Friday, June 06, 2014

A report from the mausoleum



Paul Raushenbush, executive religion editor of The Huffington Post writes:
Anyone born within the last 50 years would be justified in thinking that Jesus' teachings and Christian preachings were the exclusive domain of social and fiscal conservatives. The '70s, '80s, and '90s were dominated by Christians with names like Falwell, Robertson, and Dobson who leveraged television and radio to make theirs the default religious voice in America. ….But that is so #TBT (ThrowBackThursday). There has been a largely unnoticed but radical movement over the last decade during which the spiritual fire has shifted to more progressive Christians and that has the potential to change both the political and spiritual landscape of America.
I had a feeling this was happening but was shocked during the past few weeks to note the extent to which the more progressive Christian leaders are speaking out and being heard in their effort to impact the public square. Pastors and priests have spoken out on blocked Medicaid expansionsgun control, and climate change.
Raushenbush mentions the work of Nuns on a Bus, Sojourners, Red Letter Christians, The Cana Initiative, Moral Mondays and Faithful America, and notes that various denominational leaders have also stepped up to lobby for immigration reformmarriage equalityNet neutralityand sentencing reform.
In what other ways are progressive Christians making themselves heard in the political arena?

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