I'm starting an anti-religious right group and I need your help

[Khephra]

I want to start a liberal alternative to the Christian Coalition, but I'm having trouble coming up with a name.

Any suggestions?

[bif]

1. The Free Thinkers?

The brain's a bit fuzzy. I'll think about it and try go add some later.

[Khephra]

10. The only problem is that term ususally mean "atheist"

I'm trying to form a group that supports the total freedom of religion, believers and non-believers both should be involved.

[meegbear]

2. When you say anti-religous right group ...

are you saying one without religion or a liberal christian group?

[Khephra]

9. I'm saying a group that supports ALL

religious beliefs, not just Christian. Even those who don't believe.

[moosedog]

24. Free minds

Free Minds, yes....Mrs Moose

[Lydia Leftcoast]

40. Hey, Mrs Moose

Nice to see you around!

:hi:

[ikojo]

3. I don't know if they would qualify but People United

for Separation of Church and State already exist. I know they include religions other than Christianity and may not be specifically religious in nature. It is lead by a reverand.

[Khephra]

11. I'm actuallly the VP of the local American's United

But they try to be bi-partisan. I'm not planning on being bipartisan.

[Paragon]

4. Someone beat you to it:

Not a lobbying group, and not anti-religious...just free of a supernatural worldview:

http://www.the-brights.net/

[Caution]

5. How about:

Stop Stomping on our Rights you Self-Righteous Closed-Minded Sanctimonious Assholes?

Ok seriously, how about "Americans for Separation of Church and State"

[CBHagman]

34. Americans United for Separation of Church and State already exists.

Headed up by a clergyman, the Rev. Barry Lynn. He's invariably quoted in any voucher/school prayer stories.

By the way, the name Interfaith Alliance has already been taken, too.

www.interfaithalliance.org

www.au.org

[LuLu550]

6. Religion Left????

as opposed to "religious right?"
OK OK it was lame, I'm tired!

[Doctor Pedantic]

7. Liberal Alternative?

Do you mean a group of religious people who are politically liberal? If so, I'm in!

There's already a group kind of like this called the Interfaith Alliance. On paper, they seem pretty cool, but I don't know if they actually do anything. They're at www.interfaithalliance.org.

[Khephra]

14. That's my major problem

Most left leaning groups on religion just give the ground to the RR. The IFA and AU groups don't support activism because they're trying to walk the bipartisan line. I dont plan on being bipartisan. The Christan Coalition isn't, so why do we have to be?

[midnitemoleman]

8. Whats up khephra , what religion do you sugest?

I take it Christianity would not be your choice? I am interested in
seeing what you come up with.

[Khephra]

16. No, I have no choice

It would include all religions and non-believers.

[soleft]

12. Take Back the Faith

[trof]

13. move the hyphen from after "anti"

to after "religious" I think.
anti religious-right?
Although I'd rather be fer something than agin.
But I'm not religious, so I couldn't be religious left or liberal.
Maybe I'll just pass.
;-)

[JasonBerry]

15. I think what khephra means is.....

anti religious-right group , rather than anti-religious right group. Reading the thread I think a few have the wrong idea. He's NOT "anti-religious" as the hyphen in the wrong place makes it seem. It was just a typo thing. It's a good idea, IMHO.

ON EDIT: I see trof tried to clear up the hyphen. I was already typing when trof posted. Still, khephra has the right idea.

[Khephra]

17. Right

That damn "-"

[trof]

21. Well, OK

I was beginning to think there was an echo in here.
;-)

[Misinformed01]

18. IMPAC!

Immoral Majority Politcal Action Committee

just kidding.

[BurtWorm]

20. The Ethical Left

Like ethical culture. The emphasis is not on the divine but on how human beings treat each other.

[LynneSin]

19. WJWRD

or

What Jesus Would Really Do

[Doctor Pedantic]

30. We have a winner!

That's awesome.

I've also always liked something along the lines of "The Matthew Group" -- in Matthew 25 Jesus says that when He returns and decides who gets into heaven, what He's going to look at is how people treated "the least of these." What matters is, did we feed the hungry, clothe the naked, comfort those in prison, etc., etc.? Seems to me these concerns are much more in line with the Democrats' priorities than with the Republicans'.

[LynneSin]

35. Matthew 25:34-46 group

34"Then the King will say to those on his right, 'Come, you who are blessed by my Father; take your inheritance, the kingdom prepared for you since the creation of the world. 35For I was hungry and you gave me something to eat, I was thirsty and you gave me something to drink, I was a stranger and you invited me in, 36I needed clothes and you clothed me, I was sick and you looked after me, I was in prison and you came to visit me.'
37"Then the righteous will answer him, 'Lord, when did we see you hungry and feed you, or thirsty and give you something to drink? 38When did we see you a stranger and invite you in, or needing clothes and clothe you? 39When did we see you sick or in prison and go to visit you?'
40"The King will reply, 'I tell you the truth, whatever you did for one of the least of these brothers of mine, you did for me.'
41"Then he will say to those on his right, 'Depart from me, you who are cursed, into the eternal fire prepared for the devil and his angels. 42For I was hungry and you gave me nothing to eat, I was thirsty and you gave me nothing to drink, 43I was a stranger and you did not invite me in, I needed clothes and you did not clothe me, I was sick and in prison and you did not look after me.'
44"They also will answer, 'Lord, when did we see you hungry or thirsty or a stranger or needing clothes or sick or in prison, and did not help you?'
45"He will reply, 'I tell you the truth, whatever you did not do for one of the least of these, you did not do for me.'
46"Then they will go away to eternal punishment, but the righteous to eternal life."

[sybylla]

22. What about Alliance for Religious Voices

Alliance Against Religious Hate - or just Hate
League of True Believers
Advocates for Truth in Religion
Believers for Fair and Balanced Reporting

I'm not very good at this stuff and took several months to come up with acceptable names for my business, but perhaps this will help move you past your block.

[moosedog]

23. How About

Freedom Lovers. or...Thinking Supporters. Mrs. Moose

[Melsky]

25. I like your idea for the group

How about the Coalition for Logic Based Policy

[FreeperSlayer]

26. "The Rational Few"

"The True Light of Reason"

[BurtWorm]

29. Too elitist

Objectionists believe they're the rational few too. Well, they're few anyway.

[Blue_Chill]

27. What issues do you plan to push?

I'd be interested in knowing why a Christian such as myself would want to join your group.

[moosedog]

38. Good Question !

Enough said ....

[jburton]

28. Texas Freedom Network

I've always liked their name. Almost right-wing sounding.

www.tfn.org

[FlaGranny]

31. How about something like

"Liberal Faith Coalition." Or "Liberal Coalition for Religious Freedom."

[KCDem]

32. how about Unitarian Universalists?

That's pretty much what they are--a mixture of Christians, Jews, fallen Christians, fallen Jews, pagans, believers, non-believers who believe in the dignity of all humans. Even though I'm a Christian, I've been attending such a church since moving to Houston--in part because my husband is an atheist, in part because the Christian churches here tend to be Republican.

[FlaGranny]

33. That's already taken!

:-) I think what is being discussed is a more political group, open to liberals, to counter the Christian Coalition.

[Chuckup]

36. "For Christ Sake"

How dat!

[kwolf68]

37. This is actually a great idea

This is why Concerned (Fascist) Women For America got created as a rebuttal to the Liberal NOW.

While the CWA haven't won the battle with NOW, they have made a major dent.

I believe a Liberal Christian group would be a great thing. As a Liberal Christian I find my incredible disgust for the religious right unbearable as they THINK they speak for me.

There is no one out there speaking for me...Jesus wasn't about the fucking word "God" on the dollar bill...Jesus was about PEACE, about HELPING those less fortunate, held wealth in contempt, consider vengence absurd and wanted people to not be judgemental. NOW WHAT THE F*** does that sound like? Pat Robertson? Tom DeLay? Rick Santorectum?

As a Christian would I reject Ghandi? Because he wasn't also Christian? Does ANYONE REALLY THINK...Ghandi WOULD GO TO HELL if Christian are right about everything? Bullshit...The way the spin they bible for their intolerant agenda makes me sick and it sometimes makes me wish I was a freaking atheist.

[moosedog]

39. Oh, I agree with you..

You put it so well, Thanks

[Lydia Leftcoast]

41. Back in the early 1990s

when the Talibornagains were pushing an anti-gay initiative in Oregon, the liberal churches and synagogues formed an ad hoc group known as People of Faith Against Bigotry. They put out full-page ads in local newspapers and held well-attended rallies (10,000 in Portland). Thanks partly to their GOTV efforts, the initiative failed.

I think it's St. Paul who says somewhere, "The letter (of the law) kills, but the spirit gives life."

The main problem with the religious right is that they take convenient scriptural passages out of context and ignore the larger message. I once saw a newspaper called Christian Economics, which advocated pure economic libertarianism on the basis of the verse, "Am I not allowed to do what I please with what is mine?"

The problem is that the quotation is one line from the Parable of the Vineyard, a fictional anecdote being used to illustrate a theological point. In it, the vineyard owner pays all his laborers the same, even though some of them have worked all day and some have worked only one hour. Most people, even most fundamentalists, agree that the point of the parable is that all believers are equal in the sight of God, whether they were brought up in the faith or are recent converts. But that doesn't matter when you're a strict libertarian looking desperately for the only "proof text" in the Bible that could possibly justify your selfishness.

If you look at the Big Three religions, they all have an overriding message of peace and justice, and their great prophets and early leaders were radical critics of the contemporary status quo, but they all have their fanatics who use quotations taken out of context to justify their unjustifiable actions. Sometimes they don't even bother with justifications and call their personal hangups "Christianity" or "Islam."

One of the Wide Angle programs last year was about a Pakistani pop musician who is always on the outs with the Islamic fundamentalists. He challenges them to point to a verse in the Koran where it says that music is evil, and of course, they can't, so they start babbling on about corruption and actions contrary to the spirit of Islam.

I'm not any closer to providing a name, but I think that the hardest part of dialogue with the religious right is breaking through their total information environment. In those circles, it is considered virtuous to limit one's self to "religiously correct" media, reading material, and even friendships and business relationships.

I think that the most important function of a group like yours would be to get out the message that you don't have to be a crypto-fascist to be religious and that in fact, crypto-fascism is the antithesis of the spirit of the great religious leaders of history.

[leftofthedial]

42. Free to Believe

or the Free Believers