Richard Cizik's influence:
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Vice President for
Governmental Affairs of the National Association of Evangelicals
(NAE - a former president was Ted Haggard who was scandalized by his
homosexual activities)
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advocacy before the Congress of the United States, the White House and the Supreme Court.
....
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speaks on topics as diverse as the Bush Administration’s
'Faith-Based & Community Initiatives and 'The New Evangelicals: Who Are They?'"
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speak at the World Bank and at Clinton's Global Initiative
Clinton Global Initiative:
"ANNOUNCER: Please welcome our panelists for this morning, starting with His
Highness Shaikh Salman bin Hamad bin Isa Al-Khalif, Crown Prince and
Commander-in-Chief of the Bahrain Defense Force;
Richard Cizik of the
National
Association of Evangelicals; Vartan Gregorian of the Carnegie Corporation or New
York. Please welcome this morning’s moderator, Zain Verjee of CNN.
ZAIN VERJEE [of CNN]: Welcome to our panel today on
Mitigating
Religious and Ethnic Conflict.... How much of this so-called clash [of
civilizations is fueled by
religion, by ethnicity, by ignorance?...
RICHARD CIZIK:
"... I want to challenge my
community... not just to tolerance, which is an acceptance and a respect
for the other, for you and others. It’s not just tolerance, it’s to
go beyond
tolerance, to principle pluralism in this country, which, for my definition,
means no religion has a privileged place. And I guess for an evangelical to say
that is
controversial in my community, but I believe it. I believe in principle
pluralism. And from there, I would say one step even further, which is to say
partnership, partnership which acknowledges that God can actually work through
other people and other faiths to accomplish his purposes in the world, and that
that is intentional on his part ...
"But in face-to-face dialogue then and subsequently, I truly
believe that we have a meeting of the minds. A meeting of the minds, at least to
say that we need that partnership that I’ve described, to go beyond
tolerance, to go beyond even this principle pluralism....
"Walter Russell Meade, in a piece I would recommend this month called
God’s Country subtitled 'The Evangelicals,' says the most important dialogue
that needs to occur is between evangelical Christians and Muslims. ... The
fundamentalists have a pessimistic view of future and they
have this perception, unlike evangelicals and
liberal Christians, that there’s an unbridgeable
divide between the believer and the unbeliever. So you put
together, you see, those two factors, no wonder the Left Behind series has the
general secretary to the U.N. as the anti-Christ. That is really craziness, but
you see that combination of pessimism and that unbridgeable divide between the
fundamentalists is really what has disenfranchised, you see, evangelicals from
the bigger
conversation because people think we believe that. We don’t believe that. We
believe... there’s a common ground that evangelicals have with the rest of
the world, especially Muslims....
"Fund youth programs and adult
dialogue. I think between evangelical and Muslims, I think that is very
important, number one. Madeleine Albright, at our table said, hey, let’s get
literature for kids younger than even ten. Because, in her observation,
they’re
forming these attitudes really early. So organizations like
Inner-Faith Youth
Corps and others aiming at the young, cross culturally and younger than even
college, even younger than high school is where I think we have to go...."
Call to Renewal:
Christians for a New Political Vision:
"Call to Renewal is an an evangelical parachurch political action group created out of the perceived need to present an alternative viewpoint to the dominant conservative political agenda -- represented by groups such as the Christian Coalition....
"While many evangelical Christians identify themselves with the political right, there has emerged, especially within the last thirty years, a growing evangelical group which is actively concerned with peace and social justice....
"Call to Renewal proponents believe that the religious faith should be heard in public debate to promote a spiritual vision for social transformation. The
basic tenets of the Call to Renewal vision are:
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service to a God who upholds the dignity and hope of the poor
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following a Lord who calls people to be peacemakers
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faith in Christ that invites people to
redemption from personal and social sins
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love for a Creator who calls for justice and stewardship
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a lifestyle of service, compassion and community
commitment to grassroots ministries and community involvement.....
"Call to Renewal seems to be forging ahead, implementing practical solutions to the social ills it criticizes....
"Their second 'Roundtable' meeting in Arlington, VA on October 17- 18, 1997, proved to establish a
greater network between groups seeking to fight poverty, such as, The Salvation Army, Habitat for Humanity, World Vision, Campaign for Human Development, Evangelicals for Social Action, and the Leadership Foundation....
"Furthermore, the "Roundtable" plans to sign a letter sent to the 50 governors of all the states requesting meetings to
establish new church-government-business partnerships.
"Stated
Rev.Richard Cizik of the National Association of Evangelicals,
'The cold war among religious groups over the poor is over.'"
Unity Walk Speakers:
"The Unty Walk is proudly led by the renowned Abrahamic dialogue partners Ambassador Akbar Ahmed, Rabbbi Bruce Lustig and Bishop John Chane.
[About the Abrahamic friendship]....
The Reverend Richard Cizik is Vice President for Governmental Affairs of the National Association of Evangelicals, which is the most distinguished evangelical organization of its kind in the United States, with a membership of 51 denominations, 43,000 churches, and 27 million adherents.
His primary responsibilities... include
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providing direction over the Association’s public-policy stands and
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advocacy before the Congress of the United States, the White House and the Supreme Court.
....
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speak on topics as diverse as the Bush Administration’s
'Faith-Based & Community Initiatives,' Evangelicals and Human Rights, and
'The New Evangelicals: Who Are They?'"
From Climate Control to Population Control: Troubling Background on the 'Evangelical Climate Initiative':
"...in a May 2006 speech to the World Bank,
Richard Cizik...
reportedly told the audience, 'I’d like to take on the population issue, but in my community global warming is the third rail issue. I’ve touched the third rail... but still have a job..... But population is a much more dangerous issue to touch. . . We need to confront population control and we can—we’re not Roman Catholics after all—but it’s too hot to handle now.”
The New Abolitionists:
"Cizik...
notes that some evangelicals take issue with the notice they are getting for
their global activism, insisting that it is nothing new. 'The difference is
this,' he tells them. 'We have been internationally involved for 100 years,
but we have never been successful before on Capitol Hill.'"
Moving Heaven and Earth:
"The photo in Vanity Fair's 'Green Issue' is the best place to start. It shows just how far
Richard Cizik will go to shatter stereotypes about evangelicals, defy the organization he represents, and
spread his newfound environmental gospel. Cizik (...pronounced "size-ik") is the
Washington lobbyist for the... NAE....
"In February,
Cizik and Ball kicked off a groundbreaking campaign to convince evangelicals that the
fight against global warming is their Christian duty. ....Cizik and Ball had persuaded 86 evangelical leaders to sign on--pastors of megachurches, evangelical college presidents, the head of the Salvation Army, even
Rick Warren....
"Cizik, Ball, and their 86 supporters are spearheading a
'great awakening of religious life,' says Paul Gorman [whose
interfaith office used to be at occult -- largely theosophical -- The Temple
of Understanding] executive director of the National Religious Partnership for the Environment.
'In terms of importance, it's comparable to the Enlightenment, the Reformation. This is about humankind realizing the consequences of its impact on the planet.'... The chief architects of the Evangelical Climate Initiative are an unlikely duo: the consummate insider and the impassioned outsider.
Cizik has been vice president of governmental affairs for the NAE for 26 years. His
Washington office reflects his inside-the-Beltway status."
See also
The U.N. Plan For
Global Control: The Habitat II Agenda
Reinventing the World
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Global Responsibility by Hans Kung
Universal Forums of
Culture | Don't Be
Deceived!
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