Faith Leaders Meet with Obama to Make the Case for Antipoverty Programs
"Out of the Spotlight" Posting for July 28, 2011
A diverse coalition of faith leaders
from both sides of the aisle met
with President Obama last week to advocate for low-income Americans, urging
the President and other top policymakers to reduce the deficit without putting
critical antipoverty programs in jeopardy.
The meeting comes after months of
high-profile activity by these and other faith leaders in defense of key
programs for the poor. Participants at
the meeting are part of larger movement called the “Circle
of Protection.” This movement
released a statement in April which calls on Christians to pray and “speak out
for justice” to protect domestic and international programs that serve
vulnerable populations. Over 13,000
people sent memoranda in support of the “Circle of Protection” statement to
Congress.
Meeting attendee Reverend David
Beckmann, president of Bread for the World, said
“Everything we have achieved for poor and hungry people in the last 35 years is
under severe threat of budget cuts.” OOTS readers will remember that Reverend
Beckmann talked about the Circle of Protection in an April Spotlight webcast about why he and
others were fasting to protest potential budget cuts.
Others
who met with President Obama included representatives from the National
Association of Evangelicals, the National Council of Churches, the United
States Conference of Catholic Bishops, Sojourners, the Alliance to End Hunger,
the Salvation Army, the National African American Clergy Network, the National
Baptist Convention of America, the Evangelical Lutheran Church in America, and the
National Hispanic Christian Leadership Conference.
These activities are a good
reminder of the many different communities and constituencies who are watching
ongoing budget negotiations with caution and concern. OOTS will be sure to keep track of these and
other developments as the tense debate moves on to its next stage.
Posted
by Sarah
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