Bishop Gene Robinson joined in a discussion of the relationship between religion and public policy held at the think tank where he will serve as a Senior Fellow after his retirement in January..
The Nashua Telegraph reports:
“It seems to me that religious people care deeply about poverty and the growing rift between rich and poor,” Robinson said in his remarks Wednesday. “Both Old and New Testaments speak about welcoming the stranger, so what does that mean in a 21st century America? What is a pathway for immigration reform that takes seriously the religious call to welcome strangers, as well as LGBT (lesbian/gay/bisexual/transgender) issues…?”
…in addition to continuing work with the Center for American Progress, he will join St. Thomas’ Parish Episcopal Church in the District of Columbia’s Dupont Circle neighborhood. He plans to assist with the church’s new Center for Non-Violent Communication.
“St. Thomas is trying to be a place that encourages the kind of dialogue here in D.C., both at the governmental level as well as the social level, that honors one’s opponent as the child of God they are,” Robinson said, while later adding, “I’m thinking that (the Center for American Progress) and St. Thomas are going to keep me pretty busy in my retirement.”
Robinson hopes to provide a strong voice for moral issues related to health care reform as well as immigration reform, and poverty.
“I’m really hoping to raise these religious values that inform many Americans, and then argue from the secular viewpoint,” Robinson said. “I think we have to be careful when we’re advocating for policies not to claim that we’ve got God and the other side doesn’t.”