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Washington The religious left was never as cohesive and effective as the religious right. But a new report based on interviews with religious progressive leaders finds that the Obama era may have further weakened Democrats interest in the non-secular.

The recent report from the Brookings Institution argues that religious progressives could be heading for a renaissance if they can focus on what some see as the civil rights issue of our time: economic justice.

The report, by the institutes Governance Studies Program, is based on polling and interviews with many of the top players of Washingtons religious left. This includes John Carr, formerly of the U.S. Bishops Conference, evangelical writer Jim Wallis and Rabbi David Saperstein of the Reform Jewish movement.

It starkly lays out the challenges facing religious progressives activists and voters who see their faith lived out through social justice, particularly work for such causes as immigration reform and limiting budget cuts for the poor.

Religious progressives played a massive role in everything from the New Deal to ending slavery. Can they again be as influential?

The report, co-written by Washington Post columnist E.J. Dionne Jr., argues that the success of Obama and the Democrats in 2008 led not to a redoubling of interest on the progressive side of religion, but quite the opposite. . . . Engagement with religion has atrophied. Many saw 2012 as a year when the gap widened between secular and religious progressives because Obama and other Democrats had gained traction by pushing on socially liberal issues such as abortion and contraception on which there is not unanimity among religious progressives.

The report lays out the key challenges for religious progressives, including:

The numbers. Even as the religious conservative movement is failing to attract younger people, 56 percent of Republicans call themselves religious conservatives, while only 28 percent of Democrats call themselves religious progressives.

Religious progressives are not homogenous and thus not as cohesive. Their views on abortion and gay marriage can vary, and their congregations are more politically diverse and thus harder to rally.

Democrats are ambivalent about the role of religion in politics.

Continued here:
Can the Cause of Economic Justice Revive the Religious Left?

The All Progressives Congress has urged the federal government to immediately stop the discordant tunes emanating from the highest echelons of government and speak with one voice on ongoing efforts to find and rescue the schoolgirls abducted by Boko Haram.

This was contained in a statement by the partys Interim National Publicity Secretary, Alhaji Lai Mohammed, in Abuja, on Thursday.

According to the party conflicting statements credited to top government officials over the conditions given by Boko Haram for releasing the girls, were totally unwarranted and could send the wrong signal to the insurgents and hinder the efforts to ensure the safe return of the girls.

The party said the government must designate a spokesman, be it the Minister of Information or whoever the government deems fit, to be responsible for daily relaying to the public any relevant information concerning the search for the missing girls, instead of allowing a cacophony of voices on the issue.

The statement read in part: Information management is key if the government itself is not to jeopardize ongoing international efforts to find and rescue the girls, and the government must move fast to keep the nation informed through an established channel, in line with global best practices under such circumstances.

While Interior Minister Abba Moro and Senate President David Mark have said the government would not negotiate the release of the girls, Information Minister Labaran Maku, Director-General of National Orientation Agency, Mike Omeri and Special Duties Minister Taminu Turaki have hinted that the Federal Government will do whatever it takes to free the girls, meaning that all options are on the table.

To compound matters, President Goodluck Jonathan was widely quoted in the local newspapers Thursday as saying the government would not release the incarcerated Boko Haram members in exchange for the girls.

The APC said this kind of utter confusion is a window deep into the inner workings of the federal government as far as this critical issue of finding and freeing the girls is concerned, and it is unfortunate.

This is the kind of befuddlement that has characterized the FGs response to the Boko Haram crisis and led to a sorry pass where a nation widely acclaimed for its global peacekeeping role is now at the receiving end of global efforts to save it from itself, APC said.

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Speak with one voice, APC tells FG

The All Progressives Congress has condemned the reported conversion to Islam of the Christians among the over 200 schoolgirls who were abducted by the Boko Haram terror group four weeks ago, describing the development as totally unacceptable and downright unconstitutional.

It has also postponed its planned NEC meeting earlier scheduled for today (Tuesday).

According to a statement in Abuja, Tuesday, the party held an emergency meeting to deliberate on the Boko Haram issue.

The APC described the action of the girls abductors in forcing them to make statements against their personal convictions, as utterly barbaric.

It reminded the abductors that Nigeria was a secular state and that the countrys constitution recognizes the rights of the citizens to any religion of their choice.

The party submitted that it was patently wrong and unconscionable to force any citizen to convert from one religion to another.

This whole abduction saga has hit at the very soul of our nation. But just when we felt we had all witnessed the worst atrocity by the primitive and brutal group called Boko Haram, we are confronted with a totally repulsive scene of teenage girls, literally with guns to their heads, being forced to say they have converted to Islam.

This is appalling, distasteful and unacceptable under any circumstance and we condemn it with all the strength we can muster, APC said.

The party urged the government to critically study the latest video by Boko Haram leader Abubakar Shekau, to see what other measures can be added to the ongoing international efforts to find and rescue the girls.

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APC condemns conversion of kidnapped Christian girls to Islam

The Kwara State chapter of the All Progressives Congress has indicated its interest to withdraw the suit it filed against the Peoples Democratic Party. The matter is before an Ilorin High Court presided over by Justice Sulieman Kawu.

In the suit, APC challenged the local government election held on October 26, 2013 in the state.

But the current APC Kwara State Secretary, Mr. Yemi Afolayan in a letter obtained by our correspondent in Ilorin on Tuesday stated that APC was no longer interested in the matter.

Afolayan, in the two-page letter dated May 8, 2014 which was addressed to the plaintiffs lead counsel, Mr Deji Gbadeyan, said APC was willing to discontinue with the matter.

The letter was copied to counsel to Kwara State Independent Electoral Commission, Mr Adebayo Adelodun (SAN), the High Court Registrar and KWASIEC Chairman.

I wish to inform you that our party, All Progressives Congress is no longer interested in the matter, which is in the court of Hon. Justice Sulieman Kawu, Afoloyan said.

The APC had challenged the conduct of the October 26, 2013 local government election in the state.

It had with six other plaintiffs sued KWASIEC, PDP and the Labour Party.

The motion, filed by the Partys lawyer, Deji Gbadeyan, contained a 10-paragraph affidavit deposed to by one Ayodeji Kudabo from Gbadeyans Chambers.

The plaintiffs in a motion filed by Gbadeyan had averred that KWASIEC and PDP went ahead to conduct and participate in the elections on Saturday knowing well that all the parties concerned were in court over the matter.

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APC to withdraw suit challenging Kwara LG poll

Founder of the Oodua Peoples Congress, Dr. Fredrick Fasehun

The All Progressives Congress in Lagos State has urged the Federal Government to accept the negotiation terms offered by the violent Islamic sect, Boko Haram, in the efforts to obtain the release of the abducted Chibok schoolgirls.

The Lagos APC Interim Publicity Secretary, Joe Igbokwe, told our correspondent in a telephone interview that hostage negotiation was not new, adding that it had executed executed in many parts of the world in the past.

He said, It (negotiation) has been done in Israel and Palestine and many other countries. In war situations, prisoner exchange is very common. It is an international convention.

The government should put those girls first because one of those girls is worth more than all of Boko Haram put together. Also, those people that are calling on the government not to negotiate are doing so because their children are not among the kidnapped girls.

In a related development, the founder of the Oodua Peoples Congress, Dr. Fredrick Fasehun, told journalists at a press conference on Tuesday that the abduction of the girls showed the failure of intelligence for which the Federal Government must be blamed.

Fasehun, who is also the National Chairman of the Unity Party of Nigeria, said the government should see the rescue of the girls as a short term measure and separate from the long-term goal of terminating Boko Haram.

He said, When nations declare war, they still look for a means of negotiation. In the past, Boko Haram was not going to negotiate, they were just killing people. But we do not know what has come over them to initiate negotiations.

It should be a welcome move. Give us our children and we will give you your soldiers, either dead or alive. It is a good deal. There is nothing too much for Nigeria to do in exchange for those girls.

Fasehun recalled that the current insurgency began in the heat of the 2011 elections when some aggrieved politicians threatened to make the nation ungovernable if they did not have their way.

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APC, Fasehun ask FG to accept BHaram deal