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Adam Russell Taylor On Tuesday, as the House passed the John Lewis Voting Rights Advancement Act, I was filled with hope for our democracy. But overshadowing that hope was moral indignation, as I realized that not a single Republican member voted in favor of the act — further proof that voting rights has metastasized into a hyper-partisan issue in 2021, despite its long history of bipartisan support. After it was signed into law by Democratic President Lyndon Johnson in 1965, the Voting Rights Act has been reauthorized five times; each time the reauthorization was signed by a Republican president. When it was reauthorized most recently in 2006, it passed the Senate with unanimous support: 98 to 0. Guaranteeing the sacred right to vote for all citizens has been — and should continue to be — a nonpartisan cause and bipartisan priority. For democracy to work for all of us, it must include us all. As people of faith, we are called to close the gap between the brokenness of what is and what ought to be. We are called to a higher standard of truth-telling, even if that truth is uncomfortable, inconvenient, and costly. And here is the truth: Restricting voting under the pretense of election security is based on a mountain of lies. The truth is that these efforts are often rooted in the spiritual lie that the full benefits of U.S. citizenship are a privilege for some rather than a fundamental right for all. The truth is that one party is trying to expand the electorate while the other is trying to shrink it to maintain power and blunt the impact of the changing demographics that do not work in its favor. The truth is that one party largely continues to either embrace or capitulate to the Big Lie that the last election was stolen due to widespread voter fraud.
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Our Latest What Does Catholic Sisters’ Apology for Racism Mean? (by Gina Ciliberto) “The question remains whether or not the Catholic Church can become a truly anti-racist institution,” Shannen Dee Williams said. House Passes John Lewis Voting Rights Advancement Act (by Mitchell Atencio) Despite support of faith leaders and other voting rights advocates, the bill is unlikely to pass in the Senate without overhaul of the filibuster. There’s No Such Thing as a Colorblind Christianity (by Amar D. Peterman) The failure of the multiracial church movement and evangelicals' disdain for critical race theory shows why. Using the Bible to Debunk 10 Myths About Reparations (by Michael Woolf, Michael C.R. Nabors) How two pastors in Illinois have been addressing their churches’ concerns about reparations. |
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From the Magazine As Go the Southern Baptists, so Goes the GOP? (by Angie Maxwell) Forecasting the upcoming battles of our nation’s culture wars. |
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Support DACA, TPS, and Farm Workers In March, the House passed a bill to create a citizenship pathway for DACA recipients, Temporary Protected Status (TPS) holders, and essential farmworkers. Contact your senator to help this bill pass the Senate and get us one step closer to creating a pathway to citizenship for undocumented immigrant people. El Camino: Sermons on the way to a robust understanding of immigration We invite you to read or listen to our collection of sermons and reflections from faith leaders who are shaping the way we think about immigration, accompany our communities, and advocate for just immigration policies. |
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