Progressive Christians Send Good Messages on Good Friday
The Dallas Progressive Christian Alliance carried out its annual Good Friday March on April 6. Kim Batchelor and Ron Wilhelm led about 50 people from the Prebyterian Church on Harwood & Young in Dallas down main and back uptown to end at City Hall. They made several stops for words of wisdom and religious observance.
The signs that people carried drew comparisons and contrasts between the teachings of the New Testament and the conditions we are faced with today. How could we stress the importance of children, as Jesus did, while so many Dallas children are homeless? One sign said that 192,000 Dallas children live in poverty!
If the Bible laments the treatment of prisoners, as it does, then why do we have 1% of our population in jail, as another sign pointed out.
The group's intention of bringing an honest interpretation of the New Testament to bear on today's conditions is shown by part of the responsive reading (litany) that Dr. Wilhelm led at one of the stops. As leader, Wilhelm read, "What is broken can be repaired, what is ruptured can be reconciled. The rest of us read in response, "Inspire us to be Your agents of change, working for justice and mercy and bringing healing to a world that desperately needs it. Amen."
By contrast, another Christian organization "Esther Call" held a much larger rally down by the Dallas Federal Building, where the original Roe V Wade women's rights lawsuit was filed. They opposed abortion and said that our nation must atone for Roe V Wade.
