Changing the Script: A Progressive Alternative to Big Tent Christianity

Last updated on: September 15, 2010 at 11:25 am by Deborah Arca

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Changing the Script: A Progressive Alternative to Big Tent Christianity 2010-09-15T11:25:33+00:00 Deborah Arca

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Daniel Schultz, a United Church of Christ pastor and co-founder of the blog Street Prophets, has published a provocative new book Changing The Script: An Authentically Faithful and Authentically Progressive Political Theology for the 21st Century. I’ve got it in my bag, and am anxious to dig in to his passionate perspective on an “authentically progressive and authentically faithful religious ideal.” Here’s an introduction to the book, from its back cover:

“In recent years, and in particular since the election of Barack Obama, the religious conversation in America has been dominated by calls for progressives to move beyond “partisanship” by reaching out to evangelicals in order to create a “big tent” on social issues such as abortion and marriage equality, despite the lack of evidence that such a strategy can or ever did work. This misguided notion that we can build a shared political and religious center has for the most part shut out true progressive voices, allowing a small conservative minority to control the political and religious debate in this country, with only the most tepid of moral criticism from the religious centrists who claim to desire bipartisan consensus.”

Author Jeff Sharlett writes of the book: “This is a political book, as well as a pious one, and Pastor Dan, as he’s known, isn’t leading us to common ground but to battle. Thank God for liberals like Dan, who know some things are worth fighting for.”

We’ll be publishing an excerpt here at Patheos in the coming week, but in the meantime, Pastor Dan is hosting a Q&A on the book and it’s themes tomorrow at his Facebook page here. He’s inviting comments, questions, even “polite critiques.”

So, what do you think? “Big Tent” Christianity, or a more clearly articulated “authentic progressive ideal?” What’s at stake? Join the conversation over at the Changing the Script facebook page, or leave a comment here.

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