Meet Joel Hunter
Is Obama's GOP prayer partner
a Dem wolf in sheep's clothing?
Look what evangelical pastor says
about 'global warming,' abortion
He teaches that the Bible mandates Christians combat so-called global warming and even helped to make a tool kit to aid pastors in preaching about "climate change."
He resigned from the Christian Coalition after the group wouldn't broaden its agenda to include "social justice" and fighting "global warming."
He works with a left-wing think tank seeking a common-ground "third way" between progressives and evangelicals on issues such as abortion and stem cell research.
Meet Joel Hunter, a member of President Obama’s faith council.
Hunter is the senior pastor of Northland, A Church Distributed, a congregation of 15,000 that worships at four sites in Central Florida and at more than 1,000 sites worldwide via interactive webcast, iPhone, and Facebook.
In February 2009, Hunter was appointed to the inaugural board of the White House Advisory Council on Faith-Based and Neighborhood Partnerships, which is purposed to advise Obama on substantive policy issues.
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Perhaps more than other faith council members, Hunter is most identified as praying with Obama. Although he says he is a Republican, Hunter delivered the closing benediction on the final day of the 2008 Democratic National Convention.
He has been close to Obama, praying with him on the day of the 2008 presidential election and offering a blessing for President-elect Obama at the Pre-Inaugural Worship Service at St. John's Church on Jan. 22, 2009.
Hunter's strong stand against "global warming" and leadership role in dialogue with progressive groups has prompted some in the evangelical community to label him a turncoat.
"Pastor Hunter is not looked upon that fondly by some religious conservatives because of his association with Obama," wrote David Brody of CBN in a 2009 piece on the pastor.
"In their view, it is Joel Hunter who gives Obama 'cover' so the administration can say how they are bringing conservative evangelicals into the conversation."
In 2006, Hunter was named president-elect of the Christian Coalition of America, but he immediately stepped down, saying the group resisted his efforts to broaden its agenda to include "social justice" as well as fighting "global warming."
Hunter has emerged among evangelicals as a pivotal advocate for cutting greenhouse gas emissions. He regularly preaches about climate change and has met with lawmakers on Capitol Hill to talk about environmental issues.
In 2007, Hunter was among more than two dozen scientific and evangelical leaders who met secretly at a retreat in Thomasville, Ga., to draft a joint statement calling for immediate action on so-called climate change.
A month and a half later, Hunter's group released a statement saying both the religious and scientific camps "share a moral passion and sense of vocation to save the imperiled living world before our damages to it remake it as another kind of planet."
After that meeting, Hunter worked with a group, Conservation International, to draft a tool kit titled "Creation Care: An Introduction for Busy Pastors" to send to evangelical leaders.
They produced a package of Bible passages and information on scientific findings to promote action on "climate change."
Hunter is a signatory to "The Great Warming," a "call to action" claiming world scientists are in agreement that global warming is "real, and we are largely responsible."
Hunter's name is followed by that of John Podesta, who was co-chairman of Obama's 2008 White House transition team.
Podesta is chairman of the Center for American Progress, which is known for its heavy influence on the crafting of White House policy. The center is funded by philanthropist George Soros.
Abortion, stem cell research
Hunter has led multiple efforts at changing the evangelical base through dialogue with progressive groups.
He is part of a group of evangelicals and progressives who organize under the auspices of the left-leaning "Third Way" organization. There, he helped draft a new position paper, "Come Let Us Reason Together: A Fresh Look at Shared Cultural Values Between Progressives and Evangelicals," that calls for common ground on abortion, same sex marriage, and stem cell research, among other social issues.
"Third Way" is an ideology first promoted as an alternative to free markets by Mikhail Gorbachev after the collapse of the Soviet Empire. The "Third Way" of governing would be neither capitalist nor communist, but something in between.
In his 1998 State of the Union Address, President Clinton outlined the "Third Way": "We have moved past the sterile debate between those who say government is the enemy and those who say government is the answer. My fellow Americans, we have found a Third Way."
This "Third Way" calls for business and government to join hands as "partners."
Discover the Networks notes, "In short, Big Business would own the economy (as under capitalism), while Big Government would run it (as under socialism). Corporations would be persuaded to comply with government directives through subsidies, tax breaks, customized legislation, and other special privileges."
Soros has been a major proponent of "Third Way" economic policy.
In a Newsweek interview about the "Third Way" initiative to find a common ground between evangelicals and progressives, Hunter stated, "I'm pro-life, I'm against the redefinition of marriage, and I'm against pornography and gambling."
He said he joined the "Third Way" group because "there is emerging, out of the evangelical movement, a desire to make progress, even if we don't get it 100 percent our way."
Besides reaching out to progressives, Hunter has led multiple initiatives on U.S.-Islamic outreach.
He was a delegate to the recent U.S.-Islamic World Forum held in Doha, Qatar, seeking to build a dialogue between Muslim and Christian communities.
He has spoken at numerous interfaith forums, including a 2009 Georgetown University panel, "A Common Word: Religious Pluralism in the 21st Century."
He appeared there alongside Ingrid Mattson, president of the Islamic Society of North America. The ISNA is an unindicted co-conspirator in a scheme to raise money for Hamas, and has been listed by the Muslim Brotherhood as one of its "like-minded" organizations.
He was part of a roundtable last year at the State Department-hosted U.S. Summit and Global Initiative for Citizen Diplomacy. Alongside him at the roundtable was ISNA leader Mohamed Magid.
Hunter authored multiple books, including "Right Wing, Wrong Bird: Why the Tactics of the Religious Right Won't Fly With Most Conservative Christians," and "A New Kind of Conservative."
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