measure is having as much negative impact on Palestinians living in the West Bank as it is having on Palestinians living in Jerusalem. 7. The process of acquiring these permits is humiliating, time consuming and often fruitless. More often than not when Palestinians apply for permits they are turned down. Moreover, Israeli soldiers at the checkpoints do not always respect the permits issued to Palestinians by Israeli military officials, which are frequently suspended at Israeli discretion. 8. Palestinian Christians and Muslims living in the West Bank are not allowed to travel for worship in their respective holy places in Jerusalem. This means Palestinian Christians in Bethlehem are not allowed to worship in their churches in Jerusalem, which is only 6 miles away. Palestinian Muslims under 45 are not allowed to worship at Al Aqsa Mosque in Jerusalem. 9. The permanent closures of the West Bank and the Gaza Strip and the restrictions of transportations between Palestinian cities have complicated the Palestinian healthcare system. To get a Palestinian patient to a good hospital is a dreadful ordeal for the patient and his or her family. Scores of Palestinians have died waiting at checkpoints and hundreds of women have given birth in vehicles waiting for permission to cross at checkpoints. 10. There are between 6,000-7000 Palestinian prisoners in Israeli detention camps and jails. Many of them have no idea why they are there. They have not been tried in any Israel court. The list of oppressive measures can go on and unless a global non-violent movement rises to address them, terrorism and military confrontations will continue to shatter innocent lives in the Middle East and will spill over to the rest of the world. All of us, who yearn and pray for peace, must act to stop Israel's brutal war against the Palestinian masses. We can start by demanding an end to Israeli occupation of the West Bank and the Gaza Strip. HERE IS WHAT YOU CAN DO: 1. Keep calling on your elected officials to act justly. Keep quizzing them as to why the US continues to uncritically support Israel in spite of Israel's clearly dismal human rights record. 2. Keep writing to your local newspaper and confront the prevailing ignorance on these issues. 3. Connect with folks in your community who are fed up with America's unreasonable support for radical Israeli measures against Palestinians. Work cooperatively to expose Israeli policies of destruction and humiliation by planning educational and advocacy activities. 4. Be alert to and participate in national or internationally organized non-violent activities such as mega demonstrations. 5. Work through your church, mosque or synagogue [or coven] to educate your congregation and community to seek justice, peace and security for all the people in Israel and in Palestine. by Rev. Alex Awad (A United Methodist pastor/missionary, Dr. Alex Awad was born and raised in Bethlehem. He teaches at Bethlehem Bible College.) --------------------------- For more Christian insights about how to end this conflict, see: http://207.68.162.250/cgi-bin/linkrd?_lang...2004June9%2ehtm and www.cmep.org

Here's another great organization for progressive (and really all) Christians to join in on! PROPHECY VS. PROPHECY: Death-and-doom or rebuke-and-redress? by Phil Olson May 23-25 found 300 social-justice advocates gathered in the Washington Plaza Hotel in D.C. for Call to Renewal’s annual Pentecost gathering. Our theme was “A Call to Unity: Making Poverty a Religious and Election Issue.” Call convener Jim Wallis set the framework for our gathering – ‘Burger King Moms’ (minimum-wage-earning single parents) aren’t on the agenda for Republicans (who focus on the upper class) nor for the Democrats (who focus on the middle class); Bill Moyers presented a powerful call to recapture the real Jesus, not the Jesus hijacked by the rich and powerful for their purposes; James Forbes stirred up souls at the National Cathedral with a charge to live out the good news. Following Forbes’ sermon, nearly 50 persons - representing groups ranging from the National Association of Evangelicals to the National Council of Churches (and many groups in between) - signed their names to the Isaiah Platform, declaring that the fight to overcome poverty binds together us as Christians. Since I didn’t hear it mentioned during the gathering, I think the conferees missed an irony: the cover story for NEWSWEEK, dated May 24, right smack in the middle of the Call to Renewal conference. The cover story featured prophecy experts Tim LaHaye and Jerry Jenkins, co-authors of the pop Christian series, LEFT BEHIND, which has sold more than 62 million copies thus far. End-times writers thrive on the eschatological trivia (I don’t mean it’s trivial, rather that it’s not fundamental to our faith) that focuses primarily on the books of Revelation and Daniel. Both of these are great, thrilling, challenging portions of Scripture. But many end-times writers shy away from another prophet - Isaiah. Isaiah looks straight in the face of the world’s evil and crushing crises and concludes that God will work out everything through God’s Suffering Servant-Messiah. Jenkins, LaHaye, and the likes communicate a message of doom and gloom. The world is going to hell – the quicker the better – and we’ll soon be out of here. While God may love the world (cf. John 3:16), one gets the distinct impression that the modern-day best-selling prophecy/preachers DON’T. And they carry many Christians with them: those who clench and shake their fists, get red in the eyes and face, and spew forth venom and vitriol. Call to Renewal, on the other hand, lifts up Isaiah’s vision – or, as they put it, the Isaiah Platform. Isaiah, too, can get upset, but his energies are directed against the scandals of poverty, oppression, and injustice. Whose vision is going to win? Ultimately, it’s not any particular prophet who wins; God wins. But in this presidential election year of 2004, whose prophetic vision is going to win: Daniel’s death-and-doom or Isaiah’s rebuke-and-redress? LaHaye & Jenkins, Inc. will still sell scores of books as they attempt to scare the hell out of people as preparation for the next world. But people of faith who embrace a political commitment that trusts in a God who can and will make a difference in this world now – TODAY - know that book sales can’t beat the religious values, economic justice, and moral behavior that characterize God’s kingdom-economy. Left behind? Let’s leave no one behind, especially the poor that God has called blessed, our children, and all the “least of these” for whom God reserves special favor. (For the text of the Isaiah Platform, go to www.calltorenewal.org/events/index.cfm/action/pentecost_event/item/pentecost_2004_platform.html. For Scriptures that support the Isaiah Platform, read chapters 1, 58, 61, and 65 of the book of Isaiah.)

This document clearly shows why organizations such as Americans United and The Interfaith Alliance are so badly needed at this time! ----------------- Americans United Blasts Back-Door Congressional Scheme To Recruit Churches Into Partisan Politics Tuesday June 8, 2004 Proposed Change In Federal Tax Law Comes At Same Time As Bush-Cheney Campaign's Outreach To 'Friendly Congregations' CONTACT Joseph Conn, Rob Boston, or Jeremy Leaming 202-466-3234 telephone 202-466-2587 fax www.au.org -------------------------------------------------------------------------------- AMERICANS UNITED BLASTS BACK-DOOR CONGRESSIONAL SCHEME TO RECRUIT CHURCHES INTO PARTISAN POLITICS Proposed Change In Federal Tax Law Comes At Same Time As Bush-Cheney Campaign's Outreach To 'Friendly Congregations' Republican members of the House of Representatives are attempting to clear the way for partisan politicking by houses of worship by slipping an important change to the nation's tax laws into a job-creation bill, Americans United for Separation of Church and State revealed today. Two sections of H.R. 4520, the "American Jobs Creation Act of 2004," deal not with jobs but with partisan politicking by churches. The so-called "Safe Harbor for Churches" provisions would essentially gut current law, which forbids churches from endorsing candidates for public office, and replace it with watered-down language giving wide latitude to such activity. The bill, introduced by U.S. Rep. William M. Thomas (R-Calif.), contains provisions that would allow church leaders to "unintentionally" endorse or oppose candidates up to three times per year. It also greatly reduces the tax penalty for church electioneering. "This is a blatant attempt to recruit churches into partisan politics," said the Rev. Barry W. Lynn, executive director of Americans United. "Even worse, this measure tries to make sweeping changes in tax law through the back door and out of public view. I don't think it's a coincidence that this bill will help the Bush campaign's outreach to churches." Lynn noted that the bill was introduced just days after it was revealed that President George W. Bush's campaign has plans to recruit "friendly congregations" into its election efforts. Americans United criticized that plan, which was widely publicized in the media. The bill's 20 cosponsors are all Republicans, and the bill has apparently been put on a fast track in the House by Majority Leader Tom DeLay. Despite its controversial nature, the church-politicking provision was buried in a lengthy bill that deals mainly with economic matters. The bill was slated for a floor vote the week of June 14, although the death of former President Ronald Reagan may alter that schedule. "Some members of Congress apparently want to open the floodgates for partisan politicking by houses of worship in time for the November elections," Lynn charged. "Their attempt to turn churches into political machines must be blocked." Americans United is a religious liberty watchdog group based in Washington, D.C. Founded in 1947, the organization educates Americans about the importance of church-state separation in safeguarding religious freedom. See www.au.org for more info

Yes! Viva Pax Christi not Pax Americana! FYI... Here's an interesting blast from the past: Leo Tolstoy's Last Message to Mankind: (Written for the 18th International Peace Congress held at Stockholm in 1909.) Dear Brothers, We have met here to fight against war. War, the thing for the sake of which all the nations of the earth - millions and millions of people - place at the uncontrolled disposal of a few men or sometimes only one man, not merely milliards of rubles, talers, francs or yen (representing a very large share of their labor), but also their very lives. And now we, a score of private people gathered from the various ends of the earth, possessed of no special privileges and above all having no power over anyone, intend to fight - and as we wish to fight we also wish to conquer - this immense power not only of one government but of all governments, which have at their disposal these milliards of money and millions of soldiers and who are well aware that the exceptional position of those who for the governments rests on the army alone: the army which has a meaning and a purpose against which we wish to fight and which we wish to abolish. For us to struggle, the forces being so unequal, must appear insane. But if we consider our opponent's means of strife and our own, it is not our intention to fight that will seem absurd, but that the thing we mean to fight will still exist. They have millions of money and millions of obedient soldiers; we have only one thing, but that is the most powerful thing in the world - Truth. Therefore, insignificant as our forces may appear in comparison with those of our opponents, our victory is as sure as the victory of the light of the rising sun over the darkness of night. Our victory is certain, but on one condition only - that when uttering the truth we utter it all, without compromise, concession, or modification. The truth so simple, so clear, so evident, so incumbent not only on Christians but on all reasonable men, that it is only necessary to speak it out in its full significance for it to be irresistible. The truth in its full meaning lies in what was said thousands of years ago (in the law accepted among us as the Law of God) in four words: Thou shalt not kill. The truth is that man may not and should not in any circumstances or under any pretext kill his fellow man. The truth is so evident, so binding, and so generally acknowledged, that it is only necessary to put it clearly before men for the evil called war to become quite impossible. And so I think that if we who are assembled here at this Peace Congress should, instead of clearly and definitely voicing this truth, address ourselves to the governments with various proposals for lessening the evils of war or gradually diminishing its frequency, we should be like men who having in their hand the key to a door, should try to break through walls they know to be too strong for them. Before us are millions of armed men, ever more and more efficiently armed and trained for more and more rapid slaughter. We know that these millions of people have no wish to kill their fellows and for the most part do not even know why they are forced to do that repulsive work, and that they are weary of their position of subjection and compulsion; we know that the murders committed from time to time by these men are committed by order of the governments; and we know that the existence of the governments depends on the armies. Can we then who desire the abolition of war, find nothing more conducive to our aim than to propose to the governments which exist only by the aid of armies and consequently by war - measures which would destroy war? Are we to propose to the governments that they should destroy themselves? The governments will listen willingly to any speeches of that kind, knowing that such discussions will neither destroy war nor undermine their own power, but will only conceal yet more effectively what must be concealed if wars and armies and themselves in control of armies are to continue to exist. 'But', I shall be told, 'this is anarchism; people never have lived without governments and States, and therefore governments and States and military forces defending them are necessary for the existence of nations.' But leaving aside the question of whether the life of Christian and other nations is possible without armies and wars to defend their governments and States, or even supposing it to be necessary for their welfare that they should slavishly submit to institutions called governments (consisting of people they do not personally know), and that it is necessary to yield up the produce of their labor to these institutions and fulfill all their demands - including the murder of their neighbors - granting them all that, there yet remains in our world an unsolved difficulty. This difficulty lies in the impossibility of making the Christian faith (which those who form the governments profess with particular emphasis) accord with armies composed of Christians trained to slay. However much you may pervert the Christian teaching, however much you may hide its main principles, its fundamental teaching is the love of God and one's neighbor; of God - that is the highest perfection of virtue, and of one's neighbor - that is all men without distinction. And therefore it would seem inevitable that we must repudiate one of the two, either Christianity is love of God and one's neighbor, or the State with its armies and wars. Perhaps Christianity may be obsolete, and when choosing between the two - Christianity and love of the State and murder - the people of our time will conclude that the existence of the State and murder is more important than Christianity, we must forgo Christianity and retain only what is important: the State and murder. That may be so - at least people may think and feel so. But in that case they should say so! They should openly admit that people in our time have ceased to believe in what the collective wisdom of mankind has said, and what is said by the Law of God they profess: have ceased to believe in what is written indelibly on the heart of each man, and must now believe only in what is ordered by various people who by accident or birth have happened to become emperors and kings, or by various intrigues and elections have become presidents or members of senates and parliaments - even if those orders include murder. That is what they ought to say! But it is impossible to say it; and yet one of these two things has to be said. If it is admitted that Christianity forbids murder, both armies and governments become impossible. And if it is admitted that government acknowledges the lawfulness of murder and denies Christianity, no one will wish to obey a government that exists merely by its power to kill. And besides, if murder is allowed in war it must be still more allowable when a people seek its rights in a revolution. And therefore the governments, being unable to say either one thing or the other, are anxious to hid from their subjects the necessity of solving the dilemma. And for us who are assembled here to counteract the evil of war, if we really desire to attain our end, only one thing is necessary: namely to put that dilemma quite clearly and definitely both to those who form governments and to the masses of the people who compose the army. To do that we must not only clearly and openly repeat the truth we all know and cannot help knowing - that man should not slay his fellow man - but we must also make it clear that no considerations can destroy the demand made by the truth on people in the Christian world. Therefore I propose that our Meeting draw up and publish an appeal to all men, and especially to the Christian nations, in which we clearly and definitely express what everybody knows, but hardly anyone says: namely war is not - as most people assume - a good and laudable affair, but that like all murder, it is a vile and criminal business not only for those who voluntarily choose a military career but for those who submit to it from avarice, or fear of punishment. With regard to those who voluntarily choose a military career, I would propose to state clearly and definitely that not withstanding all the pomp, glitter, and general approval with which it is surrounded, it is a criminal and shameful activity; and that the higher the position a man holds in the military profession the more criminal and shameful his occupation. In the same way with regard to men of the people who are drawn into military service by bribes or by threats of punishments, I propose to speak clearly about the gross mistake they make - contrary to their faith, morality and common sense - when they consent to enter the army; contrary to their faith because when they enter the ranks of murderers contrary to the Law of God which they acknowledge; contrary to morality , because for pay or from fear of punishment they agreed to what in their souls they know to be wrong; and contrary to common sense, because if they enter the army and war breaks out they risk having to suffer any consequences, bad or worse than those they are threatened with if they refuse. Above all they act contrary to common sense in that they join that caste of people which deprives them of freedom and compels them to be soldiers. With reference to both classes I propose in this appeal to express clearly the thought that for men of true enlightenment, who are therefore free from the superstition of military glory, (and their number is growing every day) the military profession and calling not withstanding all the efforts to hide its real meaning, is as shameful a business as the executioner's and even more so. For the executioner only holds himself in readiness to kill those who have been adjudged to be harmful and criminal, while a soldier promises to kill all who he is told to kill, even though they may be the dearest to him or the best of men. Humanity in general, and our Christian humanity in particular, has reached a stage of such acute contradiction between its moral demands and the existing social order, that a change has become inevitable, and a change not in society's moral demand which are immutable, but in the social order which can be altered. The demand for a different social order, evoked by that inner contradiction which is so clearly illustrated by our preparations for murder, becomes more and more insistent every year and every day. The tension which demands that alteration has reached such a degree that, just as sometimes only a slight shock is required to change a liquid into a solid body, so perhaps with a slight effort or even a single word may be needed to change the cruel and irrational life of our time - with its divisions, armaments and armies - into a reasonable life in keeping with the consciousness of contemporary humanity. Every such effort, every such word, may be the shock which will instantly solidify the super cooled liquid. Why should not our gathering be the shock? In Andersen's fairy tale, when the King went in triumphal procession through the streets of the town and all the people were delighted with his beautiful new clothes, a word from a child who said what everybody knew but had not said, changed everything. He said: 'He has nothing on!' and the spell was broken, and the king became ashamed and all those who had been assuring themselves that they saw him wearing beautiful new clothes perceived that he was naked! We must say the same. We must say what everybody knows but does not venture to say. We must say that by whatever name people may call murder - murder always remains murder and a criminal and shameful thing. And it is only necessary to say that clearly, definitely, and loudly, as we can say it here, and men will cease to see what they thought they saw, and will see what is really before their eyes. They will cease to see the service for their country, the heroism of war, military glory, and patriotism, and will see what exists: the naked, criminal business of murder! And if people see that, the same thing will happen as in the fairy tale: those who do the criminal thing will feel ashamed, and those who assure themselves that they do not see the criminality of murder will perceive it and cease to be murderers. But how will nations defend themselves against their enemies, how will they maintain internal order, and how can nations live without an army? What form of life men will take after they repudiate murder we do not and cannot know; but one thing is certain: that it is more natural for men to be guided by reason and conscience with which they are endowed, than to submit slavishly to people who arrange wholesale murders; and that therefrom the form of social order assumed by the lives of those who are guided in their actions not by violence based on threats of murder, but by reason and conscience, will in any case be no worse than that under which they now live. That is all I want to say. I shall be sorry if it offends or grieves anyone or evokes any ill feeling. But for me, a man eighty years old, expecting to die at any moment, it would be shameful and criminal not to speak out the whole truth as I understand it - the truth which, as I firmly believe, is alone capable of relieving mankind from the incalculable ills produced by war.

Amen to that! The fact is that George Jr. has single-handidly (along with Tony Blair), been the single best recruiter for al-Qaeda's gang of terrorists. By rushing us off to attack Iraq simply because they are "one of those Muslim nations," and by showing a blind and largely uncritical allegience to Israel, George Jr. has stimulated the largest catalyst for anti-American terrorist recruitment ever. Even if George Jr.'s forces have killed many Muslim terrorists, they have killed many more innocent civilians (over 11,000 and growing in Iraq) and this leads to more terrorists. So, even if al-Qaeda loses certain battles with our forces, they actually are winning a victory in that the Muslim world is growing more and more united against the U.S. Indeed, George Jr. has placed an even larger "Kick Me!" sign upon our nation's backside. I actually agree with all of those conservative radio pundits who claim that "terrorism is the most important issue for the upcoming election" and this is why I favor Kerry; i.e. keeping Bush Jr. in will lead to further animosity among the radical Islamists who wish us harm. Moreover, Bush Jr's doctrine of illegal, unilateral, pre-emptive strikes would lead to greater anti-American animosity in the larger global community. In order to appropriately and effectively address the war on terror we need to get the world community back on board with us and the best way to do this is by voting George Jr. out of office.

Good question! At first blush, I'd say no, that this isn't what I had in mind as being an example of Civil Religion. But then, upon further consideration, there is actually more secular/civil background and basis for the institution of marriage than there is religious - at least Jewish or Christian ones.

I don't have time for a detailed response at the moment, but I'd like to highly commend an excellent book to you: The Nonviolent Atonement[/i], by J. Denny Weaver. The book critiques the popular/traditional substitutionary/vicarious/penal/satisfaction theories of atonement and advocates instead shifting to embrace the a revised "narrative Christus Victor" model of the atonement. Go to www.amazon.com and read the reviews (but buy it from a local independent bookstore or borrow it from a library! ; ) )

Bush Campaign Attempting To Forge Church-Based Political Machine Effort Jeopardizes Tax Exemption Of Houses Of Worship, Charges Americans United A plan by the George W. Bush reelection campaign to enlist 1,600 "friendly" houses of worship in Pennsylvania is a misguided attempt to build a church-based political machine that should be dropped immediately, says Americans United for Separation of Church and State. Americans United asserts that the plan jeopardizes the tax-exempt status of churches and could divide congregations with partisan politics. "This is the most shocking example of politicizing churches I've ever seen," said the Rev. Barry W. Lynn, executive director of Americans United. "The last thing this country needs is a church-based political machine. The Bush campaign should abandon this plan immediately. "By enrolling churches in an election scheme, the Bush campaign is endangering those churches' tax exemptions," Lynn continued. "That's bad enough, but the introduction of partisan politics into the pews will also divide congregations and entangle politics and religion in very unhealthy ways." An e-mail from the Pennsylvania affiliate of the Bush Campaign says, "The Bush-Cheney '04 national headquarters in Virginia has asked us to identify 1600 'Friendly Congregations' in Pennsylvania where voters friendly to President Bush might gather on a regular basis." The e-mail says the campaign would like to "identify a volunteer coordinator who can help distribute general information to other supporters." It goes on to say, "We plan to undertake activities such as distributing general information/updates or voter registration materials in a place accessible to the congregation." In a telephone conversation with AU's Lynn, Luke Bernstein, the Pennsylvania Bush staffer who sent the e-mail, confirmed that the program is under way. Lynn noted that the Internal Revenue Code strictly forbids churches, which are tax exempt, from endorsing or opposing candidates for public office or intervening in partisan campaigns directly or indirectly. Americans United is a religious liberty watchdog group based in Washington, D.C. Founded in 1947, the organization educates Americans about the importance of church-state separation in safeguarding religious freedom. www.au.org

Here's a link to Walter Wink's article "Apocalypse now?" http://www.religion-online.org/cgi-bin/rel...le?item_id=2208

Dear friends in Christ, I wish to commend Rev. Martz for his bold and inviting response to the rather strange developments from certain Catholic leaders in Colorado Springs (see details below). As a private, voluntary organization, the Roman Catholic Church may of course do what it wishes in regard to who may or may not partake in their rites and rituals. That said, if they want to be viewed as consistent, credible, and just by the rest of the world - and even by their own members - they should not refuse Communion on these grounds (matters of opinion). Although I'm a United Methodist, I am a fan of the famed Roman Catholic "consistent ethic of life" i.e. opposition to abortion, war, and capital punishment. I personally would not want to see abortions for purposes of eugenics, selecting the sex of a child, or after the first trimester - with the exceptions for rape, incest, and/or if the health of the mother would be at risk if a pregnancy were brought to term. And even the admittedly conservative Catholic stance re: war allows for the hypothetical possibility of engaging in war; i.e. if a particular war satisfies all of the conditions spelled out in their Just War theory (note: the Vatican stated that current war with Iraq did not meet these criteria.) So, it sure seems inconsistent for certain Catholic leaders to be rigidly dogmatic about denying the sacrament of Holy Communion to members who seek to make abortion safe, legal, and rare while serving it to persons who may favor the death penalty or the Iraq war. This inconsistency has the effect of unraveling their otherwise consistent ethic of life. In Christ, BrotherRog Background: Denver Church Responds To Controversy - Says "All" Are Welcome For Communion "The largest Methodist church in metro Denver is spending thousands of dollars on newspaper ads this week to counter Colorado Springs Roman Catholic Bishop Michael Sheridan's stance connecting voting to Communion worthiness. The copy shouts, "All Are Welcome at Christ's Table!" and is signed by three clergy and a lay leader from St. Andrew United Methodist Church in Centennial, which draws more than 1,000 worshipers a week. While the ad makes no mention of Sheridan or Catholicism, senior pastor Harvey Martz said it's a response to the bishop's statement this month that Catholics may not take Holy Communion if they vote for candidates who disagree with Catholic teaching on select issues. "I just think it's a dismal thing for a Christian leader to stand up and say, in the name of Christ, we're going to turn some people way from the table because of their vote and their political opinion," said Martz, who formerly served in Colorado Springs." (The Denver Post, "Church invites "all" to its Communion," 05/27/04) READ FULL ARTICLE --- Denver Archbishop Outlines Denial of Communion (from The Interfaith Alliance) St. Andrew UMC Advertises Open Communion Ads in the Denver Post and Rocky Mountain News this week proclaim "All Are Welcome at Christ's Table!" in response to a statement from Colorado Springs Roman Catholic Bishop Michael Sheridan connecting parishioners' voting choices with Communion worthiness. Read more at http://www.rmcumc.org/News/Communications/...b.htm#Communion <http://www.rmcumc.org/News/Communications/bb.htm#Communion>

Rapture Christians Are Policy Advisors To White House? “It was an e-mail we weren't meant to see. Not for our eyes were the notes that showed White House staffers taking two-hour meetings with Christian fundamentalists, where they passed off bogus social science on gay marriage as if it were holy writ and issued fiery warnings that "the Presidents [sic] Administration and current Government is engaged in cultural, economical, and social struggle on every level"—this to a group whose representative in Israel believed herself to have been attacked by witchcraft unleashed by proximity to a volume of Harry Potter. Most of all, apparently, we're not supposed to know the National Security Council's top Middle East aide consults with apocalyptic Christians eager to ensure American policy on Israel conforms with their sectarian doomsday scenarios. But now we know. "Everything that you're discussing is information you're not supposed to have," barked Pentecostal minister Robert G. Upton when asked about the off-the-record briefing his delegation received on March 25. Details of that meeting appear in a confidential memo signed by Upton and obtained by the Voice.” (Village Voice, “Bush White House checked with rapture Christians before latest Israel move,” 05/18/04) http://www.villagevoice.com/issues/0420/perlstein.php

Here's a link to a very thought provoking article re: "American Left-Behindism" http://www.dissidentvoice.org/May2004/Bageant0518.htm

Part II CONCLUSION: The point I’m trying to make is that we are not dealing simply with politics when it comes to the Bush administration. The progressive left, which often pays little attention to Christianity, and the moderate middle, which thinks “these things will balance out”; will be making a huge mistake if they overlook the religious ideology at the core of Mr. Bush personally and the movement he represents. And we are talking about a “movement” (a movement of ‘the people’ not just the elites). We are seeing today the emergence of a “fascist movement”. It is bankrolled and organized by Corporations, and articulated through the ideology of neo-conservatism. But the troops come out of the right wing church. And that church, drawing upon the Holiness/Holy War Biblical narratives of Apocalyptic-Dominionism theology, is growing in this country. This is not a battle between intellectual and institutional elites. It is far more intimate than that. It’s a battle in our homes, our families, friendships, neighborhoods and within our faith communities. Let me make a rather audacious prophecy: WHOEVER CONTROLS THE INTERPRETATION OF SCRIPTURE WILL CONTROL THE FUTURE OF THIS NATION. In other words it’s the vision of Pat Robertson or Martin Luther King. When Dave Korten (author of When Corporations Rule the World) says that we need a “new story”; he is talking about needing a transcendent authority in which we root our political culture. Human beings cannot live in societal form without a sacred narrative. Neither anarchy nor atheism can construct a house that will hold our future. The Republicans know this well. But the Democrats seem clueless. What we need is a movement of spiritual justice. We need the language of those who can wed America’s civil religion with Biblical prophetic narrative. We need to expand that language so that it can include the language and stories that are emerging from the antiwar, fair trade and human rights movements. Together this language can form a unique new narrative that has the power to inspire imagination and courage. A language that can call forth a new coalition powerful enough to envision a new and better world. It will be a language that articulates “we are the ones we are looking for”. A language that proclaims “God with us in our diversity” not God above us threatening wrath and ruin. FASCISM 1.) Rigid one party dictatorship 2.) Forcible suppression of the opposition (unions, minority groups, leftist parties etc.) 3.) Retention of private ownership of the means of production under centralized governmental control 4.) Belligerent nationalism 5.) Racism 6.) Glorification of war (militarism) 7.) Forced mass political mobilizations 8.) Cult of the personality around the leader CHRISTIAN FASCISM: 1.) We are a chosen people to rule the nations with a rod of iron for the purpose of peace 2.) We are ordained by God to fight evil, which is defined through the protection and expansion of our national interests. 3.) Private property IS economic justice. 4.) Individualized morality is institutionalized into law. 5.) The Church is mobilized to hang a “sacred canopy” over the actions of the State enforcing the above. 6.) The above characteristics of fascism are incorporated under the umbrella of Christian symbols fueled by Christian apocalypticism. RESOURCES Google: "Christian Reconstructionism & Dominion Theology" Books: Eyes Right edited by Chip Berlot South End Press (1995) Spiritual Warfare Sara Diamond South End Press (1989) *** great resource *** Right Wing Populism in America Chip Berlot & Matthew Lyons (Guilford Press, 2000) American Dynasty Kevin Phillips (Viking Press, 2004) Sorrows of Empire Chalmers Johnson (2004) *** Last two are MUST READ books Articles on Internet: America As A One Party State Robert Kuttner www.prospect.org/authors/kuttner-r.html <http://www.prospect.org/authors/kuttner-r.html> Christian Reconstructionism Fredrick Clarkson www.informationclearinghouse.info/article5722.htm <http://www.informationclearinghouse.info/article5722.htm> The Despoiling of America Katherine Yurica www.informationclearinghouse.info/article5646.htm <http://www.informationclearinghouse.info/article5646.htm> (this is THE BEST and most frightening article I have read) Note: the content of the past 2 posts was by Rev. Rich Lang of Trinity UMC, Seattle, WA (sent to me and many others via email)

George W. Bush and the Rise of Christian Fascism The Imperial Presidency The men who wrote the Constitution of the United States knew that if power accrued into the hands of an elite the experiment of democracy (power spread out into the realm of the people) would be over. So they created a system of checks and balances that blocked access to any one person, or any one special interest or elite gaining too much power over others. Thus our executive, legislative and judicial branches of government “balanced” each other. The media was yet another “check” on the accrual of too much power, as was the Bill of Rights, and to some extent the Church (or churches). The system wasn’t perfect but it kept alive the possibility of true democracy. It kept alive the dream that one day “we the people” could live in a peaceful commonwealth where every person has what they need to survive and thrive. That dream died in December 2000 when the checks and balances of our Constitution collapsed and George Bush was inserted into the Presidency of the United States. September 11, 2001 furthered the atrophying of democracy handing the country into the hands of an emerging Corporate (and I say Christian) Fascism. Fascism meaning the collapse of diverse spheres of power into one. Since that time we have witnessed, and have been unable to prevent, the emergence of an Imperial Presidency that has the unrestricted power to declare war against any country it chooses. The Imperial Presidency has brought to end the Constitutional mandate that ‘ONLY CONGRESS’ has the authority to declare war. It has furthered weakened international law and undermined the potential of the United Nations to spread democracy throughout the earth. The Imperial Presidency has also gained unrestricted potential to round up American citizens incarcerating them in military brigs or concentration camps for unlimited amounts of time. The presidency can keep the accused from ever again communicating with friends, families, and attorneys, simply on the certification that the incarcerated are "terrorists," as he has done with Jose Padilla and Yaser Esam Hamdi. The Presidency may also now kill American citizens abroad solely on the basis of naming the one killed “a terrorist”. Just ask the family and friends of Ahmed Hijazi, an American killed with a U.S.-fired missile in Yemen. This nullifies the Constitutional right: “no person shall be denied life, liberty or property without due process of law.” Ominous signs are all around us concerning the accrual of power into the hands of the Presidency. If Mr. Bush stays in office I think our future will continue to witness shrinking political rights, financial collapse and endless war. Part of the power and seduction of this administration emerges from its diabolical manipulation of Christian rhetoric. I want to flesh out the ideology of the Christian Fascism that Mr. Bush articulates. It is a form of Christianity that is the mirror opposite of what Jesus embodied. It is, indeed, the materialization of the spirit of antichrist: a perversion of Christian faith and practice. Christian Fascism This country, like it or not, is overwhelmingly dominated by the ideology of the Christian story. It is not so much that our founders were all Christians. Rather, they lived in an atmosphere which was visioned through the lens of Christian thought and rhetoric. What they saw was that America had become the New Israel (the new Promised Land) of God. America was a benevolent nation seeking only the good of all. Our wealth is a blessing given to us as a sign that we are a “chosen, special people” whose larger meaning is to help the world into an era of peace, prosperity and justice. Every politician draws on this “civil religion story” of benevolence that gives authority to the politician’s ambition and agenda. Another way of saying this is: every nation needs sacred legitimation. It needs the authority of transcendence: of a story larger than itself … a story that connects past with present and future. An Empire needs an even broader story: one that connects with cosmic and/or historical redemption and new creation. Martin Luther King understood this sacred American civil religion and was able to wed it brilliantly with the prophetic religious teachings of the Bible. He drew upon Biblical narratives that limited the power and authority of the elite while calling for economic redistribution of wealth. He drew upon teachings rooted in the personal morality of nonviolence and compassion. George Bush, on the other hand, also understands this sacred American ‘civic gospel’ and has brilliantly merged it with Biblical Holiness and Holy War traditions. These traditions call for the emergence of the Righteous Warrior who will cleanse the land of its impurity. These traditions are rooted in the personal morality of righteous zeal and obedience. For example: 1.) Mr. Bush consistently sends signals to his right wing religious base. In the 2003 State of the Union he exhorted: “there’s power, wonder working power, in the goodness and idealism and faith of the American people”. It’s a phrase from a well-known Communion hymn “there’s power, wonder working power in the blood of the lamb”. Bush brings together the holiness zeal of Christian evangelicalism with patriotic fundamentalism. The core belief system of this ‘civic gospel’ goes something like this: The United States was founded as a Christian nation with free enterprise as the only economic system truly compatible with Christian beliefs. These religious values are today under attack in America. The danger is that without faith in God America will lose its blessing. Therefore, the government needs to act to protect the nation's religious heritage. 2.) Mr. Bush’s teachings on terrorism: “you are with us or against us” cements for the hearer the apocalyptic world of good versus evil. There can be no neutral ground. You have to make a decision. Patriotism is now all or nothing: it is either total agreement or a slippery slope towards treason. In the Church you come to Jesus alone for salvation. In the state you obey the God-annointed leader and are thereby secured. Renana Brooks writes (The Nation June 24, 2003: Bush Dominates A Nation of Victims): “Bush is a master at inducing learned helplessness in the electorate. He uses pessimistic language that creates fear and disables people from feeling they can solve their problems. In his September 20, 2001 speech to Congress on the 9/11 attacks, he chose to increase people’s sense of vulnerability: ‘Americans should not expect one battle, but a lengthy campaign, unlike any other we have ever seen. … I ask you to live your lives, and hug your children. I know many citizens have fears tonight … Be calm and resolute, even in the face of a continuing threat.’ (Subsequent terror alerts ... have maintained and expanded this fear of unknown, sinister enemies.)” The terror threat itself can only be combated with increases in military force, domestic security and curtailment of civil rights through Patriot Acts. There are no other options nor any dialogue or debate that would create an alternative way to deal with terrorism. 3.) Mr. Bush certainly sees himself as a Messiah figure. Listen to his language after 9-11: “ I will not forget this wound to our country or those who inflicted it. I will not yield; I will not rest; I will not relent in waging this struggle for freedom and security for the American people.” Or, in his 2003 State of the Union speech: “I will defend the freedom and security of the American people”. He has become the nation. He is its embodiment. According to Palestinian Prime Minister Mahmoud Abbas, - Bush told him: "God told me to strike at al Qaida and I struck them, and then he instructed me to strike at Saddam, which I did, and now I am determined to solve the problem in the Middle East. If you help me I will act, and if not, the elections will come and I will have to focus on them." This is Biblical language … it isn’t political script. This is Bush’s soul language. He understands himself as a man with a Divine mission. It also means that for him leadership is not “representing the people” rather leadership means transcending the will of the people. George Bush already knows the truth before the evidence is presented. He is guided by God and must blaze the trail even if the people are reluctant. Iraq, for example, was a necessary war whether or not Saddam had nukes. Saddam, for Bush, was a bad guy who tried to kill “my dad”. The war, for Bush, was holy and justified and necessary. Purging evil is necessary in the Holiness/Holy War tradition of the Bible. The righteous will purge evil but the unrighteous will be consumed by it. Like all religions the Bible has various narratives within its pages: Jesus drew on the prophetic traditions that called upon the people to change their way of life even as it critiqued and called upon the elites to decentralize their power. Jesus role modeled a lifestyle of redemptive suffering on behalf of others. Mr. Bush, however, draws on traditions that call for purity and cleansing. It is a language of hostility towards enemies and a strident call for obedience. It calls forth a lifestyle of the RIGHTEOUS ONE who will purge evil from the world through sacred violence. This religious rhetoric that merges Holiness Christianity with Imperial Americanism, is “in sync” with a growing new movement in theology called Christian Reconstructionism (or Dominion Theology). Reconstructed Fascism First and most basic is that Dominion Theology wants to replace democracy with a theocratic elite that would govern according to a very literal and peculiar interpretation of Biblical law. The disciples of Jesus are to have “dominion” over all of creation. It is the role of the Church to rule over the wicked and bring them into the obedience of faith. In a “reconstructed society” democracy would be heresy. The division between sacred and secular would be abolished. A new insistence on conformity to moral rules would replace the pluralism we now know. The purpose of the Federal government would be to enforce morality through military and police functions. Society would be regulated by a theocratic elite: in the words of Pat Robertson: “just as the Supreme Court justices place a hand on the Bible and swear to uphold the Constitution, so they should also put a hand on the Constitution and swear to uphold the Bible.” We see this at play in the leanings of Supreme Court Justices Scalia and Thomas. Against the common assumption that we are a secular state Mr. Scalia has said (in a FIRST THINGS: May 2002 ) “government … derives its moral authority from God. Government is the minister of God with powers to revenge, to execute wrath, including wrath by the sword.” Scalia is drawing from Romans 13. If taken literally the implication of those verses would prohibit any resistance against the policies of a government. No more peaceful demonstrations (the government would be justified to do what it did to those recently in Miami and earlier here in Seattle). Even writings of dissent and opposition could be labeled treasonous (this is part of Ashcroft’s passion for Patriot Acts and other warnings not to say too much). Scalia (and many of the conservative judges placed in Federal Courts since Reagan) believe in interpreting the Constitution in its original intent. As Scalia has said (same article as above) “the constitution that I interpret and apply is not living but dead. It means today not what current society thinks it ought to mean, but what it meant when it was adopted.” So, as Katherine Yurica points out in her article THE DESPOILING OF AMERICA: .. since the death penalty was clearly permitted when the 8th Amendment (which prohibits cruel and unusual punishments) was adopted and at that time the death penalty was applied for all felonies --- including, for example, the felony of horse-thieving, “so it is clearly permitted today”. All a willing Dominionist Republican controlled congress need do to extend the death penalty to those people who practice witchcraft, adultery, homosexuality, heresy, etc. is to find those particular death penalty laws existing as of November 3, 1791 and re-instate them. Scalia further believes that democracy fosters civil disobedience and is therefore a hindrance to the greater good of law and order. Our Federal Court system is being packed with these types of Judges … Bush himself will try to fill Court vacancies with these type of judges. Secondly: The good society according to Dominion Theology has men on top. Society would be reconstructed into a strong patriarchy that would provide the social pressure ensuring conformity. Women would find their true function as supportive wives, mothers and homemakers. Those outside this “patriarchal modality” would be exterminated. (Today the Gay marriage movement is a true threat to establishing a patriarchal society. This administration has no choice but to make this a MAJOR issue in the coming election.). Thirdly: Purity becomes very important. There is only one right way to see the world. It is therefore of fundamental importance to control education in all spheres of culture. We see this in the Bush administration’s approach to testing in schools; in his massive discounting of Global warming and in his repeated refusals to engage in open, diversified conversation about matters of importance: whether it be Cheney’s Energy Task Force, the investigation of 9/11; or the creation of an “in house” intelligence team which created evidence for the Iraqi war after the other governmental agencies couldn’t provide it. The Bush team KNEW the answers before the evidence was even accumulated. Fourth: Dominion Theology denies history and spurns the modern. It is not a conservative (conserving) movement. Although it might appeal to a nostalgic and mythical past it is primarily focused on a radically revolutionized future of utopia. It assumes that the end will justify the means and it is moral to work as “stealth agents” fooling the pagans. It sees the world as engaged in spiritual warfare pitting “good Christians” against everybody else. This HOLY WAR and HOLINESS rhetoric is foundational in Mr. Bush’s worldview. Now if you think that this talk is bit “hyper” on my part … that I’m Chicken Little squawking in the wind … what then do you make of these Texas Republican platform positions of 2002? “The Republican Party of Texas reaffirms the United States of America is a Christian nation." 1.) Government: We reclaim freedom of religious expression in public on government property, and freedom from government interference. Support government display of Ten Commandments. … Dispel the “myth” of separation of church and state. 2.) ECONOMY: Abolish the dollar in favor of the gold standard. Abolish the IRS. Eliminate income tax, inheritance tax, gift tax, capital gains, corporate income tax, payroll tax and property tax. Repeal minimum wage law …Gradually phase out Social security tax for a system of private pensions. 3.) UNITED NATIONS: We immediately rescind our membership in , as well as financial and military contributions to the United Nations … we should evict the United Nations… 4.) FAMILY: We believe that traditional marriage is a legal and moral commitment between a man and a woman. We recognize that the family is the foundational unit of a healthy society and consists of those related by blood, marriage or adoption. The family is responsible for its own welfare, education, moral training, conduct and property. 5.) EDUCATION: Since Secular Humanism is recognized by the United States Supreme Court as a religion … Secular Humanism should be subjected to the same state and federal laws as any other recognized religion. 6.) ENVIRONMENT: Oppose the myth of global warming. Reaffirm the belief in the fundamental right of an individual to use property without governmental interference. This coming election will not be decided because of political policy. It will not be decided in a debate over free markets versus fair markets; tax cuts or no tax cuts, Patriot Act or no Patriot Act; military draft or no draft. None of these issues will determine the election because the candidates are all for free markets, tax cuts, domestic security and a strong global military presence. The election will be determined by the candidate who can embody the deeply felt, often unarticulated religious yearnings of the populace. Yearnings such as “who will save us, secure us, lead us??? Who will connect us with a power greater than the terrors of the night?” Bush speaks this language. Democrats are stuck in political nuance. Or, in other words, Democrats cannot speak the language of Martin Luther King who understood that social transformation requires a transcendent authority. And it is a vision of transformation, not nuance, that gives people the courage to risk choosing nonviolent resistance instead of violence. The problem comes down to this: Democrats, liberals, and social progressives have simply not grasped how afraid, insecure and how deeply in despair the populace is. They keep speaking as if tinkering with the system is a vision that can win the day. What Bush and Rove, Rumsfeld, Cheney, Wolfowitz and Pearls, Abrams and Bolton, DeLay and Rice etc, have clearly understood is that truth is perception. Image is EVERYTHING! Unfortunately, the inner person of America today is a hollowed out consumer who lacks the will power, stamina and imagination to do anything more than be overwhelmed by appearances. Therefore, a politics of crisis, a politics of fear will keep us locked into a state of conformity. Apocalyptic Fascism Fueling this politics of fear is yet another theological worldview of crisis and insecurity. Apocalyptic theology is booming !!! Drawing from the Holiness/Holy War traditions of the Bible it currently dominates the mass media expression of Christian faith from which Bush draws his strength. It is a theology of despair that has given up on the possibilities of redemption. One of the most popular fiction series making the rounds these days is the LEFT BEHIND series written by Tim LaHaye & Jerry Jenkins. Multiple millions of people are reading these books that fictionalize the end of life as we know it. It used to be that the Church could control people through the fear of eternal damnation. Today it is through fear of the future. The theology is basically this: The Bible is a code book that when rightly interpreted reveals that we are living at the end of history. History is scripted and is about to come to a catastrophic conclusion. The only hope is to accept Jesus as your personal Lord and Savior so that you can be “saved” from the future apocalypse. God will “snatch you up” (Rapture) right before a seven-year series of horrible events that will see the rise of Antichrist and the rebuilding of the Jewish temple. There will be world war with most of humanity dying. At that point Jesus will return to restore law and order. This theology of despair “fits” our current culture of powerlessness and fear. From SARS to weapons of mass destruction to the ongoing Palestinian-Israeli conflict, to ecological collapse, the whole world seems to be on a “no exit” slide into an end-times abyss. The theology of despair is very seductive and it is shaping the spirituality of millions of Christians today. It has, at least, five political implications that affect each one of us here today. First: Israel is to be exalted and defended no matter what they do to the Palestinian people. They are God’s chosen people and must reside in their Biblically anointed Land for the “end time clock” to tick to its final minute. Israel has a Biblical mandate to conquer and control all of the land from the Nile River to the Euphrates. Behind the politics of oil lie the religious passion to fulfill God’s will: Syria must fall. Second: institutions like the United Nations are not to be trusted because they are tools of the Antichrist. The Antichrist is thought of (not as a spirituality or ideology) but as a personal embodiment of evil. The Antichrist will be a living person who will come to power at the end of history and proclaim himself to be god on earth. The theory has it that his power will be generated from within a coalition of nations. Thus … America, as God’s chosen nation, will need to go it alone so as not to be duped by Antichrist. Our destiny is to take the gospel to all the nations: a benevolent gospel of security and salvation for all. Third: since the world is passing away the environment is not of great importance. There is no need to worry about issues of sustainability because the world is in its final countdown. Part of the unconcern towards global warming and other ecological crisis is the religious belief that we aren’t going to be around in 100 years. We’re in the end times now … every moment is merely preparation for eternity. Whether Bush himself believes this or not is irrelevant. This is the religious worldview of those who exalt him and the voter-bloc to which he plays. For Bush to act for sustainability would require a major shift in his religious narrative. As an aside, this past summer the National Park Service was instructed to approve the display of religious symbols and Bible verses, as well as the sale of creationist books at the Grand Canyon National Park. In December 2003 the Park Service was ordered to develop a “more balanced” version of an 8 minute video shown at the Lincoln Memorial Visitor Center. Conservative Christians wanted the removal of footage of gay rights, pro choice and anti-war demonstrations replacing it with footage of Christian rallies and pro-war demonstrations. Fourth: Apocalyptic theology believes that Jesus dying for my sins is far more important than the teachings of Jesus. We see this in the recent movie PASSION OF THE CHRIST. What this creates is a spirituality that can overlook the teachings of Jesus. The Sermon on the Mount is re-framed as an impossible this-worldly ethic. Teachings about nonviolence, economic redistribution, compassion toward those who are thought of as sinners and resistance to injustice are all discounted. Recently, the Governor of Alabama in a fit of religious zeal wanted to take the economic teachings of Jesus seriously: he tried to reform his state to benefit the poor. The Christian Coalition led the charge against such thinking and foiled his efforts. Fifth: A leader who loves Jesus is to be followed as God’s man for the hour. The Christian leader is God’s shepherd over the American flock. When Bush, who sees himself as a messianic figure anointed by God, decided on running for the Presidency he called a group of evangelical Pastors together announcing to them “I have heard the call” and then received from them the “laying on of hands” which corresponds to divine ordination for the task ahead. On September 14, 2001 he stated: “our responsibility before history is already clear: to answer these attacks and rid the world of evil”. He then launched the crusade Operation Infinite Freedom against Afghanistan. Yet other messianic statements from Bush: “History has called America to action. … The great hope of our time, and the great hope of every time, now depends on us” “We must also remember our calling as a blessed nation to make the world better … and confound the designs of evil men.” “Our nation has been chosen by God and commissioned by history, to be a model of justice before the world.” According to Vice-President Cheney: America “has the duty to act with force to construct a world in the image of the United States.” In return for this messianic leadership evangelical Christians have poured out an annointing of prayer. During the Afghanistan crusade thousands of “Presidential Circles of Prayer” and “Wheels of Prayer” were organized on the Internet, running 24 hours a day. WHEEL OF PRAYER FOR OUR SOLDIERS ”Lord hold our troops in your loving hands. Protect them as they protect us. Bless them and their families for the altruistic actions they are performing for us in our time of need. This I ask in the name of Jesus, our Lord and Savior. Amen.” This prayer was so popular and was hit so often that the website crashed within days. Pastor Charles Stanley distributed among Marines as they entered into combat thousands of pamphlets entitled “Duty of a Christian in Time of War”. With the pamphlet went a card instructing them to sign and send directly to Mr. Bush. The card says: “I have committed to pray for you, your family and your Administration.” Specific prayers for the President were included for each day.

from an email I received: Civil Religion: The 500 Pound Gorilla by Norman B. Bendroth This past Christmas Vice President Dick and Lynne Cheney sent out what is certainly the most brazen Christmas card I have ever heard of. It read: "And if a sparrow cannot fall to the ground without His notice, is it probable that an empire can rise without His aid?" This is not the first time a power broker has co-opted the name of God to baptize the agenda of the empire, Pax Americana or otherwise. One thinks of Emperor Constantine's soldiers, whose armor was inscribed with the words In Hoc Signo Vinces ("In This Sign You Will Conquer"); and the banner of the Crusaders, Deus Vult ("God wills it"), as they swashbuckled their way through the Holy Land; and, in the last century, the slogan Gott Mit Uns ("God with us") which adorned the belt buckles of the Nazis. Late last year, Lt. General William Boykin gave new meaning to the song "Onward Christian Soldiers" when he spoke of America's "Christian army" waging a holy war against the "idol" of Islam's false god, and the "spiritual battle" we're fighting against "a guy named Satan" while pursuing Muslim terrorists. Even President Bush used an old gospel song to describe American vigilance. In his State of the Union Address on January 29, 2003, he said, "There is power, power, wonder-working power in the goodness and idealism and faith of the American people." Those who know their hymnody remember the original as, "there is wonder-working power in the blood of the Lamb." To exchange the salvific work of Christ for the “goodness” of the American people is sacrilege. Even Democratic candidates have waded into these murky waters, with Howard Dean declaring that the book of Job was his favorite New Testament book (oops!). What is going on here? It is called American civil religion. Sociologist Robert Bellah coined the term in a groundbreaking article in 1967 to describe the set of rituals, doctrines, and allegiances that develop around nation-states and which become the sacred myth that binds citizens in common allegiance. The myth bestows a sacred canopy over the origins, destiny, and purpose of the State. Daniel Marsh of Boston University has pointed out, in his book Unto the Generations: the Roots of True Americanism, the similarities between biblical history and American history. America's book of Genesis is the Mayflower Compact. Its exodus is the Declaration of Independence. The book of the law is the Constitution and the Bill of Rights. Its psalms include the “Star Spangled Banner” and “God Bless America.” Lincoln's Second Inaugural address is its prophetic denouncement. (Congressman Tom DeLay has even gone so far to tell an audience at the Christian Coalition's Road to Victory Conference that American democracy is a perfect governmental expression of an inerrant Bible). Rituals include saying the pledge of allegiance in our schools, singing the “Star Spangled Banner” at sporting events, having parades and ceremonies honoring the war dead, and invoking the blessing of some higher power at political events. The virtues of democracy, individual liberty, the right to private property, family, free enterprise, and a commitment to faith are part of its doctrines. Faith in this system of thought is vague and undefined. It is best exemplified in President Eisenhower's statement, "This country was founded on faith and I don't care in what." Civil religion provides religious means and modes for the expression of patriotism. Civil religion and Christian religion can look deceptively similar, so much so that it is easy to merge the two into one, like many American churches do on the Sunday near the Fourth of July. It is not a state religion, but rather a set of practices and beliefs that renders sacred national values, national heroes, national history, and national ideals. While there is nothing inherently wrong with civil religion (it often functions as a civic "glue"), it should not be confused with Christian faith. What makes American civil religion distinctive from other nations’ is that we have always believed that we are special and have a "manifest destiny" (as the Pilgrims put it) - a sacred and noble cause bestowed from above. The Pilgrims saw themselves as a "New Israel" making an exodus from Europe to freedom and plenty in a new Promised Land. From the outset, we have seen ourselves as God's chosen people with a special (if not divine) mission to export liberty and light to the world. Some have defended Gen. Boykin or the religious language that embellishes President Bush's speech, accusing their critics of being "anti-Christian" or "politically correct." While may or may not be true, more fundamentally it is just plain bad theology. To equate the kingdom of God with the United States of America is idolatry of the highest order. The commonwealth of God is a global community that transcends all nation states and embraces all peoples. Rather than endorsing any imperial power, it calls all such pretensions to power into question. The Cheneys’ greeting card was sent during the season when churches read Mary's Magnificat, which promises that in the Messiah God "has brought down the powerful from their thrones, and lifted up the lowly" (Luke 1:52). During World War II, American theologian Reinhold Niebuhr was quick to remind us that the Axis powers were not entirely evil, nor were Allied actions entirely good. To cast the American struggle against terrorism as solely a "conflict between good and evil" is to miss the log in our own eye (Matthew 7:3). This is not asserting a moral relativism that equates American overreaching with terrorism. It is to say that sin is never privileged to any particular people or nation, but runs right through the center of every human heart - including every American heart. Because of the danger of confusing civil religion with Christian faith, Christians must be careful what kinds of symbols are present in their churches as well. When Christians participate in worship on Sunday mornings, they are gathering to proclaim their first allegiance and to acknowledge that all of life is lived under the government of God. Consequently, the symbols we display there point to our ultimate loyalties, what is truly real: the cross, the baptismal font, the open Bible, the altar, the bread and cup, to name a few. Why then do we display the American flag in our sanctuaries when Scripture teaches that all nations will come under the judgment of a righteous God (Psalm 2:1-5) and we are part of a worldwide communion of faith? My Canadian Christian friends are amazed when they find American flags in our sanctuaries. The flag is a national symbol, not a religious one. As Christians, we are called to transcend national divisions. Baptism, not the flag, affirms our unity as God's people throughout the world. By carelessly endorsing the religion and the policies of the State (read: empire), Christians forfeit their prophetic role to be critics-in-residence and to call the State to its highest principles. Martin Luther reminded the pastors of his day that one of their tasks was to "whisper the Law of God into the magistrate's ear." There's a 500-lb. gorilla called American civil religion sitting in the middle of most American sanctuaries and they are not even aware of it. The challenge for Christians and all people of faith today is this: Will we prescribe to a national religion in service of empire, or will we follow the Lord of the nations in service of Shalom? (Norman B. Bendroth is currently interim pastor at St. John's United Church of Christ in Grand Rapids, MI.)