As reported by
Jews On First : Defending the First Amendment Against the Christian Right, a new group,
We Believe Ohio that
will have its inaugural event May 17, 2006.
Here is the "We Believe Ohio" statement of belief :
We Believe: We are called as people of faith and loyal Americans to be united in dialogue and action to say:
* YES to justice for all, NO to prosperity for only a few;
* YES to diverse religious expression, NO to self-righteous certainty;
* YES to the common good, NO to discrimination against any of God's people;
* YES to the voice of religious traditions informing public policy, NO to crossing the lines that separate the institutions of Religion and Government.
Faithful Clevelanders will gather to pray and unveil a shared vision of serving God in word and action by promoting the values of inclusion, compassion and social justice.
We believe the stakes in Ohio are frighteningly high
We will not stand by and bear witness to religion being used as a tool of division and exclusion.
The time for action is now!
If you are a clergy person, bring your colleagues. If you are a lay person - come as a local leader - and bring your priest, pastor, deacon, elder, rabbi, cantor or imam.
As Jews On First reports :
Under the banner of "We Believe Ohio," mainstream clergy in Columbus are organizing their communities to reclaim the public space that two powerful religious right leaders have crowded with anti-gay "moral" issues. Founded late last year, the organization has grown rapidly to include more than 110 Christian and Jewish congregational leaders.
Their goal, said Rev. Tim Ahrens, co-convenor of We Believe Ohio in Columbus, is to make sure "there's room in the public square for a lot more voices than those strong voices" of the religious right.
That space has been appropriated by two local pastors, Rod Parsley of World Harvest Church and Russell Johnson of Fairfield Christian Church. The two are widely credited with turning out the vote for George Bush's narrow victory in Ohio in 2004. They are also credited with propelling Republican gubernatorial candidate Ken Blackwell to a primary victory last week.......
"We are living with this every day, watching these two churches," said Rabbi Misha Zinkow of Temple Israel. Zinkow signed the complaint to the IRS and is involved with We Believe Ohio. He told JewsOnFirst that he believes "the real moral issues of the day have been submerged" by Parsley's and Johnson's narrow morality message rather than "poverty and homelessness that religious people should think about.".....
Getting those issues out into the public square will be a challenge. Ahrens said "We're finding people in churches outside the metropolitan areas who have almost been shut down" by the prevailing religious right attitude "that you're not Christian unless you believe the way they do. That's not true. As Christians we're trying to define a faith and a savior that we believe includes all people.".... He said he believes that Parsley's and Johnson's next "wedge" issue will be banning adoption by homosexual parents.