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ns that when a candidate like bolsonaro says black brazilians don t do anything i don t think they re even good for procreation any more we must stand up and speak words of life we must make sure that our salt has not lost its flavor polls are showing that bolsonaro with his almost unanimous support among the countries evangelical s will easily win the second round of elections and become brazil s next president i pray for bolsonaro i pray that christ will change his heart i pray for the christians of brazil i pray that they meditate on the scriptures and realize that gaining the whole world and losing your soul is a process that must be rejected i pray that justice reigns in brazil and that hate is shunned to my fellow evangelicals i say this we can do better lets be true moral spirtual and ethical leaders september 28 2018 september 28 2018 considerfaith14012 progressive christianity social justice brett kavanaugh and a series of unfortunate events as a christian forgiveness is always on my mind i believe it rests there constantly because it s the embodiment of jesus if the purpose of jesus and his mission was to save mankind and forgive us for all the injustices we wage on a daily basis than certainly it s easy to understand why a christian would be so obsessed with the concept of forgiveness i m always struck by stories of people that have experienced tragedy usually at the hands of another person and yet are still able to forgive that person for the pain they have caused i remember being moved to tears in high school by hearing the story of a new york city police officer who went weekly to visit with a youth in prison the youth is serving a life sentence for attempted murder the victim in this case was the police officer the officer who almost died and is paralyzed after being shot by the youth felt it in his heart to forgive the young man these stories of forgiveness provide us with hope we have numerous examples in scriptures of jesus teaching us to forgive those who hate us and to love our enemies i think i ve become so overly interested in the topic because i so desperately desire to be like christ i often think that if forgiveness was jesus purpose than in some ways forgiveness has to be my purpose as well this week has been one of intense political conflict a leisurely scroll through my facebook page leaves me wondering how our country has not yet broken out in full political civil war opinions especially in regards to judge kavanaugh his accusers and politicians from both the left and the right have been violently opposed middle ground and in the case of sexual assault this seems appropriate is really nowhere to be found i know that judge kavanaugh denies all allegations that have been put forth against him i also understand that at least half and maybe more of the country believes his version of events that s only natural in a democracy however as a christian i wonder if a majority of the faith community has missed the bigger picture reverend franklin graham son of the legendary evangelist billy graham has come out and confidently proclaimed that any accusations against judge kavanaugh that occurred in high school are irrelevant a marist poll recently conducted found that over 50 of evangelicals would still support judge kavanaugh even when asked if there is overwhelming evidence that he committed acts of sexual assault groups like focus on the family and the southern baptist convention have all signed letters of support asking for judge kavanaugh to be appointed regardless of the allegations pending against him as a progressive i do not support the nomination of judge kavanaugh to the supreme court from his responses on issues like workers rights to his support for unlimited corporate spending in elections to his support of federalism for issues of health sexuality and civil rights i believe he is unfit to serve however as a christian i believe the moral imperative is to stand with a growing majority of the country that believes morality must have a place in deciding who gets to sit on the supreme court my faith tells me that the secular world and not the church is correct in calling for his nomination to be rescinded as a result of his questionable moral choices there are times as a christian i have given a pass to the wider evangelical community i have many secular friends who ask how can your christian friends support president trump after all the immoral things he has done in his personal life i usually respond by saying i think most evangelicals feel trump isn t claiming to be a christian of high moral standing they give him a pass because he still governs in a way that s affirming of evangelical values evangelicals know that trump is a sinner very worldly but they feel his policies in the end reflect their values i believe that with judge kavanaugh this explanation is now morally reprehensible judge kavanaugh is one of several conservative legal professionals that president trump can choose from his support for overturning roe v wade same sex marriage and other issues important to conservative evangelicals can be carried out by another justice that does not have the same checkered past as judge kavanaugh judge kavanaugh is not the only choice that exists for those who wish to maintain traditional christian values there will be those who say okay but as with trump we need kavanaugh because he will vote the will of god to those who think this way i have a question at what price does voting the will of god become too high does getting someone who will vote the way you believe god would have him vote overrule how the world and those who need our moral example as christians view our community how can evangelicals continue to advocate for god s saving grace while we consistently fail to be moral leaders i believe the accusers of judge kavanaugh but i also believe that he is a man in need of god s love king david in psalms 25 7 begs god by shouting to heaven do not remember the sins of my youth and my rebellious ways god will most certainly forgive judge kavanaugh for anything he did while acting like a childish high school jock as many of his evangelical supporters say however as we can say in the stories of moses david saul and others god may forgive us but that doesn t mean our past actions won t come back to hurt us since i m a christian i m called by god to be a perpetrator of forgiveness while i have no right to forgive judge kavanaugh on behalf of the accused i hold no grudge or ill will towards him i also hold no grudge against my fellow evangelicals who support his nomination i do pray that as a community evangelicals remember that one day in heaven is like a thousand years on earth evangelical support for a political party ideology economic system etc is a fleeting moment in the arc of godly justice august 9 2018 august 9 2018 considerfaith14012 progressive christianity social justice uncategorized sometimes it s so damn hard to love these people in social work we talk a lot about resiliency the idea behind promoting resiliency centers on the belief that universally we all experience things that shock us disorientate our dreams and goals and cause severe emotional harm the goal of resiliency is to give clients tools to make them stay strong during these emotional storms and remain on a path of personal progress the scriptures are filled with stories and examples of christ encouraging the early christians to be resilient in the face of a society built on oppression and division like the early christians it s not unfair to claim that christians today need to reflect on how to maintain resiliency when approached with societal evil this coming sunday august 12 a group of self proclaimed white nationalists will be assembling in washington d c in an attempt to unite the right you may remember this cast of alpha male characters from such tragedies as last years unite the right rally in charlottesville virginia that rally ended with several injuries and the death of one young woman there is much speculation in the news that the rally this weekend will end in a similar way it s reported https www thecut com 2018 08 unite the right rally washington dc html that the d c police are preparing strategizing and bringing in help from outside police forces to prepare for both right wing and anti fascist protesters i pray for peace but in all honest expect there to be war as the husband of a beautiful biracial woman and father of four biracial children i worry deeply about race relations in our country fans of the current president might call me a typical progressive snowflake and chalk up my sensitivity to issues of police brutality racial discrimination and hate as just typical characteristics of a liberal however i ve seen first hand how deeply scared by racism my wife s side of the family the african american side that is i have experienced their fear of a passing police car fear of being labeled by white people as other and have felt how deeply devastated they are by the scares of america s original sin with all that being said i have to confess that i too feel hatred for those that will assemble in washington d c to promote hate i feel pride in those protesters that will show up to counter these voices of hate however as a christian that tries to emulate christ i feel deeply conflicted over these feelings those racist individuals that will show up to dispense their ignorant hatred are no less our brothers and sisters than the progressive voices that will be there speaking truth to power while thinking about this i immediately thought about the words john spoke in the bible in 1 john 2 9 11 we see john telling the early christian church that 9 anyone who claims to be in the light but hates a brother or sister is still in the darkness 10 anyone who loves their brother and sister lives in the light and there is nothing in them to make them stumble 11 but anyone who hates a brother or sister is in the darkness and walks around in the darkness they do not know where they are going because the darkness has blinded them john is really speaking to individuals such as those in the rise above movement ram who believe that america has been distorted by race mixing and the expansion of islam in the united states john is speaking to those men and woman in ram who believe that sometimes you have to fight liberals in the streets john recognizes that these individuals are guided by darkness these people have become blind martin luther king has famously told us that hate cannot drive out hate only love can do that and i truly think that is also what john would have us understand in his scripture we need to love the hell outta people that will be going to d c in an effort to expand their racist ideology we need to love these people who have turned to hate and let the light and love of the holy spirit overcome the darkness that has clouded their lives so while i support the protesters who will be there to offer a counter narrative to the right wing nationalists i pray that they do so with the understanding that in the war against hate only love will offer peace hate and darkness are hell bent on destroying us i pray that this weekend does not turn in to a bloody sunday and that the love of peace understanding and unity reigns i pray for the right i also pray for the left to be successful and for d c to be under the watchful and merciful hand of god this weekend we must be resilient and continue spreading love july 3 2018 july 3 2018 considerfaith14012 progressive christianity social justice uncategorized brother west and the 4th of july a few years ago i went to hear union theological seminary professor cornell west give a lecture at the young democratic socialists of america s winter convention i know what you are probably thinking they have enough young socialists that they need to break their conventions into seasonal gatherings for those who have never seen an interview with cornell west i suggest you give him a quick youtube watch he is funny compassionate smart and even if you disagree with his politics he will make you think i first heard brother west as he so often is called being interviewed by sean hannity this was during my early days as a young republican i remember being shocked to hear such openly socialistic arguments coming from someone with a phd again i was pretty young and didn t know much about nothin his argument that george w bush was a constantine type christian thus someone that would use christianity to mask his plans for political power really shocked me at the time what endeared me to him and i guess really challenged my notion of what it means to be a christian occurred when i started to notice how he referred to everyone as brother or sister i grew up in church and feel very at ease referring to people as brother dave or sister jean as a kid i learned early that by invoking brother or sister before a persons name indicates that they are one of us and we can know they are a believing christian so when i heard him use brother when describing people like karl rove and vice president dick cheney i was taken aback the use of those signifiers also represents a certain element of affection and christian love i always appreciated especially as i got older that calling someone in church your brother or sister really helped establish a sense of solidarity it made me feel like these people were more than just my friendly neighbors in church so to hear cornel west use that when describing his enemies made me really think by the time i went to hear cornel west speak i had done a complete change in politics and thinking i was still a christian i will always remember the day i went to see cornel west speak because the previous night i learned that i received a full scholarship to attend seminary i ultimately didn t go but that story can be saved for another blog but my convictions and outlook on the world went through a radical shift i no longer believed that jesus promoted capitalism or that christians should support war i felt more of a conviction to act out christ s mission to what he described as the least of these but hearing dr west speak and hearing him repeatedly refer to conservatives as brother and sister again brought me back to why i was originally intrigued by his message and delivery as the talk came to an end dr west asked if anyone in the audience had questions there were many of the usual questions on policy predictions for upcoming elections however one person asked him why does he choose to call people that we as socialists consider evil as brother and sister his response is something i think about almost everyday he told the crowd i call everyone regardless of race religion politics or ideology brother and sister because we all come from god and we are all in this together i believe in redemption and hope so i believe that people i disagree with and who are enacting policies that hurt ...