Linda's blog

Jesus was a Community Organizer

Quite a ruckus has been raised over Alaskan governor Sarah Palin's speech at the Republican national convention. In particular, the remarks she made disparaging Barack Obama's service as a community organizer in the poor neighborhoods of Chicago, seem to have hit a nerve with grassroots folks on both sides of the aisle.

The response in the blogosphere was quick and to the point, with some groups calling for an apology from the governor. I read those with avid interest, but the posting that really got my attention was a simple slogan that read: WE SUPPORT OBAMA & BIDEN: Pontius Pilate was a Governor. Jesus was a Community Organizer. Speaking as a Democrat and former Seminary student, that one, short statement packs in a lot of history about what happens between kings and commoners and what small groups seeking change are up against. The following is a go at unpacking that statement.

Major social change very rarely comes from the people in power. It finds its voice in the hearts and will of the disaffected and the disenfranchised – those women and men who finally say "enough," and then begin to organize for change.

 The old guard on the right is really putting up a fight.  Anti-abortion and gay marriage have been huge money-makers for them.  I'm glad that Jim Wallis issued a challenge to them.  We need to support him.Evangelicals battle over agenda, environmentGlobal warming and other causes stray too far from battles on abortion, gay rights and similar 'great moral issues,' some leaders say.By Stephanie Simon, Times Staff WriterMarch 10, 2007A struggle for control of the evangelical agenda intensified this week, with some leaders declaring that the focus has strayed too far from their signature battles against abortion and gay rights.Those issues defined the evangelical movement for more than two decades - and cemented ties with the Republican Party. But in a caustic letter, leaders of the religious right warned that these "great moral issues of our time" were being displaced by a "divisive and dangerous" alignment with the left on global warming.A new generation of pastors has expanded the definition of moral issues to include not only global warming, but an array of causes. Quoting Scripture and invoking Jesus, they're calling for citizenship for illegal immigrants, universal healthcare and caps on carbon emissions.The best-known champion of such causes, the Rev. Jim Wallis, this week challenged conservative crusader James C. Dobson, the chairman of Focus on the Family, to a debate on evangelical priorities."Are the only really 'great moral issues' those concerning abortion, gay marriage and the teaching of sexual abstinence?" Wallis asked in his challenge. "How about the reality of 3 billion of God's children living on less than $2 per day? Å  What about pandemics like HIV/AIDS Å  [and] disastrous wars like Iraq?"

Dear CrossLeft Community: With regard to the Israeli/Palestinian conflict - There is no way to right all the wrongs of the past.  Israel, long the oppressed, cannot find deliverance in the act of being the oppressor; neither can it find long-lasting security and peace by pursuing a policy of collective punishment.

Hillary Clinton is in the race and she’s inviting us to be a part of the campaign and the conversation.  Starting Monday, January 22, Senator Clinton will be holding video on-line chats with America at her website www.hillaryclinton.com It’s an opportunity for us to be in dialogue with the presidential hopeful and to hear her position on the war, health care and poverty – all things that Christian and Spiritual Progressives are concerned about. 

L A Times Op-ed, December 8, 2006
Speaking frankly about Israel and Palestine
Jimmy Carter says his recent book is drawing knee-jerk accusations of anti-Israel bias.

By Jimmy Carter

[JIMMY CARTER was the 39th president of the United States. His newest book is "Palestine: Peace Not Apartheid," published last month.]

I SIGNED A CONTRACT with Simon &Schuster two years ago to write a book about the Middle East, based on my personal observations as the Carter Center monitored three elections in Palestine and on my consultations with Israeli political leaders and peace activists.

Dear God, One of your gay children is hurting.  His name is Pastor Ted Haggard and he has been deep in the closet for a very, very long time.  He thinks that you want him in there, Lord, shamed, and alone and trying to fight against what you intended him to be.  Please help him to understand that he is loved just as he is.

Love is ALL there is...who knew you would find it in a graduation speech?

Dylan Addison's Last Shibang

First of all, who am I? I mean, who am I really? You might say,
you're Dylan Addison, a valedictorian and a very charming fellow. That
may be true, but I at least know that in the past 9 months being
valedictorian has turned into so much more than a title. It's become a
way of looking at those grades, and saying "hey bud, let's party." Of

If you happen to be in the San Francisco Bay area - check out the following:

Rabbi Lerner takes on Opus Dei and the Catholic Hierarchy--Wednesday night, May 31st

The Da Vinci Code
Fantasy, Falsehood, Facts, and Faith

Panel Discussion featuring

Most Reverend George H. Niederauer, Ph. D., D.D., Archbishop of San Francisco

Rabbi Michael Lerner, author of The Left Hand of God, editor of Tikkun magazine, and “the most significant prophetic public intellectual and spiritual leader of our generation" according to Cornel West, Princeton University

Former President Jimmy Carter has written an article called "Jimmy Carter: Punishing Innocent Palestinians is a Crime." You can find it at http://www.cartercenter.org/doc2337.htm. This article speaks to the faith principles that Progressive Christians hold though it is written from a non-religious perspective.

In addition, I don't know how widespread this is but Move America Forward (NOT Moveon.org) has started a campaign to censure Jimmy Carter - of all people! This group has purchased television time on the Fox Network and has started a petition at