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Appearing as a guest on Morning Joe Wednesday, liberal Rev. Jim Wallis discussed his book Christ in Crisis: Why We Need to Reclaim Jesus. Not surprisingly, it did not take long for Wallis to begin trashing President Trump and white evangelical Christians. Another member of the panel, the incendiary Al Sharpton, accused white evangelicals of submitting to white nationalism and to Trump, a point that Wallis seemed to agree with.

After mentioning that Lincoln said our leaders should appeal to our better angels, Wallis contrasted him with President Trump, whom he described as appealsto our worst demons. Wallis recycled a phrase coined by absent host Joe Scarborough as he made the case that Trumps policies, words, and practices are antithetical to Jesus. According to Wallis, the policies, words, and practices of the President include white nationalism, abuse and harassment of women, and the dehumanization of immigrants.

Walliss commentary surely came as music to the ears of the anti-Trump panel. Guest host Willie Geist asked Wallis what do you say to those (evangelicals) who stay at the side of Donald Trump through all of it? Wallis instead elected to go on a tirade accusing white evangelicals of racism: this population, white evangelicals, is the most resistant to a multiracial future...when the operative phrase in white evangelical isnt evangelical but white, we have a problem...Is racial bigotry a deal-breaker for the gospel when it isnt for white evangelicals?

PoliticsNation host Rev. Al Sharpton also participated in the discussion and seemed to agree with Walliss characterization of white evangelicals as racist, claiming that most of the evangelical leaders have submitted to white nationalism and to Trump. Wallis also made the ridiculous claim that if Jesus were here today, hed be celebrating the Black Lives Matter movement, apparently forgetting that BLM activists have chanted phrases such as What do we want? Dead cops! and pigs in a blanket, fry em like bacon. Those phrases do not exactly epitomize Christian behavior.

In addition to portraying Jesus Christ as a Black Lives Matter sympathizer, Wallis surmised that he would be furiously defending the planet from global warming. Strangely, Wallis had stressed that our faith and values should shape our politics and not the other way around just moments earlier. Yet, Wallis decided to ignore his own rule of thumb in an effort to paint Jesus as a left-wing activist.

Morning Joes embrace of Wallis should not come as that much of a surprise since they love to roll out the red carpet for self-proclaimed Christians with contempt for evangelicals who supported Trump. The MSNBC morning program has brought on New York Times contributing opinion writer and self-described evangelical Peter Wehner multiple times to trash Trump-supporting evangelicals for selling their soul for judges and claim theyve degraded themselves and the movement so badly.

As the conversation came to a close, Wallis reiterated the importance of not wrapping our ideology and politics around our faith. It looks like he has no intention to practice what he preaches anytime soon.

A transcript of the relevant portion of Wednesdays edition of Morning Joe is below. Click expand to read more.

Morning Joe

11/27/19

08:51 AM

WILLIE GEIST: Our next guest says we are in a moment of great moral, political, and constitutional crisis; which largely stems from how weve become disconnected from the teachings of Christ. Joining us now, best-selling author and founder of Sojourners, Jim Wallis. His new book is out now entitled Christ in Crisis: Why We Need to Reclaim Jesus. Mike Barnicle, Karine Jean-Pierre, and Reverend Al Sharpton with us as well. Jim, good morning. Good to see you.

JIM WALLIS: Good morning.

GEIST: Many questions for you, but I want to start with your thesis that Christ is in crisis. How so?

WALLIS: Well, the crisis as you all have been talking about every day is political, constitutional, its also a moral crisis, and I think a spiritual one. Lincoln said our leaders should appeal to our better angels, but we have a leader who appeals to our worst demons, and those demons go very deep. So, my evangelical tradition, in crisis, you go back to Jesus. So, Im saying we have to go back to who Jesus was and what he said, and I wouldJoe often says on this show, what do you do when policies, words, and practices are antithetical to Jesus? Which is happening now all the time. So, I have to say, to be blunt and maybe irreverent, white nationalism is not just racist, its antichrist. To demonize, dehumanize immigrants, it isnt just lack of compassion, its antichrist. To mistreat women, abuse, harassment. This is not just sexist, its antichrist. So, we have to name this for what it is. And so, Im trying to say, lets look at what Jesus asked us, and his questions, maybe the most important one is who is my neighbor? That may be the most important question in this political seasonwho is my neighbor? Because the one that Jesus says is our neighbor is the one whos being targeted by this administration. So, to me, these are faith issues and not just political ones.

GEIST: You write about something in the book weve talked about a lot on this show

WALLIS: Yeah.

GEIST: and its, which is the sustained support from evangelicals for President Trump, through everything, through Stormy Daniels, through the separation of families at the border, through all of it. Evangelical support has remained relatively strong. To some people, that exposes a hypocrisy that puts politics before faith andand teachings of the bible and morality and everything else. What do you say to those who stay at the side of Donald Trump through all of it?

WALLIS: Heres a radical ideaour faith and values should shape our politics and not the other way around. And Jesus has somehow survived all of us Christians. So, the interest in this brown-skin rabbi who was born in Palestinian territory, what hes saying and doing, the interest is way outside the church. Theres a whole lot of young people saying what did he say? What did he do? The poll that is the most shameful and damaging for white evangelicals says, this population, white evangelicals, is the most resistant to a multiracial future. Thats a devastating poll. So, here is the questionwhen the operative phrase in white evangelical isnt evangelical, but white, we have a problem. So, weve got to get to that. Is the gospel clear here? Is racial bigotry a deal-breaker for the gospel, when it isnt for white evangelicals? Thats something weve got to deal with.

AL SHARPTON: One of the things that intrigues me about reading your new book, andand the best-seller youve already written is you are very active. Youre not just one of these guys that writes books orand even though you are a theologian, and youre active in it. What has happened to the activism of white Christian progressives we dont see? I mean, you are out there with Sojourners, but you dont see a lot of people that we did see when I was a kid growing up in Operation Breadbasketyou see a lot of the white ministers out there. And youre out there sometimes with just a few leaders, good following, but just a few leaders, where most of the evangelical leaders have submitted to white nationalism and to Trump.

WALLIS: This is an opportunity. Crisis is a danger; danger for the most marginalized. Its also an opportunity. What if, indeed, this brought us back to what Jesus said and did? So, I am encouraged out there about what I see happening around the country. There are pastors, there areI mean, ifif Jesus were here today, hed be celebrating the Black Lives Matter movement. He would be standing alongside our neighbors, especially who are immigrants and refugees. He would be furiously defending the planet from global warming. So, I want to see us go back, what the evangelicals say, go back to Jesus. So, the word evangelical is interesting. To call yourself one today is tough these days, but Jesus defined it in Nazareth, his first sermon, his Nazareth manifesto. The spirit of the Lord is upon me, he says, because hes anointed me to bring good news to the poor. And the word for good news there is evangel. So, if it our gospel isnt good news of the poor, it simply isnt the gospel of Jesus Christ, period.

KARINE JEAN-PIERRE: Jim, II dont think you have enough time to answer the question Im about to ask is how do we get out of this moral crisis? You talkedyou started off the conversation talking about that; especially in a time where were in a country where its incredibly divided. You have

WALLIS: Yeah.

JEAN-PIERRE: a President, as we mentioned, as you mentioned, who is dividing us with hate and, you know, bigotry and racism and xenophobia. How do you get out of this moral crisis? What do we need to be doing?

WALLIS: I think weve got to not just go left and right but go deeper. How do we go deeper here? And this crisis makes an opportunity for that. So, Ive talked aboutIve wrestled with Jesus questions here. Who is our neighbor? And its clear in the good Samaritan parable, our neighbor is the one whos different than us. Gustavo Gutierrez, a Peruvian theologian, says youve got to go outside your path to find your neighbor. So, in this season coming up, until we find our neighbors again, were in serious trouble. If we do that, though, and askhe says, What is the truth? The problem isnt just all the lies you always talk about here. Hes saying there is no truth. Wash your hands. Fake memedia. Jesus says, youll know the truth. The truth will set you free. Fear. Be not afraid, Jesus says, eight times. Well, theyre running on fear. Theyre running against the immigrant, running against our neighbor. So, I think this could bring us back to what Jesus said and did. So, maybe America needs a reintroduction to the person and teachings of Jesus Christ. Im hoping that goes deeper and can bring somepolitics by itself, even an election by itself, as you know so well, isnt going to heal this nation. So, how do we go back to something that can bring us together again?

BARNICLE: So, the reintroduction of Jesus into the politics of this country or into the country itself, how is it going to happen? If you look at the field now, there are several people in the race for President of the United States who are people of deep faith.

WALLIS: Mm-hmm.

BARNICLE: II know that Vice President Biden carries a rosary with him every single day in his pocket, okay? And yet, you listen to not just Joe Biden, but most of the candidates on the stump, they never, ever mention God and faith. What is up with that?

WALLIS: You know, the narrative on religion in politics has been bad for a long time, where Republicans claim to own religion

BARNICLE: Yeah.

WALLIS: Own God. And Democrats, interesting. The base of the Democratic Party is African-American women. So, the base is the most religious population

SHARPTON: Thats right.

WALLIS: in the country. Yet, Democrats are reluctant to talk about faith, which is ironic.

JEAN-PIERRE: Yeah.

WALLIS: The good news is I know some of these candidates, and they aresome of their bibles are underlined. They want to talk about faith. Were having some conversations about faith. But I want the Democrats not to create a religious left, like Republicans have created a religious right; wrapping our ideology and politics around our faith. Faith should hold us accountable. For example, in the book, the last test of discipleship is when Jesus talks about the least of these. Were to be tested by how we treat the least of these. Jesus didnt say, well, I was going to talk about the hungry and thirsty and naked and strangerstranger is e the immigrant of course, but Im afraid that will be politically divisive. So, I dont want to talk about that. No, he said, I was hungry, I was thirsty, I was naked, I was sick, I was a stranger, I was in purpose. As you did to the least of these, you have done to me. That text, how we treat the least of these, holds all parties accountable.

GEIST: This ought to be mandatory reading for all the candidates and the President of the United States, I might add, too. The new book is Christ in Crisis. Jim Wallis calls it a spiritual field guide.

Originally posted here:
Wallis, Sharpton Accuse Evangelicals of 'Submitting to White Nationalism' - NewsBusters

If only he were still here. If only she had answers.

This Monday, Nov. 25, marked the 13th anniversary of Sean Bells death at the hands of police. With anti-police brutality activism more visible via online advocates, Bells death reminds people of a time when the internet didnt have as much of an impact on these events.

But for Nicole Paultre-Bell, former fiance of Sean Bell, it just reminds her of a time of pain.

Thirteen years after Seans death the pain hasnt subsided and Im still seeking solace following so many unanswered questions about a criminal justice system that failed our daughters and took away their father, said Bell in a statement. With the negligence, the assault, the civil rights violations, and the egregious misconduct all pointing to guilt, the police officers are still acquitted.

Bell and a few friends were leaving a strip club in Queens as part of his bachelor party. Members of the New York Police Department fired 50 shots in total with fewer than half of them hitting their intended targets. Bell was struck in the neck and arm and was pronounced dead on arrival to the hospital. His friend, Joseph Guzman, was left in critical condition after being hit 11 times and another friend, Tent Benefield, arrived in stable condition.

The latter two were shackled to their beds by police drawing outcry from activists. None of the three men had a weapon despite police reporting that they heard one of the three men mention a gun.

National Action Network President the Rev. Al Sharpton said that it was another death in a long line of deaths where police fatally shot an unarmed Black person.

When Sean Bell lost his life 13 years ago at the hands of New York City police officers, we organized and marched to fight for justice for his widow and family, said Sharpton in a statement. We held massive protests outside police headquarters and stopped traffic from the Brooklyn Bridge to the Triborough Bridge. It was a tragedy for yet another family to bury a young man whose life was cut short by those hired to protect and serve him.

Police were staking out the strip club due to allegations of drug dealing and prostitution. An undercover officer called out to other officers staking out the place telling them to get ready for a possible encounter. The officer thought one of the men mentioned a gun. Then police commissioner Ray Kelly said that Bells car went in reverse when an officer approached the front of the car. The car then hit a police minivan and drove onto the sidewalk when the shooting commenced. All of the officers involved in the shooting were acquitted.

Our young Black men continue to be targeted by this broken criminal justice system across the country at a disproportionate rate, said Sharpton. NAN will continue to fight for young Black and Brown men whose contact with law enforcement too often leads to death, whether theyve committed a crime or not.

Despite the anti-police brutality fight, many Black men and women continue to meet their deaths via police encounters. Eric Garner, Mike Brown, Sandra Bland and others have become household names for all of the wrong reasons. Bell said that shell continue to push back against police violence no matter how long the road and how bleak the outlook.

Since Seans death, there has been some effort on changing criminal justice policies, but Seans story keeps repeating itself, and the results are the samepolice officers were cleared of negligence and sometimes murder, said Bell. I will continue to fight for a society where officers of the law can be trusted and I have joined a transition team that believes in this fight for criminal justice reform for the incoming Queens D.A. Melinda Katz because I believe she will push for criminal justice reform NOW.

See more here:
Sean Bell died at the hands of police 13 years ago - Amsterdam News

*Rev. Al Sharpton reportedly earned $1,046,948 from his own charity last year, according to National Action Networks latest tax filings.

Via foxnews.com:

Sharpton got a $324,000 salary 32% higher than his 2017 pay in addition to a $159,596 bonus and $563,352 in other compensation.

The Harlem-based nonprofit which Sharpton controls as president and CEO said the extra cash was to make up for the years from 2004 to 2017 when he didnt get his full pay.

NAN said it hired an executive compensation firm that determined the good reverend was owed $1.252 million but he was generously willing to take $500,000 less.

Sharpton and the nonprofits board also agreed he has now been fully compensated for all the years he was underpaid and received no bonus, the NAN statement said.

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Rev. Al Sharpton speaks at a press conference at the National Press Club in Washington, DC, on December 5, 2016.Sharpton announced that the We Shall Not Be Moved march in Washington will be held on January 14, 2017 commemorating Martin Luther King Jr. and to give notice that a collective body of Americans are dedicated and fully committed to moving the legacy and mission Dr. King forward. / AFP / NICHOLAS KAMM (Photo credit should read NICHOLAS KAMM/AFP/Getty Images)

Sharpton said he deserved the 2018 raise.

Its a six-day-a-week job and several hours a day and when [the compensation firm] compared it to other companies, other nonprofits, thats the salary that they would get, he said.

In related news, the legendary comedy club will roast the 65-year-old civil rights activist on June 5, 2020 at the New York Hiltons Grand Ballroom.

Im prepared the Friars Club is the Friars Club, Sharpton told the Daily News Thursday.

Sharpton expects roasters to make fun of his weight loss and his feuds with Trump.

Once you decide to go in the frying pan you cant decide what kind of preparations (or if) theyre going to put salt and pepper on, he said.

At the Friars, we like to say, we only roast the ones we love. This time, were roasting one we adore a national hero, the Reverend Al Sharpton, Friars Club Executive Director, Michael Gyure said in a statement. The stars are turning out to show their respect by being hilariously disrespectful to the Rev and then he gets to give it right back to them!

Follow this link:
Al Sharpton Receives $1M in Pay from His Charity + Will Be Roasted by Legendary Friars Club - Eurweb.com

The Rev. Al Sharpton pushed back on media reports that South Bend, Ind., Mayor Pete ButtigiegPeter (Pete) Paul ButtigiegSanders, Buttigieg surge in New Hampshire as Biden, Warren slip: poll Buttigieg calls The Root writer whose column on his past comments on minorities and education went viral Buttigieg surges to second place behind Biden as Warren sinks: poll MORE is struggling to gain traction with black voters in the 2020 Democratic presidential primary because hes gay, saying homophobia is not unique to the African American community.

I wanted to make a statement for the cynics in the media that they try and act like homophobia in the black community is different from homophobia in America. There are some homophobic blacks, and there are some homophobic whites. We dont have an epidemic of homophobia, Sharpton said Thursday at a National Action Network event in Atlanta.

But we have some homophobics just like any other community. And it is a process that America needs to deal with both in the black and white community.

Thecivil rights leader's remarks come in response to reports speculating that Buttigiegs sexual orientation could be a barrier in his attempts to appeal to black voters, particularly older black voters. The South Bend, Ind., mayor is the only openly gay candidate in the 2020 Democratic field.

South Carolina Rep. James Clyburn, the third highest ranking Democrat in the House, also said earlier this month that there was no question Buttigiegs sexual orientation was a problem among older African Americans, calling it a generational issue.

Im not going to sit here and tell you otherwise, because I think everybody knows thats an issue. But Im saying its an issue not the way it used to be, he said.

Buttigieg has dismissed speculation that black voters may not support him because hes gay, noting he was elected mayor of South Bend despite the prevalence of socially conservative Democrats.

It is remarkable how Americans are capable of moving past old habit, moving past old prejudices, making history, and getting the president that will serve them best regardless of the other noise thats circling around the race, he said this month.

Originally posted here:
Sharpton: 'We don't have an epidemic of homophobia' in the black community | TheHill - The Hill

Deval Patrick fields questions during a meeting of the Polk County Democrats on November 18, 2019 in Des Moines, Iowa. Photo: Stephen Maturen/Getty Images

Deval Patrick has hardly had the smoothest public entry to the Democratic presidential primary since he jumped in earlier this month, but behind the scenes hes started trying to win over some of his partys power players in a bid to fund and energize his long-shot campaign. The latest step: a small, private meeting on Friday between the former Massachusetts governor and a handful of influential figures, including prominent undecided African-American political and business leaders in New York some of whom were close to Barack Obama according to Democrats briefed on the closed-door gathering.

The group, which met at the Manhattan office of Advent Capital Management president Tracy Maitland, included Reverend Al Sharpton, long-serving Queens congressman Gregory Meeks, and former New York governor David Paterson, multiple people familiar with the meeting told New York. Others in attendance included real-estate investor Don Peebles a high-level fundraiser for Obama Sundial Brands founder and Essence magazine owner Richelieu Dennis, and investor Robert Wolf, an Obama friend and former bank executive who is now a sought-after Democratic fundraiser and a fellow Obama Foundation board member with Patrick, before the ex-governor stepped down this summer.

Patrick, a political moderate and longtime friend of the former president, had met most of the attendees before, but he used the one-hour get-together to recount his record on issues like education, infrastructure, clean energy, and Massachusetts economy, and to explain his vision for the long-shot campaign, which he launched in mid-November after initially passing on a run in late 2018. He explained that when he first decided to hold off on running, his wife had recently been diagnosed with cancer, but that she is now healthy. And while he underscored that he was aware a run at the nomination would be an uphill climb, he also outlined his plan to focus heavily on campaigning in New Hampshire a next-door neighbor state for him and South Carolina the first state in the process with a majority black Democratic primary electorate.

The purpose of the meeting was to provide a platform for folks to evaluate the governor, and why he got into the race when he did, and, Is there a path forward?, said Maitland, who talked up Patricks ability to sway moderate Republicans. The investor explained that this was the first such meeting hes ever held, but that he also knows Kamala Harris and Cory Booker. I do believe there is some plausibility to a pragmatic progressive in the market right now, so I did think it was incumbent on me to provide the venue for people to give the governor full and fair consideration of his candidacy.

The early days of Patrick 2020 have involved a barrage of public appearances as he sprints to introduce himself to as many Americans as possible before voting begins. But Patrick, who left office in 2015 and until earlier this month worked at private-equity giant Bain Capital, has also been trying to reconnect with donors and influential activists whod indicated at least some willingness to support or consider him when he first looked at running last year. Some of the Friday meeting attendees like Wolf have met with many candidates in private in recent months, while Sharpton has met publicly with a range of them, as well.

Patrick, meanwhile, has spent recent weeks trying to build up a campaign staff from scratch as he travels the country. With multiple longtime advisers committed to other presidential or down-ballot campaigns, this has proven a complicated task especially given the long odds hes now facing. Despite a wave of interested news coverage when he first announced his candidacy, Patrick canceled an appearance at Atlantas Morehouse College last week when only two people showed up. And while he drew an interested crowd in New Hampshire on Monday, the day ended with a new poll of the state showing him at just one percent support, and with half of voters saying he waited too long, so that they would not consider him. Some in the field have been running for nearly a year, after all.

All of that makes Patricks task of raising campaign cash and making powerful friends who can bring in more of it all the more urgent. And it makes the job of considering his candidacy in person all the more appealing, and time-sensitive, for his potential financial backers.

Its important as an investor, these days. The political scene is moving the markets quite a bit for instance, when Elizabeth Warren was surging in the polls, it affected the markets, and healthcare in particular. [And] as an American, its important to have an opinion on who is the best candidate, said Maitland of his decision to host Patrick. So, as an investor, it makes a lot of sense. And as an ordinary citizen, it makes a lot of sense.

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Originally posted here:
Deval Patrick's Bid to Win Over Democratic Power Players - New York Magazine