“Hope is a Value” by Rev. Brandon Johnson

Rev. Brandon Johnson

“Hope” and “change” seem to be the political words of the day! I hear, read, and see these words on the radio, in newspapers, websites, and printed on banners. Seemingly everyone is offering some sort of change and some sort of hope. However, I believe in a hope that rises above the political rhetoric of this day and seeks to claim a border narrative written around justice and equality.

I claim a hope that…
• Offers health care that leaves no one beyond.
• Establishes and sustains a system of education that begins to undo systemic racism, classism, and sexism.
• Begins to look at the cruelty of war and torture while reestablishing basic human rights.
• Holds all of creation in care.
• Caries the mantle of justice to all corners of our society.
• Proclaims that borders and walls are constructed by human hands and often limit justice.
• Recognizes the sin of concentrating wealth and power in the hands of a few.
• Seeks to undo the unchecked power of empire and imperialism.
• Looks to weave love into the fabric of our national life and extend it beyond our physical borders to the border tapestry of humanity.

Where do I get this hope? The answer is from a myriad of places. However, this day and in the coming months I will put my energy behind the Presidential campaign of Barack Obama. This is a result of believing in the person and in the movement.

William Sloane Coffin explained, “Believers know that while our values are embodied in tradition, our hopes are always located in change.” While, this political season “values” will be flung about, misused, and abused, rarely do we hear a candidate claim hope as integral to its worldview. Fundamentally, this hope is grounded in change; this hope is grounded in my faith in God and humanity. This day, this political season, my hope is also found in Barack Obama and his campaign for president. As a result, I will knock on doors, walk the streets, and go to the polls.

Obama offers a hope that is life giving, not political rhetoric re-written to sustain old systems of power and arcane notions of government.

Si se peude! Yes you can! Yes we can!

Brandon Johnson
Santa Fe, NM

“What Might We Become?” by Rev. Steve Westbrook

Rev. Steve Westbrook

What might we become if someone would have the audacity to hope? What could we overcome if someone would call us to a higher vision of ourselves as global citizens? How might the world change if someone does justice, loves kindness, and walks humbly?
Imagine a world where those who can’t hope for themselves… find it… by those who hope on their behalf… and work to help them. Dream of a world where people seek first to rid the enemy within before the enemy without. Think many thoughts about a picture-perfect world in which the hungry are fed, the lost are found, the wounded are healed and the forgotten are named and claimed.

I am one person, like Barack Obama, who has the audacity to hope. I am one person, like Barack Obama, who yearns for us to have a higher vision of ourselves as global citizens. I am one person, like Barack Obama, who strives to do justice, love kindness, and walk humbly. I am one person, like Barack Obama, who cares about those who can’t hope. I am one person, like Barack Obama, who looks deep within before ever looking out toward others. I am one person, like Barack Obama, who dares to dream of a picture-perfect world… until it is so.

I am one person.
I am one clergy.
I am for Barack Obama…
not only as he seeks to become President of the United States, but as he seeks to be an historical voice of help and hope and healing.

Rev. Steve Westbrook
Lee’s Summit, MO

“An Invitation” by Eric Atcheson

Eric Atcheson

If you believe in the empowerment of the soul, and of the soul’s capacity to do incredible things both great and small…

…I invite you to walk with us.

If you speak out at the sight of injustice, and if you cry out against the degradations of poverty…

…I invite you to hold hands with us.

If you pray for peace, and if you long for a world where weapons of war only exist as displays in museums…

…I invite you to pray with us.

If you wish to create a tomorrow where basic human rights such as education and health care are no longer privileges, but are available to all of us, the children of God…

…I invite you to break bread with us.

If you hope for a civilization that will never subject a human to the indignities of torture, and that will testify to end the humiliation of the shackled…

…I invite you to touch the world with us.

If you hunger for a time when the people uphold the charge God gave to us to preserve and care for the creation…

…I invite you to work with us.

We can work to transcend the obstacles placed before us, we can work to elevate the places that others have been cast to within society, and we can work to bring about the change necessary to usher in a brighter world for all creation.

We are Clergy for Obama….I invite you to join us.

Yes we can,
Eric Atcheson
Seminarian
Pacific School of Religion
Berkley, CA

“This I believe” by Rev. Brandon Gilvin

I believe in Human Rights.
I do not believe Habeas Corpus is something to make light of in a nomination speech.

I believe that we all have a right to affordable health care.
I do not believe in abandoning the most vulnerable in our society to “market forces.”

I believe in the separation of powers.
I do not believe in an “imperial presidency.”

I believe in a foreign policy that puts diplomacy before violence.
I do not think singing “Bomb, bomb, Iran” is funny. Nor do I think the violence in Iraq, whether it involves Americans soldiers or Iraqi civilians, can be glossed over.

I am not afraid. I have faith that with work, by looking for new solutions, by looking for a “third way” on issues of all kinds, we can build a better economy, a better foreign policy, a better educational system, a better way of doing government, and yes….I dare to say it…

A better world.

Yes. We. Can.

Rev. Brandon Gilvin
Kansas City, MO

“More than Party Allegiances” by Rev. Wes Jamison

Rev. Wes Jamison

This election is about more than party allegiances.  It’s about the future of this country and this world.  It’s far too important to sit idly by and do nothing, or worse yet, allow the rhetoric of fear scare us into quietly agreeing to four more years of the same failed politicial and economic policies.  The next President will appoint at least one and possibly as many as three justices to the United States Supreme Court.  With the justices Bush has appointed, that will ensure a tight conservative grip on the court for at least the next 20 years.  We CANNOT let that happen.  McCain keeps talking about drilling as a means of solving our current energy crisis.  You and I both know that isn’t going to work.  Even if we drill and find a few more pockets of oil within the borders of this country, we won’t see a drop of that oil reach our markets for at least 5 to 10 years.  We need to begin moving toward an alternative now.  T. Boone Pickens has suggested converting our cars to run on natural gas–a more abundant, cheaper, cleaner alternative to gas distilled from crude oil.  It’s an excellent idea for a bridge to carry us while we invest billions in research, something the Bush administration has refused to do.

I went on a forum on faith sponsored by the Obama campaign last night.  The speaker was an ethics professor from Wesley Theological Seminary and an ordained Church of Christ (not UCC, but acapella Church of Christ) minister named Shaun Casey.  He shared a frightening statistic.  During Bush’s administration six million additional people have fallen into poverty in this nation, bringing the rate to it’s highest level since the 1960s.  Currently, as many as 52 million US citizens are without health insurance.  Due to changes in the bankruptcy laws under the Bush administration and the former Republican controlled congress, medical bills can now be charged against a person’s credit.  This means that one major medical event in the life of a family can ruin their credit for years to come, thus preventing them from gaining adequate housing, transportation, and even loans to help their children get through school.  ENOUGH IS ENOUGH.  This has to end.

If you’re already working for the campaign, please, keep working.  Talk to everyone you know, even if you don’t think your state will go for Obama.  We need EVERY vote we can get.  If you live in a battleground state, then PLEASE, PLEASE do everything you can.  We have about six weeks left until the election.  Go to www.barackobama.com and register if you haven’t already done so.  You can generate a list of people who live near you and print off a script to use to either call them or go visit them in person and talk to them about this election.  You can also find Barack Obama’s platform, including his plans for education, energy, foreign policy, and everything else.  Even if you don’t feel confident on the issues, you can read up and feel more confident.  We need every vote we can get, especially in Virginia, Ohio, Nevada, Colorado, Michigan, Minnesota, and Florida.

We can and will win this election!  Don’t give up hope.   This election is FAR TOO IMPORTANT to sit idly by and do nothing.  We saw what happened when we did that in 2000 and 2004.  Please, talk to EVERYONE you know and encourage them to vote.  If anyone needs to register to vote, send them to www.voteforchange.com and the website will guide them through the process.  Also, if you know of anyone who needs to vote absentee, then send them to that website as well.  They can register to receive an absentee ballot on there.

Grace and Peace,

Wes Jamison,

B.A. Milligan College
M.Div. Emmanuel School of Religion

“If we could read the secret history of our enemies, we should find in each [one's] life sorrow and suffering enough to disarm all hostility.”
–Henry Wadsworth Longfellow