Andrew Weaver, a friend of and occasional contributor to Talk to Action has died after a long illness.

Andrew was, very much as I think he would like to be remembered, a man who lived his Methodist faith. And I think that many will come to know him if they have not already, as having lead a heroic life.

He worked tirelessly for peace and social justice and sought to make a difference in the world. I know that he did - from his support for Cindy Sheehan during her vigil in Crawford, Texas where she hoped President Bush would explain her son's death in Iraq; to his efforts to thwart the placement of the Bush Presidential library and the related Bush "think tank" at Southern Methodist University -- and much, much more.

He also was among those who recognized that the neo-conservative Institute on Religion and Democracy was active in promoting discord and division in the church he loved. And I know he would be glad that on this occasion I thought to remind readers of his extraordinary -- and extraordinarily effective efforts to expose the treachery of IRD and it's associated "renewal groups;" and what grievious harm their activities have done to the  social justice witness of the church -- and to the United Methodist Church itself.  His efforts included his contribution to the book Hardball on Holy Ground: The Religious Right vs. The Mainline for the Church's Soul; and several carefully researched and well-documented exposes at