From the Kairos Center (https://kairoscenter.org/):
The Poor People’s Campaign: A National Call for Moral Revival officially launched in Washington, D.C. last week, declaring that we are here to challenge the evils of poverty, systemic racism, the war economy, and environmental devastation with a press conference held at the historic United Methodist Building, an action in the Capitol Building, and a concert and mass meeting at the Howard Theatre.
At the press conference on December 4th, a number of national religious groups and denominations announced their endorsement of the Campaign. Here are some of those endorsements, and the statements of national religious leaders who spoke at the press conference:
| Rev. Traci Blackmon, United Church of Christ
“The prophet Isaiah says … a voice is crying out in the wilderness to prepare the way of the Lord. In Isaiah’s day, I believe that cry was the voice of those who were victimized and villainized by the oppressive and unjust actions of those in power … Today, I believe a voice is still crying out. I believe that this Poor People’s Campaign, led by Dr. Theoharis and Dr. Barber, is that voice today. I believe that all of us gathered here to declare a pathway toward justice are that voice.” READ MORE
| Rabbi Jonah Pesner, Union for Reform Judaism
“Hineni – we are here! Representing 900 congregations of the Union for Reform Judaism, 2,000 leaders of the Central Conference of American Rabbis, and 2 million Reform Jews across our nation – Hineni, we are here to join the Poor People’s Campaign!
The challenges facing our country can feel exhausting. But we know what the prophet Isaiah taught: ‘God never grows faint or weary… God gives strength to the weary…!'” READ MORE
| Rev. T. Denise Anderson, Presbyterian Church (U.S.A.)
“We resist vapid platitudes and insipid pietism, and we stand firmly against the heresy that poverty is somehow the will of God or the fault of the poor. We remember the words of the Rev. Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr. who reminded us there is no deficit in human resources, the deficit is in human will.
And we remember the words of our savior who cautioned that whatever we do to his siblings — the naked, the hungry, the thirsty, the imprisoned — we do to him. Therefore, we will stand on the right side of faith, on the right side of morality, on the right side of history and affirm our participation in the Poor People’s Campaign: A National Call for Moral Revival.” READ MORE
| Rev. Susan Frederick-Gray, Unitarian Universalist Association
“What we are witnessing right in this moment is an all-out violent assault on our nation’s poor, on its working families, and what remains of the disappearing middle class … What we are witnessing is an all-out assault on Mother Earth and on the gift of life that sustains us all.” READ MORE
| Rev. Terri Hord Owens, Disciples of Christ
“When we allow moral principles to guide the production, stewardship and distribution of our resources, when we participate with God in bringing about justice, there is enough! America, we have enough! To allow any among us to be without what they need to live and flourish with human dignity is unjust and shameful. Disciples of Christ will be vocal and visible as we stand with our sisters and brothers of all faith traditions to call our country to a moral revival, to dismantle systemic oppression that holds the promise of our country hostage.” READ MORE
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