BrotherRog

Here's an interesting email I received which looks at the linkage between The Passion movie and the Evangelical communty's beliefs about contemporary Israel:

 

TO: Churches for Middle East Peace Email Network

FROM: Corinne Whitlatch, CMEP Executive Director

RE: Wash Post on Evangelical-Israeli connection

 

This email alert is also posted on our website at: http://www.cmep.org/Alerts/2004March31.htm

 

Written by the Post’s religion reporter, this article focuses not on the theology or politics of Christian Zionist support for Israel, but rather on the development of the relationship and fundraising in support of Israel. This piece of investigative journalism by Bill Broadway provides factual details about funding and other measures of support as well as offering a line-up of the most prominent players.

 

THE EVANGELICAL-ISRAELI CONNECTION

By Bill Broadway

Washington Post – www.washingtonpost.com March 27, 2004

 

The much-publicized controversy over Mel Gibson's "The Passion of the Christ" might give the impression that Jews and evangelical Christians have little in common, theologically or otherwise. Nothing could be further from the truth.

 

While some evangelical and Jewish leaders sparred publicly for months over the film's depiction of Jesus's last hours, especially its potential to incite anti-Semitism, thousands of evangelicals were donating millions of dollars to support the state of Israel and its people. And Jews, most notably the Israeli government, welcomed their contributions.

 

"We get 2,000 to 2,500 pieces of mail a day, most of them with checks," said Yechiel Eckstein, president of the International Fellowship of Christians and Jews, founded 21 years ago to foster better relations between the two religions. Since then, Eckstein, an Orthodox rabbi, has broadened the organization's mission and in the last decade has collected more than $100 million in financial support for Israel.

 

read the rest of this article here

It's been a while since I've purused it, but I recall sensing why that document wasn't allowed into the official Christian canon. Some of the issues which I perceived as problematic include:

 

* Descriptions of a rather Dennis the Menace-like childhood of Jesus in which he capriciously fooled around with miraculous powers; i.e. creating birds, killing them, and bringing them back to life - even doing this to a fellow child!

 

* Teachings and implications that undermine Christian nonviolence.

 

* And teachings and implications that convey gnosticism.

 

That said, I feel that every Christian ought to know about and have read Thomas as I'm sure that there are many authentic teachings and Godly insights to be gleaned.

I guess I take the position that Christianity was originally very egalitarian in regard to sex and gender roles - indeed, Mary Magdalene was the very first preacher of the Good News of the Risen Christ! ("I have seen the Lord!") Moreover, the apostle Paul mentioned several women who were clearly prominent leaders of the fledgling Christian movement.

 

To the extent that contemporary feministists seek to encourage us to reclaim and reaffirm this earlier way of being Church, I whole-heartedly endorse it!

I'll be getting my copy of this book soon. Look forward to the discussion! : )

One a less theological and more practical note toward this same end:

 

WHICH PATH TO A SAFER WORLD?

Comparing the cost of tools of peace and tools of war

 

$100 will buy:

11 blankets for refugees

11 hand grenades

 

$4,000:

3-day training for 160 youth in peace building

1 rocket launcher

 

$14,000:

enroll 2 children in Head Start

1 cluster bomb

 

$40,000:

2 home health aides for disabled elderly

1 Hellfire missile

 

$145,600:

associate-degree training for 29 RNs

1 Bunker-buster guided bomb

 

$586,000:

rent subsidies for 1,000 families

1,000 M-16 Rifles

 

$763,000:

annual salary/benefits for 15 RNs

1 minute war on Iraq

 

$46 million:

improve, repair, modernize 20 schools

1-hour war on Iraq

 

$130 million:

WIC program nutrition for 200,000 families

7 unmanned Predator drones

 

$275 million:

eradicate polio worldwide

3 tests of missile-defense system

 

$350 million:

best vaccinations for 10 million children worldwide

6 Trident II missiles

 

$413 million:

childcare for 68,000 needy children

Amphibious Warfare Landing Ship Program

 

$494 million:

7,000 units of affordable housing

1-year military aid to Colombia

 

$1.1 billion:

prevent cuts to education programs (FY2003)

1 day of war on Iraq

 

$1.2 billion:

minimum support to save Amtrak train service

2 months U.S. war force in Afghanistan

 

$2.1 billion:

annual salary/benefits for 38,000 elementary teachers

1 Stealth bomber

 

$12 billion:

double federal funding for mass transit

1-year cost of war in Afghanistan (2001/2002)

 

$16 billion:

healthcare coverage for 7 million children

1-year nuclear weapons program

 

$38 billion:

save 11 million lives worldwide fighting infectious diseases

1 month of U.S. current military spending

 

The costs of warmaking are staggering — especially while cities and states face huge budget deficits. The administration has hidden its real priorities by not putting the costs of the war on terrorism or war on Iraq in its budget. Stay informed about the real budget and other means to enhance security by seeking information from the groups below.

 

Partial source list: Center for Defense Information (www.cdi.org); Federation of American Scientists (www.fas.org); Center for Budget and Policy Priorities (www.cbpp.org); National Priorities Project (www.natprior.org); World Policy Institute (www.worldpolicy.org/projects/arms), Children’s Defense Fund (www.childrensdefense.org); UNICEF (www.unicef.org); NEW YORK TIMES (11/12/01; 3/18/02; 10/13/02; 12/05/02); World Health Organization (www.who.int); National Center for Education Statistics (www.nces.ed.gov); Mennonite Central Committee (www.mcc.org/us/colombia/dollars.html)

Friends- I recommend to you this article

 

Blessed Are The Meek: The Roots of Christian Nonviolence

by Thomas Merton

 

The end of it says:

 

 

.....Christian hope and Christian humility are inseparable. The quality of nonviolence is decided largely by the purity of the Christian hope behind it. The Christian knows that there are radically sound possibilities in everyone, and believes that love and grace always have the power to bring out those possibilities at the most unexpected moments. Therefore if one has hopes that God will grant peace to the world it is because one also trusts that humanity, God's creature, is not basically evil: that there is in us a potentiality for peace and order which can be realized provided the right conditions are there. Christians will do their part in creating these conditions by preferring love and trust to hate and suspiciousness. Obviously, once again, this "hope in humankind" must not be naïve. But experience itself has shown, in the last few years, how much an attitude of simplicity and openness can do to break down barriers of suspicion that had divided people for centuries.

 

------------------------

I'd also commend the book by J. Denny Weaver entitled, The Nonviolent Atonement, which promotes the "narrative Christus Victor" theory of the atonement instead of the popular (Anselmian) "satisfaction/penal/subsitutionary" model which actually justifies continued human-human violence. visit www.amazon.com to read reviews of it

1. Egads! It seems we have a Calvinist in the house! lol

2. I would remind us that Joshua Nunn has previously posted a thread entitled "Mel Gibson's Passion of Christ" (currently on page 2 of this board) which has 203 views.

Perhaps this most recent round of posts ought to be moved to that thread.

Carter's Crusade

Jimmy Carter explains how the Christian right isn't Christian at all.

By Ayelish McGarvey

Web Exclusive: 04.05.04

 

Former President Jimmy Carter, America's first evangelical Christian president, still teaches Sunday school at his Baptist church in Plains, Georgia, and he and his wife, Rosalynn, continue their human-rights work in developing nations through the Carter Center at Emory University. In recent months, the Carters toured Togo, Ghana, and Mali to raise awareness of the public-health needs of those nations. In February, Carter spoke about the role of evangelical Christianity in democratic politics with Prospect writing fellow Ayelish McGarvey.

 

Republicans have been extremely successful at connecting religion and values to issues like the fight against terrorism, abortion, and gay rights. Democrats have been far less adept at infusing our issues -- compassion, help for the poor, social justice -- with any sense of religious commitment or moral imperative. Why do you think that is?

 

When I was younger, almost all Baptists were strongly committed on a theological basis to the separation of church and state. It was only 25 years ago when there began to be a melding of the Republican Party with fundamentalist Christianity, particularly with the Southern Baptist Convention. This is a fairly new development, and I think it was brought about by the abandonment of some of the basic principles of Christianity.

 

..............For rest of article... click here:

 

prospect.org article

Carter's Crusade

Jimmy Carter explains how the Christian right isn't Christian at all.

By Ayelish McGarvey

Web Exclusive: 04.05.04

 

Former President Jimmy Carter, America's first evangelical Christian president, still teaches Sunday school at his Baptist church in Plains, Georgia, and he and his wife, Rosalynn, continue their human-rights work in developing nations through the Carter Center at Emory University. In recent months, the Carters toured Togo, Ghana, and Mali to raise awareness of the public-health needs of those nations. In February, Carter spoke about the role of evangelical Christianity in democratic politics with Prospect writing fellow Ayelish McGarvey.

 

Republicans have been extremely successful at connecting religion and values to issues like the fight against terrorism, abortion, and gay rights. Democrats have been far less adept at infusing our issues -- compassion, help for the poor, social justice -- with any sense of religious commitment or moral imperative. Why do you think that is?

 

When I was younger, almost all Baptists were strongly committed on a theological basis to the separation of church and state. It was only 25 years ago when there began to be a melding of the Republican Party with fundamentalist Christianity, particularly with the Southern Baptist Convention. This is a fairly new development, and I think it was brought about by the abandonment of some of the basic principles of Christianity.

 

..............For rest of article... click here:

 

prospect.org article

Well, there are LOTS of good books to consider. Perhaps the newest one out there is The Heart of Christianity by Marcus Borg.

 

Check out the forum called General Resources and look at my post called "Progressive Christian Resources."

Hmm. Well, I'm decidedly UMC myself, but let me try to be objective here.

 

UCC

* smaller in numbers and thus amount of ministry that they can accomplish in the world

* more "reformed" (in the Protestant family tree)

* they say the Lord's Prayer with forgive us our "debts"..

* they have a strong history of civil rights activism going back to Amistad

* they are probably a tad more liberal on the continuum

* Pastors are hired directly by local congregations - hence, many women have a harder time obtaining employment.

* seem to be more tolerant of gay/lesbian clergy

 

UMC

* much larger in numbers and ability to engage in profound worldwide ministries

* a hybrid chruch -cross between Episcopalians and Baptists

(they take liturgy and evangelism fairly seriouslly, though not as much as the others respectively)

* they say the Lord's Prayer with forgive us our "trespasses"..

* Pastors appointed via a bishop and hence, easier for woment to secure appointments

* a mixed bag of tolerance and intolerance when it comes to gay/lesbian clergy

Here's a new book that might be of interest to people active on this thread and in this topic. Check out Amazon.com and read the reviews of it (but I always recommend buying books for local independent book stores!)

 

Being Methodist in the Bible Belt: A Theological Survival Guide for Youth, Parents, and Other Confused Methodists by F. Belton Joyner, Belton F. Joyner

Don't have time to offer a full repsonse, but I recommend these books:

 

Barbara Rossing, New Testament scholar and author of The Rapture Exposed,

sees "Left Behind" theology and Christian Zionism as biblically false and politically destructive.

 

Wes Howard Brook, N.T. scholar (in the Ched Meyer's school of thought), wrote Unveiling Empire: Reading Revelation Then & Now; this book totally undermines the "Left Behind" notions and instead posits that Revelation was written to serve as a handbook to help Christian believers live as faithfully as possible in the midst of empire... much like we are trying to do now!

Check-out the following linkd for more info on that recent forum on the Role of Religion in the Upcoming Elections:

http://www.interfaithalliance.org/Election2004/Election2004.cfm?ID=5304

 

(copy & paste that address into your address bar)

 

Very powerful and eye-opening info addressed by that panel!

Something emailed to me today:

 

Dear friends,

 

Two weeks ago I had just sent the NEW FREEDOM SEDER to a printer, and then I saw "The Passion" film. (The SEDER is ready now. Time is short. Email us at

Shalomctr@aol.com RIGHT AWAY that you are sending a check TODAY for $37 to The Shalom Center, 6711 Lincoln Drive, Philadelphia PA 19119 and we'll send you a copy without waiting for the check to arrive. Trust and honor!)

 

Since seeing "The Passion," I have seen the NEW FREEDOM SEDER in a new light. Now I see it as the beginning of a deep "response" to "The Passion" -- because it connects what "The Passion" film sets in violent conflict: Holy Week (from Palm Sunday to Easter) vs. Passover.

 

Why do I think this connection matters? Because it is not accidental that "The Passion" film, like the Gospel descriptions of Jesus' last days, is set at Passover time.

 

Passover was and is about the overthrow of a tyrannical

empire -- ancient Egypt under the Pharaohs -- and the

last days of Jesus were focused on what might be called

"the Passover Protest Movement," protesting against the

Roman Empire, the Pharaoh of that generation.

 

"The Passion" film drives a wedge of fear and anger

between the two religious communities over the meaning

of Holy Week and Passover. Our NEW FREEDOM

SEDER connects them instead.

 

This issue of The Shalom Report will explore this

connection in greater depth. We will also include a few

passages from the NEW FREEDOM SEDER that we

invite you to use in your own Sedarim. And you can find

the entire text of the NEW FREEDOM SEDER on our

Website, beginning at the Home Page

www.shalomctr.org

 

Two additional ways of making the Seder not only a call

to topple Pharaohs, but an active step in the process:

 

Invite (ahead of time) everyone to bring a physical item

that symbolizes their own sense of becoming free. Put

these on a special Freedom Plate next to the traditional

Seder plate. Invite the participants to lift their own item

whenever it seems appropriate, or at a specific point in

the service. Each person then explains how this object

speaks from or to a moment of liberation.

 

Have the younger people at the table hunt for the

Afikoman (the hidden portion of matzah) as a cooperative

group, rather than as competitors. When they find it, invite

them to agree on a social-justice organization where they

would like the "ransom" -- some tzedakah money -- to be

sent. The grown-ups who are present then pledge to

send their "ransom money" to that group.

 

Back to the relationship between "The Passion" and

Passover/ Holy Week:

 

It is not accidental that Holy Week begins with Palm

Sunday, commemorating the moment when the very

Jewish Jesus and his very Jewish followers came to

Jerusalem just before Passover, waving palm branches

as a symbol of resistance to Roman oppression.

 

It is not accidental that out of the Passover seder that the

Gospels describe as Jesus' Last Supper came a

ceremony of matzah and wine that has continued at the

heart of much Christian practice and spirituality.

 

So the questions of facing imperial power lie at the heart

of both Jewish and Christian religious life. I think that

under the surface of the debate about "The Passion" is

the fact that today all our religious traditions and all the

peoples of the world are facing a new kind of world

empire, a new Pharaoh, a new Rome: the amalgam of

US military might and the economic power of global

corporations.

 

In such a crisis, what do deep spiritual and political

values require of us? What does it mean to face

"Pharaoh"?

 

The Gospels hint at the culpability of Rome in executing

Jesus, but some strands of the Gospels -- especially

John, the latest written -- place more responsibility on the

Jewish people.

 

Many modern scholars - Christian and Jewish - have

suggested this stance may have been a revision of the

original history in hopes of becoming acceptable in the

Roman empire (hopes finally crowned by establishment

of Christianity as the Empire's religion).

 

Drawing on this line of thought, many Jewish leaders

have suggested that no Jews of the time can be

considered responsible for Jesus' execution.

 

But think about modern Great Powers and their

interventions in small countries. Think, for example, of the

relation in the 1970s between the Soviet Union and the

Polish government and people, or the United States and

the Chilean government and people.

 

In those cases, some local leaders and the Soviet or

American governments cooperated in ruling against the

will of the people and in smashing dissident movements.

 

Behind the scenes, the Great Power pulled the strings --

but pushed the local puppet or client government out front

to be the fall guys.

 

In the same mode, one can easily imagine in Chile, in

1973, an American diplomat -- like Pontius Pilate --

washing his hands of responsibility for murdering

President Allende, folk-singer Victor Jara, and thousands

of others.

 

In Poland, one can easily imagine a Soviet ambassador

doing the same thing, chuckling into his mustache as he

did.

 

Yet no one accused "the Poles" or "the Chileans" of these

murders. They accused SOME Poles and SOME

Chileans of serving the interests of the Soviet Union, or

the USA.

 

In the Gospel of John and even more in "The Passion"

film, the execution of Jesus is laid upon "the Jews" -- not

on SOME Jews, serving Imperial Rome.

 

And so the film presents Pontius Pilate as a noble ruler

forced by Jewish pressure into having Jesus crucified,

rather than a despicable hypocrite who held all power

while pretending not to.

 

The "Passion" film looks backward to restore the old-time

religion - the Passion plays that crystallized one version

of Christianity in their expression of contempt or hatred

for Judaism and their deflection of attention from the

Roman Empire's responsibility.

 

(In Europe, the Passion plays and Easter sermons may

have similarly deflected poor people's anger at various

governments onto the Jews.)

 

Most of the Jewish response to "The Passion" today has

been a defensive one -- "None of us had any hand

whatsoever in killing your Christ. Hinting we did will

stimulate anti-Semitism; so stop and we had better

stiffen our guard."

 

This response also looks backward, toward a world in

which Jews kept their distance from a dangerous

Christian community.

 

And both backward-looking responses also express a

deeper spiritual problem: "If we are right, you must be

totally wrong. If you are wrong, we must be TOTALLY

right."

 

Some Christians have been willing to look historically at

the Gospels, and some have said that in any case, no

matter how one reads the Gospels, Jews today must not

be attacked as the Gospel and the Passion plays have

encouraged in the past.

 

That is a step forward, but it still leaves the two

communities at arm's length, in an anxiety-ridden "non-

aggression" pact.

 

But we might ask, what is a RENEWAL and

PROGRESSIVE response, rooted in both a renewed

vision of Judaism and a renewed vision of Christianity?

What might be a new way of facing contemporary

"Pharaohs" and "Caesars"?

Can the two traditions go beyond a non-aggression pact

to a deeper cooperation?

 

One piece of such a response might be what The Shalom Center has tried to do in creating the NEW FREEDOM SEDER, connecting Palm Sunday (April 4 this

year) with Passover (April 5) and both with Martin Luther King's April 4, 1967, critique of American racism, militarism, and materialism.

 

That approaches brings us together as allies in resisting our contemporary Pharaoh, the Rome of today: the new US military machine, first-strike war, and top-down globalization.

 

If we read the film as a kind of allegory about how to deal

with an Empire, then today as well it has the effect of

deflecting the growing US public unease and gathering

resistance to globalization/ empire. (If Gibson had made

"the Jews" look like Arabs, the sleight-of-hand would

have worked even better in America today.)

 

As it stands, the film encourages those right-wing

Christians (and some right-wing Jews) who want to work

closely with the new US government -- "New Rome" --

and support its program of overseas military and

economic dominance.

 

The Palm Sunday/ NEW FREEDOM SEDER connection

is intended to ally progressive Jewish and Christian

energies in a profound struggle against the new empire,

as the People Israel resisted Pharaoh and as both early

Jewish followers of Jesus and the early Rabbis resisted

Rome.

 

The very fact that two different ways of seeing the

Passover story have evolved in the two traditions may

offer both difficulty and possibility for transcending the

collision into creating an alliance for spiritual and political

decency.

 

Here are some passages from the NEW FREEDOM SEDER that make the point. Remember, you can get the whole SEDER by sending a check by earth-mail and

lettting us know by Email.

 

Shalom, Arthur

 

********************

" Prayer is meaningless unless it is subversive, unless it

seeks to overthrow and to ruin the pyramids of

callousness, hatred, opportunism, falsehoods. The

liturgical movement must become a revolutionary

movement, seeking to overthrow the forces that continue

to destroy the promise, the hope, the vision."

--- Rabbi Abraham Joshua Heschel, 1970

 

"When machines and computers, profit motives and

property rights are considered more important than

people, the giant triplets of racism, materialism, and

militarism are incapable of being conquered. Our only

hope today lies in our ability to recapture the revolutionary

spirit and go out into a sometimes hostile world

declaring eternal hostility to poverty, racism, and

militarism."

-- Dr. Martin Luther King, April 4, 1967

 

"My thinking had been opened wide in Mecca. I'm for truth,

no matter who tells it. I'm for justice, no matter who it is

for or against. I'm a human being first and foremost, and

as such I'm for whoever and whatever benefits humanity

as a whole."

-- El-Hajj Malik el-Shabazz, in The Autobiography of

Malcolm X

 

What is the depth of the American soul if we can allow

destruction to be done in our name and the name of

"liberation" and never even demand an accounting of its

costs, both personal and public, when it is over?

Proverbs warns us: "Kings take pleasure in honest lips;

they value the one who speaks the truth." The point is

clear: If the people speak and the king doesn't listen,

there is something wrong with the king. If the king acts

precipitously and the people say nothing, something is

wrong with the people.

-- Sister Joan Chitister, OSB

 

A true revolution of values will soon look uneasily on the

glaring contrast of poverty and wealth. With righteous

indignation, it will look across the seas and see

individual capitalists of the West investing huge sums of

money in Asia, Africa and South America, only to take the

profits out with no concern for the social betterment of the

countries, and say: "This is not just."

Martin Luther King, April 4, 1967

 

A true revolution of values will lay hands on the world

order and say of war: "This way of settling differences is

not just." This business of burning human beings with

napalm, of filling our nation's homes with orphans and

widows, of injecting poisonous drugs of hate into veins of

people normally humane, of sending men home from

dark and bloody battlefields physically handicapped and

psychologically deranged, cannot be reconciled with

wisdom, justice and love. A nation that continues year

after year to spend more money on military defense than

on programs of social uplift is approaching spiritual

death.

Martin Luther King, April 4, 1967

1. Sophia, Right, Openness Theology is basically "process theology lite"; i.e. it seeks to maintain a closer link to the traditional orthodoxy and traditional theism. Essentially, they maintain that God IS all powerful ontologically, but that in God's perfection, God CHOOSES to "tie one arm behind His back" in order to allow as much free will and autonomy to His creation as possible. To my mind, this does NOT sastisfactorially deal with the theodicy question as it still makes GOD to blame for why bad things happe to good people; i.e. He COULD have prevented that rape or 9/11 from happening, but he DIDN'T. This makes God seem rather capricious as to God's involvement in the world.

 

2. Shiny, Well to MY mind, evil is not all together "subjective" and/or relative. Indeed, count me on record as saying that ALL instances of torturing human babies and infants is universally evil. As are ALL instances of rape, genocide, knowingly allowing high levels of toxic chemicals to pollute an environment, etc.

 

I will admit that there are degrees of evil and that sometimes we must choose between the lesser of evils, and that people may have differing opinions as to these subtleties.

Theodicy (literally, “the God problem”) is the attempt to explain God’s goodness and power and reconcile these with the evident evil in the created world; i.e. “Why would an all good, all knowing, and all powerful God cause or allow such horrible things to happen to His/Her people?” Since most theologians and religious philosophers in the West have assumed both God’s “unconditional power” and God’s “absolute goodness,” the existence and persistence of evil are often held to be inexplicable/unexplainable. In recent centuries the absence of a convincing or satisfying resolution to the issue of theodicy and the frequent theological resort to “Divine mystery” as an explanation have led many to atheism.

 

The Process/Kushner Response:

 

The contemporary Christian perspective known as Process Theology responds to this issue in a way that is quite similar to that held by the Jewish Rabbi Harold Kushner (author of Why Bad Things Happen to Good People). Some basic features of this line of thinking:

 

SELF-EXISTENCE AND OMNIPOTENCE – Traditionally, the affirmation of God’s sovereign power is expressed philosophically by the concept of “omnipotence,” (all powerfulness) which means that God can do absolutely anything at all, or at least anything “logically possible.” This often accompanies the dogma that all that is was created ex nihilo (from nothing) by God. The logical implication of this traditional line of thought is that all forms of evil, even the “demonic dimension,” must be directly or indirectly God-made.

 

Some logical challenges to this traditional line of thinking are that:

* Since God made everything that is, then God made guns, pollution, and nuclear bombs.

* Since God made everything, then God made Hitler. Hitler caused the murder of 6 million Jews, therefore God is responsible for their slaughter. As, since this slaughter was a real thing, and since all things are God-made, if follows that God “made” this genocide.

* Since God made everything, then God must’ve also made Satan/the Devil & evil.

* Since God made everything, then this must mean that God is the cause/source of Cancer, disease, famine, floods, droughts, earthquakes, forest fires, etc.

 

In Process thought, God is not the only self-existent reality. The creation accounts and other Biblical texts teach that God is not a fiat (dictatorial) creator, but an awesome organizer and life-giver; that the pure principles of element can be neither created nor destroyed; and that the undergirdings of eternal law, with certain bounds and conditions, are coexistent with God. “Omnipotence” then means that God has “all the power that it is possible to have in the universe.” Hence, God did not create evil, we did as a result of our misuse of our free will (i.e. by our choices to not follow the leadings of God’s Spirit in our lives). Furthermore, when it comes to disasters such as volcano eruptions, earthquakes, fires, etc., Process thought would contend that these events aren’t “ordained or caused by God” (i.e. they aren’t “acts of God”) but instead are simply the results of the constant motion and shifting of the natural world which simply occur when natural forces (which follow the laws of physics) run their course.

 

APPEARANCE AND REALITY - Traditionally, omnipotence is often taken to mean that God is able to overrule or overcome whatever lesser powers might interfere with God’s sovereign will; i.e. God isn’t restricted by human will or bound by the laws of nature, gravity, physics, energy conservation, thermodynamics, etc.. This view leaves God responsible for everything that occurs, just as it occurs (i.e. God just caused me to type this sentence in just this way!). It follows that if God is truly good, then, despite appearances, all that happens must be good, however horrible the “good” may seem for human beings; e.g. “that brutal act of rape that just took place in that back stairwell was actually good in God’s eyes.” Evil then is held to be privative (an absence), simply in the human mind, or a matter of perspective. The conclusion that follows is that this is the best of all possible worlds (to quote Leibnitz and the medieval thinker Alexander Pope’s famed Essay on Man – a work which Voltaire ridiculed in his even more famed Enlightenment era work Candide). But the problem then arises all over again, for why doesn’t God exercise His/Her great power to simply remove the pain/suffering that arises from human misunderstandings?

 

Process thought contends that sin, sinfulness, ignorance, deformity, disease, death, and evil are real. As they and their effects continue to exist, and even increase, then even from the perspective of God, this is a less than perfect world. Another, better, realm is conceivable where these evils in individual and community life have been overcome.

 

INVIOLATE FREEDOM – Certain traditional thought has sometimes held that God “limits His/Her own power for the greater good.” Usually this view is associated with insistence on the importance of human freedom (particularly in Armenian and Pelagian based theologies [as opposed to Calvinist/pre-determinist ones]). Character and personality, it is argued, can develop only if human beings are genuinely free. Likewise, God’s love, if authentic, must be voluntary.

Essentially, it is believed that God doesn’t want to be a mere “puppet master pulling our strings” and controlling our thoughts and actions. Rather, God empowers us with free wills with which we are free to either follow God’s guidance and will, or ignore and go off and do our own thing (i.e. sin/alienation from God).

It is believed that God would rather have His/Her creation freely do His/Her will and express love back toward God because they genuinely want and choose to, rather than simply loving God and doing God’s will because they’re forced to and can do no other – as this wouldn’t be real love.

These goods are held to outweigh the evil introduced by free agents into the world, even when the consequences are terribly destructive. Process thought concurs here in maintaining that humans need to know the contrasts of both good and bad to help them increase in knowledge and in growth. God’s self-limitation (God “choosing to tie one arm behind His/Her back”) is essential to the attainment of God’s purposes. Moreover, in Process thought, God not only will not but cannot ultimately coerce or force humans to choose life over death or do God’s will; e.g. God can’t prevent someone from shooting a gun, or stop us from blowing up the world if we’re determined to do it. God can however bring good and positive transformation/resurrection out of the experience of evil to the degree that we harmonize our will with God’s and continue to seek, affirm, and embrace God. In this cooperative mode, God can, and will, enable all His/Her creatures to become and realize the very best of what they have it in them to become.

 

NATURAL EVIL AND THE NATURE OF POWER. It is commonly observed that not all evil is caused by human beings. Earthquakes, epidemics, plagues, volcanic eruptions, and other natural disasters occur. Furthermore, these, and some evils caused by human aberration (acid rain, global warming, pollution, war) are of such magnitude as to call for Divine intervention. The Holocaust is a glaring modern instance. Such considerations underscore the scriptural teaching that although God has power over the elements, and though there is divine intervention, divine influence over human beings is never “coercive,” “controlling” or “manipulating.” Rather, it is liberating, empowering, and persuading. This is the power which God continuously exercises, even (and perhaps especially) in the midst of tragedy and affliction. It is the power most sought and most to be emulated. (This view is perhaps captured in the popular saying: “When life hands you lemons, God helps you make lemonade!”)

 

Adapted from “Theodicy” by John Cobb, Jr, and Truman G. Madsen

Jeep, I didn't intend to squelch all discussion about The Course on Miracles - indeed, I am but one member of this august forum and I'm not even part of the administration of tcpc. If others wish to join in on a discussion on this topic, by all means go ahead. I was merely indicating that I personally don't perceive The Course on Miracles as being within the scope and realm of progressive Christianity as I understand it. I'm fully aware that others have broader notions about it and that they feel more comfortable assimilating other religious traditions including gnosticism, new age, hinduism, etc.

 

I'm glad to see that you've created a thread for folks to engage on that topic however. God bless. : )

And, let's not forget the National Council of Churches: NCC www.nccusa.org

As you can see, the Call to Renewal and Sojourners tend are more in the evangelical than the progressive Christian camp, however they're "our" kind of evangelicals!! : )

 

Taking Jesus to the Voting Booth,

by Beth Kearney.

 

As a sophomore in college, I was convinced that

being an evangelical Christian translated into

voting a straight Republican ticket. Three years

later, I am discovering that my faith precludes a

blanket endorsement of any political party. Hot-

button legislative issues such as gay marriage,

abortion, and school prayer should not monopolize

the Christian citizen's voting agenda. As followers

of Jesus, issues affecting people in the margins -

the unborn, the aged, the orphaned, the disabled,

the poor, the oppressed - should always predominate

as factors in our personal and political choices.

 

My spiritual and political transformation occurred

during a summer in college when I simulated the

urban poverty experience in Tampa, Florida, with

InterVarsity Christian Fellowship. Here, I

encountered a neighbor whose two part-time jobs were

never enough to make ends meet after her husband of

10 years left her family. I met children hardened by

life in housing projects; each could name a friend

or family member killed by violence or drugs.

 

I also met a Christ who champions the cause of the

browbeaten and the beleaguered throughout the book

of Luke, continually charging listeners to seek

justice and care for poor people. After witnessing

these desperate situations, I decided that

Christians should combat poverty on every flank -

through our churches, community service

organizations, and our public policies.

 

As I prepare to vote now, I evaluate candidates

largely by how their priorities and legislation in

the past have either empowered or injured people

living in America's margins. I calculate the

benefits and weaknesses of new initiatives based on

their effects on citizens who truly struggle to make

ends meet. The prophet Isaiah supplies us with a

vision of a polity where homelessness and hunger are

unknown, where "no more shall there be an infant

that lives but a few days, or an old person who does

not live out a lifetime." These are the principles

on which we should operate as Christians; this is

the type of commonwealth we should pursue.

 

(Beth Kearney is a public policy intern at Call to

Renewal [http://www.calltorenewal.org], a national

network of churches, faith-based organizations, and

individuals working to overcome poverty in America.

Through local and national partnerships with groups

from across the theological and political spectrum,

they convene the broadest table of Christians

focused on anti-poverty efforts.)

The weblink to Call to Renewal is Call to Renewal (www.calltorenewal.org)

 

(I'd previously provided the weblink to Sojourners instead)

Sojourners on the election issues

 

We've assembled our best coverage of the issues ranked highest on national polls of voter concerns, including:

 

Economy/jobs

National security/Terrorism/War with Iraq

Healthcare

Education

Taxes

Environment

Trade/globalization

Abortion

Gay rights

Immigration

 

Go to our special election issues page at: Sojourner's Election Issues

 

See how these issues rank in national polls at: PollingReport

Something to act QUICKLY on if it interests you!

 

Let Your Voice Be Heard!

 

Join Our Forum On

Religion In The 2004 Elections

 

Dear Interfaith Alliance Supporter:

 

As you may know, The Interfaith Alliance is hosting a National Issue Forum on March 17th in Washington, DC talking about the role of religion in the 2004 elections.

 

As you can guess, a good numbers of our supporters/activists live outside of The Beltway and cannot attend. However, we wanted to offer all of our supporters the opportunity to let your voice to be heard. Here’s how:

 

Email us a question that you’d really like one of our panelists (see below) to answer regarding the use and abuse of religion in the 2004 elections. You can address the question directly to a panelist OR to the group as a whole. Keep your question to a 150-words, include your first and last name and your city. We’ll ask as many questions as time permits and then post the answers on our website. Email your question to kbaldwin@interfaithalliance.orgCLICK HERE to learn more about this forum

 

Thanks for your help in making this event such a success and to helping get the issues we care about in to civic dialogue.

 

PANELISTS

Dr. Diana Eck, Director,

The Pluralism Project, Harvard University

 

Rev. Dr. James Forbes, Jr., Senior Minister,

The Riverside Church, New York City

 

Mr. Clarence Page, Syndicated Columnist,

The Chicago Tribune

 

Mr. Paul M. Weyrich, Chairman and CEO,

The Free Congress Foundation

 

Mr. John Zogby, President and CEO,

Zogby International

 

THANK YOU FOR YOUR CONTINUED SUPPORT!

THE INTERFAITH ALLIANCE

I'd say no, a "Christians for Kerry" sign wouldn't imply any religious intolerance. It 1) doesn't imply that all Christians are for Kerry - merely that there is a group of Christians who back him; and 2) it doesn't preclude other groups from making their own signs - e.g. "Jews for Kerry" "Muslims for Kerry" "Hindus for Kerry" etc.

Frankly, a Christians for Kerry sign has a nice ring to it - in part because both Christians and Kerry begin with the same "kuh" sound. I say let's send 'em to press!

[/b]

 

Watchdog Group Seeks Action From Federal Tax Agency Against Westover Hills Church Of Christ

 

The Internal Revenue Service should investigate an Austin church that allowed a Republican rally and fund-raiser in its sanctuary, says Americans United for Separation of Church and State.

 

In a formal complaint to the Internal Revenue Service today, Americans United asserted that the Westover Hills Church of Christ engaged in illegal partisan politicking by allowing Legacy PAC to hold a Feb. 5 "Call to Victory" event at the church. The meeting featured state Republican Party officials and GOP candidates, and during the event, the PAC collected money for Republican campaigns.

 

Federal tax law prohibits 501©(3) tax-exempt organizations, including churches, from intervening in political campaigns on behalf of candidates for public office.

 

The partisan character of the event at the Austin church was confirmed by William O. Pate, a local university student who attended "Call to Victory" and drafted a written summary of the meeting. The student's report of the event and documents about it from Legacy PAC's website were submitted to the IRS by Americans United.

 

Two officials with the Texas Republican Party spoke at the event - party Chair Tina J. Benkiser and Treasurer Susan Howard Chrane. During their remarks, Benkiser and Chrane promoted Republican candidates, including President George W. Bush. Republican candidates also distributed literature and sought votes at the event, which opened with a prayer led by a church elder.

 

During the meeting, an official with the Legacy PAC announced that he intended to collect $5,000 for Republican candidates in the church that night. Church collection plates were then passed through the pews.

 

Said the Rev. Barry W. Lynn, Americans United executive director, "I am shocked that politicians and clergy would convert a church sanctuary into a smoke-filled back room. Houses of worship are supposed to focus on winning souls, not winning elections."

 

In a March 12 complaint to the IRS, Lynn wrote, "Church support of this partisan event appears to violate the IRS Code, which prohibits intervention by tax-exempt organizations in political campaigns on behalf of candidates for public office. The church not only allowed its facilities to be used by Republican candidates seeking office, but also permitted a political action committee to fund-raise for Republican candidates in the church sanctuary. This appears to be a clear violation of federal tax law."

 

Section 501©(3) of the IRS Code prohibits tax-exempt organizations, including churches, from intervening in political campaigns on behalf of or in opposition to candidates for public office.

 

The IRS has a "zero tolerance" policy for violations. In 1995, the federal agency revoked the tax exemption of the Church at Pierce Creek in upstate New York after the church paid for newspaper advertisements against presidential candidate Bill Clinton in 1992. The IRS investigation was sparked by a formal complaint filed by Americans United. The federal courts later upheld the revocation.

 

Americans United sponsors a special non-partisan effort called "Project Fair Play" that seeks to educate houses of worship about the requirements of federal tax law relating to politics. In cases where the facts warrant, AU reports incidents to the IRS.

 

"We are always reluctant to take the step of asking the IRS to investigate a church," said Lynn, "but in some cases, the apparent disregard of federal law is so flagrant and egregious that there is no other choice."

 

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.

 

If you received this message from a friend, sign up for AU email alerts. If you are a member of Americans United, thank you. To help Americans United by funding our work, please join AU or renew your membership today by visiting our secure online gift center. Update your profile to receive information on church-state activity in your state.

 

--------------------------------------------------------------------------------

Beth Corbin

National Grassroots Organizer

 

Americans United for Separation of Church and State

518 C Street, NE

Washington, DC 20002 202-466-3234 telephone 202-466-2587 fax

corbin@au.org AUcorbin@aol.com

 

for more information please visit Americans United (www.au.org)