Evangelical Left figures have begun responding to an unfolding scandal involving Planned Parenthood and the alleged sale of organs from aborted children for profit. The authors and columnists join officials from the Southern Baptist Convention, U.S. Conference of Catholic Bishops and others in expressing concern about the allegations.
Source: Christian Post | Jeffery Walton
Source: Anglican Communion News Service
American Friends of the Episcopal Church of Sudan and South Sudan and the Episcopal Church in the United States have co-signed an open letter to US President Barack Obama urging him to help put an end to the conflict in South Sudan.
In the letter, 19 religious organisations and NGOs urge Mr Obama to use his upcoming visit to Africa to "press for a solution to the ongoing crisis in South Sudan and stress the need for greater regional cooperation to pressure the warring parties to make the necessary concessions for a sustainable peace in South Sudan."
Source: MSR News | Clarence Hightower
A few weeks ago I introduced a column discussing the official U.S. poverty rate by referencing the 2011 poverty bus tour that was organized by Tavis Smiley and Dr. Cornel West. In August of that year, Smiley and West visited a total of 18 cities in 11 states. Designed to reveal the many faces of poverty that persist across racial, cultural and geographic lines, the tour commenced on an Ojibwe reservation in northwest Wisconsin before culminating at a town hall meeting in Memphis and a visit to the Lorraine Motel, site of the assassination of Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr.
Source: Christian Post | Samuel Smith
A coalition of Christian leaders devoted to helping end poverty has released a series of videos featuring six 2016 presidential candidates. Each candidate explained the approach that he or she would take to solve poverty and hunger issues in the United States and across the globe if they were elected president.
Source: Cypress Creek Mirror | Rick Brown
Find a global need and meet it. There are numerous organizations that you can donate some of your income to that are helping meet the needs of world hunger and water shortage. And find a local need and meet it. People are hungry right here in our community. And those needs will grow as our community grows. When we do that we will see the Kingdom of God come on earth as it is in heaven. In the meantime, don’t cut out the poor from your Bibles. And don’t cut them out of your life.
Source: Minnesota Public Radio
Journalists, nonprofit leaders and political analysts from across the political aisle discussed the politics of inequality and the role that the issue could play in the 2016 presidential elections in a conversation at the Aspen Ideas Festival this year.
Source: Huffington Post | Adam Phillips
I've spent the last year -- and especially so the last month -- hearing from LGBTQ parishioners, neighbors and friends their struggles growing up in the church. Horrible stories of anguish. Losing jobs, losing schools, losing friends and family. An unnecessary wreckage of human life in the name of faith.
Source: Huffington Post | Jim Wallis
We need to make it clear to our leaders that many Christians favor practical and pragmatic steps to prevent Iran from developing a nuclear weapon, not merely rhetorical flourishes that demonstrate at best a desire to oppose the Obama administration at any cost, or, at worst, a desire to go to another war.
Source: Christian Century | Frank G. Honeycutt
I wonder if Nicodemus would have found this bravery and poise in his faith if Jesus had talked about the weather or handed him an evangelism tract—anything to avoid bringing up the radical transformation into becoming a follower of Jesus.
Source: Eden Prairie News | Bernard Johnson
So I am wondering, will America change as a result of nine people slaughtered in a prayer meeting? It remains to be seen. Some have said we can never be the same. To live as if there is no bigotry and racism infecting the soul of our nation is only to give such things room to grow. To face them anew in the wake of profound pain and sorrow may be the first step in healing a social cancer.
Source: Shared Justice | Dan Carter
We need to repent and we need to do it now. We have a long list of injustices to confess. And you, white Christian American, should be first to your knees.
Source: Adirondack Daily Enterprise | George J. Bryjak
If Christian leaders in the U.S. do not act on the desire of many of the faithful to work for social justice issues, churches will continue to lose members, especially millennials.
Source: Huffington Post | Mae Elise Cannon
Join in action against the trend of burning black churches. Even one intentional arson is one too many and is a threat to racial peace in America. Take action during the Week of Righteous Resistance!
Source: Aspen Daily News | Andrea Kaufman
“What is religion good for in this world of social justice?”
Source: Biloxi Sun Herald | Paul Hampton
Moore said living in Biloxi taught him to listen respectfully to opposing views.
Source: Huffington Post | Jim Wallis
The biggest problem we face -- the biggest enemy at the heart of many of the issues we must address -- is hopelessness.
Source: Patheos | Holly Roach
The prayers and tears gave way to organizing. We went around the table sharing the resources, contacts, and capacity we each had to lend to the effort.
Source: Patheos | Tim Suttle
I flew to D.C. for the 2015 Missio Alliance North American Gathering with at least a bit of nervousness. I’m happy to say that, from the first moment to the last, I felt completely at home.
Source: Huffington Post | Carol Kuruvilla, Sebastian Murdock, and Taryn Finley
Black churches have long been symbols of power, community and liberation for African Americans -- and as a result, have often become a target when white supremacists feel their own power is being threatened.
Source: Think Progress | Jack Jenkins
Yet even as Huckabee and others invoked God in their opposition to the court’s decision, the move to legalize same-sex marriage nationwide was actually lauded by a multitude spiritual leaders and religious communities across the country.