Is this what Obama's secret Islamic agenda will force the evangelicals to do? Become more progressive? No wonder Republicans are throwing such a hissy snit.

I herd of the "Bring-Your-Guns-To-Church" thing, but I never saw any reports about how many of the guns Jesus saved. Or should it be "safed"?

I must have missed the part of the Bible where Jesus told the apostles to openly carry weapons. But then again, there seem to be lots of parts of the Bible that are different down there.

The idea that right-wing corporate interests might be frightened of eco-evangelical activism just makes me think about sowing the wind and reaping the whirlwind. Or, to use a less-literary reference, as Nelson Muntz might say: Ha-Haw!

The "inquisition" may be the result of more and more nuns changing to reflect contemporary cultural norms: "[M]any American nuns stopped wearing religious habits, left convents to live independently and went into new lines of work: academia and other professions, social and political advocacy and grass-roots organizations that serve the poor or promote spirituality.
----------------

Pope to Nuns: "Back to God's Kitchen you go"!

"For the last few decades, religio-political activism has been the hallmark of the right. That's changing quickly."
It would appear they have seen the light and are actually attempting to practice what Jesus preached.

Dr. Brinson tells his clients they are right to be worried. Such an aggressive political campaign by the religious left is unexpected, he says, and could prove powerful. "This is the first time I've seen a moderate group of evangelicals come together and do a coordinated campaign," said Dr. Brinson. He is warning clients: "You're going to hear a lot more of this."

I certainly hope so.

Let me make a pitch for The Network of Spiritual Progressives . Check them out, and they're "easy" about what you believe in spiritually.

I knew a nun who was head of the biology dept. at a Catholic school in northern Minnesota. I knew her from taking graduate courses with her and can attest that she had a first class mind. Once she complained to me that the priests who were in the department treated her as some sort of an underling who didn't know her place. At the time I thought that she should have realized that this was the type of attitude she was going to run into when she first became a nun, and that if the Church changed to accept women as full human beings, the Church as we know it would crumble in the dust. After all, one of the pillars of Catholicism is the oppression of women to glorify a paternalistic hierarchy.

If the nuns want the Vatican to leave them alone, I suggest they start molesting children. That's worked for priests for quite a while now.

Religious left!!!!! hahahahahahahaha What an oxymoron.

There hasn't been a Christian religious left in this country for decades. Even the progressive, liberal, churches of mainline protestantism have all moved to the right as their congregations age, and there are no younger parishoners.

Even the Riverside Church in New York City, a bastion of liberal protestantism going back to its founding in the 1920s, and which bills itself as interdenominational, interracial, and international, recently hired, for some unknown reason, a Southern Baptist senior minister who, when he tried turning the church in an evangelical direction was run out of town in less than a year. Good riddance.

Since the death of William Sloan Coffin there have been no powerful voices for the "religious left", more's the pity.

"There hasn't been a Christian religious left in this country for decades..."

The 4,000 members of my congregation (First Community Church, Columbus, Ohio) would beg to differ.

http://www.fcchurch.com

rrk1, I can't imagine you're serious. Just think of the majority of black churches, the Jesse Jackson complex. They may be a bit more socially conservative, but in the "progressive" corner on race/class/money issues. There is still Swords into Plowshares, the NSP I linked to above, the Unitarian Universalists which I belong to, etc. There's Catholic Worker etc.There are non-Christian groups, Buddhist outfits, even some Muslim "leftish" outfits in our sense (ie., not just geopolitical concurrence about rights for Palestinians etc.)

It's a pity Steve missed this story. It's happening in Turkey, but it probably won't be long until some American network copies the premise.

Game show looks to convert atheists

ISTANBUL (Reuters) - What happens when you put a Muslim imam, a Christian priest, a rabbi and a Buddhist monk in a room with 10 atheists?

Turkish television station Kanal T hopes the answer is a ratings success as it prepares to launch a gameshow where spiritual guides from the four faiths will seek to convert a group of non-believers.

Too funny!

What, no Wiccans?

If you're at all into finding out more about the economy in Washington, you may like this article right here: http://www.pressdisplay.com/pressdisplay/showlink.aspx?bookmarkid=2AOCP40IH5Z1&preview=article&linkid=424fb997-a481-4603-9ceb-df1e67947738&pdaffid=ZVFwBG5jk4Kvl9OaBJc5%2bg%3d%3d

Sincerely,
MediaMentions

* Last week's bring-your-gun-to-church day at the New Bethel Church in Louisville was well received by congregants -- 200 people showed up with firearms for worship services.

Well, yeah - I recall it was in The Gospel According to Jim-Bob, Chapter 26, Verse 14, that taught us, "And after He was captured and taken away, JESUS said unto the scribes 'you know if we had a Second Amendment like the Americans do, well we'd have whipped out some heat and kicked some ass back there at Gethsemane.'"

Alan, I should have added Wiccans to the (not meant to be comprehensive) list of spiritual progressives. In my experience, they are perhaps the best supporters of the environment, GLTG rights and acceptance, religious diversity, etc.

I just think Wiccans would leave Muslims utterly mystified.

I would like to put in a word for the New Thought/Ancient Wisdom movement, as expressed in the Science of Mind/Religious Science (no, this has nothing to do with Scientology). We are probably as progressive a movement as there is and there are millions of us all over the world. Since we promote peace and diversity, inclusiveness of all traditions and personal life-styles, we are on the leading edge of spiritual evolution. The metaphysical movement in this country is growing and attracting those who are disheartened with so-called traditional religion. Jesus is not the exclusive icon of our movement; he is one of many Spiritual Masters who have come to teach a loving way of life.

If you are willing to expand your horizons, take a look at United Center for Spiritual Living.

I am committed to Oneness through Justice and Transformation
peace,
st john

Ah, st john, you've cleared up a minor mystery for me regarding your beliefs. Based on some of the things you've said, I was thinking you followed one of the Buddhist traditions. Religious Science makes a lot more sense, and I'm a little familiar with it. When I was in Ft. Lauderdale, the RS church there was kind enough to let our LGB community band use their facility for our rehearsals, and we occasionally performed at some of their Sunday services, as partial recompense. I heard some interesting "sermons" there, of which the best one was using "The Wizard of Oz" as a metaphor of life, both physical and spiritual. Naturally, we played some of the music from the movie.

Hi Michael W. Thanks for the response. I am quite open to many different points of view and some of my posts may seem a little out there, which I like. Our community, in which I am quite involved, has a number of self-identified gay and lesbian members and there is no distinction made of who is and who is not. Our minister has performed marriages of gay couples, and treats them with the same reverence as those of straight couples. We also were quite outspoken regarding the outcome of Prop. 8 here in California. Our parent organization even prepared a formal response to the disappointing outcome.

We have a way to go, and we are moving in that direction, with joy and anticipation.

peace,
st john

NPR's Terry Gross interviewed Jeff Sharlet on Fresh Air. Scary.
The Family: The Secret Fundamentalism at the Heart of American Power

http://www.npr.org/templates/story/story.php?storyId=106115324

Yes, and isn't Hillary ironically a member or some affiliate of The Family?

"ISTANBUL (Reuters) - What happens when you put a Muslim imam, a Christian priest, a rabbi and a Buddhist monk in a room with 10 atheists?"

Why am I expecting a punch line?

It would be even funnier if one of the religious leaders decided to become an atheist after speaking with the potential converts.