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Unitarian Univeralist Ministers Arrested for Civil Disobedience in support of "A Moral Budget"
(December 14, 2005 Washington, DC) Nearly two hundred religious leaders and people of faith, including a contingent of Unitarian Universalists, gathered in front of the Cannon House Office building in frigid temperatures this morning to bear witness in the struggle for economic justice with the message that "budgets are moral documents." The gathering, which resulted in the arrest of 115 people, was prompted as Congress prepares to take up the White House's current budget draft for 2006, offering tax cuts primarily to those earning $200,000 per year or more, and which will be financed by slashing services for the poor. In addition to the acts of civil disobedience, leaders of the gathering urged participants to make 'surprise' visits to Congress. Seventy similar vigils held in thirty-four states.
Rev. William G. Sinkford, UUA President, issued a statement in support of today's witness. Sinkford said, "Following the 2004 election and the national discussion of moral values, I issued a statement that said, in part: "Moral values grow out of our calling as religious people to work to create the Beloved Community. Moral values instruct us to love our neighbors as ourselves' and always to ask the question, Who is my neighbor?' They are fundamentally inclusive rather than exclusive, and they call on generosity of spirit rather than mean spiritedness. I urge our elected representatives to consider the morality of ignoring the poor to give even more tax cuts to the rich." He continued, "I urge all Unitarian Universalists to stand with other people of faith and goodwill in demanding a moral United States budget -- a budget that directs resources towards those who need them most."
Among those arrested during today's witness were Unitarian Universalists Robert Hardies, senior minister at All Souls Church Unitarian in Washington, DC, who represented President Sinkford; Jennifer Brooks, minister of the Second Congregational Meeting House Society, UU in Nantucket, MA; and John McCarthy, a seminarian studying at Harvard Divinity School. Hardies, Brooks and McCarthy were arrested for blocking the door to the Cannon House Office building; the maximum fine for this act of civil disobedience is $250 and/or ninety days in jail.
Today's witness was the culmination of a yearlong effort to protect services to low-income families in the budget, but the movement is not ending. On January 19 th 2006, the "Covenant for a New America" campaign will be launched. This campaign centers around the following priorities for our political leaders as outlined in the working draft of the Covenant: "a living family income for all who work, rebuilding neighborhoods and communities, strengthening families and renewing culture, and ending extreme global poverty." This campaign is a collaborative effort by "Christians from diverse theological and political backgrounds that come together around the biblical imperative to overcome poverty." More information will be available on the Sojourners website. For further information:
(December 14, 2005 Washington, DC) Nearly two hundred religious leaders and people of faith, including a contingent of Unitarian Universalists, gathered in front of the Cannon House Office building in frigid temperatures this morning to bear witness in the struggle for economic justice with the message that "budgets are moral documents." The gathering, which resulted in the arrest of 115 people, was prompted as Congress prepares to take up the White House's current budget draft for 2006, offering tax cuts primarily to those earning $200,000 per year or more, and which will be financed by slashing services for the poor. In addition to the acts of civil disobedience, leaders of the gathering urged participants to make 'surprise' visits to Congress. Seventy similar vigils held in thirty-four states.
Rev. William G. Sinkford, UUA President, issued a statement in support of today's witness. Sinkford said, "Following the 2004 election and the national discussion of moral values, I issued a statement that said, in part: "Moral values grow out of our calling as religious people to work to create the Beloved Community. Moral values instruct us to love our neighbors as ourselves' and always to ask the question, Who is my neighbor?' They are fundamentally inclusive rather than exclusive, and they call on generosity of spirit rather than mean spiritedness. I urge our elected representatives to consider the morality of ignoring the poor to give even more tax cuts to the rich." He continued, "I urge all Unitarian Universalists to stand with other people of faith and goodwill in demanding a moral United States budget -- a budget that directs resources towards those who need them most."
Among those arrested during today's witness were Unitarian Universalists Robert Hardies, senior minister at All Souls Church Unitarian in Washington, DC, who represented President Sinkford; Jennifer Brooks, minister of the Second Congregational Meeting House Society, UU in Nantucket, MA; and John McCarthy, a seminarian studying at Harvard Divinity School. Hardies, Brooks and McCarthy were arrested for blocking the door to the Cannon House Office building; the maximum fine for this act of civil disobedience is $250 and/or ninety days in jail.
Today's witness was the culmination of a yearlong effort to protect services to low-income families in the budget, but the movement is not ending. On January 19 th 2006, the "Covenant for a New America" campaign will be launched. This campaign centers around the following priorities for our political leaders as outlined in the working draft of the Covenant: "a living family income for all who work, rebuilding neighborhoods and communities, strengthening families and renewing culture, and ending extreme global poverty." This campaign is a collaborative effort by "Christians from diverse theological and political backgrounds that come together around the biblical imperative to overcome poverty." More information will be available on the Sojourners website. For further information:
- Facts and resources on the budget from Sojourners.com
- December 14, 2005 - Chicago Defender: "Tax Cuts on the Backs of Children" by Marian Wright Edelman
- March 8, 2005 - Joint Ecumenical Statement on Bush's 2006 federal budget
- 12/15/05 - The Associated Press (as appearing in washingtonpost.com): "More Than 100 Arrested in Capital Protest" by Elizabeth White
- 12/14/05 - Washington Post: "A Religious Protest Largely From the Left : Conservative Christians Say Fighting Cuts in Poverty Programs Is Not a Priority"
- 12/14/05 - About.com: "Major Christian Denominations Protest Bush Budget, Tax Cuts; 115 Religious Protesters Arrested"
