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December 19, 2011
A Plea for Love Despite Violence

John Helmiere was severely beaten by Seattle police while demonstrating peacefully with Occupy West Coast at the Port of Seattle. Despite his experience, he urges Christians to practice love and non-violence.

August 31, 2011
Fear, Inc.

A new report from the Center for American Progress outlines the forces and funding behind Islamophobia in the United States.

By Wajahat Ali, Eli Clifton, Matthew Duss, Lee Fang , Scott Keyes, Faiz Shakir

August 22, 2011
Faith and Politics

As we look ahead to what promises to be a long, heated, complex election season, the director of a Chicago-based social justice coalition lists some of core reasons why faith and politics do mix.

Reprinted with permission from PCG's newsletter

August 11, 2011
True Christian voters don't politicize the Bible

As contentious debates over values and the 2012 election heat up, it’s essential that the voices and concerns of most people of faith are not drowned out in an attempt identify “faith based” voting with a narrow agenda.

Reprinted with the author's permission from Des Moines Register.com

July 19, 2011
'Vital' for United Methodists?

The United Methodist Church has unveiled its "Vital Congregations" website, a new tool designed to reverse the denomination's declining membership by focusing on statistics as recommended by the controversial "Call to Action" report. Although mandatory for all congregations, the process has drawn resistance and rejection from commentators who view it as the wrong approach.

The United Methodist Church has unveiled its "Vital Congregations" website, the new tool designed to implement recommendations for saving the declining denomination found in the controversial "Call to Action" report.

July 19, 2011
Join the Tar Sands Action in Washington

Protesting the Tar Sands Project, calling Texas Gov. Rick Perry to true repentance, and seeking the spirituality of Harry Potter are part of today's report on Faith & the Common Good.

 

Christians, other people of faith and concerned citizens continue to stand up to the special interests that are holding the nation hostage to actions that seriously threaten the common good. Here are some of the latest developments:

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As the nation broils in triple-digit heat, a new grassroots effort has emerged to stop a development that could accelerate global warming even faster: the Tar Sands Project in Canada.

June 20, 2011
Monday Mail: Wild weather, women's wages & world politics

Along with extreme weather effects, a Supreme Court decision on women vs. Wal-Mart and U.S. foreign policy toward Israel and Sudan, this issue of Monday mail mourns the passing of a Big Man.

Good morning, campers. It's 84 degrees at 9 AM in Dallas, feeling like 88 and promising a heat index around 102 degrees F later today. We have extreme fire danger warnings, high wind warnings, and high pollen warnings. Over the weekend a "rave"-style music festival in 104-degree heat resulted in the death of one person and dozens hospitalized, affected by the extreme conditions.

June 17, 2011
Faith & the Common Good June 17, 2011

Anti-Muslim sentiments, immigration and abortion top religion news headlines.

 

May 13, 2011
Leaving Faith Organizations out in the Cold

Through a month-long fast this spring and continued effort, faith leaders are advocating for political leaders to do the right thing with the federal budget and spare millions of vulnerable Americans from deep budget cuts that threaten their well-being and lives.

Reprinted with Permission from Center for American Progress

May 4, 2011
50 States United for Healthy Air

All Americans have a right to breathe clean, healthy air. That's the simple, powerful message that is being presented to Obama Administration officials and elected officials on Capitol Hill this week by doctors, nurses, faith and tribal leaders, social justice advocates and affected citizens from all 50 states.

All Americans have a right to breathe clean, healthy air.

That's the simple, powerful message that is being presented to Obama Administration officials and elected officials on Capitol Hill this week by doctors, nurses, faith and tribal leaders, social justice advocates and affected citizens from all 50 states.

April 29, 2011
Picking the pockets of the poor

Between 1947 and 1979 the income of the poorest 20 percent of people in the United States grew by 116 percent. From 1979 until 2008, however, the poor's income shrank by 4 percent while the rich earned a 73 percent increase. God frowns on this picture.

Between 1947 and 1979 the income of the poorest 20 percent of people in the United States grew by 116 percent. The lowest income growth during those 32 years took place among the richest 5 percent. Their income grew by 86 percent. In other words, the poor gained a little on the rich.

Just 400 people have as much wealth as half of the population.

This changed dramatically from 1979-2008. During those 30 years, the poor saw their income shrink by 4 percent while the rich gained 73 percent, far more than the rest of the population.

April 29, 2011
Ten Real-World Commandments for Americans

 

The public debate about the federal budget is an opportunity to reflect on our values as a nation. Do we follow the law of love, or the way of greed? 

1)  Thou shalt not separate social from personal responsibility: thou art thine own keeper, and the keeper of thy brothers and sisters, too.

2)  Thou shalt provide all children with basic survival needs for health, food, shelter, and safety even if it means bending the rules.

3)  Thou shalt honor thy aged fathers and mothers by guaranteeing them comprehensive health care and a livable minimum pension and by paying their caretakers a living wage. 

April 13, 2011
Godspeed, Glenn Beck; Adventures in Democracy

Many hands make things work , whether it be ousting a broadcast bloviator or advocating for economic justice.

Ah, the sweet scents of spring without the noxious notes of Glenn Beck's fulminations!

As with all success, many "parents" are claiming to have had a hand in stopping the pugnacious pundit. Faith in Public Life credits its own activist arm, the former NCC-based Faithful America online action site, along with Jewish Funds for Justice, Sojourners, Media Matters, Color of Change and "the entire Stop Beck effort" for getting Glenn off the airwaves.

April 11, 2011
Over the Mountain

If America is to get over its mountain of economic and social problems, Americans must discard the false gospel that individual achievement equals success and regain its historic sense of community sacrifice.

I walk in the Hollywood Hills most evenings after work. Along the way, I almost always encounter tourists. They park their rented cars on Beachwood Drive, at a certain spot near our apartment where they can get a good view of the sign. Many of them pose for a picture with their hands lifted up: the photographer lines up the shot so that it looks like they are holding up the Hollywood sign on the mountain behind them. For at least a moment, the tourists indulge in the fantasy that Hollywood is their town.

April 4, 2011
Join the National Teach-In on Austerity, Debt and Corporate Greed

Here's how to join in the April 5 National Teach-In on Austerity, Debt and Corporate Greed (and How You Can Fight Back). Participants may join with others on campuses around the country or watch individually online. TPC users will be able to join in an online discussion after the live webcast.

Technical instructions for attending the National Teach-in on Debt, Austerity and How People Are Fighting Back were detailed over the weekend to the more than 200 college campuses and other sites hosting webcast of the event from Judson Memorial Church in New York City.

April 1, 2011
Title VII and Titus I

Discrimination against an unmarried pastor who can't get a job shows that people who work for churches need workers' rights under federal law.

March 23, 2011
A Tsunami of Ignorance

Conservative Christians proclaiming that the March 11 earthquake and tsunami are punishment for Japan's sins are employing the Theology of Retribution, a discredited approach to God's action in the world, writes theologian Aaron Saari.

March 23, 2011
Pursuing a Just Peace in the Middle East

A Jewish American psychologist whose views were transformed by a visit to Palestinian refugee camps urges Christians to learn more about the realities of the Middle East, and to pursue a peaceful solution to the Palestinian-Israeli conflict.

GRAND RAPIDS, MI -- It is not anti-Semitic for a Jewish person, or anyone else, to promote a peaceful solution to the ongoing conflict between the Israeli and Palestinian people, said Mark Braverman, a clinical psychologist who grew up in the conservative Jewish faith and whose has family has deep roots in Israel.

Dr. Braverman spoke about the conflict and ways to seek a solution to it before a group this week at the office of the Christian Reformed Church in Grand Rapids, MI.

March 7, 2011
Movement Grunt

We live amid terrible times, and the times have made us into hardened people who forget to gasp at the casual structural violence with which we are complicit. Now may be our moment to emulate theologian Dietrich Bonhoeffer.

March 4, 2011
'Change the Politics of Hunger'

It's time for Christians to tell federal and state legislators to focus on reducing poverty rather than merely slashing spending to cut government deficits, says the Rev. David Beckmann, president of Bread for the World.

The head of one of America's most influential hunger ministries has urged Christians to become advocates for the nation's poor and hungry against a backdrop of proposed cuts in federal and state programs that would harm disadvantaged people, especially children.

March 4, 2011
Free speech or hate speech? Chick-fil-A, John Galliano and Westboro Baptists

The Supreme Court's ruling that protects hateful protests by members of Westboro Baptist church reminds Christians that although the Constitution may protect our "right" to free speech, if we're following Jesus, we're called to give up our rights for the sake of love.

February 27, 2011
Invested in Resistance: Why Madison Matters

If America is to continue to be great (or reclaim something of greatness) we have to be about more than money. We have to be about people and community. For people of any faith, we show our love for God by making our life about unity and the love we have for each person in it.

I've gained few allies and lost many friends this week because the struggle for worker solidarity has lit a fire in me. I don't apologize for that fire. I am saddened that many have made a choice to distance themselves from me, but I cannot abandon this. But I digress, because they won't read this anyway.

February 24, 2011
People of Faith Called to Support Workers' Rights

Religious leaders are urging their constitutents to help protect workers' rights as attacks on public employees' unions emerge as a major tool for balancing beleaguered state budgets.

UPDATED FEB. 25

People of faith across America were urged to stand up for workers' rights during a 30-minute telephone conference call Feb. 24 outlining religious leaders' support for ongoing protests by Wisconsin public employees. Rallies are planned across the nation for Saturday, Feb. 26.

February 15, 2011
The Papal Encyclicals and Social Justice

 The Catholic Church, along with other Christian churches, has led in the fight to alleviate the sufferings of the poor and to battle for a more equitable system for the marginalized peoples of the world.   The Church's involvement in promoting social change can be found in the papal encyclicals starting with Pope Leo XIIIs Rerum Novarum.

Thomas Bokenkotter wrote in his book Church and Revolution: Catholics in the Struggle for Democracy and Social Justice:

February 3, 2011
United Church of Christ and Leadership: Hard times, Hard Subjects

Opening the Cellar Door: John Thomas and the United Church of Christ