Defending the Democratic Process: A Faith Community Call to Awareness and Action
Sign on HERE
(Our country is facing unprecedented threats to the integrity of the upcoming election. This statement was drafted by myself, Rev Peter Laarman, retired Executive Director of Progressive Christians Uniting, and Rev John Dorhauer, General Minister and President of the United Church of Christ. Sign on and share!)
The freedom of religion that all Americans cherish is but one treasure passed down to us over the course of the American experiment in self-governance. Democracy itself is another – and a foundation of our other treasured liberties. The fact that we have learned to take it for granted makes it no less precious today.
One of the cornerstones of democracy is the assurance of a free, fair, and respected election. Free, meaning all eligible voters are able to vote safely and without hindrance; fair, meaning all the votes are counted transparently; respected, meaning the results of the election are accepted. Today we are coming to understand that our democratic inheritance is only secure when all of us are willing to defend these basic principles.
Accordingly, we ask faith leaders at every level to make themselves and their communities and congregations aware that democracy itself could disappear if the people's will, as clearly expressed through the ballot, should come to be set aside by authoritarian means and antidemocratic directives. We call on people of faith to insist that the vote of the people and the proper functioning of the Electoral College be respected by all parties to the national election. As peacemakers ourselves, we call on other faith-grounded peacemakers to join us in upholding the principle of the peaceful transfer of power. And we urge all who cling to the concept of Beloved Community to prepare themselves to respond to any attempts to undermine this process, including supporting and even joining those who may find it necessary to engage in nonviolent civil disobedience in the event of any unjust usurpation of state authority.
We continue to pray for and expect a peaceful and orderly electoral outcome. But we must not and we cannot be passive witnesses to the death of democracy, should the worst occur. We hold our American democracy to be a sacred trust, and we pledge ourselves to safeguard it with every ounce of our God-given strength and spirit.
Sign on HERE
Initial signers:
Bishop W. Darin Moore
Presiding Prelate of the Mid-Atlantic Episcopal District of The AME Zion Church
Bishop Frank Krebs
Presiding Bishop of the Ecumenical Catholic Communion
Rev. Dr. J. Herbert Nelson II
Stated Clerk of the Assembly, Presbyterian Church USA
Rabbi Rick Jacobs
President, Union for Reform Judaism
Jim Wallis, Founder of Sojourners
Rev. Dr. Susan Frederick-Gray
President, Unitarian Universalist Association
Jim Winkler
General Secretary, National Council of Churches
The Rev. John C. Dorhauer
General Minister and President
United Church of Christ
The Rev. Dr. Karen Georgia Thompson
Associate General Minister
United Church of Christ
The Rev. Traci Blackmon
Associate General Minister
United Church of Christ
Rev. Tim Tseng, Ph.D.
Pacific Area Director
Graduate and Faculty Ministries
Intervarsity Christian Fellowship
Bishop Michael L. Mitchell
President, Council of Bishops, AME Church