Summit Results in Progressive Christian Agenda and Action Plan for 2006

We are proud to announce the results of the Progressive Christian Summit which produce the following agenda and action plan!

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Progressive Christian Agenda for 2006
Strategic Action Plan
DRAFT

Developed Through Prayer and Discourse at
The Progressive Christian Leadership Summit
February 4-5, 2006

Participating Organizations:
America Speaks
Beatitudes Society
California Council of Churches
Catholic Democracy Institute
Center for American Progress
Center for Progressive Christianity
Center for Research On Solutions for Society (CROSS)
Christian Alliance for Progress
Clergy and Laity Concerned About Iraq
CrossLeft, Convening Organization
CrossWalk America
EveryVoice
Grace Presbytery
Interactivity Foundation
National Council of Churches
Oregon Center for Christian Values
Progressive Christians Uniting
Progressive Christian Witness
Reclaiming Christianity
Social Justice Network of Nevada
Sojourner’s
Welcome Ministry
Zion’s Herald Magazine

Tables of Contents

Introduction……………………………………………………………………………………….2

Core Values of Progressive Christians……………………………………………………………...3

Policy Issue Selection………………………………………………………………………………5

Progressive Christian Political Agenda for 2006

Confronting War, Terrorism, and Torture………………………………………………………….7

Ensuring Health Care for all……………………………………………………………………….8

Addressing Corporate Dominance through Promoting Corporate Responsibility and Supporting Local Economies…………………………………………………………………………………...9

Action Plan…………………………………………………………………………………......…10

Introduction

Progressive Christian organizations convened in February 4-5, 2006 in a call to develop a positive agenda for change and strategic action plan. The plan was developed through a weekend of working meetings as part of the Progressive Christian Summit. CrossLeft, whose mission is to act as strategy clearing house and central hub for launching and sustaining the progressive Christian movement, acted as a the convening organization and facilitator.

There is humility in what we present. This is a first draft and first step in what we hope to be ongoing and evolving process of the progressive Christian community defining its values, agenda and how it desired to express those values through action. We hope to convene regional and local groups to add to this document and develop their own local plans for change. It should also be noted that the group that developed this first draft was largely white and middle class. It must be tested and tempered in Christian communities to dismiss any remnants of racism and classism. The summit participants are committed to taking this plan to their own communities and reaching out to underrepresented communities to ensure that the plan is inclusive.

Participants are also committed to realizing the action steps contained herein. Each group has a unique perspective and set of core competencies that can be brought to the work. The social networking and advocacy technologies available allow us to open source the movement creating leaders in every community.

Core Values of Progressive Christians

Christian values, as framed by the extreme right, have become a significant part of the political discussion in the United States. Fundamentalists have been successful in equating Christianity with being anti-abortion, anti-gay rights and against stem-cell research. This narrow definition of what Christians stand for does not represent the full spectrum of Christianity in general nor Progressive Christianity in particular.

As Thomas Frank notes in “What’s the Matter with Kansas?� people often vote their values and Progressive Christian organizations are mobilizing to provide a positive and compassionate alternative to the narrowly defined fundamentalist Christian value set.

Voting on values is not to be discouraged and indeed should provide the basis for our public policy priorities as progressive Christians. The equation below describes how the Progressive Christian Summit arrived at this strategic plan.

Values+Principles(Issues)=Action

Some examples of how this framework is confronted

• If we value compassion, then we believe in social justice, so we work for a living wage.
• If we value community, then we believe in inclusiveness so we work for civil rights (or so we work against racism, sexism, classism).

Progressive Christians identified a number of core values that are based on our faithful following of the teachings and love of Jesus Christ.

• Compassion
• Courage
• Solidarity
• Proximity to poor
• Love: God, neighbor, self
• Humility
• Honesty
• Common Good
• Community
• Service
• Justice
• Truth
• Stewardship
• Equality
• Competence
• Collective
• Forgiveness
• Beatitidues
• Liberation
• Inclusion
• Responsibility/Accountability
• Stewardship
• Empathy

Of these values, there were four values that were identified as essential to the Progressive Christian experience.

• Love of God, Neighbor and Self – “You shall love the Lord your God with all your heart, and with all your soul, and with all your mind. This is the great and first commandment. And a second is like it, You shall love your neighbor as yourself. On these two commandments depend all the law and the prophets.� Mathew 22:36

The great teachings of Jesus are to love God and to love your neighbor as yourself and to do unto others as you would have them do unto you. In order to follow these teachings you must have empathy and compassion for others and be responsible to yourself and those around you. All other values, our policy issues, and actions to build the movement flow from these great commandments.

• Compassion - Be compassionate as God is compassionate. Luke 6:36

Our best understanding of how to “be compassionate as God is compassionate� is lived out in the way we care for others. Jesus said, “Just as I have loved you, you also should love one another. By this everyone will know that you are my disciples, if you have love for one another.� We need always to ask ourselves if our values, principles and actions reflect the compassionate of God.

• Justice – “Without justice, there can be no peace. He who passively accepts evil is as much involved in it as he who helps to perpetrate it.� Dr. Martin Luther King Jr., Stride Towards Freedom
The overarching trajectory of the Judeo and Christian faith has been the impulse toward justice. Loving God and caring for others and wanting a fulfilled life for all requires justice for all. The prophet Amos tells us to “let justice roll down like waters, and righteousness like an ever-flowing stream.� Jesus said to do unto others as you would have them do unto you. We do the work of Jesus when we ensure justice for all.

• Common Good – “Individuals, families, groups and associations, albeit for different reasons and in different ways, all have a responsibility for shaping society and developing cultural, economic, political and legislative projects which, with respect for all and in keeping with democratic principles, will contribute to the building of a society in which the dignity of each person is recognized and protected and the lives of all are defended and enhanced.� John Paul II, Evangelium Vitae
People living together and caring for each other, especially those considered the least, comprise the beloved community. In order to live in community there must be fairness, trust, forgiveness, cooperation, and open communication. We must conduct ourselves honestly and with compassion for the good of all in the community. Peaceful coexistence is necessary.

Policy Issue Selection

Based on our values, the Progressive Leadership Summit brainstormed a number of potential policy issues in order to derive a set of issue priorities for 2006. This list of issues is listed below:

• Poverty – Child Poverty vs. Measuring poverty and therefore weak targeting of program
• Preserving the Church vs. State Boundaries – Reunderstanding the church/state divide
o Intelligent design
o Religion in schools
o Issues around faith-based initiatives.
o Progressive more comfortable with progressive Christianity
o Religious reason for supporting secularism
• Debt – consumer debt. International, domestic, personal.
o Jubilee
• Torture – Civilization, Degraded morally, historical American value
o Humane responses to threat.
o Supporting the Geneva Conventions and the UN
o Active non-violence against potential enemies
o Supporting a judicial process
• High rates of incarceration in the US
o Racism
o Our civility stops by torture abroad
• War
o Government has too much power
 Unitary Executive
• Move the public face of Christianity giving Christians a home for the Christians do not currently feel connected
o Living Christianity – devoutness
• Growing Economic disparity
o Increase minimum wage
o Corporate accountability and taxes
• Health Care
o Universal health care – detach health care from employment
o Holding pharmaceutical and insurance companies together
o Stem Cell Research – pursue research for compassion to current alive.
• Corporate domination of Christianity. Love of money is root of all evil not brought up.
o Materialism. Against prosperity gospel. Spiritual wealth as opposed to material wealth. Material wealth who will serve
o Greed and avarice
o Lobby reform
• Abortion
• Environmentalism
• Sexuality and Gender Issues

Criteria for Selecting Issues: The group identified a number of key criteria for selecting and evaluating issues. The group subsequently voted for strategic policy issues based on the below criteria:
• Hot-button issues over the next 2-3 years
• Degree of Biblical basis for the issue
• Bridge topics that have the potential to reach across boundaries
• Issues where Christianity is silent
• Distinctness of issue.
• Issues that resurrects traditional values in the grand historical tradition of progressive Christianity
• Exploit contradictions in the current discourse around politics and Christianity

Suggestions were made that further polling would be helpful to further discern issues. General public opinion polls, polling in progressive Christian churches and surveying think tanks should be pursued. Towards this end, CrossLeft’s Faith In Action Program is developing local agendas in communities and churches around the country. Additional issues will percolate up from the grassroots and be included in this plan.

Progressive Christian Political Agenda for 2006

Confronting War, Terrorism and Torture

Christian Value: Love of God Neighbor and Self

Theological Issues
Christians believe that we are all made in the image of God. If you torture another you are defiling creation and torturing yourself. Corrupt empires use torture to gain information or submission. God died on the cross through torture by the Roman Empire as a shining example that torture should never be used.

Based on his understanding of God’s compassion, Jesus taught us to not only love our neighbors but extended the principle to our enemies. He realized that loving our enemies, especially in times of violence is extremely difficult. There seems to be times that war is a necessary evil as stated in just war theory (it should be noted however that many progressive Christians are pacifists and do not subscribe to just war theory). The Iraq War, the use of torture, and the warrantless spying against American citizens are definitively against the teachings of turning the other cheek and loving your neighbor. This is leading to a slippery slope of dehumanization of the other.

Policy Changes
• We seek the names and pictures to those who have been tortured or imprisoned in the war on terror. The American people should know who their government is holding. Likewise, we believe by naming and providing pictures of the American War dead is essential to our understanding of the consequences of war. We believe that detainees should be granted due process rights and have standing in US and International courts.
• We seek an accountability project for the billions of dollars spent in the wars on terror, Iraq, and Afghanistan. A public-private partnership should be developed to audit both government spending and the profits of government contractors who are supporting the war.
• We seek a definition of victory in Iraq and timetable for which US will withdrawal. We believe that withdrawal should begin this year and have a definitive ending point for US occupation of Iraq.
• We seek great US participation in international institutions including the International Criminal Court, UN peacekeeping efforts and greater humanitarian and international aid. Elected officials should be judged on their beliefs of diplomacy before war and an understanding of war as an absolute last resort.
• We seek to create common bonds between Interfaith and different Christian communities to support peace and diplomacy. Religion must stop blessing war.

Ensuring Health Care for All

Christian Values: Justice and Compassion

Theological Issues
Jesus asks that we care for “the least of these.� Such stories of caring for the sick exist throughout the Bible perhaps most poignantly in the parable of the Good Samaritan. In particular we look to Jesus’ own healing of the sick as a call for Christians to ensure that the sick and elderly are cared for in our country.

The obligation is one that should be based in the justice of our policies and not solely on the private charity of individuals. Our institutions, including the government must address racial disparities to ensure that we do indeed gain nourishment from the same table. Health care policy must prevent suffering to ensure that every person can treat their body as a temple and gift from God.

Policy Changes
• We seek universal health care for all children. We must start in the United States, but we seek universal health care for all of God’s children around the globe. The costs of doing so are low relative to the costs of not providing adequate health care.
• We seek a national commission to review healthcare disparities based on race and income. The commission would use available research and conduct other studies as necessary to ascertain the extent and nature of the problem. The commission would be empowered with regulatory oversight to fine organizations that were found guilty of unequal access and quality of care disparities.
• We seek universal health insurance for everyone. Efforts are being pursued state by state to develop solutions for universal access. In some cases, market-based solutions work, but in many cases there is a government responsibility to provide the care to those without.
• We seek a healthy living campaign around the country in which Americans are informed about how to live a more healthy life. Gambling and other addictions would be addressed as part of the campaign.
• We seek cheap drugs for developing nations and more funds for research. The global AIDS crisis must be addressed with the same vigor that the nation is pursuing the war on terrorism.

Addressing Corporate Dominance through Promoting Corporate Responsibility and Supporting Local Economies.

Christian Value: The Common Good

Theological Issues:
The Bible tells us that the love of money is the root of all evil, yet we live in society that seems to glorify and focus much of its energies on the accumulation of wealth. Jesus saves his strongest condemnation for the wealthy. Essentially, corporate greed is sinful and does not serve the common good.

We must ask what our society’s ultimately values are. We cannot serve two masters. We must choose a course away from materialism and greed and towards a justice and compassion that serves the common good. We must tend to the garden of God’s creation and not rape it. We must hold fast to the Jubilee principle of equalizing the society through greater distribution of wealth.

Policy Issues:
• We seek corporations who hold themselves to the highest ethical practices including commitment to stakeholders including shareholders, workers, consumers, the communities in which they locate and the environment. We value the marketplace as a concept as old as civilization, but believe undue corporate influence should be taken out of public goods: airwaves, elections, voting machines, military, prisons, and schools. We encourage Christians and churches who hold stock in public companies to exercise their rights to shareholder activism.
• We seek not only a living minimum wage, but a maximum wage above which there would be high level of taxation. This includes returning the capital gains tax to a sustainable level.
• We seek the reinstitution of the estate tax with exemption for family farmers and small businesses.
• We seek true lobbying reform in which the role of money and corporations is minimized. Reforms must include the eliminations of loopholes to fund political campaigns. Public officials should be held to account for any and all gifts from lobbyists.
• We seek the strengthening of unions and worker rights. Corporations threaten family values when they overwork their employees, fail to provide health care and family leave. Sweatshop labor must be eliminated in any corner of the globe and immigrant workers must be protected at home.
• We seek the strengthening of small businesses and family farms. More generous loan and supports should be provided to small businesses. Churches can support local economies by supporting local businesses. At the same time welfare to large corporations, including no-bid contracts to large companies must be eliminated.

Action

Our Christian values inform our desire policy change that can be achieved only through action of progressive Christians. The work of the summit produced a series of actions that support the attainment of policy change and activities that will build and sustain a progressive social and political movement. The actions below are in many ways the tip of the iceberg as to what will be required of individuals and organizations in 2006 and beyond.

Issue Actions

Budget as a moral document economic analysis
- Local focus
- Nationalpriorities.org, Sojo, Nancy Pelosi, connect organizations who are working on this
- Develop metrics
- Work with TCPC

Elect Progressive Christians to office 10 Candidates
- Conduct regular house parties
- Volunteer Management State parties/caucuses
- People of faith, political clubs, program groups
- Victory! Visibility, media acknowledgement

Anti-Iraq war church school program and toolkits
- Church programming experts
- Curriculum development, grassroots communications
- Media
- Via media - civic dev., CCC, TCPC networking w churches, military families
- Clergy letter project communication
- Skills, networks, media contacts & clergy, # of churches involved
- Presence of online dev. of curriculum

These actions both build off what is currently being done by organizations and suggests new activities for progressive Christians. The list is by no means comprehensive and will be expanded upon with the efforts of different organizations and individuals.

Movement Building Actions

The movement building actions are steps to be taken to build and nourish a sustained movement for progressive social change.

Mapping Churches (red, blue, purple)
- Regional mapping- Faith in Public Life Resource Center, TCPC, VCC, reconciling churches, Civicspace , Crosswalk America, Westar institute (Jesus sem.), Regional conf. mapping

National network of progressive Christian groups on college campuses
- Building awareness and resources
- Connecting campuses with local churches and organizations PSR/PCW
- Newman House
- Wesley Societies
- Harvard & MIT Agitating for Action
- Crosswalk America
- Beatitude Society
- Campus Progress
- Identify and establish groups
- Grow this presence

Finally, a fundamental part of this action plan is left undone and will be achieved with the input of by the broader Progressive Christian community:

Who will be responsible for leading the action?
How will we hold them accountable?
When will it be done?

Please contact CrossLeft to let us know:
• You and your organization endorse this issue agenda and action plan
• Any suggestions for changes to the policy agenda and action plan.
• What you and your organization are committing to do to make the agenda a reality
• Suggest other actions your organization is taking to support the movement and the issue agenda.

An example of the commitments that are being sought:
CrossLeft endorses the issue agenda and will support the plan in the following ways:
• The Crossleft.org website will host a calendar for progressive Christian events and actions.
• Crossleft.org will host discussion forums to further discuss the issue agenda and organize the actions of the progressive Christian community.
• CrossLeft will also work with the Center for American Progress to host regular calls to move the agenda forward and organize the movement.

Please contact the CrossLeft team directly with comments and questions:

Kety Esquivel Stephen Rockwell
Executive Director Managing Director
kety@crossleft.org steve@crossleft.org

CrossLeft Leadership Team.

Rev. Mark Farr
Stuart Gill
Chris Guldi
Linda Hodges
Rev. Rob Moore
Kevin Reid
Jennifer Ridhal
Scott Paeth
Rev. Osaqyefo Uhuru Sekou
Gary Vance
Zeus Yiamouyiannis