More Layoffs at Focus on the Family November 18, 2008
Posted by Zack in Colorado | 11 commentsFor several years, James Dobson’s anger-driven on-air politics has been driving away the mainstream love-focused Focus on the Family audience. Apparently it’s starting to show on their bottom line. This article doesn’t say anything about donations from members falling, but I’m guessing they’ve got to be going down.
Focus on the Family announced this afternoon that 202 jobs will be cut companywide — an estimated 20 percent of its workforce. Initial reports bring the total number of remaining employees to around 950.
Focus on the Family is poised to announce major layoffs to its Colorado Springs-based ministry and media empire today. The cutbacks come just weeks after the group pumped more than half a million dollars into the successful effort to pass a gay-marriage ban in California.
Critics are holding up the layoffs, which come just two months after the organization’s last round of dismissals, as a sad commentary on the true priorities of the ministry.
I’ve met a lot of people who have relied on Focus on the Family’s parenting and marriage shows and materials who have become increasingly alienated by FOTF’s angry political agenda. Most non-religious liberals would be very surprised by some of the mainstay content the group provides. The parenting materials, for example, focus on the importance of showing children “unconditional love” and teach parents not to punish children for childish mistakes. Much of the marriage advice given to husbands—often by women—sounds downright feminist, believe it or not, for example reminding men that the Bible also teaches husbands to submit to their wives.
For years, FOTF was one long, continuous, cheery stream of socially conservative but therapeutically liberal self-help and affirmation. And then suddenly James Dobson started frothing at the mouth. More and more, he crowded out feel-good programs with hysterical anger about things like “the Homosexual Agenda!” I’m guessing a big chunk of the grassroots funding base is walking away.
Steve Waldman on the DNC August 28, 2008
Posted by Zack in Colorado | 1 commentOn Monday, I was on a panel with Beliefnet President Steve Waldman at the DNC. Here’s his take on the DNC in the Wall Street Journal today:
Compared to the 2004 Democratic Convention, the 2008 gathering is a veritable religious revival meeting. At the last convention, people of faith were treated as a worthwhile little interest group, roughly on the same level as mohair farmers.
What a difference four years make. By my count, there are at least nine different faith-related events. The week opened with an Interfaith religious service, led by the Democratic convention’s CEO, who is also a Pentecostal minister (!). At the Institute of Faith and Politics lunch, Democratic office holders talked about the role of faith in their lives. Events were held by the Faith Caucus, the Network for Spiritual Progressives, the National Jewish Democratic Council, and the American Muslim Democratic Caucus.
(HT: Faith in Public Life.)
Tags: Democratic Convention, Steve WaldmanVideo interview with Donald Miller August 27, 2008
Posted by Zack in Colorado | 2 commentsHere’s a video interview by Christianity Today with best-selling Christian author Donald Miller at the DNC in Denver. Miller gave the prayer on the first night of the convention Monday. Read Sarah Pulliam’s intro to the interview and other postings from the convention here.
Donald Miller says here that he’s a “single evangelical who represents no one.” But it’s really easy to find young evangelicals who are saying exactly the same things that Don is saying here regarding abortion, political parties and politics.
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PS: Here’s Miller’s prayer at the DNC on YouTube:
Network of Spiritual Progressives and the Global Marshall Plan August 25, 2008
Posted by Zack in Colorado | 4 commentsStill in Denver. Over at an event by the Network of Spiritual Progressives.
Keith Ellison is speaking now. He’s the first Muslim American elected to the U.S. Congress. He was sworn in on Thomas Jefferson’s Koran. For real! Now that’s some good PR strategerizing. He’s pretty darn charismatic. He’s telling Jesus’ parables. Says Jesus is a figure who can unify Jews, Christians and Muslims (as there’s plenty of Jesus in the Koran). The Good Samaritan and then the Loaves and Fishes. Wow. He’s really good. He’s got the crowd speaking together, “There’s enough. There’s enough for everybody…”
He’s talking about the Global Marshall Plan, a resolution that he introduced in Congress. But the idea is something that the NSP put together. It is also the name of last chapter in Al Gore’s 1992 book Earth in the Balance. (Now that I’ve done some googling it looks like there are a few different versions of it actually.)
When I got here Michael Lerner was speaking. I really want to meet him. He used to be a radical lefty and then left that and became a Rabbi.
Both Lerner and Ellison were giving passionate sermons. And then Tony Campolo, who’s speaking now, got up and started: “When a Muslim and a Jew sound more like Billy Graham than I do — the world is messed up!”
Tony now: “People asked me: Why would you go teach at that little Baptist school? Why would you leave the Ivies? I wanted to go to that little school (Eastern University) because my students are committed to transcendent values.” He’s telling stories of all the things that his students have gone off to do. For example going to work for Opportunity International, which has created 3.5 million jobs for the poor, he says. By the way, Shane Claiborne was one of his students.
OK. Tony is amazing. This is the first time I’ve ever heard him speak. At the crescendo of a speech that I can’t attempt to represent here, Tony is saying right now, “Overcome evil with good. Overcome evil with good. Overcome evil with good.” That is the answer Obama should have given at Saddleback and it would have trumped McCain’s “Defeat it!”
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UPDATE: Oh my, Lerner may have just ruined the whole thing by making everyone get up and sing Lennon’s Imagine! With him leading loudly and out of key. 
Don Miller praying for/with the Democrats August 25, 2008
Posted by Zack in Colorado | 1 commentSo, guess what — I had a beer with Don Miller last night here in Denver. My born-once audience will not know who that is. But my born-again audience is again eating their hearts out with jealousy. They’ve all read Don’s bestselling book Blue Like Jazz at least twice. And basically every chapter in the book is Don talking about theology and life with someone over a beer. When you’re reading the book you definitely have a thread in the back of your mind saying, “Man, it would be so cool to have a beer with Don Miller.” I just did, and it WAS cool.
Don is doing the closing prayer at the convention today — something that will probably stir up some controversy on both sides. Or maybe not. We’ll see. Here’s the statement on his website now:
Many of you have heard I will be delivering the closing prayer at the Democratic National Convention Monday night in Denver. After the key-note address, I’ve been asked to close the evening with a short benediction.
I’ll be posting the prayer here shortly before I leave my hotel for the Pepsi Center. I doubt the prayer will be televised, but you can read it on this site a couple hours before I read it off the teleprompter.
I will be notifying twitter followers when I update the site with the prayer. Simply text message the words “follow donmilleris” to the number 40404 to be notified when the prayer has gone online.
It is an honor to be asked to come and pray before such a diverse audience. i am grateful and looking forward to the opportunity.
Sincerely,
Donald Miller
Blue Like Jazz was actually one of the first signals that reached me and made me aware that something interesting was happening out there in the church. Just before we were married, Elizabeth picked up the book at Borders saying she had heard it was a big deal. She started to read it to me as I drove her home. I kept telling her, “Wait, read that part over again!” He was inviting me into a church that actually made sense, one that was honest and humble. He was telling the story of his journey: a journey away from certain aspects of institutionalized church toward a spirituality flowing from the radical life and message of Jesus. And the book was a huge best seller — so obviously there was a constituency out there for this. Amazing!
Don’t blame Don for sitting down with a scurrilous character like me. He had no idea who I was when a mutual friend introduced us over email and I think he just didn’t know anyone else in this sea of Democrats.
His new project is incredibly exciting — a non-profit that pairs up volunteers from churches to be mentors to young people. Please check it out and consider getting your church involved. I hope that we can bring him to speak in Kansas City, where we really need a big wave of additional youth mentors.
Tags: Democratic Convention, Don MillerJesusland at the DNC 1 August 25, 2008
Posted by Zack in Colorado | 3 commentsI’m here in Denver in the middle of all the mayhem of the Democratic Convention. I did my Revolution in Jesusland act this morning at a side show called “The Big Tent.” It went over well. And it even got a notice from The Heritage Foundation thanks to Conn Carroll.
As Exley continued attending church he noticed that there was a sizable number of younger parishioners who were devouring books by Shane Claibourne, Donald Miller, and Greg Boyd. These younger believers are moving away from the Republicans but are not becoming Democrats. Exley says that they have more in common with the anarchist protesters here in Denver, than they do with Democrats. These younger evangelicals want to love the state out of existence. Exley said liberals need to convince them to love the state into making the right change.
It’s a bit over simplified, but not a bad take on what I said. However, if I have to identify as something on the traditional political continuum, I’m not liberal, but radical.
Tags: Democratic Convention, Denver, Heritage Foundation
