Christians Fed-Up with GOP (Beck, Fox, Racist-Corrupticut..) - "A Million Christians for Social Justice"
Mort Zuckerman
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Subject: Christians Fed-Up with GOP (Beck, Fox, Racist-Corrupticut..)
- "A Million Christians
for Social Justice"
Date: Mar 25, 2010 4:14 PM
Approve. (Things are pretty bad
in Corrupticut. More children are
in jail here than any other name
place on earth, 82% of the jailed
kids are Black and Latino, and we rank
50th out of the 50 States on educational
performance disparity.)
http://www.actionlyme.org
========================================
http://blog.sojo.net/2010/03/25/a-million-christians-for-social-justice/#disqus_thread
A Million Christians for Social Justice
by Jim Wallis 03-25-2010
Sometimes, the timing of events seems almost providential.
For more than a year, Sojourners has been discussing and planning to
launch a campaign called A Million Christians for Social Justice.
We have talked, dreamed, and prayed about the possibility and power of
bringing together, from across the life of the churches, the many
voices that are calling for social justice. It’s many of us now:
Evangelicals and Mainline Protestants, Catholics and Pentecostals,
Black, Hispanic, and Asian-American churches — focusing our personal
faith on the most urgent public issues our world is now facing. From
human trafficking to HIV/AIDS, from inner-city education to global
poverty, from racial justice to nuclear weapons, from immigrant
families to access to health care, from the status of women and girls
to conflict resolution in the Middle East, from creation care to
homelessness — Christian voices are being heard and people of faith
are mobilizing.
We are all being called to a deeper commitment to Jesus Christ and to
living out his kingdom of love and justice. A stronger and authentic
voice with moral authority beyond mere partisan politics needs to be
heard on social justice. That voice can both speak truth to power and
bring people together across cultural and political lines to act for
justice.
Glenn Beck’s attacks on deeply held Christian principles of social
justice have ironically brought newfound attention, focus, and
discussion about what it truly means to be a “social justice
Christian.” As wrong and often vitriolic his caricatures, insults, and
attacks on such core gospel teachings and biblical tenets have been,
they have provided what is often called a “teachable moment” and
perhaps, a mobilizing moment as well. The Beck attack on Christian
social justice has given us an opportunity to teach what true gospel
principles are and offers us an opportunity to reach out to even more
people who are being attracted by the biblical call to social justice
— which is the mission statement of Sojourners.
So we are now discerning whether this is the right time to move beyond
the discussions, and as Congressman John Lewis says, to “put some feet
on our prayers” and launch “A Million Christians for Social Justice.”
Sure, we’d be responding to Glenn Beck. But we believe we’d really be
responding to our own calling to stand up for the poor and vulnerable
and to stand against the conditions, institutions, and polices that
further poverty. It could be a moment to speak out and to serve. The
attacks of poverty on vulnerable families and children, the attacks of
hunger on entire communities, the attacks of economic inequities on
hardworking people, the attacks of war on civilians who get caught in
the cross-fire, are all much harsher attacks than anything Beck can
hurl at us. These are the attacks we must address. These are the
attacks we are called to fight.
A Million Christians for Social Justice will bring us together to
fight injustice and inequality, to fight hunger and hopelessness, and
ultimately, to love and nourish all the souls that are a part of God’s
creation — and to do so in the name of Jesus.
By adding your voice as one of a million, you will allow us to work
toward building a large and active network to help people find each
other, as well as to find kindred spirits and churches in their own
communities; you’ll help connect people and churches who want to work
on the same issues, and share both vital resources and stories for
deepening our understanding and commitment to faith-based social
justice; and when needed, your voice will help focus our attention,
energy, and a united prophetic voice on urgent matters of common
concern. That will require an investment in new technology and expert
staff, something hard to do in the current economic climate without
the assurance that there’s a movement behind us to help make it
happen.
Your honest feedback is important. Join us in making this decision.
Join us in prayer and join us with your comments, responses, and
finally, your commitment. Do you like the vision of A Million
Christians for Social Justice? Has the time for such a movement
finally come?
So we want to try this out with you. Would you join such a network and
movement of faith and action? Would you be one of a million voices
connecting, speaking, and acting in a common witness? We can create
change in our society, and indeed are called to. To make this a
reality, we need a strong indication from our constituents that this
campaign is the way to go: Click here to leave a comment and tell us
your ideas.
portrait-jim-wallisJim Wallis is the author of Rediscovering Values:
On Wall Street, Main Street, and Your Street — A Moral Compass for the
New Economy, CEO of Sojourners and blogs at www.godspolitics.com.
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