Needed:  Faithful Leadership

A Letter from Minnesota Religious Leaders

There are a number of crises in America today:  the COVID-19 pandemic, systemic racism, economic devastation, the lack of stable and effective leadership, and the undermining of our democracy, especially the right to vote.  At the intersection of all of these crises stands one person:  Donald J. Trump. 

From the beginning of his corrupt presidency, this dangerous and incompetent demagogue with strong authoritarian tendencies has contributed to and worsened the crises we face.  He has lied constantly, disrespected our military, denounced the free press, fanned the flames of racism, defended deadly white nationalists, divided one group against another by demonizing Muslims and dehumanizing immigrants, befriended brutal dictators while insulting our democratic allies, bragged about helping murderers, pardoned his corrupt friends, responded to peaceful protests with rubber bullets and tear gas, worked hard to increase voter suppression, publicly denounced governors and mayors across America as “radicals” and “extremists,” and cynically manipulated religion for his own partisan political purposes.

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In “Trump’s America,” over 200,000 precious children of God have died because of his unpreparedness and his ineptitude, despite the fact that he knew about its seriousness (but lied about it).  Children are taken away from their mothers and put in cages like animals.  And people of color, especially African Americans, continue to suffer and die at the hands of police brutality based in systemic racism. All the while, the President moves from one scandal to another, and one public dispute to another, diverting attention from this to that, as he continues his relentless pursuit of power.

As people of faith and conscience, we need to think seriously about the critical political, economic, and health situation in which Minnesota and the nation as a whole find ourselves, as well as the alternative way forward that we have the power to choose.  We can choose justice over injustice, unity over division, science over fiction, hope over fear, and truth over misinformation, disinformation, and outright falsehoods. We have it in our power to make these changes. 

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For people of faith and conscience, this is not a time for timidity or silence.  This is not the time to make excuses or turn the other way.  This is a time for resolute decision.  This is a time for a prophetic word. This is a time for religious leaders, as well as all people of faith and persons of conscience, to step up and make a bold public witness.

 Some religious leaders, as private citizens and individual people of faith, can and will openly and publicly endorse candidates.  Others will raise a prophetic voice against the ills that currently afflict our nation, including and especially the moral decay in places of power, the rending of our social fabric, and the destruction of our democratic institutions.  Still others will call upon all of us to reflect deeply about the Minnesota and the America we want to see, compare it with the Minnesota and America we now see, and then encourage others to join together in voting for a better way forward.  Whichever route is chosen, we, as religious leaders, must speak up, we must speak out, and we must do it now.

 Whatever you are doing as a religious leader in this most crucial of elections, please let us know:  http://www.pofpol.us.  And, whatever you do and however you get involved, let us do so together with a shared vision and a shared goal:  to restore integrity to the White House and, in unison with our sisters and brothers in other states, to heal the soul of America.

Sign this letter:  http://www.pofpol.com