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Bob Edgar, Head of the National Council of Churches, Speaking at Garrison Institute
On Wednesday, December 20 at 7:30pm the Garrison Institute will host an interfaith discussion with the Rev. Dr. Bob Edgar, former six-term U.S. congressman from Pennsylvania and General Secretary of the 45-million member National Council of the Churches of Christ. Edgar’s topic is the trend towards religious moderates taking back the moral high-ground from the religious right and a call to all people of faith to engage the political process in order to influence the debate over our national priorities.
In his new book, Middle Church: Reclaiming the Moral Values of the Faithful Majority from the Religious Right (Simon & Schuster; September 2006), Edgar urges mainstream Americans of faith— whom he calls “Middle Church,” “Middle Synagogue,” and “Middle Mosque”—to speak up and refuse to have their voices drowned out by the far religious right and radical, wellfunded but narrow-minded religious/ political factions focusing
on strategic wedge issues such as abortion, gay marriage, or stem cell research.
Those aren’t the burning moral issue of our time, argues Edgar. Instead, the moral issues of our time are the same as in the times of Jesus and the prophets: social justice, waging peace, and caring for God’s creation. People of faith may disagree sincerely on questions of personal piety, but, he argues, they can—and must— come together on issues of public conscience, including combating global warming, ending the war in Iraq, making US foreign policy morally consistent, and fighting poverty at home.
Edgar points out religion has a historic role of religion in accomplishing progressive change. It was religious leaders who led the movements to abolish slavery, enfranchise women, and achieve civil rights for all Americans. “For America’s faithful majority,” he writes, “the millions of us who are eager to reassert the values of compassion and peace and preservation in public life, we are the leaders we’ve been waiting for. And our moment is now.”
The December 20 “Middle Church” event with Bob Edgar is free and open to the public at the Garrison Institute, 14 Mary’s Way, Route 9D at Glenclyffe in Garrison. Doors open at 7pm. For information log onto www.garrisoninstitute.org or call 424-4800.
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