OK, we should definitely thank Steven Greenhouse and David Leonhardt and the editors of The New York Times for leading the paper today with a very solid report on the two economies dividing the life prospects of today’s Americans. Reviewing and digesting multiple data sources, Greenhouse and Leonhardt give us the bad news straight up. Wages and salaries now make up the smallest share of GDP in 60 years, whereas corporate profits enjoy their largest share of national income in 40 years. Read the rest of this entry »
You have to hand it to them (and most of us do, via deductions from every paycheck, or annually, or quarterly), the IRS has traditionally been one of the bright spots in the federal bureaucracy. Those who study the agency nearly all come away commending it for its relative efficiency and professionalism. The Service has never shown much of an appetite for chasing possible violations of tax-exempt status, which makes its behavior in the All Saints Pasadena case all the more surprising and disturbing. Read the rest of this entry »
Jesus’ teaching that he who takes up the sword will perish by the sword, like so many of his sayings, cannot be taken as accurately describing the situation for every individual who goes to war, or for every nation that does so. Yet, also like so many of his other sayings, it deserves to be taken seriously. At a minimum it means that when our basic response to every threat is destruction of those who pose the threat, it is likely that the threat will grow. Read the rest of this entry »
As Dick Cheney, Ken Mehlman, and the Republican noise machine start to lash out at the al Qaeda sympathizers who voted for Ned Lamont, all the people standing in horrendous airport lines today and tossing their shampoo bottles away should remember that they owe at least some of their frustration—and their fear—to Dick Cheney and his gang. Read the rest of this entry »
Just a couple of weeks ago, while I was vacationing with my family in North Carolina, I picked up the New York Times and learned all about the pastor of Cedar Ridge Community Church, a conservative evangelical institution, who told his congregation that the work of the church is not to endorse particular candidates or particular public policies — that the growing association of Christianity with anti-gay, pro-militarist public policy perverts the work of the church as a whole and the spiritual lives of individual Christians. Read the rest of this entry »
The Federal Republic of Nigeria is contemplating the passage of a bill that would criminalize not only all forms of homosexuality, but also those who support the human rights of gay and lesbian people. If the Same Sex Marriage (Prohibition) Act 2006 were to pass, anyone who engaged in private, consensual behavior, was involved with a lesbian or gay organization, attended a lesbian or gay public event, or who blessed a lesbian or gay union could be held criminally liable and sentenced to a 5-year prison term. We believe that this bill is immoral, inhumane, and would be in violation of the basic Christian values of human dignity and fairness.
Because the Christian churches of Nigeria have been some of the primary forces behind this legislation, we are mobilizing a US-based progressive Christian response. Human rights organizations in Nigeria, Africa and around the world have already sent letters of protest.
Please consider signing on to the letter below via email no later than August 8, as the bill will go before the Nigerian House of Representatives early next week. In order to show your support, please email of the Institute for Welcoming Resources with your title, congregation or organization, and denomination. With this effort, we raise our voices to proclaim that the persecution of lesbian, gay, bisexual and transgender people is not a Christian value.
It’s difficult, sometimes, to take the long view of things in making decisions. That’s clearly apparent in our foreign policy, but even more so in how we are carelessly destroying the physical world that every one of us, rich and poor, depends upon for the very basics of life — air to breathe, water to drink, earth to give us food. The past century of industrialization has blended with capitalism and globalization to create a planet-wide system of exploitation and destruction which has provided many North Americans with comparative wealth and a very comfortable physical lifestyle. No one did it on purpose; but as we see what this system has wrought, we need to start doing things on purpose now. Read the rest of this entry »
Progressive Christians Uniting has just hired Pamela Reed Allison as our coordinator for PCU Orange County. With her great skills and passionate commitment, we are excited to have her on board and look forward to exciting developments in Orange County!
Pam is a graduate of Biola University, where she studied Christian Education and Counseling. She also studied Political Science on the American Studies Program in Washington, D.C., looking at Federal drug policy, Apartheid in South Africa and the political/religious conflict in Northern Ireland. In addition to her position at PCU, she is the Community Relations Coordinator for Project HOPE School in Orange, CA, which serves children (K-8) living in motels and homeless shelters. She is on the Board of Directors of a forming social service agency, OC Together, which endeavors to unite the county to assist and empower at-risk residents in their move toward self-sufficiency. She is an ordained Elder in the Presbyterian Church (U.S.A.) and has a heart for social justice issues. She is passionate about issues that address the economic stability of U.S. workers — namely a living wage and access to affordable health care. She is charged with reaching Progressive Christians in Orange County to provide opportunities for study, activism, connection and encouragement as we seek to live out daily Christ’s mandate to love our neighbors as ourselves. For more information about PCU-OC, please contact her at .
