I was saddened to learn that
Rev. William Sloane Coffin died the other night. I know that he had been gravely ill for a number of years, and his death is not unexpected. But I'm still sad that I never had a chance to meet him. Many people my age and younger, who were not around (or were very young) during the civil rights era have never heard of him, and he stands in such stark contrast to some of the better-known religious voices today. So, since the media has not seen fit (for the most part, from what I've seen) to pay tribute to this prophetic voice by giving the news of his passing front page attention, I felt this was worth another post.
Some of you may remember that
Coffin endorsed Howard Dean for president:
He said his favorite Democratic candidate for the presidential nomination is another Vermonter, the state's former governor, Howard Dean.
"But any Democrat, except Joe Lieberman, would be a vast improvement over George Bush," Coffin added.
More:
Wikipedia article
Taking Back the Faith by Dan Wakefield
MLK ally and spiritual progressive dies
In the other night's diary at My Left Wing, this comment told the story of how William Sloane Coffin had a powerful effect on one person's life.
I don't expect that I will ever be the kind of prophetic voice that Bill Coffin was, but I truly believe that progressive people of faith need to make their voices heard, and the prophetic voices of our own times inspire me to keep doing what I can.
(By the way, if you're never heard the story about the supposed put-down a young G.W. Bush remembers receivng from Coffin while at Yale in the 60s, you can read about it here.)