Progressive Revival

The defeat of the Democrats choice to succeed Ted Kennedy in the U.S. Senate is being treated as though there is a decided shift of mass opinion to the Right in the U.S.  But it is the Obama Administration, not the people who supported him in 2008, which moved to the Right–in the name of…

(cross posted on American Values Network)   Twas a week before Christmas, and all through my city Politicians were scrambl’n, it wasn’t very pretty. Health care and climate were up in the air, But try as Reid might, the votes just weren’t there.   The pols were all dug in, snug in their stances, Yet…

In the typical fashion that have made Christopher Hitchens and Richard Dawkins into heroes among those who hate (sometimes for good reasons, sometimes not) the religions of the world, we get below Hitchens’ distortions endorsed by Dawkins. The approach is typical: a religious view is mis-described and distorted, then ridiculed–all made possible by quoting out…

Emily Dickinson, the poet of exquisite doubt, was born today in 1830. Progressive faith makes room for doubt.  In many ways, Dickinson should be considered the patron saint of ambiguous Christianity.  She grew up in revivalist New England, where she several times flirted with her peers’ evangelical religion and attempted to have a conversion experience. …

On December 7, Faith in Public Life released a statement condemning the anti-gay bill in the Ugandan Parliament that submits homosexuals to draconian punishments for their “crimes.”  Sadly, many prominent Christians have refused to speak out against the human rights abuses enshrined in the legislation.  Faith in Public Life, however, produced an eloquent statement on…

Many of the world’s religious leaders in attendance at the Parliament of World Religions taking place in Melbourne, Australia,  are in partial mourning for the dream of a new world that President Obama promised, and decisively torpedoed in his announcement of major escalation of military forces in Afghanistan. For political activists, the issue is often framed…

December 1 is World AIDS Day–a day to remind the human family of the toll of the AIDS epidemic and take stock of progress against the disease.   It is, indeed, a global day that connects rich and poor, people of all races and creeds, and men, women, and children in a common understanding of our…

“There will be signs in the sun, the moon, and the stars, and on the earth distress among nations caused by the roaring of the sea and the waves,” proclaims Jesus in the Gospel of Luke. He continued: People will faint from fear and foreboding of what is coming upon the world, for the powers…

While Obama is still hailed around the world in almost messianic tones, recent polls indicate his approval rate is below 50% in the U.S. How could a man who aroused so much hope be losing support so dramatically? And what lessons can be learned for politicians all around the world? Obama was swept to office…

Sung-ok Lee is the Assistant General Secretary of the Section of Christian Social Action, Women’s Division of the United Methodist Women. For many in government and industry circles, the discussion around the topic of climate change crisis focuses on energy efficiency, cap and trades and adjusting environmental policy to meet financial and economic ends.  For…

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