Well, John, I've heard these talking points before, almost verbatim, so the argument is definitely not new to me. If you actually watched the video you would see that we did ask a variety of Jews, including one Orthodox Rabbi, and they agree without hesitation that social justice is central to their Jewish faith. In fact, non of the Jews we talked to could envision their faith without talking about social justice. So this "Nazi" scare tactic isn't going to work. While I appreciate you offering your definition of social justice, I take my cues from Jesus and the Hebrew prophets. You might want to try reading your Bible again with different lenses. I recommend reading the Bible in community with the poor and those who have been cast aside by society. I think you'll find it sounds a lot different than what you're used to. Grace & Peace, Ryan

Brian McLaren posted a video response to our PSA within a couple of hours of its release. You can see it here: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=oFYEAyuR6BU

I'm also sharing your blog with my friend, Kori. She organizes our environmental and food justice initiatives in Hollywood.

Great stuff, Craig! You'd appreciate that our church just started doing some urban gardening and hope to turn a part of our church parking lot into a garden. How's that for a sign of the kingdom? Replacing blacktop with a garden in Los Angeles.

Thank YOU, Kirsten! I wish more pastors had people like you in their lives.

That's all the coverage we got from the LA Times. But we did get TV coverage which I haven't seen.

Sphenisciformes, Thanks for sharing your struggle. I've been wrestling with what you've written here since you posted it. I haven't responded because it has taken me a while to know what to say. Even now, I know that there is no simple answer. I have faced similar challenges in churches and in other areas of life. True human relationality takes two parties. I have experiened exactly what you describe. You do your best to take a Christlike attitude with someone or a group of people and they reveal the worst in their intentions. It's the old "give them enough rope and they'll hang themselves" argument. I think there is a lot of merit to this. We don't usually need to cut people down. If they are on the wrong path they will probably self-destruct. For me and my congregation, what has been important is sticking to a PROCESS. In discernment and especially conflict resolution we have a fairly straightforward process that includes openness, listening to the other, not responding in anger and not bullying others. Usually when that process is made clear people participate in a healthy conversation toward some kind of resolution, or they opt out of the process. Most bullies will not stand an open, inclusive process. I think we can also stand on the principles of love and grace. If you are trying to relate in love and the other parties are lashing out in anger and violence, then I'd say the situation is working itself out. Sometimes some loss must be sustained by an congregation in order to move past it's brokenness into a new future. Is this helpful?

BC: I know, right? That would've been *awesome!*

No, I don't think it would be any worse than if you dropped any other battery operated device in the tub. All the documents and ebooks you buy from Amazon are archived on your account on Amazon.com. Other documents you load onto are presumably backed up on your computer HD.