General
The Vote is Sacred Tour: Michigan
On Friday, we began the day in Hammond, Indiana. We stopped for a private event in Kalamazoo, Michigan, which rejuvenated the bus rides after five days of events.
We were also joined on the bus for the remainder of the tour by Ekemini Uwan, a public theologian, international human rights activist, and co-author of the 2023 NAACP Image Award Nominated book Truth’s Table: Black Women’s Musings on Life, Love, and Liberation. She co-hosts the award-winning podcast Truth's Table and Get In The Word With Truth’s Table. We’re excited to have Ekemini onboard!
Religion News Service published an in-depth report on our tour stop in Madison, Wisconsin. “Wednesday’s press conference was part of an interfaith pro-voting bus tour across swing states that began in Nebraska and will end on election day in Pennsylvania,” RNS reported. “Raushenbush and other leaders hope to encourage people to get out and vote, no matter their faith — and to remind the public that no one faith group has a monopoly on how religion should affect the upcoming election.”
During the long drive from Kalamazoo to Cleveland, I put together some of the highlights of the tour so far into a video compilation. You can watch it here:
A Victory for Religious Freedom and Public Education
The Senate Parliamentarian just struck a major blow to efforts to undermine public education and erode the separation of religion and government. The proposed national school voucher program, modeled on the so-called Educational Choice for Children Act, has been removed from the Senate’s budget reconciliation package after being ruled in violation of the Byrd Rule.
National Faith Coalition Stands Up for Reproductive and Religious Freedom
Last week, Interfaith Alliance proudly joined the launch of Faithful Majority for Reproductive Freedom, the first national faith-based coalition dedicated to advancing reproductive and religious freedom. This coalition unites diverse faith organizations committed to challenging the harmful falsehood that religion opposes reproductive health care.
Fifth Circuit Court of Appeals Ruling Against Louisiana’s Ten Commandments Law is a Big Win for Religious Freedom
Interfaith Alliance, a leading advocate for healthy boundaries between religion and government, welcomed the ruling by the Fifth Circuit Court of Appeals that prevents Louisiana from enforcing its unconstitutional law requiring public schools to display the Ten Commandments. Interfaith Alliance was one of 19 religious organizations that co-signed a friend-of-the-court brief in the case.