Richard Cizik

NYT Reporter & Former Dem Staffer Claims 'Conservative Christians' (like Sojourners?) Embrace Strict EPA Regs on Coal
By Clay Waters | July 30, 2014 | 8:12 PM EDT

In his Wednesday afternoon posting at nytimes.com, "Religious Conservatives Embrace Proposed E.P.A. Rules," Times reporter Theodore Schleifer lent a megaphone to a prayer circle of alleged "conservative Christians" and "parts of the religious right" who favor more stringent EPA regulations on coal plants. The only thing missing from his report? Actual conservative Christians.

It's the latest gullible "strange new respect" story in which the New York Times embraces religion, at least when allegedly "conservative" religious groups conveniently embrace liberal stands on issues like illegal immigration or the environment. Actual Christian conservatives by the standard definition of the term are nowhere to be found.

'On Faith' Trumpets Theological 'Strange Bedfellows' Defending Planned Parenthood Federal Funding
By Ken Shepherd | March 3, 2011 | 5:40 PM EST

Defending their "Shared commitment to women and children," on the Washington Post/Newsweek's "On Faith" site, the Revs. Richard Cizik and Debra Haffner joined forces today support federal tax monies flowing to Planned Parenthood.

Cizik, you may recall, is a bit of a media favorite because he hails from a generally theologically conservative tradition but has been moving leftward politically over the past few years.

Haffner is liberal theologically and politically, a Unitarian-Universalist minister and the former president of the Sex Information and Education Council of the United States (SIECUS), a group that lobbies to end federal funding of abstinence-until-marriage sex ed programs.

As we've noted, the On Faith feature often skews liberal in theology and politics, and the Cizik/Haffner tag-team fits hand-in-glove with the leftward tack of the site.

Here's the duo's argument against defunding Planned Parenthood (emphases mine):

'On Faith' Blog Hypes Recent Symposium of Liberal-leaning Evangelicals and Moroccan Muslims
By Ken Shepherd | February 17, 2011 | 9:05 AM EST

If you had to narrow it down to one person, the mainstream media's favorite evangelical Christian would probably be the politically liberal Richard Cizik.

The former National Association of Evangelicals (NAE) vice president resigned from the NAE in December 2008 after having made public statements to the effect that gay marriage and abortion were politically negotiable issues for Christians of good conscience. Before then he was actively involved in getting evangelical Christians to align with liberals on global warming-related legislative initiatives.

Cizik now heads a left-leaning group -- The New Evangelical Partnership for the Common Good -- that advocates for nuclear disarmament, Haiti debt relief, and "Muslim-Christian dialogue" among other things.

It is Cizik's work on interfaith dialogue that caught the approving attention of Georgetown University's Katherine Marshall. The On Faith contributor wrote a Feb. 15 story for the Washington Post/Newsweek blog noting a recent seminar attended by Cizik and Morocco's ambassador to the United States:

 

Evangelical Spokesman Resigns After Telling NPR Gay Marriage, Abortion are Negotiable
By Tim Graham | December 12, 2008 | 7:29 AM EST

The Washington Post reported Friday that Richard Cizik resigned his position as spokesman and vice president for governmental affairs for the National Association of Evangelicals after he declared he was "shifting" toward supporting civil unions for homosexual couples in a December 2 National Public Radio interview.