Things I Read With My Coffee This Morning

I am a subscriber to the MetroWest Daily News, a fine local paper. This morning I was drawn to three articles concerning current events/issues that I am concerned with.

The first was an article written by a local reporter (Laura Crimaldi) about the reaction of local churches to the CBS/NBC ban of the "God is Still Speaking" campaign. This was front page news in suburban Boston, I might add. This issue has been discussed in various parts of the blogosphere the last couple of days, but I just wanted to add a quote from my friend and colleague the Rev. Vicky Guest, minister of First Congregational Church here in Natick.

"I've never encountered this before. The media was so hamstrung by the political aganda the the (Bush) administration. I thought we had a free press...I guess I sort of woke up."

Way to go Vicky! Thanks for stepping up.

The other was a piece entitled "Democrats put God in hibernation" by the columnist Peter Reuell who asks, "what ever happened to devout Democrats?" I was pleased to see this as I was beginning to wonder if it was just me who saw this as a problem. The folks interviewed had some interesting isnights and comments. Some of them were quite "strong."

First, the article he lifts up the Rev. Peter Cook of Plymouth Church (UCC) in Framingham who says, "The kind of Christianity of which we speak means we care deeply for people who are poor, or who find themselves on the fringes of society, and trying to welcome them to take their place at the table." Peter is a great guy who does many good things for this area. I have been priviledged to watch him work on occasion and think he is right on.

In the article Cook also said, "I do have a concern about the moral decline of the country. It has to do with selfishness and the inability to honor our differences."

Also, he quotes Rabbi Mendy Kivman, from the Chabad Center of Greater Milford who said, "Kerry can blame his defeat on Michael Moore and all those (people). They coined Bush as the God candidate...they gave him that title."

Finally, Prof. Stephen Prothero of the BU Religion department had this advice for the Democratic Party.

"They could start by saying 'we don't hate you because you love God.' (The Democrats) need find a candidate who can speak convincingly about his faith." He continues, "The perception is that the Democrats are hostile to religion, that the Democrats think they are stupid, they're irrational, they are moral zealots. So the Democrats are actively telling evangelicals to get the hell out of the our party, and surprise, surprise, they have"

All food for thought for me and, I think for many of us. As a person of faith, I, too, feel ignored by the Democrats. As a Democrat, I wonder who I might be ignoring. It seems to me to be a good time to reach out in spite of our differences and to break down any sense of "liberal orthodoxy." Again, we have two years to listen to each other. I believe we can grow from that.

Finally, the last article was a fun one. It was about Harriett Buckingham, a pillar of the Eliot Church and the Natick Community. Last night she was given the Natick Boy Scout's "Good Scout" Award for her work. I was pleased and honored to both attend and give the Invocation. Congrats, Harriett! You truly deserve it.