Talking Points Memo

Luis Ramirez, a Latino immigrant, is dead. Why? Racism is alive and well and running ramp id in the United States. The deep rooted seeds of racism that laid dormant in many people were brought to the surface post President Obama's victory and we're witnessing the ugly results of it. This is not an isolated event, Louis unfortunately is one of many immigrants that have suffered the same fate. According to the FBI, hate crimes against Latinos rose 35% between 2003 and 2006.

Louis Ramirez had no chance in the town of Shenandoah, PA. The jury foreman for the case was quoted as saying:

"I believe strongly that some of the people on the jury were racist. I believe strongly that some of the people on the jury had their minds made up maybe before the first day of trial...And I believe the four boys that were involved the most are racist. I absolutely do..."

We, the Board at IPC, embrace the decision of The Department of Justice to further investigate the findings of the jury in Shenandoah, PA. Please join with us and our friends at Maldef by signing the following petition: http://maldef.org/

I would like to get reactions from members of the IPC on their practice of preaching, and use of the lectionary. It seems to me that the "conservatives/evangelicals/fundamentalists" have attempted to take charge of the social/political debate by claiming that God is on their side. This they do by a literalistic, often simplistic use of Scripture -- indeed I would say they do it by an abuse of Scripture. The impression that they give in the culture wars, is that they have the moral high ground, because they are people of the book, and then they confuse their talking points with the message of Jesus. Progressives, claim their message to be more Biblically correct, and their academic credentials for studying Scripture and well founded, but they seem to lack an interest in using specific Scriptures in expressing their positions. The conservative charge is they only know, Jesus teaches love and acceptance, and they deny sin, personal responsibility and personal relationship to God.

On Wednesday November 22, 2006 Dr. James Dobson, PhD, founder and president of Focus on the Family, appeared on CNN’s Larry King Live. During the course of the interview Dr. Dobson made a number of highly inaccurate statements on matters including faith, sexuality, liberalism and the United States Constitution.

The Institute for Progressive Christianity, a think tank composed of mainstream liberal Christians is compelled to respond to two of Dr. Dobson’s erroneous assertions. The first concerns the following outrageous claim:

Progressive Christian Talking Points
Biblical Values and the Bush Administration's Handling of the Middle East
The Institute grades current Administration policy, as measured by a core set of “key Gospel values.” The IPC set of 14 Key Gospel values are the following:
Love,
Forgiveness,
Faith
Compassion,
Righteousness,
Holiness
Purity,
Peacemaking,
Mercy,
Service,
Reconciliation,
Courage,
Economic Justice,
Selflessness.

Progressive Christian Talking Points

Stem Cell Research

This is the first installment of what we we hope will be regular talking points. This week, Frank Cocozzelli, Esq. artilculates some clear positions for Progressive Christians to stand their ground in reference to the stem cell research issue. While the Congress failed to override the veto of President Bush, the issue will continue to arise in the mid-term elections and beyond.

Progressive Christian Talking Points

Stem Cell Research

This is the first installment of what we we hope will be regular talking points. This week, Frank Cocozzelli, Esq. artilculates some clear positions for Progressive Christians to stand their ground in reference to the stem cell research issue. While the Congress failed to override the veto of President Bush, the issue will continue to arise in the mid-term elections and beyond.