Reading this quote on the home page of the Christian Alliance For Progress, I knew something I've been awaiting had come into existence:

I feel embarrassed and angry that Christianity has been used to divide our country and to promote bigotry and war. I joined this movement to stand up for compassion and justice.

Surely, I have rationalized, the efforts of the Bush administration to harness and popularize the irrational hate from the worst of Christian fundamentalism in the United States would eventually awaken the liberal, progressive, honest Christians among us. For years I have watched for some action, some sign of their united presence... and finally I have seen it.

The Christian Alliance For Progress: The Movement To Reclaim Christianity And Transform American Politics began, fittingly, in Jacksonville, Florida. Their website could be any of the numerous Christian fundamentalist homes on the web: an earnest face, American flags waving in the background, a basically professional appearance. Exhortations to take action, share your story, tell a friend, donate, join the movement...

There the similarities end.

Six main contemporary issues are listed as foci:

Pursuing Economic Justice

Responsible Environmental Stewardship for Today

Equality for Gays and Lesbians

Effective Prevention vs. Criminalizing Abortion

Seeking Peace, Not War

Health Care for All Americans

When was the last time you heard a Christian in America calling for action on these fronts?

I came across the Christian Alliance For Progress while reading about The Clergy Letter Project, a statement of the belief evolution and religion may comfortably coexist signed by over 10,000 clergy members. The Clergy Letter Project is partnering with the Christian Alliance for Progress to advertise in national newspapers.

From the Christian Alliance For Progress' 2005 Jacksonville Declaration, an open letter to the political and church leaders of the Religious Right:

We must tell you now that you do not speak for us, or for our politics. We say "No" to the ways you are using the name and language of Christianity to advance what we see as extremist political goals. We do not support your agenda to erode the separation of church and state, to blur the vital distinction between your interpretation of Christianity and our shared democratic institutions. Moreover, we do not accept what seems to be your understanding of Christian values. We reject a Christianity co-opted by any government and used as a tool to ostracize, to subjugate, or to condone bigotry, greed and injustice.

If your politics flow from your faith, then we do not know the Jesus you claim to follow.

Ultimately, if progress and peace are to win the day and the future, all those of progressive and peaceful nature must join together to rein in our violent kin. It doesn't matter to me what beliefs a person uses to organize their inner life and ethical conclusions, so long as they do no harm to others and care for our home.

I'm joining the Christian Alliance For Progress. If you read their site, I think you will find it difficult not to join with me.