Tag Archives: Sojourners

From CNN: The Gospel according to Obama #OWS #PublicTheology #OccupyChurch

The CNN blog post destined to draw tons of comments: http://religion.blogs.cnn.com/2012/10/21/to-some-obama-is-the-wrong-kind-of-christian/ I just did a Google Search on that title and the number two result is frlom godlikeproductions where the author simply reacts aloud:  “Is CNN Serious?”  obviously addressing the choir of folks who consider Obama to be ,  like the author his/herself says,  an “AntiChrist”. The Christian Right is all over this,  Continue Reading

God REALLY is neither a Democrat NOR a Republican HT @BrianMerritt #OWS #OccupyChurch

I totally agree with my friend Brian here: In the end if they break ways with Christ’s teachings we are required to break with them as well and speak truth in love http://indefinitedefiniteness.org/2012/09/07/politics/ And saying such things just scares the bejeebies out of so many of my “secular” friends.  They just can’t seem to grasp the idea that the “theocracy” ideas Continue Reading

A bit of #OccupyTheology applied to the #OWS message about the middle class being under assault (HT @lisasharper @Sojourners)

I asked Lisa Sharon Harper of Sojourners about her thoughts on the Occupy Movement,  and she said something we don’t hear much amidst all the uproar about the “middle class” being under assault.  While the economic figures about the shrinkage and stagnation of wages in the middle class make for a wider audience from which to garner movement support,  what Continue Reading

Wesley, Economic Justice, and the #OWS movement @GBCS @UMC @Sojourners

Quote from Jim Winkler,  General Secretary of UMC’s Global Board of Church and Society: “In our United Methodist Social Principles, we claim all economic systems are under the judgment of God. We believe corporations are responsible not only to their stockholders but to their other stakeholders.” Winkler believes that if alive, John Wesley, founder of the Methodist movement, would at Continue Reading

Occupy the Future @jtrane in @sojourners #occupyChurch #MLK #OWS

Jim Rice writes in Sojourners magazine about Occupy.  Sojourners is one of those communities that have become a mashup of activist, publishers, movementOrganizers….and has been an example of the kind of theological discernment regarding our country and its churches that have been seeing the kinds of things Occupy has been good at bringing into movement form in the public square. Continue Reading

What Next for the Occupiers? – Bill McKibben in @sojourners

Environmental activist and Sojourners contributor Bill McKibben on OWS Because they didn’t quickly say “we want this bill passed,” commentators have had to grapple with the actual message of many Occupiers: Our economy is unfair. It gives too much power to corporations, who abuse that power for their own ends. They’ve not just cheated us financially; they’ve cheated us out Continue Reading

‘Occupy church’ next? World Net Daily shows its Nationalist Theology NOT #occupytheology but #occupiedtheology

Thought I’d include this item,  from the Fundamentalist World Net Daily,  as an example of the Low rung of the church response I blogged about earlier. http://www.wnd.com/index.php?fa=PAGE.view&pageId=368841 I especially like this: Wallis reportedly is a spiritual adviser to Obama and has known the president for years. That just seals it doesn’t it?  Any association with Obama,  and God forbid,  a Continue Reading

Right Wing, Culture Warriors and Trolls

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I just saw that God’s Politics blog has moved off of Belief Net and back to the Sojo servers,  and I see that in their comments section,  they have the same problem I see on many many group efforts to provide some “Social Networking”:  a huge mass of trolling characters.   This seems to be prevalent among right wing folks,  taking Continue Reading

Jim Wallis on Barak Obama

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Earlier  today,  prior to Obama’s speech,  and anticipating what turned out to be an amazing speech, Jim Wallis posted an article. I may not “buy in” to the deepest “meaning” and “change you can believe in” type slogans,  but I also like this guy,  and I do think he represents the most articulate and sophisticated, nuanced understanding of religion, race,  Continue Reading

The Great Awakening Gets Better

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I had earlier expressed a bit of disappointment over my initial impressions of Jim Wallis’ new book , The Great Awakening. I had just gotten the Audible.com audio version,  which is read by Jim and unabridged (a full 14 hours of audio).  We just made a quick trip up to Cincinnati yesterday and came back this morning.  My wife and Continue Reading

Fighting ‘Bibliolatry’ at the Evangelical Theological Society

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via Ryan Beiler,  pointing to Ted Olsen’s comments on J.P. Moreland’s “How Evangelicals Became Over-Committed to the Bible and What Can Be Done About It.” Ryan observes: It’s refreshing to hear such criticism coming from within the evangelical academy. Ted Olsen describes how theologian J.P. Moreland challenged the Evangelical Theological Society with a session called: "How Evangelicals Became Over-Committed to Continue Reading

And the Killing Will Go On (by Jim Wallis)

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 What SHOULD be a very sobering thought/observation: It was a big day for a general on Capitol Hill yesterday, as Gen. David Petraeus made his long-awaited “progress report” to a joint House committee. But one congressman remembered the last time a general’s testimony drew such public attention. It was on April 1967 that Gen. William Westmoreland made his speech to Continue Reading

Pentecost and Presidential Forums?

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  I must say that I am more than a bit uncomfortable with Sojourner’s billing of their June event , Pentecost 2007,  with a “Presidential Forum on Faith, Values , & Poverty” featuring Clinton, Obama, and Edwards.  While interesting, just a bit too closely “overlayed” onto “Pentecost 2007”,  and all three are the Democratic frontrunners.  Was it ever envisioned to have any Continue Reading

Imitatio Christi: Constantinianism of the Left?

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This piece was pointed to by Jim Wallis on the God’s Politics blog.    we need to be much more explicit on this point:  from a Christian perspective, the hope of the world is in Jesus Christ, and he has chosen to center this hope in the church he established.  Readers of our work should not have to figure out Continue Reading

Inspired By America?

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Carrying on with the thoughts of the previous post,  the participation by Christians in the “lexicon” of the patriotic piety,  whether it be from the left or the right,  is increasingly disturbing to me.  I have been noticing more and more of that as I read Hauerwas and the RO writers (JKA Smith, William Cavanaugh, Daniel Bell,  John Milbank, Graham Continue Reading