Liberal evangelicals, weary of a Republican-centric image, launched a campaign Monday to promote Christian values beyond the issues of abortion and same-sex marriage.
Red Letter Christians, a project of Sojurners/Call to Renewal, announced plans to establish a grass-roots network of 7,000 moderate and progressive clergy members.
"A debate on moral issues should be central to American politics, but how should we define religious values?" said Jim Wallis, an activist and executive director of the Christian ministry, which also publishes the liberal Sojourners Magazine.
The project's name comes from the color of some Bible's type, with words directly attributed to Jesus appearing in red.
Wallis said Christian conservatives have limited the discussion to abortion and same-sex marriage, two fears that mobilized voters in 2004, and that voters care about more than two the issues.
"We must insist that the ethics of war — and whether we tell the truth about going to war — these are moral values issues too," Wallis said. Democrats have pinned part of their midterm strategy on voters' restlessness with the war in Iraq.
The Red Letter Christians campaign plans to use voter guides for congregants and briefings for their leaders to argue education, poverty and the environment are all evangelical issues. Wallis also launched a new blog this week at BeliefNet.com, debating with former Christian Coalition head and failed Republican Georgia lieutenant governor candidate Ralph Reed.
Is it possible to be a liberal evangelical? That's like asking if it is possible to be a liberal Christian? Or a Christian who doesn't believe in the literal physical resuscitation of Jesus' corpse? Of course it is possible. Good for them for getting organized. We may yet reclaim the Christian faith for the real Jesus.
2 comments:
My observation is that the Liberal churches tend to be very self-focused. How can I please my flesh, how can I have all of this world and my desires fulfilled as well as something resembling a Christian faith.
You can call yourself Christian, but if you just believe some of what Jesus said, how can you trust him as savior?
Wow, I had to go way back to find this post.
My observation is that there is nothing more selfish than focusing on "my salvation." It is all about me and my ticket to heaven.
Liberal churches, or at least our liberal church, is focused on how we can serve and heal the world.
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