Posted by Helen on: 03.07.2007 /
Karen posted the following in a comment on “Is James Dobson’s power waning?”:
[James Dobson] and a group of similarly-minded Christians have recently begun an effort to try and get Richard Cizik canned from the National Assn of Evangelicals. (Helen recently blogged here about Cizik’s efforts to engage evangelicals in the environmental movement.)
Here’s a link to a story about it.
The kicker: Dobson and his cronies are not even members of the NAE, yet they apparently feel important enough to try to influence its leadership decisions.
You can read the letter written to the chairman of the board of the NAE about Cizik here.
According to Christianity Today’s article on this topic, the interim president of the NAE is supporting Cizik:
The NAE’s interim president, Leith Anderson, said Friday he expects the board to stand by Cizik, who directs the NAE’s Washington office.
“I’m supportive of Rich Cizik,” Anderson said. “I think that he is highly respected in Washington and is a forthright spokesman for creation care and that’s good.”
When read a list of the signatories, Anderson said, “We would normally look to our own constituency … and not to those who have chosen not to be members of the NAE … for counsel.”
Comment by: Rachel
1 03/7/07 8:27 PM | Comment Link |This issue has been a hot topic on the God’s Politics Blog. Both Jim Wallis and Brian McLaren have written about it.
Jim Wallis: James Dobson and Friends, Outside the Mainstream, Get Personal on Global Warming
Brian McLaren: Anti-Anti-Global Warming Group’s Silver Lining
Jim Wallis: Dr. Dobson, Let’s Have a Real Debate
In that last column, Jim Wallis challenges James Dobson to a live, public debate! WOO-HOO!
Comment by: Helen
2 03/7/07 9:01 PM | Comment Link |Thanks for those links, Rachel. Wow, a live debate would be very interesting!
Comment by: jim henderson
3 03/7/07 11:07 PM | Comment Link |I have not read the article- I will but I can say that Cizik is one evangelical that seriously intrigues me. He gets dangerously close to acting like Jesus when I’ve heard him on Cspan
Comment by: Helen
4 03/8/07 4:07 AM | Comment Link |Jim wrote:
Then that explains why he upsets religious leaders, I guess (since Jesus was good at that) ;-)
Comment by: benjamin ady
5 03/8/07 10:09 AM | Comment Link |woo hoo indeed =)
has/does dobson speak in forums where he’s not surrounded right wing fundy types? It seems likely that he’s quite intelligent and also quick on his feet with words and ideas, so I suspect this might be an interesting debate.
Comment by: Karen
6 03/8/07 10:17 AM | Comment Link |Jim wrote:
Helen:
Yeah. I don’t know whether it’s more sad or more ironic that he’s the guy Dobson et al targets for criticism.
The thing that really makes me respect Cizik is that he actually listened to the scientific information presented on climate change at a conference, got educated about it, and then acted on what he learned. That’s something - learning and being open to changing his preconceived notions - that so many people seem incapable of doing.
I’m glad so many are speaking out in his defense.
Comment by: Rachel
7 03/8/07 1:41 PM | Comment Link |More God’s Politics posts responding to the attacks on Rich Cizik:
Bill McKibben: Drown Your Neighbor
Lyndsay Moseley: Jonah’s Warning and Global Warming (OTM Conferences attendees will remember Lyndsay from the Creation Care Activism workshops)
I think Dobson and friends have made a serious miscalculation here. They are making Rich Cizik into even more of a hero, especially in the eyes of progressive and younger evangelicals, and making themselves look like bullies. I predict that their actions will have the exact opposite effect from what they intended.
Comment by: Doreen
8 03/8/07 3:42 PM | Comment Link |Sad, isn’t it, when there is more focus on what grown adults do with their own bodies then on what we are doing to our world. One problem is how some interpret Genesis and having dominion. Too many see dominion = domination.
And it is not just the earth we are destroying. The U.S. Strategic Command is monitoring about 10,000 objects and there are thought to be more than 600,000 objects larger than 1 cm in orbit.
Comment by: Rachel
9 03/11/07 7:45 PM | Comment Link |Here is an update from an LA Times article published yesterday:
The renewed debate on moral priorities came as the National Assn. of Evangelicals — which represents 45,000 churches and 30 million Christians — gathered for a board meeting Friday in Eden Prairie, Minn.
The board declined to censure or silence Cizik. Moreover, it appeared to embrace a broad view of the evangelical agenda, endorsing a sweeping human rights declaration.
The board also reaffirmed its support for a 2004 Call to Civic Responsibility that urged evangelical engagement on seven key issues, including religious freedom, the sanctity of life, justice for the poor, and environmental protection.
Comment by: Karen
10 03/12/07 9:43 AM | Comment Link |Good news. Thanks, Rachel.
Comment by: Laura M.
11 03/13/07 2:09 AM | Comment Link |Yes, this is really nice to hear.
Comment by: Doreen
12 03/13/07 12:19 PM | Comment Link |Evangelicals Condemn Torture
From the Washington Post yesterday:
http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/content/article/2007/03/12/AR2007031201080.html
– The National Association of Evangelicals has endorsed an anti-torture statement saying the United States has crossed “boundaries of what is legally and morally permissible” in its treatment of detainees and war prisoners in the fight against terror.
Comment by: Rachel
13 03/14/07 7:21 AM | Comment Link |Hallelujah! Finally! This gives me hope that perhaps the evangelical community will at long last decide to give our highest allegiance to Christ, not to the Empire.
Comment by: Rachel
14 03/16/07 7:17 PM | Comment Link |Further commentary on the Cizik incident