"A DECLARATION ON CHRISTIANITY AND THE FUTURE OF AMERICA"

Progressive Christians, don't despair. You are not alone. LIFT EVERY VOICE! A DECLARATION ON CHRISTIANITY AND THE FUTURE OF AMERICA. Excerpt from the manifesto:

To address the challenges we face today we must return to the values upon which this country was founded, including the progressive vision of human thriving enshrined in the best of Christian faith and practice. In our churches and throughout our communities, by means of intentional educational efforts at the grassroots level, we must re-articulate the fundamental American values of justice, equality and the common good. It must become our common mission to elect local and national leaders who demonstrate an unwavering commitment to social and economic justice and who will create the means to achieve that justice.

Social policies must reflect the fundamental value of the common good: fair compensation for labor; access to health care for all; well-funded public education; regulation of industry to protect natural resources and the environment; and oversight of the criminal justice system with ongoing emphasis upon its rehabilitative rather than just its punitive effects. In order to assure that mass communication are indeed fair and balanced, we call for the return to the Fairness Doctrine in all media controlled or licensed by our government. We also call for wider access to the Internet, and we invite our growing networks and our communities of faith to discuss the issues we face at a local level and to nurture democratic groupings centered on creating in a shared future.

We recommit ourselves to the care of the most vulnerable among us, to hospitality toward immigrants and other strangers, to multilateral international institutions that promote peaceful resolutions of conflicts, and to responsible stewardship of the earth's resources. We will hold onto hope, stay strong in our faith, and trust in a common vision for the future based upon the best in our past. We will remember what we struggle against, and for whom we struggle - for the poor, the hungry, the imprisoned, and the marginalized, but not only for them.
We stand and we speak because we are fighting for our future, for the future of our children, and for the soul of a great country, which we will continue to hold in our prayers and whose spirit we will honor through unyielding struggle for liberty and justice for all.