According to anthropologist Paul Hiebert, there are two types of spiritual rituals we all need to maintain our spiritual focus and enable us to live at a healthy and balanced pace: restorative rituals and rituals of transformation.

Restorative rituals are those activities we perform on a regular basis to renew our faith in the beliefs that order our lives and to rebuild the religious community in which these beliefs find expression. We particularly need practices that renew our faith by connecting our life to the events of Christ’s life, death, and resurrec­tion. Daily prayer times, weekly church services, and faith-focused celebrations at Christmas, Easter, and other important Christian festivals are all restorative rituals that can refocus our priorities on the values of our Christian faith. Not surprisingly, the secular culture provides an increasing array of its own rituals that compete with these. The morning news, Sunday sports, and gala seasonal sales can all drag our focus away from God’s priorities.

My husband and I have embraced the tradition of the Advent wreath with great enthusiasm. Each morning before breakfast we light the appropriate candles and read the scriptures for the day from the Book of Common Prayer. It is a wonderful way to focus our lives on the real celebration – the coming of Christ, Emmanuel – God with us, God in us, God for us. It renews and sustains me through a season that can otherwise be extremely stressful.

Rituals of transformation are the second type of practice Hiebert believes create healthy spiritual rhythms. These provide a structure that enables us to change and grow. In Anthropological Reflections on Missiological Issues (Baker Books, 1994), Hiebert explains that these rituals “cut through the established way of doing things and restore a measure of flexibility and personal intimacy.” Prayer retreats, pilgrimages, and mission trips are all transformative rituals that enable us to continue to nurture our faith and mature as Christian disciples. Because our consumer culture is so forceful in trying to get us to focus our lives on materialistic values, we need to just as intentionally focus on God’s biblical values in order to stand against these pressures.

For Tom and me, regular prayer retreats have become transformative rituals that enable us to adopt a whole new rhythm of life. Two to three times a year we get away for a couple of days to rethink our priorities and re-evaluate our use of time and resources. As a result, we are able to pace our activities more in synch with the life, death, and resurrection of Christ than with the dictates of secular culture.

In an effort to transform their lives one family we know decided to establish a rhythm of Christian service revolving around the events of the school year. In early September, when buying clothes and books for their children’s return to school, they now donate money to an organization that provides books and school supplies for inner-city kids who lack the resources to provide for their own school needs. At Thanksgiving, in gratitude for the education they are receiving, they contribute to a literacy program for young girls in Africa who would otherwise go unschooled. During the second half of the year, they tutor at-risk kids in their community who have no access to computers, and over the summer months they take some of their vacation time to go on short-term mission trips. Not only has this ritual approach changed the focus of their lives but they’ve found, too, that their children’s academic performance has improved. Teaching others has enabled them to learn, too.

Take time to think about your own values and examine your priorities. Make a list of the important events that define your faith and give meaning to your life. If possible get away for a day with your spouse or a friend and reflect on the values and faith principles you would like to see undergird your life and that of your children. How could you incorporate simple routines into your daily, weekly, and yearly routines that would enhance and reinforce these values?

We don’t have to succumb to the neurotic fads and rituals of our culture. We can all take control and work creatively to develop rituals and routines that reflect our values and strengthen our beliefs. In so doing we really will create a world that is healthy and hospitable not just for us but for others too.

Christine Sine is an Australian physician who has worked extensively in Africa, Central America, and Asia. She and her husband, Tom, are co-founders of Mustard Seed Associates - an international network that encourages Christians to live out their faith authentically. This article is adapted from her latest book, GodSpace: Time for Peace in the Rhythms of Life(Barclay Press, 2006). For more information visit the MSA Web site, http://www.msainfo.org/.

Today's news on: detainees, immigration, Iran, politics, Darfur, health insurance, Colombia, faith and politics, and selected op-eds

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Full news summary:

Detainees. Senate Approves Broad New Rules to Try Detainees – “The Senate approved a measure on the interrogations and trials of terrorism suspects, establishing far-reaching rules to deal with what President Bush has called the most dangerous combatants in a different type of war.” Legal battle over detainee bill is likely – “Bush is expected to receive a bill he can sign into law in the next few days, but legal challenges almost assuredly will be pursued against the prosecution process, which the administration considers a key element in its war on terrorism.” Many Rights in U.S. Legal System Absent in New Bill – “The military trials bill approved by Congress lends legislative support for the first time to broad rules for the detention, interrogation, prosecution and trials of terrorism suspects far different from those in the familiar American criminal justice system.”

Immigration. Border bill takes a detour – “The Senate set the stage for a vote by week's end on a bill to wall off 700 miles of the U.S. border from Mexico, but a last-minute push by senators concerned about the severe shortage of agricultural workers could derail the measure's progress.”

Iran. House OKs sanctions for services, sales to Iran – “The House voted to impose mandatory sanctions on entities that provide goods or services for Iran's weapons programs. The vote came as U.S diplomats continued to press the U.N. Security Council to penalize Tehran if it fails to end its uranium enrichment program.”

Politics. Bush Attacks 'Party of Cut and Run' – “In his sharpest partisan attack of this election campaign, President Bush denounced Democratic critics of his Iraq policy and said "the party of FDR and the party of Harry Truman has become the party of cut and run." Bush Attacks Democrats Over Iraq and Terror - “President Bush took on the Democrats with some of his most pointed language yet this campaign year, telegraphing the start of the last, intensive phase of the election season for the White House.”

Darfur. UN 'must drop' Darfur peace force - “Top UN officials say the world body must abandon efforts to pressure Sudan to accept UN peacekeepers in Darfur. UN Sudan envoy Jan Pronk says the existing African Union force should instead be strengthened.” UN force 'unlikely soon' in Darfur – “The Sudanese government has rejected a call from the US secretary of state to accept United Nations peacekeepers in Darfur, as the head of the UN in the country admitted any deployment was unlikely in the near future.”

Health insurance. Most Uninsured Children Have a Parent Who Works – “A majority of the 9 million children in the United States who lack health insurance live in two-parent families in which at least one parent is working, according to a report released Thursday by a healthcare advocacy group. In many of these families, one parent or both either have jobs that do not offer insurance or do not make enough to afford the coverage offered by their employers, the report by Families USA found.”

Colombia. Doubts Aside, U.S. Set to Boost Colombia Aid – “Despite growing bipartisan concern over alleged corruption in the Colombian army, the U.S. Congress appears likely to approve increased funds for this country's war on drugs. A final vote on Plan Colombia funding — the largest U.S. foreign aid program outside the Middle East and Afghanistan — probably won't take place until after the November congressional elections. But staffers and analysts in Washington say Colombia will receive more than $750 million, exceeding the $728 million for the current fiscal year.”

Faith and politics. Religious-Right Voter Guides Facing Challenge From Left – “A new group called Catholics in Alliance for the Common Good said yesterday that it will distribute at least 1 million voter guides before the Nov. 7 elections, emphasizing church teachings on war, poverty and social justice as well as on abortion, contraception and homosexuality. … In Protestant churches, the Christian Coalition's guides will face competition this year from "Voting God's Politics," a brochure produced by the liberal evangelical magazine Sojourners and the anti-poverty group Call to Renewal. Like the Common Good guide, it discusses issues, not individual candidates.”

Op-Eds

Where's religious right's outrage now? (Randall Balmer, Philadelphia Inquirer) “Where is the "moral majority" when we need it? … on the defining moral issues of our day, the war in Iraq and the Bush administration's use of torture against those it has designated as "enemy combatants," these "voices of morality" are strangely silent.”Use brinkmanship on Iran (Robert D. Kaplan. LA Times) “For Iranian President Mahmoud Ahmadinejad to snare an invitation to speak before the Council on Foreign Relations last week, after threatening several times to destroy Israel, is what's known in military parlance as a successful "information op." In a mass-media age, symbolism defeats substance. Thus, the harsh reception Ahmadinejad received at the council is less significant than the fact of the reception itself. The council's august status attaches added symbolic value to its deeds.”

Bush's Conception Conflict (Michael Kinsley, Wash Post) “…it is hard -- indeed, I would say it is impossible -- to reconcile Bush's absolutism over allegedly human life when it is a clump of unknowing, unfeeling cells with his sophisticated, if not cavalier, attitude toward the loss of innocent human life when it is children and adults in Iraq.”

Why Bill Clinton Pushed Back (By E. J. Dionne Jr., The Washington Post) “Bill Clinton's eruption on "Fox News Sunday" last weekend over questions about his administration's handling of terrorism was a long time coming and has political implications that go beyond this fall's elections. By choosing to intervene in the terror debate in a way that no one could miss, Clinton forced an argument about the past that had up to now been largely a one-sided propaganda war waged by the right.”

Habeas Corpus, RIP (1215-2006) (Molly Ivins, Common Dreams) “With a smug stroke of his pen, President Bush is set to wipe out a safeguard against illegal imprisonment that has endured as a cornerstone of legal justice since the Magna Carta.”

As the diplomatic dance with Iran continues, the rumors of war are increasing. European Union and Iranian diplomats have been meeting this week in intensive negotiations on Iran’s nuclear program. News stories have been optimistic on the one hand, noting that the U.S. government was holding off on pushing for sanctions against Iran while the talks continued and the possibility that Iran might be willing to stop its enriching of uranium in return for economic incentives.

On the other hand, several news sources have reported moves toward possible U.S. military strikes against Iran. A recent Time magazine cover story asked, What Would War Look Like?. It noted that “from the State Department to the White House to the highest reaches of the military command, there is a growing sense that a showdown with Iran … may be impossible to avoid.” But in the current situation, with the violence in Iraq spiraling out of control, a U.S. attack on Iran would likely be a disaster, simply adding more fuel to the bloodshed and creating more terrorists. As the National Intelligence Estimate on terrorism released this week concluded, “The Iraq conflict has become the ‘cause celebre’ for jihadists, breeding a deep resentment of U.S. involvement in the Muslim world….” An attack on Iran would make that resentment far worse.

As a statement by 21 U.S. military, national security, and foreign policy officials - released in August - said, “We strongly caution against any consideration of the use of military force against Iran.The current crises must be resolved through diplomacy, not military action. An attack on Iran would have disastrous consequences for security in the region ...."

On Tuesday, Sojourners/Call to Renewal and Faithful Security released a statement signed by more than 100 Christian, Jewish, and Muslim religious leaders urging “Words, Not War, With Iran.” I participated in a press conference with Dr. Susannah Heschel, Dr. Louay of the Islamic Society of North America, Brian McLaren, and Dr. Trita Parsi of the Iranian-American Council to discuss the statement with reporters.

Our statement said, “While we agree Iran should not support terrorism or obtain nuclear weapons, we come together as religious leaders to urge that the U.S. engage in direct negotiations with Iran as an alternative to military action in resolving the crisis.” We reject anti-Semitism and threats of attack against Israel made by Iran, but believe that the only solution to the nuclear issue is a negotiated settlement. And we root our concern in our belief that “The teachings of the Abrahamic tradition command us to keep human life sacred and to act as stewards of creation. We consider all weapons of mass destruction — whether nuclear, biological, or chemical — immoral and unacceptable for use in any circumstances.”

Our statement concludes, “The moral wisdom of many religious leaders and the pragmatic warnings of many military leaders now offer a common message – “Words, Not War, With Iran.” I invite you to join us in signing this statement. You can find the complete text of the statement, a list of the signers, and add your name at www.wordsnotwar.org.

If I speak in the tongues of mortals and of angels, but do not have love, I am a noisy gong or a clanging cymbal. And if I have prophetic powers, and understand all mysteries and all knowledge, and if I have all faith, so as to remove mountains, but do not have love, I am nothing. If I give away all my possessions, and if I hand over my body so that I may boast, but do not have love, I gain nothing.

- 1 Corinthians 13:1-3

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True evangelical faith cannot lie dormant. It clothes the naked, it feeds the hungry, it comforts the sorrowful, it shelters the destitute, it serves those that harm it, it binds up that which is wounded, it has become all things to all people.

- Menno Simons

Our world seems to grow busier every day with conflicting commitments that pull us in many directions. Some of us feel the weight of changing the world lies on our shoulders. We know we are too busy but don’t know how to disconnect from our fast paced cyber-spaced world. Anxiety, depression and suicide are increasing. Growing evidence suggests stress and pressure of overbooked schedules are major contributors. God’s healthy rhythms are blurred by a culture that says there is never time to slow down or take a break.

Finding the balance between being and doing isn’t easy. Our daily activities and the rituals that give meaning to our lives are often divorced from our religious experiences. Massage therapy, aromatherapy, yoga, and countless other disciplines tantalize us with the promise of peace and relief from stress in more tangible ways than do prayer and Bible study. The consumer culture and our concerns about the upcoming elections have more impact on our life pace than do our faith values.

Finding God’s pace and the rituals God intends to mold our lives requires intentionality. We must disconnect from the rhythms of our secular culture and deliberately develop rituals and routines that flow out of our faith. Unfortunately since the reformation Protestants have tended to look at church rituals and liturgies with a disapproving eye. Many evangelical Christians are scared by the word ritual because it implies something formal, legalistic and boringly repetitive. Even Catholics have allowed their lives to be overrun by the busyness of the secular culture and its pervasive rituals.

What we don’t realize is that our whole life is a series of rituals. A ritual is simply anything we do on a regular basis that reinforces our beliefs and values. Taking a shower in the morning and washing our hands before we eat are both rituals that flow out of the belief that we need to be physically clean to start the day. Daily prayer is a ritual that reinforces our belief in a creator God who relates to us in a personal way and who is active in both our lives and our world.

When we disconnect the rhythm of our lives from our religious experience, quasi religious rituals rush in to fill the void. We no longer fast for Lent but go on obsessive spring diets instead. We rarely pause during the day for prayer but punctuate our routine with coffee breaks, aerobic workouts, and trips to the mall. We think we have escaped from the dead rituals of the past but are caught up instead in the compulsions of fashion fads, shopping sprees, and the allure of a new vitamin pill that promises a happier healthier life.

There is growing recognition of our need for daily, weekly, and yearly spiritual practices or rituals that flow from our Christian values and provide a rhythm that helps us cope with the escalating stresses of life. As psychologist and life coach Martha Beck said, “ritual is an incredibly powerful psychological process...Modern Western culture has had most of the ritual stripped from it, leaving us less grounded and more alienated than many so-called primitive peoples. By putting ritual back into your life, you can help ease stress and enhance enjoyment, benefiting everything from your immune system, to your parenting skills, to your creativity” [“Creating Special moments that enhance and enrich your life,” Real Simple, April 2000]. Have you ever noticed how irrational and angry a child gets when his or her usual routines are changed even slightly? The need for structure and ritual is deeply imbedded in our psyches.

Spiritual rituals are powerful and essential forces that are meant to be the foremost way we create and express meaning. They should provide the anchors and rhythms that give purpose to our daily routines. They bring us into joyous relationship with God, speed our personal healing processes, shape our communities, and make our world a welcoming place in which to live.

Martha Beck encourages us to make rituals that are uncomplicated, yet meaningful, so they won’t overwhelm us or add to our burdens. She also suggests that we keep them simple. This means we are more likely to stick to them and can creatively alter them as our circumstances and life situations change.

Christine Sine is an Australian physician who has worked extensively in Africa, Central America, and Asia. She and her husband Tom are co-founders of Mustard Seed Associates - an international network that encourages Christians to live out their faith authentically. This article is adapted from her latest book, GodSpace: Time for Peace in the Rhythms of Life(Barclay Press 2006). For more information visit the MSA website, http://www.msainfo.org/.

Last week, Sojourners launched the “Red Letter Christians” group at a press conference in Washington. “Red Letter Christians” is a short-hand way of talking about Christians who take the whole of Jesus’ teachings seriously in our spiritual and public lives—even the difficult bits of the Beatitudes like “blessed are the poor” and “blessed are the peacemakers.”

It is humbling to be asked to be part of this group of Christian writers; I felt especially awed at Dave Batstone’s discussion of contemporary slavery as a moral issue and Randall Balmer’s call to stand up against torture. For more than a dozen years, I have been voicing my concerns that the Religious Right’s conception of “values” issues is limited and politicized, but most of my words have been in print—not spoken with passion (as my colleagues so ably did) before reporters. With lights and cameras on, and journalists taking notes, I felt surprisingly shy (not at all as I feel in the pulpit or in the classroom) and, introducing myself quickly, shared my concerns about issues of church and state, and then willingly surrendered the podium to the next Red Letter Christian!

The combination of my colleagues’ clarity and my own shyness would have kept me glued to my seat for the rest of the event, save the question of one reporter. Several tried to pin us down politically (suspicious, I think, that we are some sort of front organization for the Democratic National Committee). Finally, one asked outright if all the Red Letter Christians were registered Democrats—and if any of us were Republicans.

The room seemed a little strained at that point. One person talked about being an independent voter. I kept thinking that the journalists were missing the point by trying to define us by Washington categories instead of theological ones. Unexpectedly, I found myself at the microphone again—“coming out” politically to a room full of the mainstream media.

I shared that I am currently a registered Democrat and that I was born to a Democratic family. However (and in correct chronological order), I have been a Democrat, a Republican, an Independent, a Republican, a Democrat, a Republican very briefly, and once again a Democrat (maybe the journalist should ask me the same question five years from now!). But then, the ultimate confession: One of my proudest possessions is a personal letter from Senator Barry Goldwater (yes, “Mr. Conservative”) congratulating me on being Arizona Teen-Age Republican of the Year in 1976!

The room laughed. And the subject changed back to more important things (like poverty, the environment, and peacemaking) than our voter registration. But if I wasn’t quite so intimidated by the cameras, I now realize that my confession should have extended just one more sentence: “Yes, I’ve worn all these political labels—depending on issues at stake and candidates in races—but throughout my checkered political history, one label has never changed: Christian; I am a Christian, and all those other labels are secondary to my baptismal journey to live the teachings of Jesus.”

And that’s the point of Red Letter Christians: We are Christians. All those other labels—Democrat, Republican, liberal, conservative—are secondary to being Christian, our passionate quests to enact grace and live a Christian way of life. As I reflect on my missing sentence, I realize that it sounds a wee bit like a sentence from scripture. Not one printed in RED letters, but the plain black words of St. Paul: “There is no longer Jew or Greek, there is no longer slave or free, there is no longer male or female; for all of you are one in Christ Jesus.” If the blessed apostle were around for press conferences today, I’m pretty sure he’d add, “no longer Republican or Democrat,” too.

Diana Butler Bass is an independent scholar and author. Her latest book is Christianity for the Rest of Us (Harper, September 2006).

Reports on cost of war, detainees, Iraq, the intelligence estimate, Iran, Darfur, the "White House referee," Israel-Syria, the "suburban agenda," faith and politics, and organizing.

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Full news summary:

Cost of war. Cost of Iraq war nearly $2b a week –"A new congressional analysis shows the Iraq war is now costing taxpayers almost $2 billion a week -- nearly twice as much as in the first year of the conflict three years ago and 20 percent more than last year -- as the Pentagon spends more on establishing regional bases to support the extended deployment and scrambles to fix or replace equipment damaged in combat."

Detainees. House passes detainee rules – "The House approved administration-backed rules for interrogating and trying terrorism suspects, a key component of the national security agenda that Republicans aim to showcase in their fight to hold onto Congress. Torture is barred but not tough interrogation tactics." House Approves Bill on Detainees – "The House approved an administration-backed system of questioning and prosecuting terrorism suspects yesterday, setting clearer limits on CIA interrogation techniques but denying access to courts for detainees seeking to challenge their imprisonment."

Iraq. Poll Finds Iraqis Back Attacks on U.S. Troops – "About six in 10 Iraqis say they approve of attacks on U.S.-led forces, and slightly more than that want their government to ask American troops to leave within a year, a poll released Wednesday found." A way out of the Iraq mess? – "Democrats and Republicans have come together with the goal of figuring out a plan of action. The real test, though, will be whether anyone in Washington will listen." (By Cal Thomas, a conservative columnist and Bob Beckel, a liberal Democratic strategist. But as longtime friends, they can often find common ground on issues that lawmakers in Washington cannot.) The Iraq Study Group and its mission.

Intelligence Estimate. Dispute on Intelligence Report Disrupts Republicans’ Game Plan "The dispute over a newly disclosed National Intelligence Estimate has threatened a pre-election script in which the White House had sought to put Democrats on the defensive on national security."

Iran. U.S. to wait 'a few weeks' on Iran move – "The Bush administration postponed its pursuit of U.N. sanctions against Iran for "a few weeks" to allow its European allies time to try to negotiate a suspension of Iran's nuclear fuel production." Negotiators discuss Iran's nuclear program in Berlin – "Senior Iranian and European Union negotiators held five hours of talks on Tehran's disputed nuclear program amid suggestions the United States might be willing to defer seeking sanctions for a few weeks if a diplomatic resolution was in sight." Iran dissident's message to U.S.: Don't turn us into Iraq – "Iranian dissident Akbar Ganji rose to star status by stubbornly refusing to be silenced during 6 long years in prison. … Now in America on a speaking tour … Ganji has shunned White House photo ops in favor of a singular message he hopes the Bush administration will hear: Don't bomb, don't sanction, don't turn Iran into Iraq."

Darfur. U.S. threatens more sanctions - "U.S. Secretary of State Condoleezza Rice raised the threat of more international sanctions against Sudan if the government did not stop military operations in the Darfur region and accept a UN peacekeeping force." U.S. Weighs Moves Against Sudan Over U.N. Force - "The United States is considering a series of punitive steps if the Sudanese government fails to agree to a U.N. peacekeeping force to end the violence in Sudan's Darfur region … Secretary of State Condoleezza Rice signaled the new approach in a speech in which she demanded an immediate cease-fire and warned that Khartoum faces "a choice between cooperation and confrontation." The responsibility to protect Darfur – "The UN should send a peacekeeping force to Darfur - even without Sudan's consent."

White House referee. Bush Plays Chaperon for Awkward Encounter – "For the past week, the presidents of Afghanistan and Pakistan have been in the United States, circling one another like wary cats as they lobbed insults across the airwaves from a distance. On Wednesday night, they stood glumly — more like caged cats — in the Rose Garden with President Bush, who had invited them to the White House for dinner and a little talking-to." Bush referees as Karzai and Musharraf meet for dinner - "President George Bush said that he would act as referee at a working dinner at the White House between the leaders of Afghanistan and Pakistan as public bickering between the two men threatens to destabilise the US "war on terror".

Israel-Syria. Olmert not warming to Syria's moves – "The message from Syrian President Bashar Assad this week seemed conciliatory, an attempt to set himself apart from Iranian President Mahmoud Ahmadinejad. … It was the latest in a series of signals from Damascus after the recent war in Lebanon, suggesting its readiness for negotiations with Israel and fueling debate here on whether to pursue talks with Syria."

"Suburban agenda." House GOP pushes its 'suburban agenda' – "While House Republicans trumpeted elements of their suburban agenda, Democrats yesterday said Congress will have failed the American people if it adjourns without increasing the minimum wage."

Faith and politics. Danforth Warns of Christian Right but Says Tide Will Turn – "The potency of the Christian right in the Republican Party is limited, former senator John C. Danforth of Missouri is telling audiences this month. A lifelong Republican moderate disturbed by his party's direction, he contends that the political center has a future." John Danforth – "John Danforth looks like a quintessential Republican insider but he is calling for a radical change in how his party operates."

Organize. A plan for very civil disobedience - Four hundred people will be arrested early this evening for blocking Century Boulevard near Los Angeles International Airport, in what could prove to be one of the largest acts of civil disobedience in the city's history. Police will follow a script, which even specifies who will be arrested, in a march to organize hotel workers.

Commit your way to the Lord; trust in him, and he will act. He will make your vindication shine like the light, and the justice of your cause like the noonday. Be still before the Lord, and wait patiently for him; do not fret over those who prosper in their way, over those who carry out evil devices.

- Psalm 37:5-7

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Prayer that works is prayer that makes a difference, contemplation that turns into action, on behalf of peace and justice in a troubled and unjust world system. Prayer is energy, the energy of love and transformative power. It is given to us to use for the good of all creation. In prayer God gives us the fuel of life, and asks us to live it.

- Margaret Silf

A few weeks ago, Jim Wallis pledged that we who write about the Religious Right--including those of us on this blog--would not treat them the way they have treated us. Which is to say, we will always keep in mind that, as I'm constantly reminding my mom, even Karl Rove is a child of God and should be treated as such.

That does not, however, mean that some of us will be shy about pointing out instances when our interlocutors on the right seek to muddy the facts, engage in hypocrisy, or speak about us in decidedly un-Christian terms. And before you start yelling "Plank in your eye!", I spend much of my time--some would say too much--taking folks on the left to task when they use stereotypes to describe religious conservatives or question whether people of faith should be involved in politics. Pointing out a few optical specks on the right is hardly unfair.

Let's start with Ralph Reed, who engaged in a mostly thoughtful and civil dialogue here with Jim last week, but who started the exchange by declaring himself shocked that anyone would think all religious conservatives care about is abortion and gay marriage. Where would anyone get that idea? And while he's right that many evangelicals, particularly in the grassroots, care about issues like poverty and human trafficking and the environment and health care, it's just disingenuous to argue that the leaders of the Christian Right publicly promote a broad agenda.

The three Justice Sundays so far have been about abortion and gay marriage and installing judges who would outlaw both. A letter the Alliance Defense Fund and Family Research Council sent out last week encouraging pastors to get involved with political issues mentions two, and only two: sanctity of life and protection of marriage. Ditto the material for the Values Voters Summit last weekend. Even Rick Warren, whose agenda has broadened quite a bit since the 2004 election, sent out a voter guide in November 2004 that highlighted five issues: abortion, abortion, gay marriage, human cloning, euthanasia.

If the leaders of the Christian Right decide that it's most important to focus directly on abortion and gay marriage, that's completely fine. But they shouldn't pretend otherwise, nor attack as uncharitable and dishonest those who question that decision.

I heard a thought-provoking commentary on "All Things Considered" last night by a woman named Caroline Langston. She talked about the fact that over the past decade or so her political views have changed, but not her religious views--and wondered whether that was acceptable to her newfound peers on the liberal end of the political spectrum.

One of the problems with the oft-used term "religious left" is that it is sometimes taken to connote people who are theologically liberal in addition to politically liberal. Those of us who are conservative (I prefer the term "orthodox") theologically but liberal politically sometimes pose problems when our religiously-informed political beliefs don't always fall neatly into the traditional liberal categories. Some of you out there may relate to Caroline, who warns her new friends:

"I'm still pro life, not because I am a tool of the patriarchy as some girl once accused me, but because it seems consistent with others who at risk, vulnerable and unwanted. I have grave concerns about stem cell research, not because I want to shove my religion on others but because I've learned to be suspicious of people who claim that philosophical objections are unimportant. And my disenchantment with the current conservative movement rests on two concepts that the great cannon of Western literature gave me - hubris and sin."

The new political and religious landscape that we'll be exploring on this blog is more complicated than the monolithic one that has been assumed in the past, during the time of what Jim Wallis refers to as the Religious Right's monologue. It will require some tough thinking by people on all sides who may have to rework ideas about who their allies are. As Caroline asks at the end of her commentary: "Is there a place for me at the table, exactly as I am?"

The consensus evangelical document (For the Health of the Nation: AnEvangelical Call to Civic Responsibility) says that "faithful evangelical civic engagement must champion a biblically balanced agenda." And it then deals with seven areas: religious freedom, family, sanctity of human life, justice for the poor, human rights, peace and creation care. This document refuses to lift out one area to "value most." It says they all are on God's heart and therefore central to faithful evangelical civic engagement.

Ron Sider is president of Evangelicals for Social Action.

We've asked other members of the God's Politics Blog team to respond to the question that Jim Wallis and Ralph Reed debated last week: "What should values voters value most?"

When voting, I look for political candidates with a proven record of support for certain values. I also look for cautionary signs that lead me to avoid a candidate like the plague. What are those values and those warning signs? Here’s a working list:

* I look for candidates whose spiritual beliefs harmonize with the practical way they pursue policies and programs for a sustainable lifestyle with Earth and justice for people, especially destitute people and minorities.

* I’m wary as all get out of candidates who talk a blue streak about God, who, they claim, favors the U.S. as the “elect,” invested with divine authority to destroy “evil doers” such as Muslim terrorists or convicted felons on death row.

* I hate seeing politicians use God and religion to invoke fear of gay people, which quickly translates into prejudice and abrogation of their civil rights. (Have you noticed how often the issue of “gay marriage” surfaces during election time, then drops from sight until the next election?)

* I trust candidates who see our national budget as a “moral document”, as Reverend Martin Luther King, Jr, referred to it, and who are outraged by the $400+ billions spent annually on instruments of destruction and war. Every month we pour $8 billion into the war in Iraq. Think what could happen if we poured those resources into reinvigorating public education, libraries, and the arts; universal health insurance; affordable housing; and alternatives to incarceration. Presently two million people are incarcerated in the U.S., more, per capita, than any other nation, and over half of those are imprisoned for non-violent crimes.

* I don’t trust candidates who claim to be “pro life” simply because they publicly state their opposition to abortion. What good is that if they do not also work vigorously and consistently to create social conditions in which healthy babies are born, children cared for, and families thrive?

* I look for “pro-life” politicians to list “eradication of poverty” as a top priority. Poverty in our nation is on the rise. During the last six years those living at or below the poverty line in the U.S. rose 17 percent. To allow even the existence of poor people in this rich nation, much less poverty on the increase, is totally unworthy of us as Americans and certainly not pro-life.

* I greatly fear candidates who advocate turning over responsibility for our poor and needy to religious volunteers and so-called “faith-based initiatives” while diminishing government’s rightful and necessary responsibility for the social welfare of all of our citizens. The code word here to watch for is “tax cuts,” especially when tax cuts are weighted to benefit the wealthy.

* I look for candidates who see us as global citizens, respecting and promoting international agreements which address our planetary crises (global warming, deforestation, depletion of potable water) and human rights (the Geneva Conventions, the U.N. Universal Declaration of Human Rights, the U.N. Convention against Torture). In the wake of 9/11 we desperately need political leaders who turn to dialogue and diplomacy as first and necessary steps for building peace rather than turning immediately to dropping bombs and sending in the troops as the way to get our “enemies” to submit to our demands at the negotiating table.

Finally, I look for candidates who have the wisdom of Archbishop Desmond Tutu, who teaches that we will never win the “war against terror” by using violence. Such a war is un-winnable, he says, “as long as we have conditions in the world that make people desperate. When you are a father and you see your child go to bed hungry, something happens to you.”

Sister Helen Prejean is a member of the Sisters of St. Joseph of Medaille and a prominent anti-death penalty advocate whose work was featured in the film Dead Man Walking. Her most recent book is The Death of Innocents: An Eyewitness Account of Wrongful Executions.

The wisdom from above is first pure, then peaceable, gentle, willing to yield, full of mercy and good fruits, without a trace of partiality or hypocrisy. And a harvest of righteousness is sown in peace for those who make peace.

- James 3:17-18

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Beautiful is the moment in which we understand that we are no more than an instrument of God; we live only as long as God wants us to live; we can do only as much as God makes us able to; we are only as intelligent as God would have us be.

- Archbishop Oscar Romero, from his last homily, March 23, 1980


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Last Monday, John Kerry did something many of us wish he'd done two years ago. He showed up at Pepperdine University—if not exactly the lion's den, then at least a lair of sometimes snarling cats—and gave a long, open talk about his faith. (You can read the text of his speech here and watch the speech, as well as some Q&A; here.)

It seems that Kerry caught this conservative Church of Christ campus off-guard. After hearing about his faith journey from cradle Catholic to spiritually wounded and questioning soldier to mature Christian, the standing-room-only crowd gave a standing ovation that I doubt the former Democratic presidential candidate expected.

The fact that Kerry even accepted Pepperdine's invitation shows that some Democrats are starting to realize that speaking to even conservative Christian audiences is a no-lose proposition. If they don't like you when you show up, and you bomb, then you haven't lost any support. But if after listening to you, some people decide, wow, I really had that John Kerry wrong,

Perhaps more importantly, what Kerry has learned—and told the crowd—is that it's all well and good for a Democrat to decide that his faith is private and he'd rather not talk about it in public, thank you very much. But that doesn't mean that his faith remains private. It just guarantees that his faith—or purported lack thereof—gets defined by the opposition.

As long as 70 percent of Americans continue to say they want their president to be a man of faith, religion will be an issue in political campaigns. Better for Democrats to be proactive and define themselves for Americans before Republicans start the inevitable painting of them as godless secularists. Barack Obama told a similar story in June when he talked about his insufficient response to Alan Keyes' charge that "Jesus Christ would not vote for Barack Obama." And this week, Cong. James Clyburn, a minister from South Carolina, made much the same point when he talked about losing a county in his district for the first time after his opponent called him the "most un-Christian person I've ever met."

Democrats tend to ignore charges like these because they're absurd (and they are), but they have an impact if Democrats don't then affirmatively explain who they are. That could mean anything from talking about the philosophical principles they use to ground their political positions or the religious beliefs that anchor their policy priorities. Kerry took the latter approach when he told the Pepperdine crowd that his Catholicism has influenced his positions in four areas: poverty, environmental stewardship, abortion, and an adherence to just war principles.

Read the whole thing (better yet, watch it to get a sense of how newly comfortable Kerry is with Biblical exegesis and discussions of his own struggles to understand a God who allows bad things to happen to some people) and come to your own conclusions. My guess is that many people will be surprised, and perhaps impressed, by what they see and hear. Whether you agree with Kerry or not, it's nice to see him and Obama (and Bob Casey at Catholic University last week) presenting different ways to talk about faith and politics.

Amy Sullivan is a contributing editor at The Washington Monthly and author of a forthcoming book on religion and the left (Scribner, Fall 2007).

The Lord works vindication
and justice for all who are oppressed.

- Psalms 103:6

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Every Christian community must know that not only do the weak need the strong, but also that the strong cannot exist without the weak. The elimination of the weak is the death of the community.

- Dietrich Bonhoeffer

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Immigration. “The Senate will begin considering a series of House bills this week aimed at strengthening border security and toughening enforcement of immigration laws,”

Religious Right. “Openly anxious about grass-roots disaffection from the Republican Party, conservative Christian organizers are reaching for ways to turn out voters this November,”

Iraq worsens terror. “A stark assessment of terrorism trends by American intelligence agencies has found that the American invasion and occupation of Iraq has helped spawn a new generation of Islamic radicalism and that the overall terrorist threat has grown.”

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Full news summary:

Defense budget. Army Warns Rumsfeld It's Billions Short – “The Army's top officer withheld a required 2008 budget plan from Pentagon leaders last month after protesting to Defense Secretary Donald H. Rumsfeld that the service could not maintain its current level of activity in Iraq plus its other global commitments without billions in additional funding.”

Immigration. Border Bills Come Down to Last Minute – “The Senate will begin considering a series of House bills this week aimed at strengthening border security and toughening enforcement of immigration laws, but given the cool reception the measures are getting from many senators, it appears unlikely that much of the legislation will pass.”

Lebanon. Lebanese Christians bash Hezbollah - Beirut, Lebanon – “Tens of thousands of supporters of an anti-Hezbollah Christian leader poured into the shrine of the Virgin Mary in the town of Harissa on Sunday to hear him denounce the Islamic militants for the "catastrophe" that their war with Israel brought on Lebanon.”

Religious Right. Christian Conservatives Look to Re-energize Base – “Openly anxious about grass-roots disaffection from the Republican Party, conservative Christian organizers are reaching for ways to turn out voters this November, including arguing that recognizing same-sex marriage could also limit religious freedom.” Key GOP voter bloc not singing party's praises – “To the daunting challenges facing Republicans in this fall's midterm elections, add another: angry "values voters" who say they feel used and abandoned.”

Darfur. U.S. envoy says Sudan one of his toughest tasks - “The Bush administration's new envoy to Sudan said his mission to try to stop the genocide in Darfur will be a daunting assignment. Andrew Natsios, a former head of the U.S. Agency for International Development, said his new job will be “one of the most difficult I've had.” African Union to bolster troops in Darfur, toughen their roles – “The African Union said yesterday it will send more peacekeeping troops to Sudan's Darfur region and toughen the soldiers' role in protecting civilians while the international community pressures the Sudanese government to allow a UN military force.” Rice, Others Press Sudan to Open Darfur to U.N. Force – “Secretary of State Condoleezza Rice on Friday renewed her call for Sudan to halt a military offensive in Darfur and yield to international pressure to allow more than 20,000 U.N. peacekeepers to protect civilians there.”

Congress. Congress Is Winding Down, but Much Is Left Undone – “Procrastination, power struggles and partisanship have left Congress with substantial work to finish before breaking for the elections. The fast-approaching recess and the Republican focus on national security legislation make it inevitable that much of the remainder will fall by the wayside.”

Politics. A Senator Bets on Party's Clout in Pennsylvania – “Here in Pennsylvania, with every new poll, the question arises: Can Mr. Santorum, with all his resources, change the dynamics of this race? So far, the answer is not fundamentally.”

And some from the weekend.

The first week of the God’s Politics Blog got us off to a great start. I’ve enjoyed this dialogue with Ralph Reed. We agree that people of faith should address the central moral issues in the public arena, while we disagree just what those issues are and how they should be addressed.

I’ve also enjoyed all of the comments it has produced. I haven’t had a chance to read all of them yet, but I have seen some very good dialogue. It’s that dialogue on a true “values politics” that this blog will continue. As I travel around the country, I find that the American people are weary of the left/right battle lines but are hungry for a “moral center” in politics, one that the media pundits cannot simply pigeonhole with the worn-out labels of liberal or conservative. We need a new dialogue that goes beyond those categories.

And as God’s Politics continues to discuss that moral center, we will be fiercely independent – a thorn in the side of both parties. It is still all too true that the Right gets it wrong, and the Left doesn’t get it. But there is a new progressive religious voice that is being heard, and a new dialogue is beginning.

This week on the God’s Politics Blog, I’ll be joined by my friends journalist Amy Sullivan, emergent church leader Brian McLaren, anti-death penalty advocate Sr. Helen Prejean, and religious scholar Diana Butler Bass. I also hope you're enjoying our “Daily Digest” and “Verse and Voice” e-mail newsletters.

Let’s keep the conversation going. And tell your friends about it.

The nation is weary of the vitriolic and divisive political rhetoric that still comes from some on the Religious Right. In particular, the country is tired, truly tired, of Rev. Jerry Falwell. At the Religious Right’s Values Voter Summit, Rev. Falwell said that Hillary Clinton’s run for the presidency would energize the Right’s base more than Lucifer. This is also the man who said the terrorist attacks on 9/11 were God’s judgment on America and he specifically blamed feminists, homosexuals and the ACLU. Agreement or disagreement with Senator Clinton’s politics is not the issue. Personally demonizing public figures is the issue. Such political poison isn’t just bad for the Body Politic and the more civil discourse we so desperately need. It also simply isn’t Christian.

Jim Wallis' final post in his dialogue with former Christian Coalition leader Ralph Reed on the question: "What should values voters value most?"

Ralph, you didn’t respond to my criticism of the faith-based initiative. I said it was a good idea, and have always supported the concept of non-discrimination for faith-based groups. But many of the most important evangelical faith-based groups serving the poor feel it has been undercut by President Bush’s domestic policies that have hurt the poor families that they work with. You didn’t respond to what their letter said.

I also favor welfare reform, but the right kind that lifts families out of poverty and not just off the welfare rolls. When 5 million more people are in poverty during the Bush Administration, when the Census shows that the poorest of the poor are getting even poorer, and when 9.2 million American families have at least one full time worker in their household but are still raising their children (20 million of them) in poverty, we have a big problem. The “Republican ideology” I referred to is to continually cut effective programs for poor families (in the estimation of the Christian groups that work with those families) while cutting more taxes for the rich and making them richer every year. That doesn’t sound like the economics of Jesus to me.

I agree that faith-based and charitable organizations have a critical role to play, but the Bush administration has utterly failed to play the responsible role of government and its tax policies have indeed made the rich richer and the poor poorer. George Bush is a reverse Robin Hood.

I believe that the solution to overcoming poverty in America requires recognizing that a lack of personal responsibility and a lack of social responsibility both perpetuate the problem. Liberals must start talking about the problems of out-of wedlock births, strengthening both marriage and parenting, and wealth creation programs such as Individual Development Accounts and homeownership. Conservatives must start talking about strategic public investments in child care, education, health care, affordable housing, and living family incomes. We need a new “grand alliance.”

And on Iraq...I just saw the film “World Trade Center” and was deeply and emotionally moved. The immense destruction and enormous human pain of September 11 still brings me to tears. I remember standing on the pile of rubble just a few weeks after the attack and witnessing a kind of devastation I had never seen before. But what I saw then, and saw again tonight in the film, was the amazing response of the first responders – the New York police and fire-fighters – an extraordinary heroism that I would actually call Christ-like with so many risking and giving their lives for complete strangers. At the end of the film, one of the two Port Authority police survivors on whose stories the movie focuses said something like this, “Sure it was a great evil that attacked us, but it brought out an enormous good from us.” On that day, the whole world stood with America.

But we didn’t build on that good; instead we resorted to more evil to fight the evil. Instead of focusing like a laser to bring to justice those responsible for 9/11 and who plan further attacks, (which I have absolutely no problem with), we have seen the death of tens of thousands of Iraqi civilians who had absolutely nothing to do with the attacks on us but who now have the same horrible stories of loved ones lost under the rubble of war – just as I saw tonight. I remember a woman just days after 9/11 pleading with George Bush, “Mr. President, don’t spread our pain.” Well he has, and after so many more innocents killed, Abu Ghraib and Guantanamo, America no longer has the moral high ground.

Iraq is now a terrorist haven because an American occupation has made it so. Just yesterday, we saw the news of a new National Intelligence Estimate, that according to one intelligence official quoted in the New York Times, “says that the Iraq war has made the overall terrorism problem worse.” That intelligence report says, according to The Times, that the war has recruited a new generation of potential terrorists and increased the threat to America. Only when the American occupation ends will there be a chance for an internationally led effort to restore security and peace to that troubled country. That’s not “cutting and running,” that’s ending a terribly mistaken and distracting war and putting our attention back on ending the real threats of terrorism. And on Israel, I don’t support Hamas either, but you still ignore the Palestinian people and their suffering.

We agree that abortion is a moral tragedy, and I am happy to see some Democrats finally talking about the need to find some solutions in dramatically reducing the number of abortions with a very practical new agenda that should become bi-partisan. While I don’t support making women in desperate situations who see no other choice into criminals, I oppose abortion and strongly support efforts to dramatically reduce the number of abortions. And because of my belief in the sacredness of human life, I also oppose capital punishment, just as the Catholic bishops do.

I also support healthy marriages and strong families. And as a father of two young boys and a Little League coach, parenting is an especially important value to me. I also believe that gay and lesbian people are entitled to the same legal protections and civil rights as other Americans. That’s neither liberal or conservative, simply common sense.

Finally, let me say that I too have enjoyed our dialogue and believe we have indeed modeled a civil discourse, one that the country and the churches really need. And you’ll always tug at my heart strings when you quote Robert Kennedy. Next time you¹re in town let¹s have a cup of coffee and continue talking. Thanks for doing this Ralph.

Reed's final entry in a dialogue with Jim Wallis on the question: "What should values voters value most?"

Jim, I’m glad we agree that faith-based organizations should not be discriminated against in the delivery of social services. They not only provide housing, education and job training, they provide what government alone cannot: hope, faith, and love. This change in public policy occurred because religious conservatives added the Charitable Choice provision to the 1996 welfare reform law, laying the groundwork for President Bush’s faith-based initiative.

I’m disappointed we disagree about welfare policy. Welfare reform was a strikingly bipartisan measure: 100 House Democrats and 25 Senate Democrats voted for it, and Bill Clinton signed it into law. There was a bipartisan consensus that welfare should promote work, family, and personal responsibility. On this issue at least, your disagreement is not with “Republican ideology,” as you put it, but with most Democrats.

Prior to the 1996 welfare reform law, the federal government paid people not to work, not to get married, and to bear children repeatedly out of wedlock. That policy was an abject failure. We spent $5.3 trillion on various federal anti-poverty programs, more in real dollars than we spent winning World War II. The result was that illegitimacy rates skyrocketed (67 percent of African-American births were out-of-wedlock), feeding a downward spiral of poverty.
As Brookings Institution senior fellow Ron Haskins documents in his new book, welfare reform has worked. Welfare caseloads plummeted, incomes have generally risen, and 60 percent of the women who left welfare found work. Teen birth rates have fallen. The poverty rate among African-Americans has fallen by about one-fourth, from 32.4 percent before welfare reform to 24.7 percent in 2004.

Religious conservative believe that as a matter of social justice, anti-poverty measures should be three-fold. First, encourage faith-based and charitable organizations on the front lines fighting poverty. Second, provide a safety net of assistance for those in need. Third, adopt tax and other policies that will lead to the creation of economic opportunity, jobs and wealth.

For that reason, religious conservatives support school choice, because they believe education is a civil right and it is wrong to trap the poor in schools where they cannot read, write, or dream the American dream. It is why they favor medical savings accounts that provide access to quality health care, 41 percent of which are utilized by families that previously lacked health insurance. It is also why we support President Bush’s minority home ownership initiative to help African-Americans, Hispanics, and others purchase their first home.

On fiscal policy, no one (I hope) claims that the Bible stipulates a certain marginal income tax rate. Here our disagreement is a matter of judgment about which policies best strengthen the economy and create jobs. The Bush administration’s tax and budget policies have created 5.3 million new jobs and lowered the unemployment rate to 4.7 percent, the lowest unemployment rate in over 30 years. The economy has grown at a 4.2 percent rate in 2006, faster than any major industrialized nation in the world, and real wages after inflation are up 6 percent this year. The higher taxes and more spending liberals advocate may grow government, but they will not create more jobs or opportunity.

On Iraq, we’re going to have to agree to disagree. Whatever our nation’s policies were in the 1980’s and 1990’s---and blame can be leveled at both parties when it comes to our past approach to terrorism---we need a plan for today. The liberal Democrat plan is to cut and run in Iraq. That policy would be disastrous. It would return Iraq to the safe haven for terrorists it was under Saddam Hussein and create a vacuum in the Middle East in a nation bordering Syria and Iran that would be filled by a terrorist regime hostile to human rights and democratic values.

Some liberals claim Iraq is not part of the war on terrorism. But Osama bin Laden and the terrorists don’t agree. Ayman al-Zawahiri, al Qaeda’s number two leader, has said that his goal is to use Iraq as a base of attacks against the U.S. and as the linchpin of a caliphate stretching from India to the Mediterranean Sea. Whether one agrees or disagrees with the bipartisan decision in 2003 to take military action against Saddam Hussein (or, like John Kerry and John Edwards, has held both views at different times), the loss of Iraq would be a severe setback in the war against terrorism. We will not be safer as a nation if Iraq falls into the hands of terrorists dedicated to our destruction.

I note you did not take issue with my point about innocent human life. If Democrats vote to fund the taking of human life with tax dollars, oppose the partial-birth abortion ban, and oppose qualified Supreme Court nominees simply to placate the abortion lobby that dominates the Democratic Party, they will continue to lose the votes of conservative people of faith, as well they should.

A quick word to respond to your comment on Israel. I support the peace process and the idea of two states living side by side in peace. But it is impossible to reach peace when the Hamas-led government of the Palestinian Authority refuses to renounce terrorism, harbors terrorists who fire rockets on its neighbor, and just this past Friday declined to join any unity government that even recognizes the right of Israel to exist.

Jim, I’ve enjoyed our dialogue a great deal. We may disagree, but I trust that we have modeled an exchange of ideas that allows us to disagree without being disagreeable. And I believe that liberals and conservatives of faith can work together on issues that unite them, such as combating poverty, opposing racism and anti-Semitism, and improving education.

My prayer is that our exchange (and the broader dialogue it represents) advances a goal far greater than the fortunes of a political party. May it be a witness of the healing and redemptive power of faith in our individual lives and the life of our nation.

As Robert F. Kennedy said in speaking out against racial apartheid in the 1960’s, “Each time a man stands up for an ideal, or acts to improve the lot of others, or strikes out against injustice, he sends forth a tiny ripple of hope, and…those ripples build a current which can sweep down the mightiest walls of oppression and resistance.” That is still true today, and it is a truth that is not confined to members of one party or adherents of one political philosophy. It is true for all men and women of faith, and indeed every member of the human family.

So I said, "Wisdom is better than might; yet the poor man's wisdom is despised, and his words are not heeded." The quiet words of the wise are more to be heeded than the shouting of a ruler among fools. Wisdom is better than weapons of war, but one bungler destroys much good.

- Ecclesiastes 9:16-18

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When Christian leaders go to government to call for sweeping structural change, we have more integrity and power when we can say: "We are part of Christian communities that are already beginning to live out what we are calling you to legislate." Our call for costly changes in foreign policy toward the Two-Thirds World designed to implement greater global economic justice has integrity only if we are a part of Christian congregations that are already beginning to incarnate a more simple lifestyle that points toward a more just, ecologically sustainable planet. Our call for nuclear disarmament and international peace has integrity only if there is growing peace and wholeness in our families and churches.

- Ronald J. Sider

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Blessed are the poor in spirit, for theirs is the kingdom of heaven.
Blessed are those who mourn, for they will be comforted.
Blessed are the meek, for they will inherit the earth.
Blessed are those who hunger and thirst for righteousness, for they will be filled.
Blessed are the merciful, for they will receive mercy.
Blessed are the pure in heart, for they will see God.
Blessed are the peacemakers, for they will be called children of God.
Blessed are those who are persecuted for righteousness' sake, for theirs is the kingdom of heaven.
Blessed are you when people revile you and persecute you and utter all kinds of evil against you falsely on my account. Rejoice and be glad, for your reward is great in heaven, for in the same way they persecuted the prophets who were before you.

- Matthew 5:3-12

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Nobody finds time for prayer. You either take time for it or you don't get it.

- Joan Chittister

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Darfur. “The African Union announced yesterday it would extend the stay of its underfinanced force in Sudan's Darfur region until the end of the year, heading off an immediate worsening of the crisis.”

Immigration. “The House and the Senate moved toward a piecemeal crackdown on illegal immigration, pushing forward separate bills to require photo identification to vote, build vast fences on the U.S.-Mexico border and speed the deportation of undocumented workers.”

Faith and politics. “Determined to break the links binding partisan politics and faith, growing numbers of religious moderates are uniting and organizing in an unprecedented bid to challenge the Christian right and broaden the values agenda.”

CBS NEWS WITH KATIE COURIC: Tune in tonight for a featured segment with Jim Wallis and Tony Perkins (Family Research Council) talking about the moral direction of the country.

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Full news summary:

United Nations. Progress Seen on Iran and Darfur – “A flurry of diplomatic activity produced progress, but no breakthroughs, on two key issues facing the U.N. Security Council: Iran and Sudan.” Analysis: Ideals and Realities Clash In Bush 'Freedom Agenda' – “At the United Nations lectern this week, President Bush hailed the spread of democracy. "From Beirut to Baghdad," he said, "people are making the choice for freedom." Yet even as he spoke, tanks were rolling through the streets of Bangkok as a military coup toppled the elected leader of Thailand, who at that moment was in New York for the U.N. session.”

Darfur. African Union Peacekeepers’ Stay in Darfur Is Extended as Accord on U.N. Force Is Awaited - “The African Union declared that it would strengthen and extend the life of its peacekeeping force in Darfur and seek to persuade the Sudanese government to accept United Nations participation in the violence-torn area.” African Union stint in Darfur extended – “The African Union announced yesterday it would extend the stay of its underfinanced force in Sudan's Darfur region until the end of the year, heading off an immediate worsening of the crisis.” A deadline for Darfur – “During a presentation last week to the UN Security Council, Elie Wiesel said that Bashir must cooperate with the international community, or pay a personal price. To this end, targeted sanctions would be most effective. … The Security Council can also show that it is serious about accountability by asking the International Criminal Court to indict Bashir.” (By David L. Phillips, executive director of the Elie Wiesel Foundation for Humanity.)

Iran. Early October New Deadline for Iran – “With Iran still resisting a freeze on its nuclear activities, the United States and five partners have decided to set yet another deadline in hopes that Iran will finally agree to terms paving the way for substantive talks on its nuclear program.” Iranian Leader Defends Controversial Stands – “In a feisty session with leading foreign policy experts, Iranian President Mahmoud Ahmadinejad defiantly stuck to his hard-line positions on issues including Iran's nuclear program and a need for further study to confirm the Holocaust.” Iran's Leader Relishes 2nd Chance to Make Waves – “Over the objections of the administration and Jewish groups that boycotted the event, Mr. Ahmadinejad … squared off with the nation’s foreign policy establishment, parrying questions for an hour and three-quarters with two dozen members of the Council on Foreign Relations, then ending the evening by asking whether they were simply shills for the Bush administration.”

Palestine. Bush praises Abbas as `man of courage' after private talks – “President Bush yesterday called embattled Palestinian leader Mahmoud Abbas a “man of courage" for trying to revive Mideast peace talks despite a continued political stalemate with Hamas militants.”

Iraq. U.N. Finds Baghdad Toll Far Higher Than Cited – “A United Nations report released Wednesday says that 5,106 people in Baghdad died violent deaths during July and August, a number far higher than reports that have relied on figures from the city’s morgue.Across the country, the report found, 3,590 civilians were killed in July — the highest monthly total on record — and 3,009 more were killed in August.” U.N. Issues Grim Report on Iraq – “The report also touches on other human rights issues. It notes that torture in official detention centers remains widespread; 300,000 people are displaced in Iraq; women are increasingly targets of violence in cases of "honor crimes"; and freedom of expression continues to suffer as a result of killings and intimidation of journalists.”

Immigration. Congress Resumes Immigration Efforts - “The House and the Senate moved yesterday toward a piecemeal crackdown on illegal immigration, pushing forward separate bills to require photo identification to vote, build vast fences on the U.S.-Mexico border and speed the deportation of undocumented workers.” GOP Advances Enforcement-First Approach for Border – “Republicans in both chambers said the steps were necessary to protect the United States from illegal immigrants entering the country or trying to corrupt the voting process.” G.O.P. in Senate Narrows Immigration Focus to 700-Mile Fence - “Senator Bill Frist of Tennessee, the majority leader, said the fate of millions of illegal immigrants already in the United States had become a “fundamental sticking point” in trying to reach agreement with the House on a broad bill.”

Faith and politics. Christian middle seeking a turn at bully pulpit – “Determined to break the links binding partisan politics and faith, growing numbers of religious moderates are uniting and organizing in an unprecedented bid to challenge the Christian right and broaden the values agenda beyond the issues of abortion and same-sex marriage. ... On Monday, [Jim] Wallis, author of "God's Politics: Why the Right Gets It Wrong and the Left Doesn't Get It," launched Red Letter Christians, an effort that takes its name from the red ink some Bibles use to highlight the words of Jesus Christ. A non-partisan faith-based campaign, it will open field offices in key battleground states and provide voter guides, speakers and information on such issues as poverty, social justice, education and the environment, but it will not endorse candidates.”

Pennsylvania. At Mellon Arena, Dobson preaches mixed message – “Conservative evangelical activist James Dobson told thousands of supporters last night he was deeply disappointed in GOP leaders, but that the nation's future depended on re-electing them.” 'Values voters' up for grabs in state's Senate race – “Bob Casey returned to his law school, Catholic University, last week, to deliver a message on how his faith informs his public life. This Wednesday, Dr. James Dobson, the popular and influential evangelical broadcaster, will appear at the Mellon Arena. The two events highlight the importance of religion in this race and in the broader national struggle between parties eager to appeal to "the values voter," that many analysts saw as a decisive factor in the 2004 presidential race.”

IRS. Rector Ponders Next Move in IRS Showdown – “The Rev. Ed Bacon is facing one of the biggest dilemmas of his ecclesiastical career: Should he turn over voluminous parish records demanded by the Internal Revenue Service, or resist and risk losing tax-exempt status for his church?”

Op-Ed. Independence Days - “American politics reached a critical turn last week. The revolt of several Republican senators against President Bush's insistence on a free hand in treating terrorist detainees signaled the emergence of an independent force in elections and government.” (David Broder, Washington Post)

Feature. From dawn to dusk, the struggle of Africa's women – “Women work two-thirds of Africa's working hours, and produce 70 per cent of its food, yet earn only 10 per cent of its income, and own less than 1 per cent of its property. … African women's health is particularly poor. Only 37 per cent survive to the age of 65, … In Africa, one in three children does not go to school. Two thirds of the 40 million non-attenders are girls and the illiteracy among women in places such as Mozambique is double that of men. Yet, as Asia has shown, when girls are educated, they marry later, have fewer children and their incomes rise. Economic productivity grows, infant mortality is halved, deaths in childbirth fall, birth rates slow, child malnutrition is halved, general nutrition and health improve and the spread of HIV is reduced.”

Part five of a dialogue between Jim Wallis and former Christian Coalition leader Ralph Reed on the question: "What should values voters value most?"

I agree, Ralph. Let’s talk about public policy. I’m not going to respond point-by-point, but I’ll highlight several where we fundamentally disagree.

You note the good works of charity that many conservative Christians carry out. That is certainly true, and I commend all those efforts. But charity is not justice – that’s where good public policies come in. Churches were among the first to respond in service to the victims of Hurricane Katrina, more effectively than the government. But churches can’t rebuild the levees of New Orleans or provide health insurance for 47 million Americans who don’t have it.

You praise the 1996 welfare reform by noting that it moved “8 million people from welfare to work.” It did that. But, as Chicago Tribune columnist Clarence Page noted on the anniversary of that law, “Unfortunately, a disturbing number of former welfare recipients have merely moved to the ranks of the ‘working poor,’ still struggling to make ends meet with a subpoverty income.” And that trend is accelerating; there are now 37 million Americans living below the poverty line – five and a half million more than when George Bush took office.

We need public policies committed to the proposition that people who work shouldn’t be poor. Those working responsibly should have a living family income which provides a decent standard of living. This requires policies that provide support for transportation, child care, nutrition, health care, and other basic needs.

You go on to praise the president’s faith-based initiative which you say aided “faith-based organizations delivering social services to the poor.” Again, Ralph, there’s the difference between charity and justice. I supported the faith-based initiative, and in the first two years of the administration, met several times with President Bush and his advisors at the White House. I do believe there is a role for partnerships between government and FBOs. But then we saw policies that matched tax cuts for the wealthiest with budget cuts to the very services faith-based organizations were trying to provide.

I led a delegation of religious leaders to visit the White House domestic policy advisers in the summer of 2003. We delivered a letter to the president signed by 34 leaders, including those – such as the Salvation Army and Christian Community Development Association – who run the organizations you’re praising. We said in that letter, “We believe a lack of focus on the poor in the critical areas of budget priorities and tax policy is creating a crisis for low-income people. We believe the budget your administration has put forward fails to protect and promote the well being of our poorest and most vulnerable citizens. The tax cut just passed by the Congress with your support provides virtually no help for those at the bottom of the economic ladder, while those at the top reap windfalls. The resulting spending cuts, at both federal and state levels, in the critical areas of health care, education, and social services, will fall heaviest on the poor. Budgets are moral documents.”

Three years later, that is even more true. So last year we launched another “Budgets are moral documents” campaign trying to stave off further cuts in basic services to those in poverty. It culminated with the arrest of 115 religious people praying on the steps of a House Office Building the week before Christmas. Among those was 75-year old John Perkins – the founder and longtime president of the Christian Community Development Association – and one of the saints of Christian ministry to the poor. John knows that we need justice, not only charity.

And then there’s the war in Iraq. You start with a paragraph on terrorism, with which I would mostly agree. But then you slide into the false connection of a defense of the war in Iraq as part of a “war on terrorism.” Come on, Ralph, virtually no one except George Bush and Dick Cheney believes that any more. You go way back to the Iraq war against Iran, but don’t mention that the Reagan administration supported Saddam Hussein in that war. Remember the famous (now infamous) photo of Donald Rumsfeld shaking hands with Saddam in 1983? You note Iraq’s use of chemical weapons, but fail to note that the U.S. provided battlefield intelligence for the Iraqi regime. Back then, he was accomplishing the U.S. objective of weakening Iran.

I was against Saddam Hussein before the U.S. government was. But this disastrous war, which grows more deadly violent every day for Iraqis and American troops, is far from a success in fighting terrorism. And many now believe, including a chorus of tough-minded former military leaders, that Iraq has become a great distraction from the real battle against terrorism and has even made things worse. It has created and exacerbated terrorism and helped inflame anti-American sentiment around the world. Did you see the latest U.N. report on Iraq in this morning’s news? The New York Times wrote that: “Across the country, the report found, 3,590 civilians were killed in July — the highest monthly total on record — and 3,009 more were killed in August.” And the Los Angeles Times noted that “a top U.S. military spokesman said attacks against American troops had increased recently.” There are now nearly 2,700 American deaths. Yet, we’re told that the threat to America from terrorists is greater than ever. Bush’s policies have made the world more dangerous, not less, and he has made our children less safe, not more.

Finally, you write of those who “work on the single issue of protecting the state of Israel.” I am a strong supporter of Israel – its people have the fundamental right to live in peace and security without the fear of terrorist attacks. But it’s another thing to ignore the same right of the Palestinian people, including Palestinian Christians, living under the Israeli occupation. You (and many of your conservative friends) forget about them.

So, yes, Ralph, let’s debate public policy. And as Christians, let’s look for policies that are grounded in biblical principles of justice rather than in Republican ideology.

TONIGHT: JIM WALLIS on the CBS EVENING NEWS WITH KATIE COURIC: Tune in tonight for a feature segment with Jim Wallis and Tony Perkins (of the Family Research Council) talking about the moral direction of the United States.

The only thing that counts is faith working through love.

- Galatians 5:6b

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For every gain in deep certitude there is a corresponding growth of superficial "doubt." This doubt is by no means opposed to genuine faith, but it mercilessly examines and questions the spurious "faith" of everyday life, the human faith which is nothing but the passive acceptance of conventional opinion.

- Thomas Merton, in New Seeds of Contemplation

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United Nations. “The intensifying war of words between Iran and the United States reached the floor of the United Nations last night when the Iranian president accused America and Britain of violating international law.”

Global poverty. “Over two-thirds of the world's 50 poorest countries are experiencing increases in extreme poverty.”

Religion. “Evangelical Christianity, born in England and nurtured in the United States, is leaving home. Most evangelicals now live in China, South Korea, India, Africa and Latin America, where they are transforming their religion.”

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Full news summary:

United Nations. At U.N., Bush Urges Reform in Middle East – “President Bush called for Muslims and other residents of the Middle East to reject extremism and empower "voices of moderation," offering the latest defense of his "freedom agenda" that has rankled allies abroad and drawn criticism from Democrats at home.”

Iran's Leader Says U.N. Controlled by U.S., Israel – “Iran's president told the United Nations that the organization had become a tool used by the world's powerful to oppress the weak, and called for a radical overhaul.” Iran labels US a lawbreaker – “The intensifying war of words between Iran and the United States reached the floor of the United Nations last night when the Iranian president accused America and Britain of violating international law.” Leaders Spar Over Iran's Aims and U.S. Power – “President Bush and President Mahmoud Ahmadinejad of Iran, separated by several hours and oceans of perspective, clashed at the United Nations over Iran’s nuclear ambitions and each other’s place in the world.”

Iran. U.S. Policy on Iran Evolves Toward Diplomacy – “With the United States ensnarled in an increasingly difficult campaign in Iraq, war is no longer a viable option. Instead, the administration is struggling with the difficult and messy business of diplomacy.” Nobel winner says feminist movements, not military force, holds key to democracy in Iran - “Shirin Ebadi, the Iranian human rights activist who won the Nobel Peace Prize in 2003, said supporting feminist movements in the Islamic world would better promote democracy than military force.”

Darfur. Sudan Rejects Request To Allow U.N. Troops: Bush Calls for Assistance From NATO – “Sudanese President Omar Hassan al-Bashir dismissed pleas from President Bush, U.N. Secretary General Kofi Annan and other Western leaders to allow a force of 20,000 U.N. peacekeepers into the violence-wracked Darfur region.” Bush and Sudan’s Leader at Odds Over Sending U.N. Troops to Calm Darfur – “Mr. Bashir suggested that while he was adamant about barring the United Nations, he would consider a continuation of the African Union force, whose mandate expires this month, with added logistical and equipment help from the outside.” In Darfur, 10 days and counting – “Deadlines have a way of bringing crises into focus. For Darfur, Sept. 30 is the day. That's the date an African Union peacekeeping force is supposed to pull out, to be replaced by a United Nations force three times its size.” (Chicago Tribune editorial)

Global poverty. Over two-thirds of the world's 50 poorest countries are experiencing increases in extreme poverty - “A day before world leaders gather for their annual meeting, the U.N. General Assembly held a high-level session to focus on progress toward implementing a 10-year action plan for the least developed countries adopted in 2001. The verdict from the countries themselves was unsatisfactory.”

Iraq. '06 Cuts In Iraq Troops Unlikely - -The U.S. military is unlikely to reduce forces in Iraq before next spring because the current contingent of more than 140,000 troops is battling sectarian violence that could prove "fatal" to the country if not arrested, the top American commander for the Middle East said yesterday.” Doubts Increase About Strength of Iraq's Premier – “Senior Iraqi and American officials are beginning to question whether Prime Minister Nuri Kamal al-Maliki has the political muscle and decisiveness to hold Iraq together as it hovers on the edge of a full civil war.”

Red Letter Christians. Group asks: What did Jesus say? – “The press conference at the National Press Club was held by the new Red Letter Christians network, Christian communicators who say they want to change how Christians influence the national public policy debate. … What would Jesus do? is a line popular among Christians. The RLCs add a new wrinkle, a new way for assessing policy and political candidates: What did Jesus say?” (Frank James on Chicago Tribune blog)

Pope Benedict and Islam. Pope Backlash Deals Blow to Interfaith Ties – “The enraged response to the pope's speech last week, in which he quoted a 14th century Byzantine emperor who regarded teachings of Muhammad as "evil and inhuman," has dealt a stinging blow to decades of efforts by the Roman Catholic Church and others to ease tensions and open lines of communication between Muslims.” Pope Benedict XVI and Islam – “… it is regrettable that in the midst of a well-worked out (of course) formal speech at the University of Regensburg in Germany, his old academic turf, the pope lapsed for a moment and did what we tenured folk sometimes do--and remember, the pope has lifetime tenure--we come up with an allusion that gets us in trouble, let a side point take center stage or fail to count the cost of a remark.” (Martin E. Marty, professor emeritus at the University of Chicago Divinity School.)

Feature: Capital punishment. 'I'm ready' – “The last words of the 376 prisoners executed in Texas since 1982 are faithfully recorded on the state justice department's website. … we publish edited extracts from the site … The statements are hard to read. They are at once public and very private. They are domestic. They ask partners to care for soon-to-be fatherless children. There is a lot of love - for friends, supporters, partners, already grieving parents. There is guilt. They are overwhelmingly religious.” (The Guardian)

Religion. Evangelical Christianity shifting outside West – “Evangelical Christianity, born in England and nurtured in the United States, is leaving home. Most evangelicals now live in China, South Korea, India, Africa and Latin America, where they are transforming their religion. In various ways, they are making evangelical Christianity at once more conservative and more liberal. They are infusing it with local traditions and practices. And they are even sending "reverse missionaries" to Europe and the United States.”

Backstory: 'St. Jack' hits the religious right – “Former Sen. Jack Danforth, an ordained priest and GOP elder … has a new ambition: rescuing his beloved Republican Party and country from what he sees as a great danger - the too-intimate fusing of religion with politics. And his crusade is causing a stir within GOP circles because of who he is…”

Getting reasonable about faith – “Through dialogue and debate between our various faiths, regions and tribes, we can cut through the myths and stereotypes to educate one another as to who we really are, what offends us and what legacies of history have shaped our present-day attitudes. Ultimately, we tend to learn that we have a lot more in common than we have that is different. I'll leave the theological arguments to the experts, but as far as intergroup relations go, I turn to the gospel according to Aretha Franklin: You begin with R-E-S-P-E-C-T.” (Clarence Page, Chicago Tribune)

A Christian view of war – “What would Jesus do in Iraq? He'd offer compassion, he'd feed the hungry, he'd even pray for the enemies. What he'd really do is give American Christians — Republicans and Democrats alike — something to think about.” (Oliver “Buzz” Thomas, minister and author in Tennessee)

Quote of the Day

"Instead of bringing democracy with cluster bombs, we should support women fighting for democracy." Shirin Ebadi, Iranian human rights activist who won the Nobel Peace Prize in 2003. (Associated Press)

Part four of a dialogue between Jim Wallis and former Christian Coalition leader Ralph Reed on the question: "What should values voters value most?"

Jim, I fear you have been paying only selective attention to religious conservatives. Conservative people of faith care about a broad range of issues, including tax relief, education, poverty, racial reconciliation, crime and drugs, welfare reform…and, yes, protecting innocent human life and defending marriage.

The Christian Coalition for instance, not only pushed for a ban on partial birth abortion but also for rebuilding African-American churches burned by arsonists motivated by racial bigotry. We worked for passage of a $500 per child tax credit for middle-class, working families – which Bill Clinton opposed and vetoed twice—and tax credits for charitable giving to the poor. We also worked for the most sweeping reform of the welfare system since the New Deal, moving 8 million people from welfare to work and replacing a culture of dependency with self-reliance and dignity. These aren’t narrowly focused issues, they are broad issues of human decency.

The pro-family movement has worked with U.S. Senators like Sam Brownback and Rick Santorum on foreign policy issues such as strongly supporting Israel and opposing genocide in Darfur. They were also critical to the passage of legislation creating a religious freedom office at the White House to monitor the violation of human rights based on religious beliefs around the world.

Religious conservatives gave strong support to President Bush’s faith-based initiative, which ended the discrimination against faith-based organizations delivering social services to the poor. My wife and I are involved in SafeHouse Outreach in Atlanta, which reaches over 300,000 people a year with after-school care, GED equivalency classes, and job training and placement. Chuck Colson and Prison Fellowship work every day in prisons and jails all over the world to bring new hope to convicts, and to reduce the overall crime rate and recidivism through redemptive justice. These unheralded acts of compassion are a vital witness of faith. They hardly constitute a narrow agenda.

The war on terrorism is clearly another issue with profound moral dimensions. We face an enemy that is committed to the destruction of our civilization and denies basic human rights that we believe are God-given. Their targets are grandmothers at wedding receptions in Tel Aviv, families on holiday in Sharm el-Sheike, commuters in Madrid, and office workers in Manhattan and Washington. These extremists will use any form of violence and target any innocent person to advance evil. The United States and its allies are correct in opposing terrorists and the regimes that harbor and fund them.

Saddam Hussein presided over such a regime. He invaded Iran (causing over 1 million casualties), invaded Kuwait, fired missiles into Israel and Saudi Arabia, harbored terrorists like Abu Nidal, and paid cash bounties to homicide bombers. According to the Dalfour report, he planned to reconstitute his banned weapons program once the sanctions regime collapsed. He paid $10 million to the North Korea government for long-range missile technology in violation of U.N. sanctions that would have enabled him to fire a weapon into European capitals. He used chemical weapons against his victims, including some of the 300,000 innocent Iraqis who lie in mass graves. The fact that this dictator is now on trial in a free Iraq is a just outcome in the war on terror.

By any objective measure, the religious conservative agenda seeks to enrich, strengthen and respect human life. Their witness of faith is part of what is right about politics in America, and most of the complaint against them is political fodder.

As for your proposal that people of good will work together to reduce abortion, I strongly support such policies. That is one reason why I support abstinence, Woman’s Right to Know and parental consent laws, because states that have adopted these measures have seen their number of abortions decline. But John Kerry will not win the support of pro-life Americans by pledging as he did this week to reduce abortion when he voted against a ban on partial-birth abortion (which Daniel Patrick Moynihan properly called infanticide) and has threatened to filibuster federal court nominees who do not pledge in advance to uphold Roe v. Wade.

I read the recent speeches by liberal Democrats on faith in the civic arena. I applaud them for speaking authentically about their faith. We need more discussions of faith in public life, not fewer. But their rhetoric does not always match their record. I hope that Kerry, Barak Obama and other liberal Democrats understand that pro-family Americans don’t have a quarrel with their faith; they have a sincere disagreement with them on public policy.

After all, they voted against Jimmy Carter, a genuinely committed evangelical Christian, and supported Ronald Reagan, the first divorced man to ever be elected President. Why? Because they agreed with Reagan on the need to grow the economy, strengthen national defense, and promote conservative values.

Therein lies the Democrats’ dilemma. A recent survey by the Pew Research Center found that only 26 percent of Americans think the Democratic Party is “friendly” to religion. That’s a drop of 16 points in just three years. What Amy Sullivan calls “the Democrats’ crumbling credibility on religion” can only be repaired by a change in governing philosophy, not by campaign rhetoric.

And, contrary to your view, I have no problem with people of faith addressing a single issue that is a matter of conscience. The fact that liberals were motivated primarily by civil rights and Vietnam in the 1960’s is hardly an indictment of their movement---it was evidence of their social conscience and a sign of their effectiveness.

Many Jews and Christians in the United States are members of organizations that work on the single issue of protecting the state of Israel. That is a noble goal. The same is true of pro-life and pro-marriage organizations, and civil rights organizations. The Anti-slavery Society of the 1840’s was motivated by moral fervor and profound sense of right and wrong, and some might say it focused on a “narrow agenda.” Yet abolishing slavery was a moral imperative.

That is why I hope you and I can have a constructive dialogue based not on criticizing this constituency or that for whether their agenda is narrow or broad, but whether it promotes sound public policy.

Do you agree, Jim?

For justice will return to the righteous, and all the upright in heart will follow it. Who rises up for me against the wicked? Who stands up for me against evildoers? If the Lord had not been my help, my soul would soon have lived in the land of silence. When I thought, "My foot is slipping," your steadfast love, O Lord, held me up. When the cares of my heart are many, your consolations cheer my soul.

- Psalm 94:15-19

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If people have a position on something and you try to argue them into changing it, you're going to strengthen that position. If you want to change people's ideas, you shouldn't try to convince them intellectually. What you need to do is get them into a situation where they'll have to act on ideas, not argue about them.

- Myles Horton

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Bush at the UN. On Darfur, “Mr. Bush urged Sudanese leaders to approve a peacekeeping force there to end what his administration has called genocide.”

Red Letter Christians. Sojourners/Call to Renewal launched “Red Letter Christians,” a group of progressive Christian communicators broadening the discussion of “moral values.”

Faith Based Initiative. “The Bush administration's faith-based initiative is reaching only a tiny percentage of the nation's black churches, most of which have limited capacity to run social programs.”

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Full news summary:

Bush at the UN. Bush Makes Direct Appeal to Iranians in U.N. Speech – “President Bush appealed today to the people of Iran to take control of their future and said their leaders were squandering resources on nuclear weapons ambitions, but he hastened to add that the United States was pursuing a diplomatic solution to the crisis over Iran’s nuclear program. … With respect to Darfur, Mr. Bush urged Sudanese leaders to approve a peacekeeping force there to end what his administration has called genocide.” “Mr Bush said that if the Khartoum authorities did not do so quickly, the UN had to act. "Your lives and the United Nation's credibility are at stake," he added, addressing the people of Darfur.” Transcript: Bush at the U.N.

Darfur. Bush to Name Envoy for Darfur.- “President Bush has decided to name Andrew Natsios, a former administrator of the U.S. Agency for International Development, as his special envoy for Darfur in the hope of reviving a diplomatic effort…” Good editorials in the Washington Post - The Genocide Test and the New York Times - Take the Lead on Darfur

Red Letter Christians. Liberal evangelicals begin campaign – “Liberal evangelicals, weary of a Republican-centric image, launched a campaign Monday to promote Christian values beyond the issues of abortion and same-sex marriage." Religious left to reclaim its faith – “Fourteen activists, some of whom portrayed themselves as disenchanted evangelicals, announced the formation of "Red Letter Christians," a group that says it bases its actions and political philosophy on the words of Jesus, which appear in red lettering in some versions of the Bible.” The “ Red Letter Christians” is a project of Sojourners/Call to Renewal.

Faith and Politics. Kerry Talks of Loss, Renewal of His Faith– “In a speech he said he wishes he had given before the 2004 presidential election, Sen. John F. Kerry (D-Mass.) yesterday described his religious life in greater candor and detail than ever before.”Kerry urges cooperation to reduce abortions – “Kerry called for a new national commitment to reduce the number of abortions, saying that both sides on the abortion debate can reach “common ground" on the sharply divisive cultural issue. Transcript: John Kerry’s speech on faith

Pasadena Church May Fight IRS Summons – “A liberal Pasadena church facing an IRS investigation over alleged politicking sounded a defiant note Sunday, with its leaders and many congregants saying the probe amounted to an assault on their constitutional rights and that they were inclined to defy the agency's request for documents.”

Iran. France Now Opposes Iran Punishments – “As world leaders converged at the United Nations, French President Jacques Chirac dealt a significant blow to the Bush administration's effort to slow Iran's nuclear development, saying his government would join Russia and China in resisting the U.S. push for sanctions against Tehran.” Iran's Freeze on Enrichment Could Wait, France Suggests – “In an effort to jump-start formal negotiations between six world powers and Iran over its nuclear program, President Jacques Chirac of France suggested that Iran would not have to freeze major nuclear activities until the talks began.”

Torture. McCain Stand Comes at a Price – “Battling Bush over rules for detainee treatment, senator jeopardizes his courtship of the right. “This very definitely is going to put a chilling effect on the tremendous strides he has made in the conservative evangelical community," said the Rev. Louis P. Sheldon, chairman of the Traditional Values Coalition.” Bush Detainee Plan Adds to World Doubts Of U.S., Powell Says – “Former secretary of state Colin L. Powell said that he decided to publicly oppose the Bush administration's proposed rules for the treatment of terrorism suspects in part because the plan would add to growing doubts about whether the United States adheres to its own moral code.” Experts Say Bush's Goal in Terrorism Bill Is Latitude for Interrogators' Methods – “In his showdown with rebellious Senate Republicans over bills to bring terrorism suspects to trial, President Bush has repeatedly called for clarity in the rules for what he calls “alternative interrogation techniques” used by the CIA.” Faith Based Initiative. Few Black Churches Get Funds – “The Bush administration's faith-based initiative is reaching only a tiny percentage of the nation's black churches, most of which have limited capacity to run social programs, hampering the initiative's promise of empowering those congregations to help the needy… The national survey of 750 black churches by the Joint Center for Political and Economic Studies found that fewer than 3 percent are participating in the program.”

Poverty in NYC. To Fight Poverty, Bloomberg Plans Tax Credits and Rewards - “In an effort to reduce the city’s high poverty rate, the Bloomberg administration plans to offer tax credits to impoverished families to offset child care costs and cash rewards to encourage poor people to stay in school and receive preventive medical care.”

Op Ed. Poverty's Changing Faces – “The recently released poverty data paint a grim picture of life in America. Once again the U.S. Census Bureau tells us that 37 million people -- one of every 12 residents -- is living hand-to-mouth in the United States. … Although the size of the poverty population has been fairly stable, its composition has not been. ... The reality of our poverty population is constant churn. Some people fall into poverty every year, and just about as many escape its clutches.” (By Bradley R. Schiller, professor of economics at American University and author of "The Economics of Poverty and Discrimination.")

Quote of the Day.

“If the Sudanese government does not approve this peacekeeping force quickly, the United Nations must act.” President Bush on Darfur to the UN General Assembly (New York Times)

Part three of a dialogue between Jim Wallis and former Christian Coalition leader Ralph Reed on the question: "What should values voters value most?"

You raise several interesting lines of thought in your response, Ralph. Let me try to address some of them.

My point that the Religious Right only focuses on one or two issues is not a “straw man.” I’ve looked at the promotional material and program for the “Values Voters” conference this weekend in Washington. The major opening plenary session is titled “The Preservation Of Traditional Marriage” and the website promotes a book titled “The Party of Death,” which claims to detail “how left-wing radicals, using abortion as their lever, took over the Democratic Party-and how they have used their power to corrupt our law and politics.”

And I saw several comments here to your post. One said, “I grew up in an evangelical right-wing conservative denomination, and have been a minister in it for the past decade. I have been troubled by my tradition for several years over many things. If conservatives have a huge agenda and are not based on 2 issues, I've never seen it.” Another person wrote: “As one who grew up in an independent Baptist church and who has an extended family deeply rooted in the Nazarene church, I can assure you that among such religious conservatives there are only two or three hot button issues: abortion, gay marriage, and school prayer.”

Some of your friends on the Religious Right do have private charitable agendas. But their political agenda is still mostly about two issues. That’s what they talk about, that’s what they mobilize around, and that’s what they use to the partisan advantage of Republicans. I heartily agree that many evangelicals now have a much broader agenda and that is precisely the point.

The Religious Right has now lost control of the evangelical political agenda and here’s why.

One year after the television images of Katrina were seared into our minds, thirty-seven million Americans still live in poverty, left out and left behind. Globally, thirty-thousand children die needlessly every day from hunger and disease. Certainly poverty is a moral value, and it clearly is for a new generation of evangelicals.

Despite official indifference and denial, the future of our fragile environment is in jeopardy as global warming continues unchecked. Caring for the earth that sustains us is also a moral value which young evangelicals now call “creation care.”

Insisting on full humanity and dignity for all people by opposing discrimination and oppression for ethnic or racial reasons, whether intentionally or due to systemic structures, is a moral imperative. Racism, human rights, sex trafficking, and genocide in places like Darfur are all now clearly on the Christian agenda.

Twenty-six hundred Americans and tens of thousands of Iraqis are now dead. Daily violence continues to spiral out of control. The cost and consequences of a disastrous war, that many now believe is a distraction from the real fight against terrorism, is a moral issue. And attacking the war’s opponents as appeasers does not answer the hard questions.

But you still don’t see many of the issues above on the political agenda of the Religious Right. In fact, some leaders of the Religious Right have tried to keep issues like the environment and poverty off the evangelical agenda for fear they would distract from same-sex marriage and abortion.

The serious breakdown of both family and community in our society must be addressed. But we need serious solutions, not merely scapegoating others.

And wouldn’t coming together to find common ground in reducing the number of abortions be better than both the left and the right using it as a political litmus test?

The desire for integrity in our government is growing across the political spectrum. Corruption in government - how money and power distort and misguide our political decision-making and even our electoral processes – offends basic values. In a political culture with seemingly never-ending scandals, our values should insist on securing both electoral and lobbying reform, and ending how pork barrel spending and special interests sway policy decisions.

As I travel around the country, I find that the American people are weary of the left/right battle lines but are hungry for a “moral center” in politics, one that the media pundits cannot simply pigeonhole with the worn-out labels of liberal or conservative. We need a new dialogue that goes beyond those categories. I’ll come back to that point in my next post.

You ask about the Democrats on marriage and abortion. When I say that parenting has become a counter-cultural activity in America, all parents nod their heads--both liberal and conservative. But neither party has a genuinely pro-family agenda. The Democrats, as you point out, make a big mistake of not speaking the language of family values while Republicans have only an anti-gay marriage agenda, not a comprehensive family friendly platform that especially takes the needs of America’s working families into account. And abortion is a moral issues that Democrats should address (and are beginning to), but so is a consistent ethic of life (as the Catholics say) which Republicans violate by focusing only on abortion and ignoring so many of the other greatest threats to human life and dignity.

The real problem with Democrats is not their views on specific issues, but their reluctance to speak of their position on issues in moral or religious language. That is now changing ­ Sen. Barack Obama delivered a major speech on faith and politics at our conference this summer, Robert Casey spoke here in Washington last week, and Sen. John Kerry offered his yesterday. The American people want our elected officials make the deep connection between moral values and politics.

It¹s time to build a nation with a new set of moral priorities that advances the common good for all Americans and speaks in the language of values. But the moral agenda must be broader and deeper than the one the Religious Right continually poses. And a new dialogue on moral values could take us beyond the old liberal/conservative political straightjacket and truly move our nation forward. Do you agree Ralph?

We know that we have passed from death to life because we love one another. Whoever does not love abides in death. All who hate a brother or sister are murderers, and you know that murderers do not have eternal life abiding in them. We know love by this, that [Jesus] laid down his life for us—and we ought to lay down our lives for one another. How does God's love abide in anyone who has the world's goods and sees a brother or sister in need and yet refuses help? Little children, let us love, not in word or speech, but in truth and action.

- 1 John 3:14-18

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We cannot love God unless we love each other, and to love we must know each other. We know [God] in the breaking of bread, and we are not alone any more. Heaven is a banquet and life is a banquet, too, even with a crust, where there is companionship.

- Dorothy Day

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Darfur. “A global day of action is held calling for peace in Darfur... Activists rallied in several major cities, calling on Sudan to allow UN peacekeepers into Darfur, where tens of thousands of people have been killed.”

Interrogation. “President Bush’s national security adviser signaled on Sunday that he was seeking a compromise with the Republican senators who are rebelling against the administration’s proposal to explicitly permit certain severe interrogation practices against terrorism suspects.”

Faith and Politics. “Both religious flanks are looking nervously over their shoulders at the Internal Revenue Service, which this year announced a renewed effort to enforce laws that limit churches and charities from involvement in partisan political campaigns.”

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Full news summary:

Darfur. World rallies for peace in Darfur – “A global day of action is held calling for peace in Darfur… Activists rallied in several major cities, calling on Sudan to allow UN peacekeepers into Darfur, where tens of thousands of people have been killed.” Global Protests Call for Intervention - “In New York, a crowd in Central Park estimated by organizers at about 20,000 demanded that the Bush administration pressure the Sudanese government to stop the killings and displacements in Darfur and to allow a U.N. peacekeeping force to enter the country.” UK faith leaders pray for Darfur – “Religious leaders pray for peace in Darfur outside Downing Street as part of an international day of action.” UN hears outcry to act soon on Darfur - “World leaders will have their pick of trouble spots to focus on when they gather this week at the United Nations, but the area that both human-rights activists and U.S. officials say is in urgent need of decisive action is the Darfur region of Sudan.” As Peace Mission Nears End, War in Sudan Intensifies – “As the African Union prepares to abandon its troubled peace mission to Darfur, the region is descending ever more steeply into war.”

Peacekeeping. Peacekeeping Grows, Strains U.N. – “The United Nations is set to field its largest peacekeeping enterprise in its 61-year history, with more than 100,000 troops and police to be deployed by year's end in missions around the world.”

Interrogation. Compromise Called Possible on Interrogations – “President Bush’s national security adviser signaled on Sunday that he was seeking a compromise with the Republican senators who are rebelling against the administration’s proposal to explicitly permit certain severe interrogation practices against terrorism suspects.” Why GOP trio is bucking the White House – “For the Bush White House, this week's showdown with the Senate over US treatment of detainees sets up a rematch with a triumvirate of GOP senators who have been the president's strongest supporters in the war in Iraq - and his most effective critics.”

Iran. Two Tracks on Iran: Keep Talking, and Weigh Penalties – “After intense talks about Iran’s nuclear program, the United States and other major world powers face two unappealing choices as the United Nations General Assembly opens this week: introduce a resolution in the Security Council for sanctions against Tehran that may not be tough enough to make a difference, or delay any punitive measures, rendering their diplomacy on Iran meaningless.”

Faith and Politics. I.R.S. Eyes Religious Groups as More Enter Election Fray – “Both religious flanks are looking nervously over their shoulders at the Internal Revenue Service, which this year announced a renewed effort to enforce laws that limit churches and charities from involvement in partisan political campaigns.” IRS Orders Pasadena Church to Yield Documents on '04 Political Races – “Stepping up its probe of allegedly improper campaigning by churches, the Internal Revenue Service ordered a liberal Pasadena parish to turn over all the documents and e-mails it produced during the 2004 election year with references to political candidates.”

Rally here a first, testing Dobson's appeal in region – “James Dobson, the evangelical radio psychologist and powerful conservative activist, will be at Mellon Arena Wednesday for the first major Religious Right event ever held in Pittsburgh, and the first Stand for the Family Rally outside the South and the Plains states.”

Poverty. Poverty rates rise in many suburbs – “In much of suburban Chicago, poverty rates are rising, according to information released by the U.S. Census Bureau late last month.”

Pope Benedict and Islam. In a Rare Step, Pope Expresses Personal Regret – “Pope Benedict XVI sought Sunday to extinguish days of anger and protest among Muslims by issuing an extraordinary personal apology for having caused offense with a speech last week that cited a reference to Islam as “evil and inhuman.”

Rev. Forbes to retire. Minister of Riverside Church to Step Down – “Dr. [James] Forbes told that congregation yesterday that he planned to retire in June after 18 years as senior minister. He said in an interview that he wanted to concentrate on a new ministry aimed at “maximizing the witness for spiritual revitalization and the nation’s spiritual revitalization.”

Op-Eds

JAMES CARROLL: Judge, jury, and torturer – “ … the White House argument is straightforward: terrorists are such a mortal threat that established due process must be suspended. In particular, the classified secrets of anti terrorist operations must be so closely held that the most basic pillar of jurisprudence -- the accused's right to know and respond to evidence -- must be discarded. The legislation was drafted by Franz Kafka.”

JOSEPH CIRINCIONE: Lost chances to contain nuclear arms – “In recent years, stopping the spread of nuclear weapons has been a major preoccupation of US foreign policy. But what if our best efforts fail? What if Iran gets the nuclear bomb? Or if a North Korean nuclear test vaporizes any doubts of its arsenal?”

This week I welcome Ralph Reed, the former director of the Christian Coalition and one of the most articulate leaders of America’s Religious Right, to be my first dialogue partner on God’s Politics. We will post our comments and responses to each other, back and forth, all week long--and you can read it all right here.

As you know Ralph, since the 2004 election, the term “values voters” has become a mainstay of the political discussion – and we’re hearing it again this fall. But the discussion has been generally used by its proponents (and the media) to describe one specific kind of voter – a conservative, white, evangelical, Republican. But that is now changing quite dramatically. Because, of course, many voters (maybe even most) are “values voters” – that who they vote for and why are determined by their values.

I believe a debate on moral values should be central in American politics. The question is, of course, which values? Whose values? And how should we define moral values? The problem is when one side of the political spectrum (your side) tries to define values as meaning only two things – opposition to same-sex marriage and criminalizing abortion. And while those two have become “wedge issues” that your side has effectively used for quite partisan purposes, many of the pressing problems our society confronts have an essential moral character. Issues regarding the sacredness of life and family values are indeed very important, and need a much deeper moral discussion; but there is also a broader moral agenda that reflects all the values Americans care about.

So it is actually arrogant to assume that only two issues involve moral values. And it is hubris to say that only those people with a conservative political position on those two issues are voting based on values. What should be valued most is a broader and deeper view of a politics grounded in all our values. What really appeals to the most basic moral concerns of Americans? A deeper discussion of both political principles and issues has the capability of really uniting a large number of people. Ralph?

Part two of a dialogue between Jim Wallis and former Christian Coalition leader Ralph Reed on the question: "What should values voters value most?"

Jim, you make the point that there are many issues of moral concern beyond marriage and abortion. I don't think there is a disagreement between liberals and conservatives of faith on this point. Pro-family leaders have worked tirelessly on a range of foreign policy issues, including ending genocide in the Sudan, support for Israel, and promoting human rights in China. Walter Russell Mead, the Henry Kissinger Senior Fellow at the Council on Foreign Relations, points this out in an outstanding article on the impact of religion on U.S. foreign policy in Foreign Affairs.

The claim that religious conservatives focus on one or two issues or somehow believe that other issues lack a moral component is a straw man. Conservative people of faith have worked on a broad agenda, including anti-poverty measures and minority home ownership. Nearly 2 million minority families have purchased their first home under President Bush's home ownership initiative.

One challenge we face in the dialogue about faith is the tendency to focus on controversy over healing and reconciliation. Where religion and politics intersect, the media spotlight generates more heat than light. If a religious leader speaks out on gay rights, media coverage is extensive and often sensational. But when Franklin Graham helps tsunami victims or the Southern Baptist Convention assists Hurricane Katrina victims, there is scant press coverage. So we must do more to raise the profile of works of compassion outside the prevailing stereotype that defines religious folk engaged in public life.

Yet people of faith must address the central moral questions of our time. As Taylor Branch so accurately portrays in the third and final volume of his history of the civil rights movement, the central moral issues of the 1960's were civil rights and Vietnam. Martin Luther King?s decision (contrary to many other civil rights leaders) to voice his opposition to the Vietnam War was highly controversial. Slavery was the dominant moral issue in the pre-Civil War period, and religious leaders and all Americans had no choice but to confront it.

In our own time, issues of life are prominent in our politics, especially since Roe v. Wade. Religious conservatives did not create this issue and did not seek it out to benefit the Republican Party; indeed, most of them were Democrats until the 1980's. But the nation's conscience is unsettled by one out of every three pregnancies ending in the death of an unborn child, and people of faith should address it persistently and prominently. And when the courts began to impose a redefinition of marriage, people of faith were right to speak out consistent with their beliefs and values.

In the end, what separates religious conservatives from their liberal coreligionists is not a broad versus a narrow agenda, but rather a liberal versus a conservative agenda. We differ on the war on terrorism, how best to alleviate poverty, and the appointment of judges. We bring to those discussions not only our theology but our philosophy of governance and personal political leanings. Taking one side or another on these issues does not make one a better Christian, Jew or Muslim. Hopefully, our faith causes us to take positions as a matter of conscience, and faith should also bring a measure of civility and mutual respect to the discussion that is all too often lacking in our public discourse.

Our faith should cause us to pursue what is right as we can best understand it with a measure of humility. For now, we can only know in part and understand in part. We are flawed and imperfect vehicles seeking to do God's will. We should acknowledge it more often.

Jim, isn't there a connection between the reticence of liberals toaddress abortion and marriage as moral issues and the view held by manyAmericans that the Democratic Party is unsympathetic to their religious concerns?

[God] has told you, O mortal, what is good; and what does the Lord require of you but to do justice, and to love kindness, and to walk humbly with your God?

- Micah 6:8


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The church must be reminded that it is not the master or the servant of the state, but rather the conscience of the state. It must be the guide and the critic of the state, and never its tool. If the church does not recapture its prophetic zeal, it will become an irrelevant social club without moral or spiritual authority.

- Martin Luther King Jr., from The Strength to Love

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I want to welcome you to the first edition of “God’s Politics”--The Blog--a new project done in an exciting partnership between Sojourners and Beliefnet. The God’s Politics Blog will provide fresh conversation about faith, politics, and society--every day-- from “Jim Wallis and friends.” We’ve assembled an extraordinary group of writers and voices to help with the God’s Politics Blog, including Brian McLaren, Amy Sullivan, Noel Castellanos, Robert Franklin, Diana Butler Bass, Obery Hendricks, Sister Helen Prejean, Ron Sider, Tony Campolo and others still being added.

And then there’s you! We invite all of you to the fast moving discussion that is spreading across the country and the globe about how faith can change the world. And this will be an open, civil, and inviting discussion that welcomes a real dialogue--one not contained by the failed categories of right and left which have so polarized and paralyzed our public debate. That’s because I find people across the political and religious spectrum who are looking for the “moral center” of our public life, for the moral choices and challenges below the surface of our political debates, for a true “values politics” that challenges the selective moralities of both the right and the left. So welcome to the new town meeting on spirituality and politics, and I hope you will join right in!