You're going to have to put up with a fair amount of short form blogging from me in the next couple of days. I'm too scattered and too busy.

But already things are pretty cool here at Netroots Nation. Saw Paul Krugman getting a cup of coffee as we came in, and Al Gore - Al Freakin' Gore!! - singlehandedly delayed this morning's panels with a barn-burning keynote this morning.

And I heard about this program to pull together 1,000,000 volunteers in the next couple of years: Service Nation. You can go and type in your Zip Code, and they'll hook you up with events and opportunities to serve in your area.

Can't argue with that.

I'm still sick, so you're going to have to put up with posts that don't require too much heavy lifting. Which in no way should be taken as denigration of what J-Street and Credoaction are up to:

Sen. Joe Lieberman is standing up for an extremist cleric who claimed God sent Hitler and caused the Holocaust in order to help the Jews return to Israel. We need you, as a member of the clergy, to stand up to Sen. Lieberman.

Despite recent publicity surrounding Hagee's outrageous statements, Sen. Lieberman continues to legitimize Hagee and will deliver the keynote address at the extremist cleric's conference this summer.

How extreme are Hagee's views? Consider for yourself:

• On Muslims: "All Muslims have a mandate to kill Christians and Jews."

• On Hurricane Katrina: "I believe that New Orleans had a level of sin that was offensive to God and they were recipients of the judgment of God for that."

• On women: "Do you know the difference between a terrorist and a woman with PMS? You can negotiate with a terrorist."

Despite this well documented record, Sen. Lieberman called Pastor Hagee "A man of God....Like Moses." And just two weeks ago on Fox News he defended Hagee on account of his "pro-Israel" credentials, claiming "He represents a lot of people in this country, particularly Christians who care about the state of Israel."

As a member of the clergy, you know how offensive Hagee's views are. And you also know what a powerful statement you can make by standing with other religious leaders to tell Sen. Lieberman to cut all ties to Hagee and his extremist views immediately.

Follow the link and sign the petition.

Some UMC pastors are trying to fight off the George W. Bush Presidential Library proposed for Southern Methodist University. We've heard about this before.

But look who's leading the charge:

Some ministers will use a PR campaign to try to stop George W. Bush's presidential library from being built at Southern Methodist University.
Opponents have hired a Maine public relations firm to design ads for Methodist publications.

The Reverend Andrew Weaver of Brooklyn, New York, says the goal is informing people about the center's partisan think tank.

Weaver says some Methodists believe Bush policies -- like the war with Iraq and torturing foreign prisoners -- conflict with church teachings.

That'd be none other than our own AWEAVER, who's posted here and is part of the team at Talk to Action. These guys are everywhere, it seems.

Well, it's only day two, and we've already got a ton of work to do:

1. Hop on over to the Mike Huckabee blog if you haven't already and ask him if he'll sign the Evangelical Declaration Against Torture and if he'll require the candidates supported by Huck PAC to stand against torture.

2. Hop on over to Crooks and Liars and find out how to send a letter calling for an Independent Counsel to investigate the Administration's approval of torture and abuse. So far, C&L and the ACLU have gotten 80,000 letters sent; now they're shooting for 100,000.

3. Hop on over to firedoglake and find out how to send a letter to local papers asking them why the story has disappeared without a trace.

4. Last but not least, help me name our campaign. We really are going to keep this up for a while. Might as well have a shorthand for reference.

Help Us Make A Nation (HUMAN)

How does a movement begin? Where does it begin? Is it a point in time or the first time an idea crosses a visionary's mind? Is it connected to the struggles of the ancestors and their voices that still speak to those who must lead the people or do movements begin again just when the time is right and the timing...when the right people come together and start to work? Ask anyone connected to The People... and they will say all of the above. The movement doesn't begin because it never ends. Without vision the people perish. The dreamers must always dream...(From The History of The People's Institute for Survival and Beyond)

So the masses swooned over the Amish response after the Nickel Mines school shooting. What if the Amish response was actually an abysmal failure? Could the case be made that, if there's validity in forgiveness that's extended before the splattered blood has reached the end of its trajectory, such radical faith has a proactive role to play in the prelude to the assualt?

Some of you may have noticed a diary about comments from another site which received a lot of attention. But lost in the debate was a response to the question posed by PastorDan:

But you tell me: you want more activism around here? Do you do enough here or elsewhere? What are your thoughts?

I know I am not alone in wanting an answer to these questions. So please, take a minute and let us know what you think about more activism on Street Prophets. I don't want to know how you would do it, or what specific causes you favor - not for this diary. I just want to see your thoughts in response to Pastordan's questions.

My thoughts over the flip, but they really are only one person's thoughts. I'd love to hear from many of you. including the lurkers on this. We're a community and before we move forward on anything, we need to hear what each of us has in mind on this.

Update: Per Starwoman's request, a definition of activism: taking positive, direct action to achieve an end.

examples: collecting clothing for Pretty Bird Woman House, creating a chip-in page for a cause, blogging asking others to join you in calling CNN about a terrible story... that's activism.

But a dairy about Pretty Bird Woman House without a link to donate or instructions on where to send clothing would not count. A story about a terrible segment on CNN that did not call for follow up would not count.

That's the conclusion drawn by Faithful Progressive, anyway:

Incidentally, Faith in Public Life has been establishing itself as the go-to blog for real activism from progressive religious folks. The Christian Alliance for Progress used to do this kind of thing very well, but it seems to have slowed down. (Sure, Street Prophets may get more traffic, but what the heck do they do with it? Not sure what good non-activist progressive Christians are--though I'm glad Kos gave them a place to lounge around. Or am I missing something over there?)

I think this is both fair and not at the same time.

It's fair: we could do more around here.

Not, for a number of reasons. First because what I'm told is that a number of you are activists in other realms, and use this as a place of refreshment. FP's criticism also misunderstands the nature of blogging to some extent. Spreading information, making connections, and helping people analyze the news is a form of activism. And last, because I've heard loud and clear that you all consider building an alternative community to be your preferred form of activism. Funny how we should be chastised on that score by somebody who's previously scolded us for not being spiritual-minded enough.

I'm happy to let Faith in Public Life be the place to find action items. It's what they're good at. I have my own bag, and it seems to be working pretty well. Especially when you remember that places like FPL depend on places like ours to help get the word out about those action items.

But you tell me: you want more activism around here? Do you do enough here or elsewhere? What are your thoughts?

I wrote this article in response to two diaries here on Street Prophets, one by Pastor Dan and one by Gurn Blanston. I’d like to make it clear at the beginning that I am not really disagreeing with either; I think both bring up valid points. I am simply trying to complement their arguments.

Cross-posted at The Seminal.

Here's the action item I was going to post in Brothers and sisters: forward this to everybody on your e-mail list:

ARE YOU A MORON?

Certain people are banking on it.

You may have received an e-mail this year outlining a number of FALSE claims about Democratic presidential candidate Barack Obama.

I am not going to repeat those claims, because that's what the jackasses who create such e-mails want. They want to distract you with irrelevant lies so that you DON'T ask questions like:

• When is the war going to be over?

• Why did we go to war in the first place?

• Was it worth it to go to war?

• When is somebody going to help everybody get health care without going bankrupt in the process?

• When is somebody going to do something about the fact that I'm working harder than ever, yet more financially strapped than I ever was? When are they going to do something about the jobs that have been shipped overseas by the armful? I'd like to retire in peace some day, but I'm not sure my pension will be there.

• When is somebody going to help my kids go to college or live a better life than I did?

• When is somebody going to do something about the government working for the corporations and executives, instead of for people like me?

Some people really don't want you to ask questions like that. It makes them very, very nervous because they don't have good answers for you. So they try to distract you so you don't ask them.

Whose business is it how Barack Obama worships God, anyway? I thought we were supposed to have freedom of religion in America. Well, guess what? That means nobody can tell you or me or Senator Obama what to believe. ESPECIALLY when they're not really interested in religion at all. They just want you to think they are So. You. Don't. Ask. Questions.

They don't care about the Bill of Rights that gives us the freedom to follow God - or not follow God - in any way we see fit.

They don't care about faith, except to tell YOU what THE RIGHT WAY (their way) to believe in God is.

THEY DON'T CARE ABOUT YOU AT ALL.

As a matter of fact, they think you're stupid. They think that you'll take your eye off the birdie long enough for them to win the election and keep on doing what they want to do. They have spent a lot of time and a lot of money to keep you in the dark, because they don't want to take care of your needs at all.

All they want is for you to sit still and not ask questions.

Is that any way to run a country?

Pastor Daniel Schultz
Campbellsport, Wisconsin

P.S. - it isn't just Obama. A lot of money has gone into convincing people that Hillary Clinton isn't religious. In fact, she's a life-long Methodist.

Why do that?

Because they know that people don't like atheists, and won't vote for them. So they think that you're stupid enough to believe the lie that she is a non-believer, and they think that you're stupid enough to be bigoted against non-believers.

And they don't want you to ask questions.

P.P.S. - If you want to know the truth about Obama's faith and church, see:

• Snopes: http://www.snopes.com/politics/obama...
• The United Church of Christ:

http://www.ucc.org/news/thomas-denou...

And to learn more about some of the people behind these lies, see this site:
http://illinoisreason.wordpress.com/...

Or you can look up my site:
http://www.streetprophets.com

And P.P.S.: forward this to everybody you know! It's time we stopped letting people use religion to divide us so they can get rich and start wars.

I just don't know how to feel about Iraq war protesters showing up at random churches with a banner. Okay, I do:

The service began with a call to worship and a hymn “One Candle is Lit”, which contains the line “Our spirits are restless until sin and war cease.” There was then a lighting of the Advent Candle by the Colby family with one of the candles signifying the “dream of peace in our world.” This portion of the service concluded with the congregation reading : “O God, come walk with us through Advent. Give us courage to spread peace in the world.”

The service continued with another hymn “Joyful, Joyful We Adore Thee”, a Psalm, responsive reading, the prayer of confession, the Lord’s Prayer and then announcemments, which were made by the man who had accompanied Reverend Lenhart in greeting us as we entered the church.

At the conclusion of his announcements, the man asked if anyone else had announcements, and we stood, moved to the aisle on the right wall, lined up and unfolded a banner that read:

3,840+ U.S. Soldiers Killed-Thousands Wounded
1 Million Iraqis Killed – Millions Displaced
Much of Iraq and Its Culture Have Been Destroyed
The U.S. Has Spent $468 Billion - $4 Billion From Westchester
WHY THE SILENCE?

For almost a minute there was total silence in the church, and then there was applause. I was holding the banner up high in front of me and was not able to see how many people were clapping, but it sounded as though it might have been at least 15 or 20. Margaret was able to see some of the congregation from her position and said some of the people were standing to applaud.

I shifted the banner so that I could see Reverence Lenhart, standing on the platform at the front of the church. He was silent for a few more moments, but his face seemed to be reddening, and he looked angry. He said: “Take it Out.”

I think I would have had the same reaction, possibly less diplomatic. It's arrogant to ambush a pastor with a sign that implies he or she has avoided the topic of the war. Many of us have, often at considerable risk to our careers. Then, too, preaching against the war is only one way to work against it. I march and write and do what I can myself. Other people have different strategies. These protesters also have no idea of the dynamics of the congregation they're walking into. The people in the pew may want the pastor to speak out - or they may want the exact opposite. They may have had a son or daughter die in the war. They may be full-on peace activists. They may have cancer, for Christ's sake, and want to hear a word of comfort from their pastor. Unless there's something the diarist isn't saying here, these people have no idea. And if they have no idea, they have no business interrupting the business of the church.

And when it gets down to it, the business of the church is not wrangling over a political agenda, even one as estimable as ending the war. A worship service is not a debate society, and it's not an op-ed page. It is a time to come into the presence of God.

Let me be clear: had these people called me up beforehand and asked permission to say a word or two at the beginning of the service, I might have seen about getting them in. But showing up unannounced? They would have been lucky to escape without the outline of a pastoral dress shoe on their asses.

For the record, that's the same reaction I'd give to an anti-abortion group. People sometimes want to know why liberal Christians like myself don't protest outside conservative megachurches, and this is the reason. Hijacking a worship service is about the worst thing I can imagine. It is simply and utterly faithless because it confuses our causes with God's causes.

End of sermon.