Religious Leaders Launch "We Believe - Cleveland"

Late this morning an SRO crowd of clergy and laity packed the Brooks Theater at The Cleveland Play House to witness the launching of "We Believe - Cleveland," an extension of Columbus-based We Believe Ohio, described as a faith-based movement for compassion, inclusion and social justice. Dozens of Cleveland-area religious leaders, including pastors, priests, rabbis, cantors, imams and active lay leaders, surrounded the principal speakers during the program. Although the movement is said to have its origins in discussions among faith leaders that have been going on for many years, it has moved into the public spotlight in reaction to the activities of the Ohio Restoration Project, founded by Columbus-area right-wing evangelical ministers Rod Parsley and Russell Johnson, whose stated intention is to recruit hundreds of "Patriot Pastors" to encourage hundreds of thousands of evangelical Christians to vote according to conservative positions on certain social issues, particularly abortion and gay marriage.

The event was led by Rabbi Richard Block of The Temple-Tifereth Israel in Beachwood, who said that the gathered clergy represented "diverse faiths, traditions, and backgrounds," but "share an understanding of God as One who loves, unites, and embraces, not as one who rejects, divides, and excludes." He cited religious diversity as a source of strength and vitality, and declared that freedom of religion must be protected. "The separation of church and state is not hostile to religion, but guarantees that religion will flourish in all its rich variety." It is not a coincidence, he continued, that America is the leading defender of separation of church and state, and is the most religious country in the world. He also said that the group is not aware of any major religious tradition that is not concerned about the plight of the underprivileged, or that tolerates indifference to their suffering.

Rev. Tim Ahrens of the First Conregational Church (UCC) in Columbus described the movement as beginning with certain religious leaders asking themselves whether the Christian church that is being presented in the public square is the one that they revere, to which the answer was a resounding "No." The first decision they made was that the movement should involve not just the Christian church, but other faiths as well. "We need to enter the public square focused on the moral issues of poverty, jobs, education, and health care for all Ohioans."

Rev. Dr. Otis Moss, Jr. of the Olivet Institutional Baptist Church in Cleveland, who was once co-pastor with Rev. Dr. Martin Luther King Sr. at Ebeneezer Baptist Church in Atlanta, linked the launching of We Believe-Cleveland to the struggle for civil rights, noting that May 17 marks the 52nd anniversity of the unanimous declaration by the U.S. Supreme Court in the case of Brown vs. Board of Education that "segregation or apartheid has no place in the field of education," and to opposition to the Vietnam War by clergy in the 1960s. He said that the nation is drifting back into segregated, isolated, and inadequate public education, and needs to recommit itself to decent public education as the cornerstone of a free and democratic society. Every American deserves comprehensive health care, he continued, "not just some complicated, difficult to interpret, hard to understand set of regulations that is set to expire at midnight one evening in May." The fact that fifty million Americans are without health insurance, he said, is a kind of weapon of mass destruction. Patriotism is a "quest for a more perfect union," not "a demand that you agree with me, and if you disagree then you are unpatriotic." He called for a theology of love, of justice, of inclusion, of non-violence, of forgiveness, and of reconciliation, closing by invoking the words of Dr. King:

"Vanity asks, is it popular? Cowardice asks, is it safe? Politics asks, is it expedient? But there comes a time when we must be prepared to say and do that which is not popular, which is not necessarily safe, which is not considered expedient, but which is right."

Rev. Tracey Lind of Trinity Episcopal Cathedral and Rev. Dr. Marvin McMickle of the Antioch Baptist Church, both of Cleveland, then led the gathering in a responsive reading of the movement's mission statement, which expresses support for justice for all, for diverse religious expression, for the common good, and for the voice of religious traditions informing public policy, but opposes prosperity for only a few, self-righteous certainty, "discrimination against any of God's people," and crossing the lines that separate the institutions of religion and government.

Rev. Dr. Joan Campbell of the Chautauqua Institution and Rev. Dr. Ken Chalker of the First United Methodist Church followed by announcing the movement's "action steps," which include educating congregations on the moral and social issues of education, child welfare, poverty, health care, inclusion, regional equity and housing, "engaging members of our congregations in the democratic process, including voting," working with other communities to build a statewide movement, and promoting civility and respect, especially during the electoral season. Under the heading of educating congregations, the movement pledges to support the upcoming NOAH Regional Equity Summit on May 26 and InterAct Cleveland's Forum on Pluralism and Civility in June, and promises to "host an educational event on the TEL/TABOR amendment" in the fall. At this point in the proceedings Rev. Chalker departed from the carefully circumspect rhetoric of other participants and said that he was there to "kick butt and name names," referring specifically (for the only time in the event) to the Ohio Restoration Project and Patriot Pastors. He stressed the importance of letting people know that "their vote is so important for issues about which we all care - our kids, education, health care, equity in housing, and accepting diversity," and of standing "against voices saying that if you believe in God, there is only one way to vote - that is wrong!"

During the Q and A, representatives of the group denied any intention to endorse specific candidates, saying that they will "address policies" and that "policies will determine the leaders"; resisted the idea that the movement sprang up solely in reaction to the Ohio Restoration Project; denied that the movement would contribute to the nastiness of election campaigns; disputed the claim of right-wing religious leaders that their opposition to abortion and gay marriage is no different from past clergy's opposition to slavery or support for civil rights; and acknowledged as a boundary to their activities that they would not explicitly, or by obvious implication, endorse any particular candidate for office. In connection with the last answer, Rabbi Block made the point that "God is not affiliated with a political party," and that "religion should not be the servant of the state, but the conscience of the state, and the state should not be the tool of any sectarian group."