The MSNBC cable network is running a poll in which over 175,000 have already voted, as of December 29^th.

You can participate at http://www.msnbc.msn.com/id/10562904/, and then you’ll see the most current results.  Earlier today they were:

Do you believe President Bush's actions justify impeachment?

* 177330 responses (as of 12-29-05)

2006 Ecumenical Advocacy Days for Global Peace with Justice
"Challenging Disparity - the Promise of God, the Power of Solidarity"

Advocacy Days will include:
• Major speakers
• Enlivening Ecumenical Worship
• Workshops
• Networking Opportunities
• Chance to advocate with your members of Congress
• Bring your faith values into the public square
• Fun and more…

Here’s a clear-eyed look at the Social Security issue, by a writer who offers some simple "truth-telling," some critical reflection on the values at stake (and at the way most of the arguments for privatization are essentially materialistic and self-centered), and some common-sense reforms that would help greatly.

It was published in the Seattle Post-Intelligencer , but you can read it on AlterNet or on TruthOut.org

Witherspooner Dugan Frederick, of Denver, writes:  "The International Herald Tribune is an interesting website, and this particular article is important in today's world."  

Your webweaver agrees.

In this essay, Phillip Blond, who lectures in philosophy and religion at St. Martin's College, Lancaster, and Adrian Pabst, a doctoral candidate at Cambridge University, argue that in secular Europe, the role of religion in public life is badly misunderstood. So "secular liberals regard religion as repressive, irrational and fundamentalist. Religious conservatives view liberal secularity as immoral, self-serving and nihilistic. Both are right about each other, but wrong about religion."

Since the secularization that began in the 1960s, the political left has "eschewed a genuine public morality in the name of personal choice and private gratification. At great political cost, it handed over to the right the language of formation, values and religion. Unable to craft for itself a new form of civic collectivity, secular liberalism remains mired in individualism and blind to cultures built around universal ideals and collective aspirations."

In reaction to liberal relativism, the political and religious right have exalted the interests of the dominant class. And "in a fanatical overreaction to the atomization of liberal society, American conservatives embraced a new Christian fundamentalism that promised its followers an eternal community - composed only of themselves."

So "what unites both liberals and conservatives is their mutual insistence on the exclusivity and absoluteness of their vision. In this both sides are composed of fundamentalists who mistake their subjective beliefs for the only objective truth.

"But true religion is not and cannot be fundamentalist. No true follower of monotheism can claim to know the mind and will of God."

But "equally, religion is not and cannot be relativist. No genuine belief in God is just a matter of personal taste or subjective opinion. True religion has always been public and political because it is about forming communities around shared values and the practices that embody them. In the West, privatizing religion initiated the abandoning of any collective public realm that expressed common substantive ideals. We should not then be surprised when Iran and other countries do not wish to follow us down this path."

A July 4th Covenant
[7-2-05]

Covenant is a fundamental concept in the Biblical tradition, in the Reformed faith, and in American history. Here’s a short, insightful reminder of that deep thread connecting our faith and our politics. 

Marcus Raskin wrote this as an open letter to the Congressional Progressive Caucus, and in response to President Bush’s call for Americans "to find a way to thank the men and women defending our freedom" over the July 4th holiday. Raskin served on the staff of the National Security Council in President Kennedy’s administration, and is a distinguished fellow at the Institute for Policy Studies and professor of policy studies at The George Washington University.

He sees America as divided. (OK, no big surprise there.) There are those who believe that "You are either for us or against us," and who are united by their fear of real or imagined threats to themselves and their nation.

But there is another side of America: "It is the one that we may be justly proud of, for it has stemmed from sentiments of generosity, economic and social justice. It is the welcoming side that holds out a hand to the wretched, the tired, the left-outs of the earth ..."

He concludes: "... [M]embers of a free society recognize that personal responsibility is the foundation of the social contract. The nation, therefore, can be seen as the collective expression of this individual responsibility, not individual self-interest. Thus, the nation is a projection of our personal responsibility and respect for other people that manifests the bond between the healthy and the sick, the prosperous and the hungry, the strong and the weak. This responsibility attaches between the healthy and the sick as a bond of that shared humanity.

"This is the July 4 covenant of progressive liberals, and of a free people."

Read the full essay >>

We invite you to share your Independence Day reflections here.
Just send a note!

John C. Danforth, an Episcopal minister and former Republican senator from Missouri, writes in the New York Times, that "It is important for those of us who are sometimes called moderates to make the case that we, too, have strongly held Christian convictions, that we speak from the depths of our beliefs, and that our approach to politics is at least as faithful as that of those who are more conservative."

He concludes: "For us [moderates], religion should be inclusive, and it should seek to bridge the differences that separate people. We do not exclude from worship those whose opinions differ from ours. Following a Lord who sat at the table with tax collectors and sinners, we welcome to the Lord's table all who would come. Following a Lord who cited love of God and love of neighbor as encompassing all the commandments, we reject a political agenda that displaces that love. Christians who hold these convictions ought to add their clear voice of moderation to the debate on religion in politics."

The letter, signed by more than 800 faculty members, alumni, students and friends of the school, was published as a full-page ad in the Grand Rapids Press. 

Here's the full text of the letter:

Open Letter to George W. Bush; Signed by 823 students, faculty and alumni of Calvin College

Dear President Bush:

We are alumni, students, faculty and friends of Calvin College who are deeply troubled that you will be the commencement speaker at Calvin on May 21st. In our view, the policies and actions of your administration, both domestically and internationally over the past four years, violate many deeply held principles of Calvin College.

Calvin is a rigorous intellectual institution, and a truly Christian one. Since its inception in 1876, Calvin has educated its students to use their minds and hearts to transform the world into a "beloved community" where no one is an outcast and all of God’s children are cared for. Calvin teaches its students to work for peace and justice, and to be good stewards of God’s creation.

By their deeds ye shall know them, says the Bible. Your deeds, Mr. President—neglecting the needy to coddle the rich, desecrating the environment, and misleading the country into war—do not exemplify the faith we live by.

Moreover, many of your supporters are using religion as a weapon to divide our nation and advance a narrow partisan agenda. We are deeply disappointed in your failure to renounce their inflammatory rhetoric.

We urge you not to use Calvin College as a platform to advance policies that violate the school’s religious principles. Furthermore, we urge you to repudiate the false claims of supporters who say that those who oppose your policies are the enemies of religion.

See the full-page newspaper ad, including all the signatures >>
Thanks to Steve Cross for tracking down the ad.

The Washington Post carries a report on the President’s commencement address

The Detroit Free Press tells more about the protest.

From the Washington Post:
Breakthrough pact unlikely to end battle

Dan Balz sees the agreement reached by 14 US Senators to avert the "nuclear option" as a clear victory for the "center," but he sees it as only "a cease-fire in the judicial wars," which will continue.

"For a night at least," he concludes, "politics did seem to take a back seat to comity and cooperation. Whether the center can continue to hold is far less clear."

Read the full story in TruthOut or The Washington Post.

Read our earlier reports on Sen. Bill Frist's campaign to overturn the Senate's system of filibusters as a means of protecting the voice of the minority:

Senate Majority Leader Bill Frist plans to join with the conservative Family Research Council, demanding support for judicial nominees on grounds of religious and moral convictions. 

Many faith-based groups are raising objections and urging the people contact their representatives in Washington.

Various press reports provide helpful background.

~~~~~~~~~~~

NCC general secretary voices deep concern

Dr. Robert Edgar, General Secretary of the National Council of Churches USA, has sent an open letter to the media, expressing his concern about the campaign being launched by the Family Research Council with the support of Senate Majority Leader Bill Frist, pushing the view that "those who disagree with them on President Bush's judicial nominees are ‘against people of faith.’" Edgar says this effort "serves to further polarize our nation, and it disenfranchises and demonize good people of faith who hold political beliefs that differ from theirs."

~~~~~~~~~~~

Stop the Cuts in Social Programs. Call-In Day tomorrow – Tuesday April 12

The LA Times reports that wages are lagging behind prices

Inflation has outpaced the rise in salaries for the first time in 14 years. And workers are paying a bigger share of the cost of their healthcare.   [4-11-05]

Jesuit warns that America has become a nation of Pharisees -- and Presbyterian Berry Craig takes off from there.    [3-23-05]

If you’ve been following the Senate debate and action on the so-called “bankruptcy reform bill,” you’re probably aware that it will have a great impact on many people of limited means, who have used bankruptcy as a way to get a fresh start – often when they have been overcome by illness and medical bills, or by unemployment.

This article provides more details on the impact of the bill, which passed the Senate last week, and will very likely be approved by the House and then signed by the President.

Peace Not Poverty -- bearing witness for the “Beloved Community”   [3-14-05]

Kirkpatrick among those calling for opposition to ’06 spending plan   [3-11-05]

A Canadian looks wryly at US policies – missile defense projects and all    [3-5-05]

Witherspooner Darrell Yeaney of Iowa City, IA, sends word of an open letter from former Canadian Foreign Minister Lloyd Axworthy to Secretary of State Condoleezza Rice, after the US Ambassador to Canada asked "why Canada would in effect give up its sovereignty" by not going along with the US missile defense project.

Axworthy begins with a wee bit of sarcasm:

Dear Condi, I'm glad you've decided to get over your fit of pique and venture north to visit your closest neighbour. It's a chance to learn a thing or two. Maybe more.

I know it seems improbable to your divinely guided master in the White House that mere mortals might disagree with participating in a missile-defence system that has failed in its last three tests, even though the tests themselves were carefully rigged to show results.

But he moves far deeper to point out truly important differences between the attitudes of Canadians and their neighbors to the south. Among other things: 

I invite you to expand the narrow perspective that seems to inform your opinions of Canada by ranging far wider in your reach of contacts and discussions. You would find that what is rising in Canada is not so much anti-Americanism, as claimed by your and our right-wing commentators, but fundamental disagreements with certain policies of your government. You would see that rather than just reacting to events by drawing on old conventional wisdoms, many Canadians are trying to think our way through to some ideas that can be helpful in building a more secure world.

These Canadians believe that security can be achieved through well-modulated efforts to protect the rights of people, not just nation-states.

To encourage and advance international co-operation on managing the risk of climate change, they believe that we need agreements like Kyoto.

Bankruptcy Reform bill would make it harder for Americans to get relief from high medical bills by declaring bankruptcy   [3-5-05]

This word comes to us from FamiliesUSA – slightly edited here

To take action now --

Call your Senators to oppose making it harder for Americans with high medical bills to declare bankruptcy. Instead, urge them to support efforts to lower hospital and prescription drug bills. To find your Senator's phone number, call the U.S. Capitol Switchboard at (202) 224-3121.

John Dear says that "we have become a culture of Pharisees. Instead of practicing an authentic spirituality of compassion, nonviolence, love and peace, we as a collective people have become self-righteous, arrogant, powerful, murderous hypocrites who dominate and kill others in the name of God."

The proposed job training bill would allow religious discrimination by religious organizations receiving federal funding. The Washington Office has joined many other religious groups in calling for the restoration of civil rights protections to the bill.

Utne Webwatch has posted a brief summary from Sojourners of some of the growing flow of articles dealing with issues in the federal budget from a progressive faith perspective.

And Sojourners editor Jim Wallis has written a brief statement affirming that indeed, budgets are moral documents. And he raises sharp questions about the moral values reflected in the President's budget proposal.

The Presbyterian Washington Office has published a clear, concise analysis of the President's proposed budget for 2006, focusing on slashes in Medicaid, the Food Stamp Program, child care for low-income families, education, and community food and nutrition programs. That is coupled with the President's proposal to make his huge tax cuts permanent, to the benefit of the affluent. Added to that is increased military spending - and that's not counting the cost of the wars in Iraq and Afghanistan.

The Bulletin includes a "Faith Reflection on the Federal Budget," from the Interreligious Working Group on Domestic Human Needs. The signers of the statement raise the crucial question of the budget: "[D]oes it uphold values that will strengthen our life together as a nation and as part of the global community?"

Beliefnet provides an annotated guide to the president's inaugural speech, with brief notes clarifying the many religious references in the speech.

A Washington Post comment on the address is headlined:

"Bush's Words On Liberty Don't Mesh With Policies: U.S. Maintains Close Ties With Repressive Nations"

The article states:

President Bush's soaring rhetoric yesterday that the United States will promote the growth of democratic movements and institutions worldwide is at odds with the administration's increasingly close relations with repressive governments in every corner of the world. Some of the administration's allies in the war against terrorism -- including Egypt, Saudi Arabia, Pakistan and Uzbekistan -- are ranked by the State Department as among the worst human rights abusers. The president has proudly proclaimed his friendship with Russian President Vladimir Putin while remaining largely silent about Putin's dismantling of democratic institutions in the past four years. The administration, eager to enlist China as an ally in the effort to restrain North Korea's nuclear ambitions, has played down human rights concerns there, as well...

Meanwhile the Presbyterian Church has consistently expressed concern over violations of human rights by a number of these and other governments - many of which engage in violations of religious freedom for Christians and others. The "Human Rights Update" received by the 2004 General Assembly details these concerns.

The Los Angeles Times sums up Bush's address in the headline, "President Pledges to End 'Tyranny in Our World'."

The Interfaith Alliance, which describes itself as "a nonpartisan, national grassroots organization dedicated to promoting the positive and healing role of religion in public life," has sent letters to senators who will participate in the confirmation process of a number of nominees for cabinet positions. These include Ms. Margaret Spellings, President Bush's nominee to be the next Secretary of Education; Governor Mike Johanns, as Secretary of Agriculture; Mr. Carlos Gutierrez, as Secretary of Commerce; and Judge Alberto Gonzales, as Attorney General.

The four specific questions they raise for each nominee are these:

Bruce Gillette sends this commentary on the coming inauguration   [1-11-05]

Douglas Ottati looks at the American culture after the presidential election, pondering the insecurity in which we live. He examines some of the temptations presented by that insecurity, including the corruptions of nation and family - while affirming at the same time their very real value. The challenge for progressive Christians today, he concludes, is to develop a deeper theology of culture from which we can both critique and affirm the major institutions of our society.

ActForChange, True Majority, MoveOn, Faithful America, Sojourners and Win Without War have joined to call on Alberto Gonzales, nominee for chief law enforcement officer of the United States, members of the U.S. Senate, and other responsible government officials, to sign a Declaration Against Torture, unequivocally renouncing all forms of torture and abuse as instruments of American policy.

The Attorney General is charged with protecting the civil liberties of every American, and the American public must be assured that the person who holds the job is up to that task.

Go to the website of ActForChange or that of MoveOn.com to read the Declaration and add your name.

Please share this announcement with your friends and help spread the word about this important campaign!

Bruce K. Gagnon, the coordinator of the Global Network Against Weapons & Nuclear Power in Space, shares this suggestion. Your webweaver has looked into it, and is impressed.   [1-3-05]

Dear Friends:

I think you might be interested in a email letter-writing service I belong to: http://www.ProgressiveSecretary.org

Their letters are excellent and they cover an incredibly wide range of issues, all from a progressive point of view. It's easy too. They send you the letter, you read it, and if you want to send it then you just click and reply. Progressive Secretary does the rest.

They personalize the letter so it goes to your representatives in Washington, over your name and address, just as though it came directly from you. Even though your name and address show at the bottom of the letter, they never give your name out on lists or to other participants. They are very careful to protect your privacy.

It's totally free, because their "staff" are all volunteers. You can suggest they do letters on issues you're especially interested in.

They never send a letter without your OK. And of course you can drop out any time you want.

I've found that I agree with almost all their letters, and I feel like I'm telling Washington and big corporations what I feel on issues I care about -- with practically no work on my part!

Visit their web site. I think you'll like them. I do!

We believe it's important for a group like the Witherspoon Society, as it is for all people of faith, to pay attention, serious attention, not only to what we see in the media but to the deeper issues of peace and justice that underlie our choices.

So on this page we will present some views of the campaign as it unfolds -- hopefully reflecting Witherspoon's commitments to peace and justice, without being merely partisan.

We want to offer a variety of opinions and reflections, both from you, our friends and visitors, and from other sources.

The National Council of Churches USA has released 10 principles for evaluating candidates that it hopes all Christians - from liberals to conservatives - will study and apply in this election year.  They could provide very helpful points for reflection and conversation in churches and elsewhere. 

You can download a one page list of the ten principles, with a short study guide on the back of the page.

Jim Wallis, convener of Call to Renewal and executive director of Sojourners, has published an opinion piece in the Boston Globe, saying that it's time for Christians to mount a "rescue operation" to take back their faith from the radical Right.

He begins:

Many of us feel that our faith has been stolen, and it's time to take it back. A misrepresentation of Christianity has taken place. Many people around the world now think Christian faith stands for political commitments that are almost the opposite of its true meaning. How did the faith of Jesus come to be known as pro-rich, pro-war, and pro-American? What has happened? How do we get back to a historic, biblical, and genuinely evangelical faith rescued from its contemporary distortions?

That rescue operation is crucial today in the face of a social crisis that cries out for prophetic religion. ... When we take back our faith, we will discover that faith challenges the powers that be to do justice for the poor instead of preaching a "prosperity gospel" and supporting politicians who further enrich the wealthy.

You'll find his essay in the Boston Globe, and also on the Common Dreams website.

A new organization, Diplomats and Military Commanders for Change (http://www.diplomatsforchange.com/) has issued a powerful statement calling for the defeat of President Bush in November as an essential first step in restoring good relations with the Middle East and the rest of the world. The group expects to critique US policy in a series of future statements and positions.    Click here for the full text of their brief statement.

Charles Henderson offers a thoughtful look at Ronald Reagan's faith as a neglected aspect of his personality, his presidency, and his impact on American life. George W. Bush apparently can't claim credit for making the first connection between piety and politics.

Cal Thomas, writing as an evangelical, finds much to praise in Ronald Reagan, he laments that in becoming his unabashed supporters, conservative Christians began "equating Christianity with the Republican Party,' and lost the critical distance they should have maintained in relation to any political power.

Two commentators remind us that President Reagan, like the rest of us, had his shadow side.

Liberals need to get beyond the story of being victims  [5-21-04]

After all the disasters that current Administration policies are creating, it seems odd that polls still show a rather close race between President George W. Bush and Senator John Kerry. Joshua Wolf Shenk, a former editor of The Washington Monthly, suggests in a Mother Jones article that the presumptive Democratic candidate has yet to present a story as gripping and convincing as the Bush story of a battle between good and evil.

"Perhaps the fundamental problem for the left," says Shenk, "is that it has long defined itself in opposition to the powerful. But it needs a story that is consistent with exercising power, and taking action. And it does have a powerful, true story to tell."

The Catholic perspective in this election year has mostly been headlined in relation to abortion, vouchers, and same-sex unions. But there are many Catholics who insist on bringing the whole range of Catholic social teachings to the voting public - and to fellow Catholics.

One project is A Social Justice Message from Catholic Voters. As in previous election years, they are rounding up contributions as well as signatures so it can be published in Roll Call and the National Catholic Reporter.  It can be accessed at www.quixote.org/cso       Thanks to Gene TeSelle

A Baptist view comes from a Baptist homiletics professor, writing for a moderate-to-liberal Baptist website. He asks how a church can conduct "ministry in a political year," and suggests some concrete things a congregation can do to help members become more informed and active, without being partisan. He mentions things like a non-partisan voter registration drive, inviting local candidates to speak, taking groups to hear national candidates, and talking about or studying topics like "Christians and International Politics," or "Christians and Labor Issues."

Are you aware of other statements or sources on political views and strategies in other churches or religious groups? 
Please send a note, and we'll share them here!

Looking carefully at the rhetoric in the State of the Union address   [1-30-04]

Stephen Zunes offers a helpful "annotation" of President Bush's State of the Union address.  Zunes is Middle East editor for Foreign Policy in Focus, and associate professor of Politics and chair of the Peace & Justice Studies Program at the University of San Francisco.

Wed., Jan 14, 2004 - from SOA Watch

[1-15-04]

The New York Post recently published an article exposing Democratic presidential candidate General Wesley Clark as a supporter of the notorious School of the Americas (SOA/WHISC). Clark delivered a commencement speech at the SOA in 1996 (the year in which the use of Torture Manuals at the SOA became public). To read the article, click here: http://www.nypost.com/news/nationalnews/13799.htm.

Since the information on Clark's position on the SOA/WHISC became more public, the SOA Watch office has received dozens of phone calls and emails from journalists and activists who are saying that at nearly every one of Clark's public appearances, he is being confronted on his unpopular stands on the issue of the School of the Americas/WHISC.

On the other hand, Democratic presidential candidate Dennis Kucinich has repeatedly announced that, if elected, one of his first actions as president would be to immediately close down the SOA/WHISC. Kucinich's official position on the SOA/WHISC: http://www.house.gov/kucinich/issues/internationalrelations.htm#School

Click here for background on protests against the School of the Americas/WHISC

It appears that our Issues Analyst, Gene TeSelle, has never met an issue he didn't at least like to think about. Here are two reflections, one on an issue - same-sex marriage - that is of direct concern to the PC(USA), the other - legislative redistricting in Texas and Colorado - an issue that is a matter of "good citizenship" for all of us.

He offers these points with the hope they will generate some good conversation, and perhaps ideas for actions to be suggested at the 2004 General Assembly.

If you have thoughts, please send a note and we'll share it here!

It was most notorious in Texas, when the Democratic members of the legislature twice left the state in order to deny a quorum. But it also happened in Colorado.

What's the topic? The re-drawing of state and Congressional districts after it had already been done once by legislatures, using data from the 2000 census.

While gerrymandering has been done by both parties when they were in control of state legislatures, the "social contract" under which they have lived is that redistricting is to be done only once every ten years, in accordance with the requirements of the U.S. Constitution. The drawing of districts has become such a fine science that most Congressional districts are "safe seats" for one or the other party; those that are really up for grabs every two years are limited to ten or fifteen across the entire country.

Republicans in Texas and Colorado broke that contract when they gained control of the legislatures and decided to make their control permanent. We don't yet know how this will play out in the courts. What we do know is that lots of eyebrows are being raised at such shenanigans.

The situation is so dramatic that there are calls for reform from many quarters. Here are three viable approaches, all of them better than what we have now.

The state of Iowa since 1980 has authorized the nonpartisan Legislative Services Bureau to draw up three different plans, all of them based on clear criteria that are ranked in importance; then the legislature decides among them. It seems to have worked well in Iowa, and it is wistfully admired in other states.

This may be the time for a campaign for proportional voting -- if not nationwide, at least in enlightened states -- or those that are just exhausted by the constant debate. It is quite possible for the Congressional seats allotted to a state to be determined on a statewide basis. So if a state sends five representatives to Congress, each voter can cast five votes for different candidates ("single-shotting," casting five votes for a single candidate, would be ruled out). The top five vote-getters go to Congress.

Proportional voting is used in most of the countries in Europe and in many other areas. The single-district "winner take all" method has been perpetuated in Britain and the U.S., and it tends to encourage a two-party system, with each party trying to capture the middle. The problem, as Lani Guineer has put it, is that the voters "get districted" and lose the right to decide who will represent them. The consequence of proportional voting is that more parties have a chance of getting their candidates elected. But it also means that each constituency has the opportunity to make its vote count, perhaps even be the "swing vote."

Along with this, it may be the time for instant runoff voting. Each voter, in voting for candidates, could also indicate second choices. In counting the votes, the first choices would be tallied first, and those who received a majority would be elected; in the other cases the second choices would be tallied. This approach is already used in many municipalities as a means of avoiding expensive run-off elections. It could also be adapted to proportional voting on a statewide basis.

If you, our visitors, have had experience with any of these, we would love to have your comments.
Please send a note
and we'll share it here.

GA actions ratified (or not) by  the presbyteries   

A number of the most important actions of the 219^th General Assembly have now been acted upon by the presbyteries, confirming most of them as amendments to the PC(USA) Book of Order.

We provided resources to help inform the reflection and debate, along with updates on the voting.

Our three areas of primary interest have been:

If you like what you find here,
we hope you'll help us keep Voices for Justice going ... and growing!

Please consider making a special contribution -- large or small -- to help us continue and improve this service.

Click here to send a gift online, using your credit card, through PayPal.

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PVJ's Facebook page

Mitch Trigger, PVJ's Secretary/Communicator, has created a Facebook page where Witherspoon members and others can gather to exchange news and views. Mitch and a few others have posted bits of news, both personal and organizational. But there’s room for more!

Voices of Sophia blog

Heather Reichgott, who has created this new blog for Voices of Sophia, introduces it:

John Harris’ Summit to Shore blogspot

John Shuck’s Shuck and Jive

Got more blogs to recommend?