May 2024 Newsletter: Interfaith Action SW Michigan |
In this Newsletter: - National Day of Prayer & Leadership for the Common Good Award
- Faith in Action / Fe en Acción Migrant Teams Start the Season
- Interfaith Action Justice Liaisons Needed
- Inaugural Yale Public Theology and Public Policy Conference
- A Diverse Nation Confronts Christian Nationalism
- Support U. S. Refugee Resettlement
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Prayer as a Form of Advocacy
- Why are people leaving faith communities?
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National Day of Prayer & Leadership for the Common Good Award: Join a Virtual Celebration
Each May, the U. S., along with many local communities, hosts a National Day of Prayer event. These are typically Christian in nature. Interfaith Action commemorates the National Day of Prayer with prayers from different religious traditions. The video includes the announcement of the annual Leader for the Common Good award, granted to an elected or appointed individual who has advanced the common good of all Michiganders on a statewide or regional level. This year’s award goes to Michigan State House Representative Joey Andrews.
We invite you to watch the video or listen to a Podcast with prayers for our nation and an interview by Gene Schoon, Interfaith Action’s Policy and Justice Coordinator, with Representative Andrews |
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Faith in Action / Fe en Acción Migrant Teams Start the Season
Asparagus migrant workers began picking the third week of April - and no sooner did they start than a cold snap sent chills to SW Michigan. The St. Joseph team started its outreach to two asparagus migrant camps, distributing rice, beans, pots and pans, kitchen utensils, soap, toothbrushes and toothpaste, sheets, pillows, food storage containers, jackets, towels, canned food and blankets - essential for the 30-degree nights. On April 29th, the St. Joseph migrant team received a request from the area’s migrant health provider who had done an assessment of arriving migrant workers to three camps in the Dowagiac area - more than 100 of the arriving migrant workers were in need of food. |
Interfaith Action Justice Liaisons Needed
Do you have 2 to 3 hours a month to advance justice from your own home? If so, Interfaith Action is seeking individuals who will serve as Justice Liaisons in one of the following areas: Environment, Social Inclusion, Economic Inclusion, and Peacemaking.
Justice Liaisons will be connected to 2 to 3 advocacy organizations and asked to subscribe to their policy newsletters. On a monthly basis, the Justice Liaison will communicate to Interfaith Action’s newsletter coordinator the action campaigns and/or educational items about a policy area. If you are interested in serving as a Justice Liaison, please email: swmichinterfaithaction@gmail.com.
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Inaugural Yale Public Theology and Public Policy Conference: What are the moral and spiritual issues of the 2024 Presidential Election? |
The Center for Public Theology & Public Policy at Yale Divinity School held its inaugural conference this past month. Led by the Bishop William J. Barber II - a seasoned pastor, professor, and activist - the Center was established to equip religious leaders to resist the influence of religious nationalism and address pressing moral issues in American public life. The center's founding team, including legal experts and ministers, aims to integrate theological scholarship with practical experience. Emphasizing the intersection of justice, rights, and compassion, the center advocates for a prophetic engagement with societal challenges, rooted in both spiritual empowerment and ethical discernment.
This past month, Interfaith Action sent a representative to attend the Center’s inaugural conference in New Haven, CT. The guiding question of the conference was, ‘What are the moral and spiritual issues of the 2024 Presidential Election?’ Over the course of three days, religious scholars, community organizers, economists, public policy experts, and other leaders came together to discuss the role of faith communities in the moral questions that will define this year’s upcoming election.
This summer, Interfaith Action will make available a ‘Vote your Faith’ resource guide. The resource will provide guiding questions for faith communities on the moral and spiritual issues of the 2024 Presidential Election. |
A Diverse Nation Confronts Christian Nationalism
Throughout 2024 Interfaith Action will provide educational materials on the topic of Christian nationalism. Dr. W. Clark Gilpin, Interfaith Action’s Liaison for Pluralistic Democracy (Dean Emeritus and Margaret Burton Distinguished Service Professor Emeritus of the History of Christianity and Theology at the University of Chicago Divinity School) provides a brief overview.
“Over the past three decades, both academic sociologists and presidents of the United States have worried about "the soul of America." In addition to its religious connotations, this phrase raises a more general issue about the principles and values that provide continuity and identity to American democracy. National polls indicate that a significant number of people think the nation is going in the "wrong direction”, but those same citizens strongly disagree about what that direction should be.
During 2023, the Public Religion Research Institute (PPRI) conducted national surveys of this polarized social environment that identified one politically vocal group as white Christian nationalism. PRRI asked a broad, interracial spectrum of Americans to respond to five statements. -
The U.S. government should declare America a Christian nation.
- U. S. laws should be based on Christian values.
- If the U. S. moves away from our Christian foundations, we will not have a country anymore.
- Being Christian is an important part of being truly American.
- God has called Christians to exercise dominion over all areas of American society.
Based on survey responses to these statements, PRRI identified Christian Nationalism Adherents (10% of Americans), Christian Nationalism Sympathizers (20% of Americans), Christian Nationalism Skeptics (37% of Americans), and Christian Nationalism Rejecters (30% of Americans). North Dakota and Mississippi had the highest percentage of Christian Nationalist adherents and sympathizers at 50%. Michigan ranked somewhat below the national average, with 26% of its residents identifying as adherents or sympathizers.
Note: For the complete report, see "A Christian Nation? Understanding the Threat of Christian Nationalism to American Democracy and Culture" at www.prri.org. The PRRI survey confronts Interfaith Action with two broad issues that call for our exploration in the months ahead.
First, Christian nationalists advocate an official declaration that the United States is a "Christian nation". Yet, the social reality is that the United States is a religiously diverse nation - and increasingly so. Those who identify themselves as adherents of Christian nationalism are defining what is "truly American" in a way that renders many of their neighbors and co-workers invisible or unwelcome in our common life. Second, phrases such as "Christian values" and "Christian foundations" are left undefined in the PRRI survey. American Christians sharply disagree over the substance of these phrases, and consequently, self-identified Christians are to be found in all four groups of respondents to the survey: Christian Nationalism Adherents, Sympathizers, Skeptics, and Rejecters.
Interfaith Action is one of many organizations that must cultivate an interfaith dialogue among and within the diverse religions of the United States. What ideas, practices, and values can our religions - individually and together - contribute to American democracy that enhance the welfare, dignity, and sense of mutual responsibility for each person and every community? Interfaith Action is contributing to this discussion by organizing its work in accord with three faith-based and democracy supporting themes: our common life, our common home and our common good. As we prepare for a critical election this year and for the healing of divides in our country, further dialogue and advancement on these themes and our interfaith public theology will be essential.”
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Historic Statement on Christian Nationalism – August 2, 2019 Chicago — The Rev. Elizabeth A. Eaton, presiding bishop of the Evangelical Lutheran Church in America (ELCA), has joined Christian leaders in a statement against Christian nationalism. "Whether we worship at a church, mosque, synagogue, or temple, America has no second-class faiths," their statement reads. "All are equal under the U. S. Constitution." The full statement follows: As Christians, our faith teaches us everyone is created in God's image and commands us to love one another. As Americans, we value our system of government and the good that can be accomplished in our constitutional democracy. Today, we are concerned about a persistent threat to both our religious communities and our democracy - Christian nationalism.
Christian nationalism seeks to merge Christian and American identities, distorting both the Christian faith and America's constitutional democracy. Christian nationalism demands Christianity be privileged by the State and implies that to be a good American, one must be Christian. It often overlaps with and provides cover for white supremacy and racial subjugation. We reject this damaging political ideology and invite our Christian brothers and sisters to join us in opposing this threat to our faith and to our nation.
As Christians, we are bound to Christ, not by citizenship, but by faith. We believe that: People of all faiths and none have the right and responsibility to engage constructively in the public square.
Patriotism does not require us to minimize our religious convictions. One's religious affiliation, or lack thereof, should be irrelevant to one's standing in the civic community.
Government should not prefer one religion over another or religion over nonreligion. Religious instruction is best left to our houses of worship, other religious institutions and families.
America's historic commitment to religious pluralism enables faith communities to live in civic harmony with one another without sacrificing our theological convictions.
Conflating religious authority with political authority is idolatrous and often leads to oppression of minority and other marginalized groups as well as the spiritual impoverishment of religion. We must stand up to and speak out against Christian nationalism, especially when it inspires acts of violence and intimidation—including vandalism, bomb threats, arson, hate crimes, and attacks on houses of worship—against religious communities at home and abroad.
Whether we worship at a church, mosque, synagogue, or temple, America has no second-class faiths. All are equal under the U. S. Constitution. As Christians, we must speak in one voice condemning Christian nationalism as a distortion of the gospel of Jesus and a threat to American democracy. |
Support U. S. Refugee Resettlement - a faith commitment
On March 22, 2024– nearly halfway into fiscal year – Congress passed an appropriations bill that will keep the government funded through September 30. While important funding and authorization language was included in the legislation, the bill still represents a dramatic slash in funding for vital refugee accounts from prior years. Without further action from Congress, this lack of investment could result in historic cuts in programming and support for displaced populations.
Concerningly, the bill also failed to extend authorization for certain refugee services for arriving Ukrainian and Afghan parolees – leaving many cut off from the support they need to thrive and placing individuals we have pledged to protect at risk. And while funding for pro-refugee and immigrant programming faced cuts and restrictions, the bill included record funding for immigrant detention beds and border militarization.
Congress must do more to stand for those who have been displaced and live up to our nation’s long legacy of welcome. |
Prayer as a Form of Advocacy
For two years, Interfaith Action has coordinated Monday morning prayers for peace. The initial focus of Prayers for Peace was on Ukraine; over the past six months, our prayers have expanded to include a focus on Palestine/Israel and Sudan.
If you are interested in praying for peace on Mondays from 9 to 9:15 a.m., email sidmohn@gmail.com. |
Why are people leaving faith communities? |
Washington (March 27, 2024) — America’s religious landscape is undergoing transformational changes, according to a new national survey released today by Public Religion Research Institute (PRRI).
“After observing the growth of unaffiliated Americans for decades, our survey confirms that this trend is not slowing,” said Melissa Deckman, Ph.D., CEO of PRRI. “While most Americans are still religious, the ranks of the unaffiliated will continue to swell with both Americans who leave their religion — increasingly because of religious teachings about LGBTQ people — as well as those who are now being raised in religiously unaffiliated households.” |
Consider making an annual gift to Interfaith Action to support its work in 2024.
Our work, and our witness, depend on your generosity. You can give online by clicking the blue "Donate Today" button below. |
You can also send a check to Interfaith Action of SW Michigan, c/o St Augustine's Church, 1753 Union Ave, Benton Harbor, Mi 49022.
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