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What is Faith-based Advocacy?
Advocacy has a long history in the Jewish, Christian, and Islamic traditions, and finds its roots in the Hebrew Bible, the New Testament, and the Qur’an.
Throughout the sacred texts, guidelines articulate how the faithful should advocate and on whose behalf.
Many religious passages raise the awareness of advocacy to encourage believers to be voices for the marginalized in our society.
But what does this really mean?
Our Faith compels us to speak out on matters of justice for the sake of the community.
Faith based advocacy is essential in the political discussion so that justice and righteousness can be accomplished.
Faith based advocates engage in the work of advocacy on the behalf of the defenseless and powerless because it is God’s command.
Faith based advocacy is always non-partisan.
Faith based advocacy is powerful because the members of the faith community unite to speak on behalf of others in a non-partisan manner.
Our focus stays on the issue of people and their needs
Our sense of power comes from our faith rather than political recognition.
Even when we disagree with other faith based advocates on ways to accomplish our task, we agree on the focus of our task:
Together we seek to “Give justice to the weak and the orphan; maintain the right of the lowly and the destitute”. Psalm 82:3
What about the separation of church and state?
The Constitution guarantees freedom of religion and freedom from religion. This does not mean that the faithful urge to participate in the legislative process must be stifled. Rather, it is vital to the process that the faithful use their voices to influence policymakers.
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