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FAITHFUL CITIZENSHIP: SIGN UP AND TAKE CHARGE!
Different faith traditions teachings on civic participation; voting
Congregational Church
Evangelicals for Social Action, focus on restoring "the nature of civic or political responsibility and to
ask what distinctive contribution a Christian view of life should make to the fulfillment of the responsibility" - "Calling for a commitment to the kingdom of God . . . and to energetic engagement in social renewal." By focusing on the Gospel, one realizes the nature of Christ1s love for community.
www.cpjustice.org/stories
The United Methodist Church
By acknowledging our allegiance to God, "we know ourselves to be responsible to God for social and political life . . ." The Church strongly supports policies and programs deemed to be just. . . A political system only functions with the support and civic responsibilities of its citizens.
www.umc.org/interior
American Baptist Churches
Calls all American Baptist to "participate actively in the political, social and economic life in our society seeking to bring to all of life the insights of our Christian faith while recognizing that our wisdom is finite and that free and open discussion in church and society can enable our understanding to grow and change and deepen."
www.abc-usa.org/resources/Citresp.htm
Episcopal Church
"We believe that we are all responsible to promote justice in our own lives, in our Communities, and the world; we do this for the sake of our neighbors, future generations and all of God1s Creation; and that we are called to treat everyone with justice . . . we have a special responsibility to those over whom we have an economic, political or social relationship"
www.env-steward.com/events/resolve
Presbyterian Church
By overcoming apathy toward political upsets, Presbyterians "are still called to overcome our apathy and be involved in the political process." The Church and governments are both called to "serve the lord". "The individual Christian serves God in both the church and the rest of society."
www.pcusa.org/washington/christiancitizen.htm
Evangelical Lutheran Church in America
Believing "that God is active in all realms of life, including the political" we stand united even through political differences by our confession of faith. "According to the Scriptures and Lutheran theology, God ordains government to help maintain a peaceful and just social order . . ." Being mutually responsible for one another, our call as Christian is to serve one another through human relations of civic, domestic, political, and economic life.
Bloomquist, Karen. "Christian Faith and U.S. Political Life Today." Evangelical Lutheran
Church in America. 1995.
Judaism
The Torah provides continuous reminders of civic duty and social justice. Amos 5:4 states, "hate evil and love good and establish justice in the gates of the land." By actively participating in social justice we "Let justice roll like water and righteousness as a permanent torrent" Amos 5:24
http://www.jbuff.com/c010401.htm
Evangelical Christians - Southern Baptist Convention
"The Vote 2004 campaign is dedicated to making sure that evangelical Christians are registered in time to actually vote . . ." Voting is more than just a civic duty, but a spiritual responsibility. When outlining five good reasons to vote the number one is that "God has granted us the authority." Thus through freewill, moral judgment, and good citizenship we have the right to exercise our God given right.
www.christiananswers.net/q-eden/voting.html
www.reclaimingamerica.org/pages/whatwe
Catholic Teaching - United States Conference of Catholic Bishops
"In the Catholic tradition, responsible citizenship is a virtue; participation in the political process is a moral obligation. . . We hope parishes, dioceses, schools, colleges and other Catholic institutions will encourage active participation through non-partisan voter registration and education efforts." For many Catholics, the connection between faith and politics is a distant issue, lost in the daily responsibilities of jobs, children, and community. Yet our teaching tells us that bringing the values of our faith to our democratic process is an important task for every believer.
USCCB Administrative Committee, Faithful Citizenship: A Call to Political Responsibility, pp 8, 12
www.usccb.org/faithfulcitizenship
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