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As Americans celebrate the 4th of July holiday the place of Christian religion in the United States seems to be dwindling.

This work Pews, Prayers, and Participation: Religion and Civic Responsibility in America by Corwin E. Smidt, Kevin R. den Dulk, James M. Penning, Stephen V. Monsma, and Douglas L. Koopma addresses important topics worth considering this festive season:

Does the “public” experience of religion contribute anything distinctive to civic engagement? Pews, Prayers, and Participation: Religion and Civic Responsibility in America offers a fresh approach to key questions about what role religion plays in fostering civic responsibility in contemporary American society. Written by five prominent scholars of religion and politics, led by Calvin College’s Corwin Smidt, the book brilliantly articulates how religion shapes participation in a range of civic activities-from behaviors (such as membership in voluntary associations, volunteering, and charitable contributions) to capacities (e.g., civic skills and knowledge), to virtues (e.g., law-abidingness, tolerance, and work ethic).In the course of their study the authors examine whether an individual exhibits a diminished, a privatized, a public, or an integrated form of religious expression, based on the individual’s level of participation in both the public (worship) or private (prayer) dimensions of religious life. They question whether the privatization of religious life is counterproductive to engagement in public life, and they show that religion does indeed play a significant role in fostering civic responsibility across each of its particular facets.Pews, Prayers, and Participation is a bold and provocative clarion call to the continuing importance and changing nature of religion in American public life. It will be of particular interest to students and scholars of religion and politics, and culture and politics, as well as general readers with an interest in the impact of religion in the public sphere.

The book can be previewed here:

UNITED CHURCH OF CHRIST SET TO REJECT GOD THE FATHER

Meeting at General Synod 28 in Tampa, Florida this weekend, the historic United Church of Christ will vote on an amendment to eliminate God the Father from Article 5,  lines 9-10 of its constitution. http://www.ucc.org/synod/pdfs/proposedconstitution.pdf The Constitution of the denomination has remained unchanged in its theological core since the United Church of Christ’s founding in 1957, and remains the covenant connection with the basic truths of Christianity that keeps many churches affiliated who are otherwise alienated by the denominations very liberal agenda.

According to renewal leader David Runnion-Bareford, “Rejecting God as Father in an age of fatherlessness is unthinkable. God acted toward us in amazing grace when He offered to be our Father through the sacrifice of his Son, Jesus Christ who offers us life in his name. This is not something we as humans made up in some other time. Rejecting our Father is act of arrogant rebellion in the name of cultural conformity that only further alienates members, churches, but more importantly God himself. We call the delegates to reject the change for God’s sake.”

Biblical Witness Fellowship, Confessing Movement in the United Church of Christ, has been speaking the “truth with love” since 1978.  David Runnion-Bareford, Executive Director, can be contacted for comment at 207-505-0600.

The liberal UNITED CHURCH OF CHRIST, the leader among protestant denominations in membership loss, is meeting at Synod 28 this weekend in Tampa, Florida using the theme of “SAND.”  According to the Synod Handbook  (page 8-9) http://www.ucc.org/synod/pdfs/general_synod_28_handbook.pdf describing the event’s worship focus, “sand remains a powerful image of an unimaginable quantity. It also reflects the rich imagery of desert, of journey, of shifting sands.” It goes on to say, “At the Twenty-eighth General Synod in 2011, the United Church of Christ finds itself in oasis and desert. Blessed with diversity of thought, vibrant life, and shifting sands, we journey through challenging times seeking possibility, engaged in thoughtful and difficult conversations.” Jesus used this image powerfully when he contrasted the wise man who built on the rock with the foolish, saying, “everyone who hears these words of mine and does not put them into practice is like a foolish man who built his house on sand.” (Matthew 7:26)

Renewal leader David Runnion-Bareford said, “This is indeed a powerful confession by the Synod of the UCC that, having rebelled against the word of God, is on sinking sand – with our members, churches, historic witness, and identity in Christ washing away before our eyes.”

Biblical Witness Fellowship, Confessing Movement in the United Church of Christ, has been speaking the “truth with love” since 1978.  David Runnion-Bareford, Executive Director, can be contacted for comment at  207-505-0600.

26th Weekly Media Review of Hungarian Communities Abroad
Heti nemzetpolitikai összefoglaló (26.hét)

Microfinance was considered the tool to lift millions out of poverty.

The Grameen Bank paved the way with microloans to allow people to start small businesses. Kiva.org was touted by celebrities like Bill Clinton and Oprah Winfrey as a way westerners could fund microfinance projects around the world.

Then the area of microlending became of interest to commercial lenders like Citi Bank with it’s microfinance department.  They saw a whole new class of people to lend to, but often without the education and social support used by other non profit lending groups, especially Christian ones. When a large number of microloan recipients experienced business failure, many actually took their own lives in despair.

The Chalmers Center – a Reformed Christian anti-poverty initiative – called on Christians to respond by emphasizing the earlier Christian model of “Microfinance with Education” to put microfinance back on track:

Over the past year, a microcredit controversy has been brewing in Andhra Pradesh, India, calling into question an intervention originally designed to alleviate poverty among the rural poor. In the minds of some, what was once a development intervention meant to empower the poor has become a predatory tool that exploits the poor for financial gain. This was sadly evident with the spat of suicides by microcredit clients last fall, which not only embarrassed the government of India, but more importantly called into question the practices of some microcredit lenders. The government has since intervened and set up strict regulatory practices over microlenders.

Andhra Pradesh, India

Considering the industry’s recent turmoil, microfinance may be losing its halo in Andhra Pradesh, India and across South Asia. But the church in India presses on with a real opportunity to show how the Chalmers Center’s Microfinance With Education (MWE) model can be a beacon amidst the current turmoil. In contrast to the microlending institutions that have become so controversial, the Chalmers Center’s approach to microfinance empowers poor people to form savings and credit associations owned and operated by the poor people themselves. In addition, the MWE model adds training in Business, Home, and Health from a biblical worldview perspective, thereby augmenting microfinance with additional training that is typically absent in microlending organizations.

Due to the global recession unemployment insurance systems are swamped across the Western World. In the United States, as of 2009 over a third of state unemployment systems were estimated to have run out of money and were borrowing to fulfill their obligations.

Hungary, too, faces many issues regarding unemployment and the government has proposed a reform of the unemployment system that leaves a significant number Hungarians abroad asking  “Are we having Forced Labor Battalions now?”

Here are representative comments, please see the full article here.

This morning I stared at the front page of Népszava, not quite believing my eyes. Hungary, it seems, is introducing its own draconian version of “from welfare to workfare.” After 90 days of unemployment insurance, all assistance will come to a screeching halt. If the unemployed person can’t find a job during those 90 days, he will have to enroll in public works programs which might be anywhere in the country and work on some large public projects, like building football stadiums or dams and cleaning sewers. The work will be done under police supervision. According to reports, the average person will work only half time for less money than the minimum wage. If a person must spend more than six hours a day travelling in order to reach his workplace, he can stay in one of the trailers that will be set up at the site.

….

I couldn’t quite believe that the government could introduce something that so closely resembles forced labor camps or forced labor battalions of Jews and other undesirables in World War II. So, I waited for a government response denying all this as a vicious lie of the liberals, socialists, communists, take your pick. But silence all day long. Then at 3:30 p.m. Pintér announced at a press conference that “we don’t want to keep the workers under surveillance. …We are talking about instruction, direction, organization. Placing 300,000 people into work projects is a complicated affair that needs exactly the skills policemen have.” So, this is all true.

News of the plan became available when it was learned retired police officers were being reactivated for duty in connection with this project.Under existing Hungarian law, the program cannot be implemented because it violates minimum wage levels and this fact raises other concerns.

Some members of the Hungarian community abroad who generally applaud the government’s commitments to human life expressed in the new constitution wonder aloud if this proposal is consistent with that stated value.

25th Weekly Media Review of Hungarian Communities Abroad
Heti nemzetpolitikai összefoglaló (25.hét)

Topics:

1. Hungarian-Slovenian Committee on Minorities
2. Heightened responses to Romanian proposed changes
3. Minorities’ Act
4. Slovakia – Presidential veto on the Act on Use of Minority Languages
5. Radi?ová – Orbán meeting
6. Serbia stands by Slovakia
7. Szvoboda News

25th weekly media review of hungarian communities abroad
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24th Weekly Media Review of Hungarian Communities Abroad Heti nemzetpolitikai összefoglaló (24.hét)

23rd weekly media review of hungarian communities abroad:

-Trianon anniversary – Day of National Cohesion
-Centre and Research Institution
-The Government is committed to the cause of national minorities in Hungary
-Keep calm and carry on
-Electronic census closed
-Collective minority rights at no circumstance
-Diplomatic Note for Hungary
-Kiev: dual citizenship does not constitute a problem’
-Conference on scientific cooperation
-Hungarian Identity conference in Canada