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Religious Leaders Stand Up for Rick Warren, Barack Obama

An open letter to pastors across the country

 

Contact: Adam Segal, Faithful Democrats, 202-422-4673, adam@the2050group.com

 

MEDIA ADVISORY, Dec. 1 /Christian Newswire/ -- The following is an open letter to pastors across the country:

 

Dear Pastor:

 

Several right-wing religious organizations, including the National Clergy Council, recently blasted Pastor Rick Warren of Saddleback Church for inviting Senator Barack Obama to speak on World AIDS Day this Friday, December 1. It's unfortunate that these groups would exploit the Christian faith to advance their divisive agenda – an agenda that gives almost exclusive attention to a few wedge issues while ignoring the diversity of problems plaguing American communities.

 

We reject the creation of an unbiblical litmus test to exclude believers from the body of Christ. We are called to the ministry of reconciliation and the liberation of all people, spiritually and socially.

 

We also wonder why any organization claiming to represent believers in Jesus Christ would choose to play what amounts to partisan politics instead of encouraging our leaders to address the scourge of AIDS.

 

AIDS has claimed the lives of 25 million people since 1981. Forty million people across the globe, including 2 million children, live with this wretched disease. And nearly 7 million people are now in desperate need of life-saving drugs, without which they will die. In the face of this crisis, it boggles our minds and offends our God-given sense of justice that these groups would choose to attack Senator Obama and Reverend Warren – Christians both – for working together to stamp out AIDS.

 

It is time for believers to unite under the banner of truth and work to address our society's most pressing problems. The time for scare tactics and divisiveness is over. As leaders in the Christian community, we will not stand silent in the face of these attacks, but will instead serve as voices for equality, fairness, and justice for all people.

 

Sincerely,

 

(See the rest of this abbreviated list, with titles and locations, at http://faithfuldemocrats.com/content/view/482/40/.)

 

Rev. Romal Tune

Co-Chair, FaithfulDemocrats.com

 

Dr. Randall Balmer

 

Rev. Tony Campolo

 

Rev. William Chrystal

 

Dr. Wayne Croft

 

Rev. Fredrick Davis

 

Dr. Paul de Vries

 

Rev. Frederick Douglass Haynes III

 

Dr. Floyd Flake

 

Dr. James Forbes

 

Dr. Robert Franklin

 

Dr. C. Welton Gaddy

 

Dr. Obery Hendricks

 

Dr. Ken Brooker Langston

 

Dr. Robert Maddox

 

Bishop Earl McCloud

 

Rev. Lester McCorn

 

Rev. Timothy McDonald III

 

Bishop Vashti McKenzie

 

Dr. Robin Meyers

 

Rev. Frank Raines

 

Dr. Ron Sider

 

Rev. Tim Simpson

 

Rev. Ron Stief

 

Rev. Steven Thurston

 

Rev. Jim Wallis

 

Dr. Lauren Winner

 

Dr. Rolen Womack

 

Dr. Jeremiah Wright