Why would "religious people" ever protest something in Washington, D.C.?

Sometimes people hear about protests and wonder how they happen or why, and they don't understand why "religious people" would go to certain protests and even get arrested at these events. For the people of faith who go to the demonstrations this is all about providing a living witness of and for their faith and making a statement of some kind. It often feels to me that the two groups don't talk to one another, and maybe even avoid doing so. The folks scratching their heads and wondering what's going on and the activists do have much to talk about, though.

The Rev. Nathan Empsall, the Executive Director of Faithful America, explained some of this in the following e-mail the other day:

For many Western Christian traditions, today is Epiphany -- the day the magi arrived at Jesus's manger.

More than 2,000 years ago, these wise men experienced the epiphany that this child was the Christ: the Prince of Peace, the Son of God, and the expected Messiah. The magi then stood up to political violence by thwarting the oppressive King Herod's attempt to kill the infant Jesus.

Just two years ago, religion met with political violence once more on January 6, 2021, when thousands of Proud Boys, Oath Keepers, and other Trump supporters stormed the United States Capitol in the hijacked name of Jesus, convinced that their efforts to destroy democracy were divinely authorized.

That's why early this morning, I joined with dozens of diverse Christian leaders outside the U.S. Capitol to pray, and to offer a Christian witness for peace and democracy. At the "Sunrise Prayer Vigil for Democracy" -- co-organized by Faithful America and our friends at the Christians Against Christian Nationalism initiative -- we denounced Christian nationalism and white supremacy; prayed for healing for every person on Capitol Hill who relived trauma today; and spoke out for the values of love, democracy, and freedom for all.

As the sun rose over the Capitol and darkness turned to light, we felt not only the dawn of a new day but also the hope of the resurrection -- and the promise that together, we will build a better future.

A video and some photographs were provided so that readers could see what took place on January 6. Rev. Empsall's e-mail went on to say:

Today, I prayed that God would grant a new epiphany to those who follow Christian nationalism, and show them that where Christian nationalism spreads violence, hatred, and misinformation, Jesus teaches us peace, love, and truth.

Others who spoke included the Rev. Dr. Cassandra Gould, who prayed, "We come this morning, God, because the blood of our siblings continues to cry out from the ground not just from two years ago today, but from the very founding of this country… We come this morning to say that time is up for white Christian nationalism."

We also heard from evangelical author Shane Claiborne, who said, "Christian nationalism is a perversion of the Gospel of Christ… We call out the principalities and powers of racism, xenophobia, fear, and white Christian nationalism, and we declare that your love triumphs over them."

We appealed to God to give us strength for the work ahead, and also showed journalists and lawmakers that where Christian nationalism seeks to strip away the rights of everyone but conservative Christians, Jesus calls us to build shared power and freedom for everyone, regardless of race, religion, zip code, physical abilities, gender identity, or sexual orientation.

And to learn more about Christian nationalism, visit our new FAQ + Resources page.

Today's vigil featured friends and allies from local Baptist congregations, the National Council of Churches, Red Letter Christians, Sojourners, Faith in Public Life, Faiths United for Democracy, NETWORK Catholic Lobby, Catholic Vote Common Good, Faith in Action, the Interfaith Alliance, authors like Jim Wallis and Jemar Tisby, and so many more. We at Faithful America are so grateful to everyone who turned out to pray -- and who takes concrete action grounded in that prayer.

Wishing you a peaceful and blessed Epiphany season,

- The Rev. Nathan Empsall
Executive Director, Faithful America

If you read up on the issues mentioned here and think about where the United States is at right now you will probably agree that this is pretty important. I want to encourage you to check out Faithful America and some of the organizations mentioned above. 

Faith and Belief---A meditation by Rabbi Stacy Rigler on Genesis 41:1−44:17 and a Chanukah greeting from Rabbi Lindsey Danziger

I enjoy reading and posting Rabbi Rigler's reflections that I find at ReformJudaism.org and I hope that readers of this blog enjoy them as well. In a recent blog post Rabbi Rigler takes on what "religious" means and takes us to talking about "stories of faith, leadership, miracles, and self-advocacy all around us" starting with Genesis 41:1−44:17.

Rabbi Rigler says in part

When I shared with friends that I wanted to be a rabbi, they all had the same reaction: "I didn't know you were that religious." I wondered, what does "religious" look like? They knew I spent time at my synagogue and went away for weekends with my youth group. Most of the time, religion was not discussed. When it was, my beliefs focused on social welfare and public policy than doctrine or ritual.

Descriptions of religion often focus on belief, miracles, and observance. I have always wondered more about the connection between religion and self-confidence or inner faith. This week's Torah portion, Mikeitz, relies on the faith of multiple characters and reminds us of the importance of our inner voice.

Once again, we find Joseph, believing in his abilities, his own leadership, and the power of his dreams. In Mikeitz, he interprets Pharaoh's dreams and implements a 14-year food sustainability plan for Egypt and the surrounding region. The story is told without questions, concerns, or doubt. Joseph's father, Jacob, sends his 10 brothers to Egypt to get food. When Joseph is reunited with his brothers, he devises a plan to learn if they have grown or changed. The brothers, too, believe in this new leader and rely on him to save them, even though they do not recognize their own brother. Every piece of this story reminds us of the power and courage that leadership requires. Every character demonstrates the faith needed to believe in oneself and others to be a leader.

Please read the rest here.

Meanwhile, Rabbi Lindsey Danziger sent out the following e-mail

Chag sameach and wishing you a Happy Chanukah! As we approach the darkest time of the year, our festival of light comes to remind us to have faith and to persevere.

Chanukah is a story of miracles: of one night’s supply of oil lasting for eight days; of a grassroots uprising persevering over a powerful and oppressive military force. It is a story of God’s awesome grace. But Chanukah is also a tale of what can be accomplished when we are brave enough to put ourselves out there and try to achieve the unachievable. When we work alongside God to bring light and justice to the world, that is when miracles are possible.

To those who are celebrating Chanukah, and to those who are not, may you find the audacity to bring light into the dark winter months and maybe even to bring some miracles into your lives and your communities.

Rabbi Lindsey Danziger (she/her)
Religious Action Center for Reform Judaism

When faith meets labor, it fuels a fight for the common good---An article on Rev. David Wheeler by Rebecca Jacobson

We have mentioned David Wheeler on our blog before. Now The Northwest Labor Press has a great article about him.

A ‘GOOD TROUBLE’ BAPTIST: For Portland minister David Wheeler, solidarity is a virtue with a Biblical foundation. | PHOTO BY CELINA FLORES

When faith meets labor, it fuels a fight for the common good--By REBECCA JACOBSON

On a September afternoon in 2006, a couple thousand people took to the west end of Los Angeles’s Century Boulevard. Blocking rush-hour traffic on one of the city’s major thoroughfares, they marched toward the passenger terminals at Los Angeles International Airport. Many carried signs or wore t-shirts reading “I Am a Human” in English and Spanish, a reference to the 1968 sanitation workers’ strike in Memphis.

The marchers were there to support low-wage workers at the many nearby hotels, and to put pressure on hotel management to respect their employees’ rights to organize. Outside the Hilton, more than 300 of the demonstrators sat down in the middle of the boulevard. When police showed up with plastic handcuffs, they offered no resistance to arrest. It was one of the largest acts of civil disobedience in LA history.

Reverend Dr. David Wheeler, then pastor of the First Baptist Church in Los Angeles, was there. But he wasn’t among those cuffed.

Read the entire article here.

Plain talk from Beau of the Fifth Column

Let's talk about Moore County, North Carolina....

Let's talk about what Warnock's win means....

Inspiring Work Done In West Virginia---A Blessing For The Four Seasons Recovery Center In Bluefield, W. Va.

 

We've Got the Truth, We're Tired of The Tricks! | October 31st Mississippi Moral Monday

Just click on the link and you will see the video. This is fundamental to what is going on in the United States, and particularly in the South and in Black and poor and underserved communities, today.

 

A poem and photo from Stewart Acuff and some words about sharing and protecting the beauty around us

Stewart Acuff wrote this beautiful poem and posted it and the picture below on his Facebook page today and was then kind enough to give me permission to repost it here. Stewart lives in the West Virginia Panhandle and most every day he posts some wise words in the forms of poems and some photos. I find these helpful in getting through my days. It isn't just we get to enjoy the beauty around us, but that we have a responsibility to protect and spread and share that beauty as well, and I think that Stewart communicates that. Just as well, I look forward to the Facebook posts of the Friends of the Tug Fork in Southern West Virginia and Kentucky because they put this into practice in their own ways. I bet that you or others in your community are doing the good work as well.  

Just as the sun comes up
Waking our world
Rising right on time in the East
Dissolving the fog hanging in the trees
Lighting the leftover leaves
The truth makes its way
Rising in its own time to light a new day
Thank you for shining truth in the darkness of lies
Thank you for your voice that sometimes cries
But never consents to quiet
Or surrenders to silence
Gratitude grows for our folks fighting for one another
Because your burden belongs to all of us
We all struggle in this moment of confusion
Hold fast following those we trust
The sun, the sum of all of us
Rising right on time dissolving the fog.

Please listen in. This is Bernie Sanders telling you all some hard truths.

 

Faith Leaders Congressional Briefing | Poor People's Campaign

This was recorded on September 22nd, 2022, when a diverse group of Faith Leaders from across the country gathered in Washington, DC for an urgent congressional briefing to make a moral demand that Congress act on living wages, voting rights, and the reinstatement and expansion of polices that research shows can immediately lift millions of families out of poverty. If we ever needed to vote for democracy and justice, we sure do need to vote now!

Living in Solidarity by Bob Bussel (Northwest Labor Press)

The following article by Bob Bussel comes from the August 17, 2022 issue of The Northwest Labor Press. It lays out in simple terms much of what this blog is about and what we try to communicate. Please subscribe to the paper and catch it here on the Web as well. 

After Richard Trumka died last August, Washington Post columnist E. J. Dionne praised the late AFL-CIO president as a man who “lived in solidarity.” Dionne cited Trumka’s admission that “we as a movement have not always done our best to support our brothers and sisters of color” as an example of his commitment to inclusion and his insistence that labor live up to its highest ideals.

The concept of solidarity is the most profound expression of these ideals. 

Looking back in labor history, the Knights of Labor adopted the slogan “an injury to one is the concern of all” to reflect this spirit of mutual obligation and shared responsibility for the well-being of all workers. Written over 100 years ago, “Solidarity Forever” remains the anthem that is still sung at many labor gatherings. On September 19, 1981, I was proud to attend “Solidarity Day,” a demonstration in Washington, D.C. that brought together over 250,000 unionists and allies to protest Ronald Reagan’s labor and social policies. 

“Solidarity is a virtue we neither discuss nor practice enough,” E. J. Dionne declared in his tribute to Trumka. “We hear a lot about compassion and empathy, and certainly need more of both. But solidarity is a deeper commitment, rooted in equality and mutuality.” 

My first lesson in solidarity came early in my career, when the United Auto Workers warmly welcomed me as a young United Farm Workers organizer and showed up time and again on our picket lines. This was a union that had triumphed over the nation’s most powerful corporations. It knew what it meant to “live in solidarity,” and was committed to acting on this belief.

I recently learned about some powerful examples of solidarity in an article on a Starbucks strike in Worcester, Massachusetts. Nurses union members taught chants in English and Spanish to the strikers. A semi from a Teamsters local circled the picket line honking in support. The Carpenters Union, the local NAACP president, and elected officials joined the line. As a USPS driver explained, “I literally just pulled up and grabbed a sign.”

Of course, labor’s record on solidarity has been far from perfect. Many unions practiced policies of racial and gender exclusion, refusing to open their ranks or use their power on behalf of those they deemed unworthy. Too often, our movement has allowed jurisdictional and turf concerns to take precedence over mutual aid and support. However, we have fast been replacing “Solidarity Whenever” with “Solidarity Forever,” as labor has increasingly embraced inclusive policies, and more workers are actively supporting fellow workers who are organizing, striking, and seeking justice.

Living in solidarity is not just a matter of personal integrity; it’s also a social necessity. Solidarity presents a clear alternative to the “I’ve got mine, the heck with you” mentality all too dominant in a culture that values self-interest and individualism over mutual obligation and social sacrifice. And we especially need solidarity to confront the clear and present dangers we currently face: the climate crisis; threats to reproductive rights; and frontal assaults on democracy.

On Labor Day 2022, let’s renew our vows and pledge to “live in solidarity.” Then as now, “an injury to one” must remain “the concern of all.”

A Movement Declaration To Reconstruct American Democracy

From the Poor People's Campaign:

The Third Reconstruction is a revival of our constitutional commitment to establish justice, provide for the general welfare, end decades of austerity, and recognize that policies that center the 140 million poor and low-income people in the country are also good economic policies that can heal and transform the nation.

Read all about it here.

"More than a Dreamer" by Professor Louie

 

Building With The Poor People's Campaign & Faith: Rev. Dr. Rodney Williams with a Special Sermon

This will work despite what it says. Just click on it.
 

Some Real Talk About Social Justice

 

"Our Children are a Gift From God" | Callie Greer #rolandmartinunfiltered

 

Two Important Clips From The Poor People's Campaign

 

June 18: A moment to help decide our futures

 The Poor People's Campaign

"Bleeding-hearts"

I would not describe myself as a liberal, but I do think that everyone who believes in human rights and dignity, the integrity of the environment, and putting people before profits---and who oppose the reactionary trends that are trying to push us backwards---have much in common and should find the means to cooperate where we do agree.

    

Supporting Pride and LGBTQIA+ Liberation

 

We refuse to be silent any more!

The Poor People's Campaign is moving forward. Please attend the rally and assembly in Washington, D.C.. on June 18 if you possibly can.