By Cheryl Graeve, Mark Beckwith and Brian Clancy
Our beloved nation is facing profound risks in this election cycle. These risks include eroding trust in the voting process, large-scale disinformation campaigns and the threat of political violence. Holding free, fair and safe elections is a core, guiding principle that has made the American Experiment both possible and extraordinary. These profound challenges are why Braver Angels and Braver Faith are taking a leadership role in this initiative and why we’re encouraging our entire community to participate. Our nonpartisan faith-based coalition is committed to bringing their wisdom, love and compassion to bear during this highly charged moment in our nation’s history.
What brought this wide-ranging coalition together is a shared belief in the value and dignity of every American voice. This conviction calls for an election process that is straightforward and safe for all eligible voters. Faith in America is designed to amplify voices from all American communities in a way that transcends polarization, political parties, religious differences and policy disagreements. It provides an opportunity for democracy’s allies right, left and center to come together and support America’s most fundamental civic sacrament – citizens expressing their will by casting ballots and having them counted.
Ways You Can Participate: There are three core pillars of the Faith in America program; national online prayer services, a social media campaign fueled by grassroots citizen videos and local faith community gatherings.
National Election Prayer Events: Our faith-based coalition is hosting two “Praying For America” events taking place on October 11th and November 1st. As prayer services, these events will embody very different values than those driving our divisive, zero-sum politics. There will be no political speeches or partisan finger pointing. Instead we will focus on celebrating America’s core values as expressed through the right to vote. Register for one or both Praying for America events right now.
Grassroots “I Have Faith in America” Video Program: We are inviting all Americans to submit short videos showing their commitment to free, fair and safe elections. It is both easy and fun. We encourage you to make a personal video or do one with someone you differ with politically but share a deep commitment to respecting the will of the people. This link brings you to where you can make your video.
Local Faith Community Involvement: We have a rich set of resources to help American faith communities pray for the country and incorporate themes related to free, fair and safe elections into their services and discussions leading up to election day. Click here to explore these inspiring resources. Core themes include the importance of every voice, respect across differences, nonviolence and the connection between elections and religious freedom.
Faith in America is totally consistent with the values that have inspired the Braver Angels movement and has enjoyed incredible support from your leaders and staff. For that we and all our partners are extremely grateful. Now we need the full Braver Angels community to lean into this program and ensure that has the greatest possible impact. It’s time for every American committed to free, fair and safe elections to stand up and be heard.
Learn More: https://braverangels.org/faith-in-america/
Submit a video: https://engagingdifferences.org/faithinamerica/
All of this is such fantastic news! I’ll be passing it along.
Get involved! This is such a great collaboration.