This is more like it!
Multi religious leaders and scholars today issued a press statement distancing themselves from the vitriol of those opposing the Cultural Centre and Mosque near to the 911 site.
They specifically call out Newt Gringrich and Sarah Palin for their fear mongering.
I think I just heard God sliding a bolt across a door and fortifying it before it could be 'ploughed through', but I could be imagining it..............
http://faithinpubliclife.org/...
Press Release
Top Religious Leaders Denounce Growing Anti-Muslim Sentiment; Express Support for NY Mosque, Community Center
More than 40 prominent Christian, Jewish and Muslim leaders and religion scholars issued a statement today condemning the "xenophobia and religious bigotry" fueling the increasingly strident opposition to a proposed Islamic center and mosque near Ground Zero. These leaders from New York City and across the country are specifically challenging the divisive rhetoric of Newt Gingrich and Sarah Palin, who have strongly opposed a center that will promote interfaith relations, combat extremism, and offer community programs for Americans of all religious backgrounds.
"It's simply wrong for Newt Gingrich and Sarah Palin to malign all Muslims by comparing this cultural center and mosque with a radical ideology that led to the horrific attacks of 9-11," said Sister Simone Campbell, Executive Director of NETWORK, A National Catholic Social Justice Lobby. "We fail to honor those killed by terrorists when we betray the bedrock principle of religious freedom that has guided our democracy for centuries."
"Christians who believe in the values of religious freedom and interfaith cooperation welcome plans for Cordoba House, a center of culture and dialogue that will honor our nation's highest ideals," said the Rev. Peg Chemberlin, President of the National Council of Churches. "We are deeply saddened by those who denigrate a religion which in so many ways is a religion of compassion and peace by associating all Muslims with violent extremism. That's like equating all Christians to Timothy McVeigh's actions. This center will reflect not only the best of Islam, but the enduring hope that Christians, Jews and Muslims can together find common ground in addressing the most urgent challenges of our time."
They go on to state that Palin and Gingrich would do better to stop the inflammatory rhetoric and instead tried to inspire understanding and civility amongst the various religions.
Not sure if I can link the whole thing even though it is a press release, but here is a list of the signatories..........
The Rev. Canon Peg Chemberlin
President, National Council of Churches
Executive Director, Minnesota Council of Churches
The Rev. Dr. Michael Kinnamon
General Secretary
National Council of Churches
The Rev. Dr. Ken Brooker Langston
Director, Disciples Justice Action Network
Coordinator, Disciples Center for Public Witness
The Rev. Chloe Breyer
Executive Director
The Interfaith Center of New York
Lisa Sharon Harper
Executive Director
New York Faith and Justice
Simon Greer
President and CEO
Jewish Funds for Justice
Rabbi Joy Levitt
Executive Director
Jewish Community Center in Manhattan
Rabbi Marc Schneier
President
The Foundation for Ethnic Understanding
Rabbi Richard Hirsh
Executive Director
Reconstructionist Rabbinical Association
Rabbi Irwin Kula
President
CLAL - National Jewish Center for Learning and Leadership
Rabbi Abie Ingber
Founding Director
Interfaith Community Engagement
Xavier University
Cincinnati, Ohio
Jeremy Ben-Ami
President
J Street
Salam Al-Marayati
President
Muslim Public Affairs Council
Mohamed Elsanousi
Director of Community Outreach
Islamic Society of North America
Rabbi Nancy Fuchs Kreimer
Associate Professor
Director, Department of Multifaith Studies and Initiatives
Reconstructionist Rabbinical College
Rabbi Gerald Serotta
Clergy Beyond Borders
Virginia Avniel Spatz
Program Director
Clergy Beyond Borders
Sister Mary Waskowiak, RSM
President
Institute of the Sisters of Mercy of the Americas
Sister Simone Campbell, SSS
Executive Director
NETWORK, A National Catholic Social Justice Lobby
Sister Marlene Weisenbeck, FSPA
President
Leadership Conference of Women Religious
David Robinson
Executive Director
Pax Christi USA
Marie Dennis
Director
Maryknoll Office for Global Concerns
Co-President Pax Christi International
T. Michael McNulty, SJ
Justice and Peace Director
Conference of Major Superiors of Men
John Esposito
University Professor & Founding Director
Prince Alwaleed Bin-Talal
Center for Muslim-Christian Understanding
Georgetown University
John Zoll
Associate Director
Prince Alwaleed Bin-Talal
Center for Muslim-Christian Understanding
Georgetown University
James E. Hug, S.J.
President
Center of Concern
Sister Maria Riley, OP
Senior Advisor
Center of Concern
Rabbi J. Rolando Matalon
Congregation B'nai Jeshurun
New York, NY
Rabbi Brant Rosen
Jewish Reconstructionist Congregation
Evanston, IL
Rabbi Sue Levy
Houston, Texas
Rabbi Dev Noily
Oakland, CA
Rabbi Laurie Zimmerman
Congregation Shaarei Shamayim
Madison, WI
Paul Lakeland
Professor of Catholic Studies
Director, Center for Catholic Studies
Fairfield University
Thomas J. Reese, S.J.
Senior Fellow
Woodstock Theological Center
Georgetown University
Robin Darling Young
Associate Professor
Department of Theology
University of Notre Dame
Alex Mikulich
Research Fellow
Jesuit Social Research Institute
Loyola University, New Orleans
Stephen Schneck
Institute for Policy Research & Catholic Studies
Catholic University of America
David J. O'Brien
Professor Emeritus of History
University of Dayton
Terrence W. Tilley
Professor of Catholic Theology
Chair, Theology Department
Fordham University
Bronx, New York
Nicholas P. Cafardi
Dean Emeritus and Professor of Law
Duquesne University School of Law
Jeannine Hill Fletcher
Associate Professor of Theology
Fordham University
Lew Daly
Senior Fellow
Demos
Francis Schüssler Fiorenza
Stillman Professor
Harvard Divinity School
John Renard
Professor of Theological Studies
Saint Louis University
Bradford E. Hinze
Professor of Theology
Fordham University
Bronx, New York
Sandra A. Yocum
Chair of Religious Studies
University of Dayton
David DeCosse
Director of Campus Ethics Programs
Markkula Center for Applied Ethics
Santa Clara University
Elena G. Procario-Foley
Professor of Jewish-Catholic Studies
Chair, Religious Studies Department
Iona College
Affiliations listed for identification purposes only.
###
Update.
Thanks for the recs/tips. Just a few reactions from the charmers over at Conservatives4Palin.............
You folks can stuff it!
Catholic Social Justice Lobby. It figures Marxists. Glenn Beck is right about them. The rat communists have polluted the catholic church, which is why I am not a catholic.SOCIAL JUSTICE. Jim Wallis types again. Marxists and Muslims together why it sounds like a Obama Family Reunion!
Ok, fourty religious leaders out of how many that are against the mosque? Is "chickens come home to roost" on the list? Why is Sister Simone for Social Justice? I don't remember social justice being in the Bible. Jesus wants us to willingly give to others from our hearts, not have is taken from us by the government and distributed to others by force.
Good. Now we know who they are.
Glenn just exposed Faith in Public Life on his show tonight! Their board members are from the Center for American Progress, I think
I could go on, but as usual over there, I'm losing the will to live.
