Rev. Richard Cizik - ‘Ousted Evangelical Reflects On Faith, Future’ : NPR
Terry Gross:
Of the many interviews I’ve done over the years, there’s only one, that I know of, that resulted in my guest losing his job. That guest was Richard Cizik, who at the time of our interview was in his 10th year as vice president of the National Association of Evangelicals, working as their chief lobbyist.
What he said that resulted in his forced resignation was that he supported gay civil unions. That interview was broadcast in December 2008.
I’m glad to say that Richard Cizik has returned to our show to talk about being forced out of the NAE and co-founding a new group, the New Evangelical Partnership for the Common Good. The group describes itself as an alternative to the past generations’ old partisan and ideological culture wars. In this new interview that I recorded with Cizik, we also talked about his view of the Tea Party movement.
Cizik is one of the founders of the Christian environmental movement and has worked to bring evangelicals and scientists together to address climate change.
I linked to the transcript. I hope you read it. It’s even better if you take the time & listen to the 37 minute interview.
Items touched on:
Tea Party
Conservatism
Climate Change
George Soros - when he was fired from the Evangelicals his first gig was with a Soros funded Open Society Institute.
Through the Open Society Institute:
“…And it’s allowed me to put together conversations with Muslim leaders in places as far away as Casablanca, where we created a Casablanca Institute to build dialogue with other parts of the world. It’s allowed me time to build conversations with those who don’t see evangelicals as a positive influence upon American society. And so, it’s going to be hell in the hallways. It always is when you’re thrust into a new circumstance without a job or the like, and yet, God is sovereign. He takes care….”
Listening to Rev. Cizik was really a breath of Fresh Air.