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Advocacy Defined
Advocacy involves taking a stand with, and on behalf of, someone who struggles to stand and speak in ways that they are able to be heard.
The most important way to begin to become an Advocate is to Learn about issues or problems which impact families and communities.
Why must people of faith Learn to become Advocates?
In many congregations and faith centers, social ministry and advocacy are sometimes seen as non-essential activities to faith, or worse only the type of thing "activists" do. However, the sacred texts in all three Abrahamic traditions, Christian, Muslim, and Judaism, are full of references telling us that the true sign of faithfulness to God is how we live with and care for one another both within and beyond the bounds of our family of faith.
In the Jewish Tradition:
[God] has told you...what is good; and what does the LORD require of you but to do justice, and to love kindness, and to walk humbly with your God? ---Micah 6: 8
In the Christian Tradition
[Jesus said,] I was hungry and you gave me food, I was thirsty and you gave me something to drink, I was a stranger and you welcomed me, I was naked and you gave me clothing, I was sick and you took care of me, I was in prison and you visited me... Truly I tell you, just as you did it to one of the least of these who are members of my family, you did it to me.---Matthew 25: 35-36, 40
Separation of Church and State
The First Amendment to the U.S. Constitution forbids Congress from making any law "respecting an establishment of religion, or prohibiting the free exercise thereof;".
The so-called wall of separation between church and state, established by Supreme Court rulings, is intended to insure that the government does not intrude on private religious belief and practice. It does not, and should not, remove religious belief and motivations from the lives of the people who shape our public policy, including the citizen-constituents who vote for legislators who are shaped by their beliefs. The question is not whether individual values and sensibilities, including religious beliefs, should be reflected in public policy, but rather, which core values found in faith will influence public policy.
The filter might be summarized as, "What is consistent with, and faithful to, God?"
Doesn't advocacy cause divisions in the faith community?
When women and men of faith LEARN issues, PRAY that God will lead their discernment of just position, and then determine to ACT on their beliefs, it is amazing how powerful their witness can be. Advocacy in Virginia's is not about narrow partisan issues. The actions of truly faithful communities demonstrate a common quest to understand God's call to become caretakers (stewards) of creation and all that lives within it.
Simply put, faithful advocacy is the people of God, standing together for justice, compassion, mercy, and healing for all people.
Advocacy builds unity as people learn and grow into more active ways of living out their faith within their communities and throughout the Commonwealth.
Ready to LEARN? Consider these first steps:
Learn about issues <click>
Join a Chapter to discuss the issues with others like and unlike yourself <click>
Participate in Advocacy Training - contact the office for details <office@virginiainterfaithcenter.org>
Register to vote <click>
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