Going public in teeny tiny ways

I scared myself yesterday morning. I responded to a NY Times call for reader comments on an article about shifting emphasis within the evangelical movements. In case you have not been aware of it, there is an increased environmental concern within these groups of politically-savvy committed Christians, and the original article can be read here. Check it out. You can then read all the responses by clicking on "Post a Comment", but I warn you in advance, the majority of them are harsh and intolerant, even nasty, and many are also ill-informed. And I am not talking about evangelicals' responses. Here's my contribution.

Though I know that the comments posted here about the tragediesresulting from religious intolerance are right, I also know thatChristian evangelicals are people who tend to roll up their sleeves andplunge into the work at hand while many others are still havingmeetings and formulating positions. So I have believed for a long timethat the evangelicals are our best hope for addressing climate change -because the earth is the Lord’s, and we must care for it - and poverty- because we are commanded to love one another, and feed the hungry,house the homeless, tend the sick and the dying, minister to those whohave lost hope - and war, again because we are to love our neighbors asourselves, and to beat our swords into plowshares, converting weapons(and the money that buys them) into tools for growth and nurture. Now,as more and more prominent evagelicals are speaking to these issues,the shifts I am seeing fill me with hope.

We are so easily distracted when we put our attention on ourdifferences, and when distracted, we are too easily manipulated intoineffectiveness. We must begin to focus on that which unites us. If Ijoin with you to save a wetland or a battered child, does it evenmatter that I do it because Christ commands me and you do it because ofyour passionate social convictions? What matters is that we are doingit, and together.

So what, one might ask, was the scary part? I signed with my full name.

Big brave me. Give me a medal.

Gee whiz.