Progressive United Church of Christ (UCC) Feed by IPC

When voters in Oregon's First Congressional district decided to keep the seat in Democratic hands on Tuesday during a special election the vote prompted mid-Willamette Valley talk show host Bill Post to tweet: 

"I HATE Portland and everything about it."

Well, I suppose someone should first tell Mr. Post that the district only includes part of Portland, and also the northern Oregon coast along with communities such as Forest Grove, Hillsboro and Beaverton.

But my real response back to Mr. Post is that I love every part of this state - whether or not they vote for Democrats or Republicans.  The people in Greg Walden's conservative district are just as good and decent as anyone in Salem, where I've worked before, or Portland, where I live.

This is a great state with tremendous natural diversity.  We have mountains, and deserts, farmland, forests, rivers and the great Pacific.  We've produced great Republican leaders like Tom McCall and Mark Hatfield and great Democratic leaders like Les AuCoin and Gretchen Kafoury.

In Oregon, progressive Portlanders like Jefferson Smith can still team up with conservative leaders from Pendleton like Bob Jenson to tackle tough issues.

Some of our rural communities might produce politicans more conservative than my liking - more in line with the Tea Party views of Mr. Post - but in all my travels across Oregon (having spent most my life here) I've found the people to be good and kind regardless of politics.  There is something special to love in every part of Oregon and that is one reason I'm so proud to be an Oregonian...even when elections don't go my way (which happens quite a bit, I'm afraid).   

2/3 Breaking Update: Komen has just issued a statement apologizing and saying they will continue to fund Planned Parenthood.  This is the right move and I applaud their decision.

As a minister in the United Church of Christ, I have supported the Susan G. Komen for the Cure Foundation and urged others to do the same.  But with their 100% political - political, not medical - decision to defund Planned Parenthood because the GOP House is conducting a McCarthy-era like witch hunt of the organization, I can no longer support the organization.

This is not a decision I make lightly as my family, like many, has experienced the painful realities of breast cancer.

But I agree 100% with New York City Mayor Michael Bloomberg who said today: "Politics has no place in health care. Breast cancer screening saves lives and hundreds of thousands of women rely on Planned Parenthood for access to care."

Anti-abortion advocates for years have attempted to force Komen from working with Planned Parenthood.  They've won that battle for now.

I still hope Komen will step back from the politics - fire anti-abortion activist Karen Handel - and get back to medicine.  Click here to send them a message. 

And please join other people of faith at the Religious Coalition for Reproductive Choice in continuing the fight for women's health care. 

I still stand with Planned Parenthood:

Portland Stand With Planned Parenthood Rally from The Rev. Chuck Currie on Vimeo.

Update:  I'm glad to learn that Komen Oregon has issued a statement opposing their national organization that reads in part:

Komen Oregon is opposed to the new national Komen community grant eligibility policy. Not only will this decision affect Planned Parenthood, but also any other organization under investigation.  The implications will be far reaching, having an adverse effect on numerous grantees.  Ultimately it will compromise our ability to provide life-saving access to breast cancer screening and treatment for the most vulnerable women.

I hope this local leadership has a positive impact on the national organization.

President Obama spoke today about his Christian faith at the National Prayer breakfast.  What made the remarks important was the way in which he linked his concerns over policy - particularly poverty - with his understanding of Christian tradition, an understanding rooted not just in the larger United Church of Christ (his tradition and one shared by other U.S. presidents) and our work from the fight against slavery to the fight against modern day poverty, but within the larger context of progressive Christianity, American pluralism and respect for the separation of church and state.

We face many important moral issues in this nation, and President Obama understands this:

...when I talk about our financial institutions playing by the same rules as folks on Main Street, when I talk about making sure insurance companies aren’t discriminating against those who are already sick, or making sure that unscrupulous lenders aren’t taking advantage of the most vulnerable among us, I do so because I genuinely believe it will make the economy stronger for everybody.  But I also do it because I know that far too many neighbors in our country have been hurt and treated unfairly over the last few years, and I believe in God’s command to “love thy neighbor as thyself.”  I know the version of that Golden Rule is found in every major religion and every set of beliefs -– from Hinduism to Islam to Judaism to the writings of Plato.  

And when I talk about shared responsibility, it’s because I genuinely believe that in a time when many folks are struggling, at a time when we have enormous deficits, it’s hard for me to ask seniors on a fixed income, or young people with student loans, or middle-class families who can barely pay the bills to shoulder the burden alone.  And I think to myself, if I’m willing to give something up as somebody who’s been extraordinarily blessed, and give up some of the tax breaks that I enjoy, I actually think that’s going to make economic sense.

But for me as a Christian, it also coincides with Jesus’s teaching that “for unto whom much is given, much shall be required.”  It mirrors the Islamic belief that those who’ve been blessed have an obligation to use those blessings to help others, or the Jewish doctrine of moderation and consideration for others. 

When I talk about giving every American a fair shot at opportunity, it’s because I believe that when a young person can afford a college education, or someone who’s been unemployed suddenly has a chance to retrain for a job and regain that sense of dignity and pride, and contributing to the community as well as supporting their families -- that helps us all prosper. 

It means maybe that research lab on the cusp of a lifesaving discovery, or the company looking for skilled workers is going to do a little bit better, and we’ll all do better as a consequence.  It makes economic sense.  But part of that belief comes from my faith in the idea that I am my brother’s keeper and I am my sister’s keeper; that as a country, we rise and fall together.  I’m not an island.  I’m not alone in my success.  I succeed because others succeed with me.

And when I decide to stand up for foreign aid, or prevent atrocities in places like Uganda, or take on issues like human trafficking, it’s not just about strengthening alliances, or promoting democratic values, or projecting American leadership around the world, although it does all those things and it will make us safer and more secure.  It’s also about the biblical call to care for the least of these –- for the poor; for those at the margins of our society.  

To answer the responsibility we’re given in Proverbs to “Speak up for those who cannot speak for themselves, for the rights of all who are destitute.”  And for others, it may reflect the Jewish belief that the highest form of charity is to do our part to help others stand on their own.  

Treating others as you want to be treated.  Requiring much from those who have been given so much.  Living by the principle that we are our brother’s keeper.  Caring for the poor and those in need.  These values are old.  They can be found in many denominations and many faiths, among many believers and among many non-believers.  And they are values that have always made this country great -- when we live up to them; when we don’t just give lip service to them; when we don’t just talk about them one day a year.  And they’re the ones that have defined my own faith journey.  

And today, with as many challenges as we face, these are the values I believe we’re going to have to return to in the hopes that God will buttress our efforts.

There are times when I find fault with political tactics or matters of policy.  This speech, however, reminded me of why I have so deeply respected Barack Obama since 2004:  he is a person of deep faith who despite the political winds attempts to live out that faith even in these extreme times.  His policies, shaped sometimes by the imperfect times in which we live, reflect the values he articluated today.  

It is hard to imagine another politican of this age being able to deleiver a speech like this.

Mitt Romney told CNN this morning that "I'm not concerned with the very poor. We have a safety net there." He'll probably want to bet $10,000 to prove me wrong, but we aren't doing enough to fight poverty.

My latest piece in The Huffington Post.

If you want to see the nation nearly completely abandon our solemn commitment to children, seniors and those forced into poverty during difficult economic times then a Mitt Romney presidency is just what you're waiting for.  The non-partisan Center on Budget and Policy Priorities reports:

Presidential candidate Mitt Romney's proposals to cap total spending, boost defense spending, cut taxes, and balance the budget would require extraordinarily large cuts in nondefense programs.  If policymakers cut all nondefense programs by the same percentage, the cuts would measure 21 percent in 2016 and 36 percent in 2021.  If policymakers exempted Social Security from the cuts and then cut all other nondefense programs by the same percentage, the cuts would rise to 30 percent in 2016 and 54 percent in 2021. 

For nondefense discretionary programs, these cuts would comeon top of the 17-percent cut already in law due to the discretionary funding caps of the Budget Control Act that Congress enacted last August and the automatic cuts (or "sequestration") scheduled to start in January 2013.  Our estimates of the depth of cuts that the Romney proposals would require are consistent with what Governor Romney himself has said about the required cuts.

These cuts are far deeper than those that House Budget Committee Chairman Paul Ryan's (R-WI) austere budget plan would require.  They would shrink nondefense discretionary spending — which, over the past 30 years, has averaged 3.7 percent of gross domestic product (GDP) and never fallen below 3.2 percent  — to just 1.7 percent of GDP by 2021.

What we need right now are public investments - like President Obama's American Jobs Act - and economic policies and programs that help people lift themselves out of poverty.

But, as the Occupy Wall Street movement has helped to clearly demonstrate, it will take a lot of work to reverse the growing economic inequality in our nation that continues to force families in poverty, homelessness and hunger.

People of faith can continue to press both political parties to address these important moral issues by joining the Circle of Protection, a campaign by religious groups to protect America's most vulnerable.

President Obama once again offered a progressive, moral vision for America during last night's State of the Union Address - a choice between an America where we're all in this together or where some people put their personal self interests ahead of the common good, a return to the policies of the past.

“….The defining issue of our time is how to keep that promise alive.  No challenge is more urgent.  No debate is more important.  We can either settle for a country where a shrinking number of people do really well, while a growing number of Americans barely get by.  Or we can restore an economy where everyone gets a fair shot, everyone does their fair share, and everyone plays by the same set of rules.  What’s at stake are not Democratic values or Republican values, but American values.  We have to reclaim them.” 

President Obama inherited the most broken economy since the Great Depression.  And some want to return to the policies that brought us to that point?  President Obama is correct to call for increased investments in education and our public infrastructure.  We need to continue creating jobs. 

Last night, in the GOP response, Gov. Mitch Daniels made the claim that President Obama is "pro-poverty." That's absurd - particularly coming from George W. Bush's budget director whose policies created the poverty crisis we face in the United States today.  President Obama's stimulus program, opposed by every GOP member of Congress, kept 30 million additional Americans from falling into poverty (or deeper into poverty) during the worst part of the recession.  No president in recent memory has done more on this issue. 

My hope is that sometime soon President Obama will take the opportunity to speak directly to those living in poverty in America - the numbers are too high - and offer hope directly to those who struggle each day to find food and shelter, many while working. We cannot afford cuts in anti-poverty programs in the new budget.  But make no mistake:  President Obama's economic agenda will help reduce poverty if the GOP gets out of the way and stops playing politics with the economy.

I'm deeply proud of our president for again articulating a moral vision for the United States.  

Photo Credit:  Whitehouse.gov

Message from the Religious Coalition for Reproductive Choice

As the Religious Coalition for Reproductive Choice celebrates the 39th anniversary of Roe v. Wade, the war on women rages on, and we who trust women and respect their decisions must renew our commitment to protecting this landmark Supreme Court ruling. On January 22, 1973, the Supreme Court said, in simple terms, that women have a constitutional right to privacy to make decisions about whether to have an abortion. Because this decision involves moral as well as medical considerations, the Court ruled, a woman has the right to consider her personal circumstances and the dictates of her conscience.

It’s especially important for the pro-faith community to speak out now. For the past year, zealots in Congress and state legislatures – many of whom preach the sanctity of privacy and freedom from government – have relentlessly waged a vicious war on women’s access to health care. More than 1,000 bills were introduced in state legislatures, including the Ohio “heartbeat” bill banning abortion after the 6th or 7th week of gestation, and numerous bills requiring pregnant women to have ultrasounds. In 2011, 92 anti-abortion provisions were enacted – the most in any year since Roe v. Wade was decided!

Click here for more.


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I urge you to use this State of the Union Address to speak of hope and change to the millions of Americans -- most of whom are children -- who live in poverty today. We need your voice in this important moment.

Click here.