"Red Letter Christians" - sad but very good

[Cell Whitman]

Sad that they can't just be known simply as "Christians" but thanks to the freaks who have twisted the meaning of that moniker and used Jesus as a political tool - they have been forced to do something.

Albeit some twenty years late, good that they are finding a way to set themselves apart from Falwell, Robertson, Rove, the Republican leadership and their cult of narrow minded theocratic extremists who piss on Jesus' good name with their every utterance.

Jesus never did anything to deserve what Republicans do in His name.

via Mainstream Baptist

A Progressive Evangelical - Tony Campolo

What's a 'Red-Letter Christian'?
Jesus is neither a Republican nor a Democrat. That's why we created a new name for our Christian political movement.

Recently, I met with a group of religious leaders who have become increasingly disturbed by the alliance between evangelical Christians and the Republican Party. Karl Rove, President Bush’s political strategist, has brilliantly and successfully served as the matchmaker to arrange this union, which was consummated in the last presidential election when 83 percent of evangelicals voted Republican.

The meeting was joined by the Rev. Jim Wallis of Sojourners magazine; Father Richard Rohr, a well-known Catholic writer and speaker; Brian McLaren, a leader of the emergent church movement; the Rev. Dr. Cheryl J. Sanders, a prominent African-American pastor; the Rev. Noel Castellanos, a strong voice in the Hispanic community; and several other outstanding Christian communicators.

The purpose of this gathering was not to create a religious left movement to challenge the religious right, but to jump-start a religious movement that will transcend partisan politics. Believing that Jesus is neither a Republican nor a Democrat, we want to unite Christians who are concerned about what is happening in America. We are evangelicals who are troubled by what is happening to poor people in America; who are disturbed over environmental policies that are contributing to global warming; who are dismayed over the increasing arrogance of power shown in our country’s militarism; who are outraged because government funding is being reduced for schools where students, often from impoverished and dysfunctional homes, are testing poorly; who are upset with the fact that of the 22 industrialized nations America is next to last in the proportion of its national budget (less than two-tenths of 1 percent) that is designated to help the poor of third-world countries; and who are broken-hearted over discrimination against women, people of color, and those who suffer because of their sexual orientation. ...

By calling ourselves Red-Letter Christians, we are alluding to the fact that in several versions of the New Testament, the words of Jesus are printed in red. In adopting this name, we are saying that we are committed to living out the things that He said. Of course, the message in those red-lettered verses is radical, to say the least. If you don’t believe me, read Jesus’ Sermon on the Mount (Matthew 5-7). ...

Because being evangelical is usually synonymous with being Republican in the popular mind, and calling ourselves “progressive” might be taken as a value judgment by those who do share our views, we decided not to call ourselves “progressive evangelicals.” We came up with a new name: Red-Letter Christians. ....

Gandhi once said that everybody in the world knows what Jesus was teaching in those verses--except Christians! We will try to prove him wrong.

http://www.cellwhitman.blogspot.com/

[Rabrrrrrr]

1. Tony Campolo is fucking awesome!

Big fan of him - he is, truly, a progressive evangelical (which is what an evangelical, and any Christian, should be): and one that doesn't have a problem with admitting he was wrong, or changing his theology (cf. his change of heart on homosexuality after his wife hammered at him and showed him the truth).

Campolo's spot on Colbert Report a month or so ago was phenomenal.

I have heard him preach a number of times. One that I remember most was in 1984, at the UCC National Youth Event, he was preaching at an evening service and he was talking about starvation around the world, and said that "and no one gives a shit."

The place went silent. And then - this is the real kicker - he said, "And you know what's even more sad? It's that more people are going to leave this event upset that I said 'shit' than will go home upset that XXXX people starved to death today".

[Cell Whitman]

2. thanks for sharing that - speaking of changing views on homosexuality

did ya see this?

it could save lives if more people saw it...

http://www.reallivepreacher.com/node/698

there is video link at the bottom of the post or you can go here:

http://video.google.com/videoplay?docid=-1117498732160872873

[Ringo84]

3. Campolo!

Tony Campolo is awesome. He has my support.
Ringo

[Cell Whitman]

4. He has more common sense then all of the

theocrats combined.