AVN Does Netroots
August 2, 2010The American Values Network headed to Las Vegas this July to join well over 2,000 progressive leaders, activists, and bloggers from all over the country for the annual, four-day Netroots Nation conference. AVN’s Executive Director, Eric Sapp, joined four other leaders of faith on one of the conference panels to discuss the importance of enrolling, engaging, and enabling faithful Americans and others of goodwill to take part in the movement for progressive change.
The panel was entitled, “Common Values: Building Bridges with People of Faith to Win Progressive Change” and was led by the Rev. Dr. Janet Edwards of More Light Presbyterians, Elizabeth Denlinger of Sojourners, the Rev. George Hunsinger of Princeton Theological Seminary, the Rev. Rebecca Voelkel of the National Gay and Lesbian Task Force in addition to Mr. Sapp.
In a country where 77 percent of citizens identify as Christians and 80 percent identify as religious, the project of building bridges between people of faith and the progressive movement cannot be neglected. Mr. Sapp and the other panelists spoke with conference participants about the importance of faith outreach today, how to talk about progressive values in a way that will resonate with communities of faith, and what strategies are most effective in building faith community support for progressive priorities like immigration reform, environmental protection, and national security. The panel discussion was well-attended and received by a room full of leaders and activists.
