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Voice of the Day: David Lim
The measure of a society's progress is not whether it can give more to those who have more, but whether it can provide enough to those who have less.
--David Lim
Brian McLaren: The Need for a New Rhetoric
A number of my friends have given up blogging, either temporarily or permanently. The reason? The blogosphere seems to indulge a certain kind of rhetoric that they don't want to be associated with anymore.
Although I continue to post here at the God's Politics blog on occasion, and I believe in the power and potential of the blogosphere, I share my friends' frustration with the kind of [...]
Voice of the Day: Bread and Justice
O God, to those who have hunger give bread; and to us who have bread give the hunger for justice.
- A Latin American prayer
Quoted in Cry Freedom, by Charles Ringma.
Verse of the Day: Oppressing the Poor
A ruler who oppresses the poor is a beating rain that leaves no food.
- Proverbs 28:3
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Verse of the Day: Generosity
Those who are generous are blessed, for they share their bread with the poor.
- Proverbs 22:9
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Duane Shank: What is Sojourners?
The news coverage of our candidates forum was a good chance to see how Sojourners is described in the media. The three best were The Washington Times (interestingly), McClatchy Newspapers, and The Miami Herald:
The Washington Times: "Sojourners, a Christian social justice network"
McClatchy Newspapers: "Sojourners/Call to Renewal, a Christian group [...]
Verse of the Day: Living Wages for the Poor
You shall not withhold the wages of poor and needy laborers, whether other Israelites or aliens who reside in your land in one of your towns. You shall pay them their wages daily before sunset, because they are poor and their livelihood depends on them; otherwise they might cry to the Lord against you, and you would incur guilt.
- Deuteronomy 24:14-15
Voice of the Day: Gertrude the Great
Now and then, set aside for yourself a day on which, without hindrance, you can be at leisure to praise God and to make amends for all the praise and thanksgiving you have neglected all the days of your life to render to God for all the good he has done. This will be a day of praising and thanksgiving and a day of jubilation, and you will celebrate the memory of that radiant praise with which you will be jubilant to the Lord for eternity, when you will be satisfied fully by the presence of God, [...]
Voice of the Day: Jon Sobrino
To understand the truth is to do the truth.
-Jon Sobrino
Quoted in Cry Freedom, by Charles Ringma
Verse of the Day: Faith and Works
For just as the body without the spirit is dead, so faith without works is also dead.
- James 2:26
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Voice of the Day: Vishal Mangalwadi
There is no dearth of Christian service today. But because much of it is service without prophetic compassion, it is powerless to bring about a radical change in individuals and society.
-Vishal Mangalwadi
Quoted in "Cry Freedom", by Charles Ringma.
Verse of the Day: Serving the Poor
"When you give a luncheon or a dinner, do not invite your friends or your brothers or your relatives or rich neighbors, in case they may invite you in return, and you would be repaid. But when you give a banquet, invite the poor, the crippled, the lame, and the blind. And you will be blessed, because they cannot repay you, for you will be repaid at the resurrection of the righteous."
- Luke 14:12-14
Suzan Johnson Cook: What's the Responsibility of Black Leadership?
Following last week's candidates forum, we asked the religious leaders on our panel if there were any other questions they wish they could have asked any of the candidates. Dr. Suzan Johnson Cook, a senior pastor at the Bronx Christian Fellowship, had this question for Barack Obama:
Oprah Winfrey and Bill Cosby have been criticized for speaking out about the [...]
Video: Candidates Forum - Full Content
Philip Rizk: Will Na'el Walk On His Own?
I spent this morning with the Sisters of Charity at their shelter for disabled children in downtown Gaza City.
When I first started going to the shelter, a boy called Na'el, with a consistent look of fear in his eyes, would hold on to me - not wanting to let go. Sister Delphina told me that it was the first time since he had arrived at the home that he had allowed a male to hold him. Na'el is deaf and [...]
Verse of the Day: Hearing the Cry of the Poor
If you close your ear to the cry of the poor, you will cry out and not be heard.
- Proverbs 21:13
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Voice of the Day: Rule of Benedict
We should realize that we are heard not by multiplying words, but because of purity of heart and tears of compunction.
- Rule of Benedict
Joel Hunter: What the Candidates Forum Could Have Been
OK. I've got to admit it - being a part of the panel to ask candidates for the presidency of the United States about their faith and moral values was just plain surreal. Kudos to Jim Wallis (and Jack Pannell and the rest of the Sojourners organization) for creating this historic event!
As I reflected on [...]
Verse of the Day: Opressing the Poor
Those who oppress the poor insult their Maker, but those who are kind to the needy honor him.
Proverbs 13:41
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Jim Wallis: Politics Isn't Working
Legislation for comprehensive immigration reform collapsed in the U.S. Senate yesterday as an effort to move to a final vote was defeated, leaving the future in serious doubt. It’s the perfect example of an observation I’ve often made - that most people I talk to around the country think that the political process isn’t working in America; it is failing to resolve the big moral issues of our time.