I just got a message from Gretchen Peters, the Nashville-area musician/songwriter who is best known to Kossacks as the woman who told Sarah Palin "Thanks, but no thanks" for using her song "Independence Day" at rallies and donated the royalties from her song to Planned Parenthood in protest.
The story is even better today - Gretchen has been asked to join the advisory board for Planned Parenthood, helping to represent women across the country and protect their reproductive rights.
I'm happy to announce that in the wake of the recent
"Independence Day"/Sarah Palin flap, Planned Parenthood has called me and asked me to sit on their honorary advisory board...
More after the jump...
Gretchen will be in New York on November 6 to sing "Independence Day" and explain what this song is all about. Although everyone from Palin to Sean Hannity to Laura Ingraham have used the song, which was recorded by Martina McBride, Grechen has said
They are co-opting the song, completely overlooking the context and message, and using it to promote a candidate who would set women's rights back decades.
Now, it's ironic that someone like me would be celebrating this. Bear in mind, I'm a pro-life Evangelical Christian. But after what happened last week with James Dobson's letter preaching doom and fear instead of hope and love, I joined others in calling for change on the Matthew 25 Network. I cannot stand by silently when so-called Christians - people who claim to follow Jesus - bear false witness and slander a fellow believer.
We've seen the backlash - from decent people across the country - against everyone from Robin Hayes to Michelle Bachmann to Elizabeth Dole.
It is a difficult path to walk for the true follower of Jesus. And this shouldn't be surprising - Jesus got crucified by the religious leaders of his time, and his early followers were persecuted by the political powers of the time. It wasn't until Constantine made Christianity the official "state religion" of the Roman Empire that the Christian faith became mainstream. And at that time, the true Christ followers were co-opted by the imperial agenda of Rome.
Politics makes strange bedfellows, that's for sure.
A women's rights advocate has her song used as the theme song for Sean Hannity?
A pro-life Evangelical writes about her on Daily Kos?
How is this possible?
I can only speak for myself. Personally, I support Gretchen Peters because I know that violence destroys families. I know that there are wives who live in fear of their husbands - wives in "good Christian families", wives of pastors, women who are active in their local church. And I know that the law cannot account for the unique and personal situations that women face when they are pregnant.
While I wish that Planned Parenthood would focus even more on providing alternatives to abortion and supporting women throughout pregnancy, I also recognize that Planned Parenthood is positively focused on offering contraception, sex education, and other resources that will prevent unplanned pregnancies.
I believe that part of my role, as a Christian, is to protect and defend the cause of the "the widow, the orphan, and the alien within your gates" (Jeremiah 7:6, Deuteronomy 10:18, Deuteronomy 24:17, Exodus 22:22, I Timothy 5, James 1:27, Mark 12:38-44). I believe that part of my role as a Christian is to provide hope to the hopeless and reconcile broken relationships. I believe that a follower of Christ should live as Christ lived - speaking the truth to power, providing healing to the broken, speaking for those who have no voice, offering freedom to the oppressed, and giving glory to the God who has created each of us in His image.
And so, I can get behind Gretchen Peters - a woman who writes meaningful and encouraging music and a woman who has seen her artworks abused by those who speak words of division.
Gretchen's new Christmas album, Northern Lights, is available for sale online. She'll be donating $2 from each CD to Room In The Inn, a nonprofit organization that serves the homeless in Nashville, most frequently by opening the doors of local churches to offer the homeless a place to sleep and eat breakfast.