Peacefile is very pleased to see the following introduction by John Wilmerding, who distributed the “Taking Back Jesus” article below via his listserv at CERJ.
CERJer Manuel Garcia said that I would like this article. He’s right.
Naturally it features a “famous” CERJer, John Stoner, and the project he heads up, Every Church A Peace Church, with which several CERJers have strong supportive relationships.
On another note, I can confirm that close CERJ contact Emilee Whitehurst, a Texas native, ordained minister, graduate of Harvard Divinity School, and a brilliant peace and social justice activist whose career we are following closely, has heard her native state’s cries in a time of great need, returned there recently from Kansas, and has just been appointed the new Executive Director of Austin (TX) Interfaith Ministries! Congratulations, Emilee! A better placement for her, and for that organization, I cannot imagine. You heard the news here first….
— John Wilmerding
On the other hand, a reader from L.A. reminds us that left religion is still an oxymoron for some (many?):
“It’s alright to talk about heaven if we put shoes on people’s feet.”
No it isn’t. Religion has traditionally legitimated oppressive power, including slavery, and ideologically disarmed the population, including slaves, with spiritual delusions. Human spirituality exists, but has been eclipsed by the historic compromise of science and religion. Scientific cretinism on one hand, religous delusion on the other. People gain spritual stength by believing in something bigger than themselves, but that bigger something should be people, humanity, the past, present and future persons of the earth.
The biggest historical problem of humanity at the present time in history is not political, but moral and spiritual. We need a moral and spiritual ideology to unite the population against the power systems legitimated by religion.
MoPress 