Lefties supporting a church. How can this be?

1. 79

   Mighty Momposted 12 years ago

   This story courtesy of Rebuild the Dream.
   http://rebuildthedream.com/about.php
   
   Imagine. Commie pinko socialist radical leftists -- who we all know are all, to a man(or woman) atheist Christian haters -- coming to the defense of a CHURCH!!!
   How can this possibly be?
   Oh wait. I almost forgot. The only thing we hate more than religion is capitalism. That must be it.
   
   
   *******
   esterday, we launched an emergency petition to stop BB&T bank from shamefully evicting a community church in Atlanta. Bank executives now say they’ll come to the table and negotiate with Higher Ground Empowerment Center church!
   
   This is a good step, but it's far from over. In cases like this, banks often make bogus offers just to stall the process until public attention goes away. We know it's not over ’til it’s over. It’s now especially important to show that people across the country are paying attention.
   
   Sign the petition to tell BB&T's CEO to work out a fair deal.
   
   In these situations, public pressure and media exposure are often the only way to get a bank to act right. The church tells us they have a meeting with the bank on Tuesday morning in Atlanta. It's important for the church to get a fair loan modification. At that meeting, we will deliver tens of thousands of petition signatures to the bank.
   
   Background
   Higher Ground Empowerment Center, a 108-year-old church located in Martin Luther King, Jr.’s old neighborhood, was heavily damaged by a tornado in 2008. Their insurance wasn’t enough, and they were forced to take out a loan to cover repairs. The loan is now “underwater,” meaning the loan is worth more than the property itself, and it has become increasingly difficult for the church to pay it back. For months and months, BB&T ignored the church’s requests to work out a loan modification. Instead, the bank started to evict them. 
   
   Activists in Occupy Atlanta have done amazing work on the ground to support the church and bring attention to this shameful situation. Thanks to their heroism, BB&T is coming to the negotiating table. Now, let’s make sure we help the church to get a fair deal. Let's make sure BB&T knows the world is watching.

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2. 77

   Greekgeekposted 12 years ago

   Er. Many lefties go to church and/or are religious?
   
   Or am I not allowed to say that?
   
   We just prefer not to have the state dictate our religion or favor certain religious groups over others, and we don't much like it when other people judge our religious beliefs, faiths or convictions without knowing us.
   
   Also, we believe pretty strongly in freedom of religion. Which may well extend to supporting religious institutions in trouble... privately, as concerned and committed citizens.
   
   (I realize you may be roping in yourself along with the rest of us commie pinkos.)

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3. 0

   Muldaniaposted 12 years ago

   I don't quite understand the link people make between someone's politics and their religious beliefs.  When I read of the life of Christ, he appears to have been anti-establishment.  He didn't follow conservative religious rules, such as not working on the sabbath, he turned over the tables of the money changers, was friends with a prostitute and he even had long hair.  A typical pinko socialist by the sounds of it

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      justmesuzanneposted 12 years agoin reply to this

      Thank you, Muldania. I am a Progressive Liberal Democrat and a Christian, and I deeply resent the general belief that egomaniacal monsters like Santorum, Romney and Gingrich are "real" Christians, while people who actually follow and practice the teachings of Jesus are some kind of freeloaders.

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      1. 62

         Paulw2751posted 12 years agoin reply to this

         Thanks for the reply. I wasn't sure about lefties. If I am left handed, live on the left coast, came over on the Mayflower with the other radicals of the time, rebelled, started a nation and fought the tyranny of the "Mother country" and created the strongest and most free nation in the history of the world...I guess I am a leftist. Freedom of religion and even the right to bear arms came from "lefties."  Right wing does not always mean RIGHT!!

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         1. 90

            Pcunixposted 12 years agoin reply to this

            The people on the Mayflower certainly weren't lefties.  One of my ancestors was the spiritual leader of that bunch and he was no liberal.  Rhode Island owes its most famous son to dear Elder Brewster's notable intolerance, for example.

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   2. 90

      Pcunixposted 12 years agoin reply to this

      Damn hippy, I'd say.  Sounds like my kind of guy - except for the religious blarney, of course.

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4. 93

   wildernessposted 12 years ago

   I don't know, MM.  If that church is very far underwater it would be in the bank's best financial interests to make a reasonable accommodation in the loan rather than foreclose and try to sell it.  I have a hard time believing that the bank is just an atheist organization trying their best to ruin churches.
   
   In addition, it would seem that if the insurance didn't cover the cost, requiring a loan to rebuild, that the owners failed rather miserably in their job of finding appropriate insurance and now want the bank to cover their stupidity.  The bank is not in the business of making grants to replace the costs of such stupidity.
   
   If selling religion isn't paying as well these days, and the church isn't taking in enough to cover their costs, that isn't the problem of the bank, either.  They aren't in charge of running such a business, just contracting loans. 
   
   Something just doesn't seem quite right when a church has to borrow that much money to rebuild after a storm and inadequate insurance purchases.  There about has to be a little more to the story and raising a new tornado of public opinion to damage the bank and it's owners to CYA doesn't seem the Christian thing to do.

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5. 59

   anjegirlposted 12 years ago

   Rebuild the Dream's co-founder is Van Jones---do you know who he is??

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6. 60

   steveamyposted 12 years ago

   the biases and preconceptions on Hub Pages are even more disturbing than the obsession with religion...

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      Charles Jamesposted 12 years agoin reply to this

      I think your problem is not with HP but with your fellow hubbers.
      
      As a socialist I find our fellow hubbers generally to be to the right, far right and far far right from me. Yet they are not as right wing as one can find in the USA.
      
      Think of it as many intelligent honest people (plus a few idiots) struggling together to find an answer to the problems of the world.

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7. 60

   sen.sush23posted 12 years ago

   Christian Hater is a very strong word. Leftists in their best abilities or worst, anywhere in the world, have not performed any feat to earn such an adjective, I should think.

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8. 68

   Storytellersrusposted 12 years ago

   The hate that oozes from the title is its own witness.  I

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