The conversation begins.

Finally! I am officially a blogger. Over the last six months I've been posting on my MySpace blog my analysis of the 2008 Presidential Election, specifically on the Obama/Clinton campaigns for the Democratic Nomination. However, I wanted to go a little deeper, sharing my faith journey, and how my worldview is deeply rooted in my faith. For the longest time I've been a strong advocate of keeping faith completely separate from politics. However, the more I engage my faith and study American Politics, the more I learn that my political leanings are completely shaped by my values, and my values are completely shaped by my faith. Therefore, faith and politics are completely connected. So, while I still believe that our Government should never be beholden to one Religion or faith system, I have come to acknowledge that I am a Progressive precisely because of my faith in the Kingdom of God and the teachings of Jesus. And as believers, we must recognize that many social movements in American society have been rooted in faith.

I believe that both faith and a progressive political system serve as an undergirding for much needed societal transformation. As I educate myself, I intend to raise awareness of the great challenges we face in this world: social injustice, poverty, sexual trafficking, genocide, war, violence, environmental degradation, HIV/AIDS, economic disparity, and so on. I once read that social transformation never comes without a personal transformation. As important as education, policy ideas and issues are, social change requires something deeper. I am convinced that faith can provide the fire, passion, strength, commitment, perseverance and hope necessary for social movements to succeed and change politics. Neither the people nor the church can create societal transformation on our own. Therefore, a partnership with the political system and the American Government is required. This is the major difference between progressives like myself and conservatives. However, I believe historical precedence suggests that a partnership is required for social transformation. Never has the success and requirement of a personal-faith-government relationship been more evident than in the campaign to end slavery in both America and Britain, victory over Apartheid in South Africa, Gandhi's nonviolent liberation of India, the overthrow of communism in Poland and the 1960s American Civil Rights Movement. All these movements were rooted in faith and took a collective effort to make change real for millions of Americans who were being left behind and stripped of their God given dignity. I believe my commitment to Christ requires social action. We face similar challenges in today's world and I look forward to discussing how faith and progressive politics can serve as an undergirding for solving these global crisis.