The 11 religious leaders arrested on July 28 while praying in the
Capitol Rotunda on behalf of the nation's most vulnerable were
in court on Oct. 11 to discuss the misdemeanor charge against them. In
the group was Jordan Blevins, advocacy officer and peace coordinator
for the Church of the Brethren and the National Council of Churches
(NCC). Those arrested also included Michael Livingston, past president
of the NCC and director of its Poverty Initiative, and Martin Shupack,
director of advocacy for Church World Service, along with United
Methodist, Presbyterian, and United Church of Christ leaders, among
others.
The United States Attorney agreed to dismiss the charges of intention
to disrupt Congress if each religious official stays out of the
Capitol Building for the next six months.
The civil disobedience was the highlight of a "Faithful Budget
Campaign" encouraging the administration and Congress to maintain
commitment to domestic and international poverty programs by lifting
up faithful voices on behalf of the nation's most vulnerable. In
July, the campaign organized high-level meetings with policymakers, a
Washington fly-in of religious leaders, daily prayer vigils near the
Capitol, culminating with the arrest of the 11 faith leaders after
praying for 90 minutes and refusing to leave the Rotunda after
repeated requests from police. The arrests came just days before
Congress passed the debt ceiling compromise.
Since then the Faithful Budget Campaign has expanded into the
hometowns of the Deficit "Super Committee" members. As a result,
numerous churches, synagogues, mosques, and other houses of worship in
the states and districts of members of the Joint Select Committee on
Deficit Reduction, as well as congressional leaders, are hosting
prayer vigils and other demonstrations to encourage Super Committee
members to recommend a fair deficit reduction plan that exempts
programs from budget cuts that assist the most at-risk families and
children in the US and abroad.
The faith community has worked alongside the US government for decades
to protect those struggling to overcome poverty. Without a sustained
federal commitment, houses of worship will not be able to solely
support the country's most vulnerable. More about the campaign
is at www.domestichumanneeds.org/faithfulbudget.
-- Philip E. Jenks is communications staff for the National Council of Churches.
Source:10/20/2011 Newsline
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