Why Wisconsin churches are aligning with the Poor People’s Campaign – Wisconsin Examiner
It is Holy Week, the week between Palm Sunday and Easter Sunday. In this week Christians around the globe remember the last week of Jesus of Nazareths life, his death, and his resurrection. This week began with a pop-up parade where we see Jesus riding into the temple complex in Jerusalem, the seat of power for both the religious authorities and the Roman occupation. Hundreds, maybe thousands, of average, everyday people heralded his arrival shouting Hosanna! which means Save us!
The ones crying out were mostly those who society deemed unimportant for some reason or another: ability, illness, gender, occupation, ancestry, nationality, age, marital status. They were the ones who were told they didnt matter again and again. But they were also Jesus friends. They heard and believed his message: The way things are is not the way things have to be. A better way is possible. Lets discover it together.
On June 18, 2022, thousands of people who have been told they dont matter again and again will parade themselves by car, bike, coach bus, train, plane, and foot to the seat of power in this country. Their voices are the ones who just might save this nation from its deadly trajectory.
They will demand this country live up to the ideals enshrined, but never fully realized, in the Constitution. And through their courage, we will have to see the truth: Another way is not merely possible, it is absolutely necessary to secure a vital future for this country and the world we live in. Their message will threaten those who gain the most from the world as it currently is. It may even provoke violence. But like Jesus, they will meet any violence that tries to silence them with the power of love and a commitment to nonviolence, and they will not back down.
The Poor Peoples Campaign: A National Call for Moral Revival is a nationwide grassroots movement calling our nation to a revolution of values at every level of our society. Using non-violent direct action like the Civil Rights Movement of the 1960s, it is continuing the work started by Martin Luther King Jr. in 1968 calling our nation to confront the interlocking evils of systemic racism, poverty, ecological devastation, militarism and the war economy, and the distorted moral narrative of religious nationalism. We understand that as a nation we are at a critical juncture that we need a movement that will shift the moral narrative, impact policies and elections at every level of government, and build lasting power for poor and impacted people.
The Poor Peoples Campaign is about engaging what the Wisconsin Council of Churches calls holy imagination. If a more just world cant be imagined, then it cant be realized, either. When you read through the policy priorities of the Poor Peoples Campaign, you can begin to see a picture of a different kind of world: one that criminalizes poverty, not poor people. One that privileges people and life over the accumulation and hoarding of money. One that does not abide massive levels of unjust incarceration. One in which our national and state governments can and will provide for the common welfare which includes access for all to clean water and nutritious food, quality education, meaningful work that pays a living wage, adequate and affordable housing, and healthcare for all. Not only does the movement call out for these seemingly dreamy things, it has real ideas and practical plans to make it happen!
One way that the Wisconsin Council of Churches is observing Holy Week is by raising funds for the Wisconsin Poor Peoples Campaign. (You can hear Pastor Ari Douglas discuss his work with the Wisconsin Poor Peoples Campaign at the WCCs Facebook page.)
Our goal is for $6,600 to Raise a Bus to offset travel costs of people who will travel from Wisconsin to Washington D.C. in just a little over two months from now for the June 18 Moral March on Washington and to the Polls. We will continue to raise money through the end of May.
There are some who may say that it is not the place of the Church to engage injustice in this way. They will claim that supporting this movement violates the separation of church and state. This is both a misunderstanding of the establishment clause of the First Amendment and a distortion of the Christian faith. As the Freedom Forum Institute states, The establishment clause prohibits all levels of government from either advancing or inhibiting religion. The establishment clause separates church from state, but not religion from politics or public life. Individual citizens are free to bring their religious convictions into the public arena.
Christians are not merely free to bring their religious convictions into the public arena, they are compelled to do so as followers of Jesus example. In the stories of Holy Week we see just how public Jesus ministry was. It was so public it built enough of a committed following that the state and religious authorities plotted to kill him! Then they carried out their plan. Violence and death won that day.
For too many people in this country, violence and death win the days. Poverty is violence. In the wealthiest nation on the planet, 140 million people are poor; 39 million of them are children.
Holy Week ends with Easter Sunday, the day Jesus was raised from the dead. This is the day Christians proclaim that in and with God, violence and death are forever and ultimately defeated.
The stories of this week are the central story of the Christian faith. They lead us to remember and hope and imagine Salvation, wholeness for all. The Poor Peoples Campaign does the same.
GET THE MORNING HEADLINES DELIVERED TO YOUR INBOX
SUBSCRIBE
Read the original here:
Why Wisconsin churches are aligning with the Poor People's Campaign - Wisconsin Examiner
- News organizations sue Tennessee over police buffer law, citing First Amendment - Knoxville News Sentinel - July 30th, 2025 [July 30th, 2025]
- The ACLU says a New York official violated the NRA's First Amendment rights. They still can't sue her. - Reason Magazine - July 30th, 2025 [July 30th, 2025]
- Forced Labor and the First Amendment - The American Conservative - July 30th, 2025 [July 30th, 2025]
- Chris Hedges: Abolishing the First Amendment - Scheerpost - July 30th, 2025 [July 30th, 2025]
- Chronicle Editorial: Croton-Harmon school district's disdain for the First Amendment costs staff time and taxpayer money. - The Croton Chronicle - July 30th, 2025 [July 30th, 2025]
- Is AI a Horse or a Zebra When It Comes to the First Amendment? - Cato Institute - July 28th, 2025 [July 28th, 2025]
- First Amendment and immunity - Courthouse News Service - July 28th, 2025 [July 28th, 2025]
- Legal Case of Navy Diver Who Sued Newport Beach for First Amendment Violation Advances - California Globe - July 28th, 2025 [July 28th, 2025]
- News organizations sue TN over police buffer law, citing First Amendment - The Tennessean - July 28th, 2025 [July 28th, 2025]
- AFPI Sues Oregon School Activities Association for Silencing Female Athletes First Amendment Rights - America First Policy Institute - July 28th, 2025 [July 28th, 2025]
- NEWTON: Battle between Trump and the First Amendment continues - The Covington News - July 27th, 2025 [July 27th, 2025]
- That eerie sound youre hearing is the First Amendment falling - rawstory.com - July 27th, 2025 [July 27th, 2025]
- TRUMP GOES TOO FAR: Colbert cancellation puts spotlight on Trump war on the First Amendment - MSNBC News - July 27th, 2025 [July 27th, 2025]
- First Amendment doesnt provide the right to be heard, Fourth Circuit finds - Courthouse News Service - July 24th, 2025 [July 24th, 2025]
- Pennsylvania officers face First Amendment lawsuit for trying to criminalize profanity and using patrol car to chase man who recorded police - FIRE |... - July 24th, 2025 [July 24th, 2025]
- Ninth Circuit Reinforces First Amendment Protections of Parent Banned from School District in Response to Speech the District Found Offensive -... - July 24th, 2025 [July 24th, 2025]
- Press Release: Reps. Hank Johnson and Sydney Kamlager-Dove Propose Bill to Safeguard Artists' First Amendment Rights - Quiver Quantitative - July 24th, 2025 [July 24th, 2025]
- What the GOPs Epstein revolt says about the First Amendment - Claremont COURIER - July 24th, 2025 [July 24th, 2025]
- Protesters and demonstrators voice their first amendment right along the street of Canton - 25 News Now - July 24th, 2025 [July 24th, 2025]
- First amendment vs. first-person shooter: Uvalde parents battle with 'Call of Duty' maker in court - Fortune - July 24th, 2025 [July 24th, 2025]
- Columbia University Says It Has Suspended and Expelled Students Who Participated in Protests - First Amendment Watch - July 24th, 2025 [July 24th, 2025]
- Stephen Colberts Late Show Is Canceled by CBS and Will End in May 2026 - First Amendment Watch - July 24th, 2025 [July 24th, 2025]
- US will appeal decision finding punitive executive order against Jenner & Block violates First Amendment - ABA Journal - July 24th, 2025 [July 24th, 2025]
- NPR loses. The First Amendment wins. - The Boston Globe - July 24th, 2025 [July 24th, 2025]
- Trial in AAUP Lawsuit Concludes With Clash Over First Amendment Rights of Noncitizens - The Harvard Crimson - July 22nd, 2025 [July 22nd, 2025]
- Harvard argues in court that Trump administration's funding freeze violated First Amendment - CBS News - July 22nd, 2025 [July 22nd, 2025]
- Harvard argues the government is in violation of the First Amendment. Trumps team frames the lawsuit as a contract dispute - CNN - July 22nd, 2025 [July 22nd, 2025]
- Standing up for Elmo and the First Amendment - Westerly Sun - July 22nd, 2025 [July 22nd, 2025]
- Why the Iowa Senate finally approved enhanced First Amendment protections - Bleeding Heartland - July 22nd, 2025 [July 22nd, 2025]
- First Amendment advocates urge open hearing for San Mateo County sheriff facing removal - The Mercury News - July 18th, 2025 [July 18th, 2025]
- Defeat the Press: How Donald Trumps Attacks on News Outlets Undermine the First Amendment - Variety - July 18th, 2025 [July 18th, 2025]
- An assault on the First Amendment? Yes. But also a lesson in the ethics of reporting police news. - Media Nation - July 18th, 2025 [July 18th, 2025]
- How Donald Trumps Attacks On News Outlets Undermine The First Amendment - TV News Check - July 18th, 2025 [July 18th, 2025]
- Who are First Amendment auditors? Encounters with them prompted police calls in California - Scripps News - July 16th, 2025 [July 16th, 2025]
- Greene County staff permitted to speak to press after pushback from First Amendment groups - The Daily Progress - July 16th, 2025 [July 16th, 2025]
- Death Threats Over Texas Flooding Cartoon Force Museum Journalism Event To Be Postponed - First Amendment Watch - July 16th, 2025 [July 16th, 2025]
- Its the right thing to do: Defense attorney picks up Shasta protester case pro bono, citing First Amendment concerns - Shasta Scout - July 12th, 2025 [July 12th, 2025]
- The First Amendment Protects Ideologically Based Ad Boycotts - Cato Institute - July 12th, 2025 [July 12th, 2025]
- IRS Finally Recognizes That the First Amendment Permits Pastors To Speak From the Pulpit - The Daily Signal - July 12th, 2025 [July 12th, 2025]
- Pocahontas Mayor Reacts Aggressively to Viral First Amendment Auditor - NEA Report - July 12th, 2025 [July 12th, 2025]
- ACLJ's Decades-Long Fight Leads to IRS Recognizing Churches' First Amendment Rights To Speak About Political Issues and Candidates From the Pulpit -... - July 12th, 2025 [July 12th, 2025]
- Central Piedmont fulfilling requests that would lead to First Amendment lawsuit being dropped: Plaintiffs - Queen City News - July 12th, 2025 [July 12th, 2025]
- How Tempe debate over feeding homeless at parks is becoming a First Amendment conversation - KJZZ - July 10th, 2025 [July 10th, 2025]
- IRS: Pastors and Politicians Dont Lose First Amendment Rights in Pulpit - Focus on the Family - July 10th, 2025 [July 10th, 2025]
- Trump admin waffles in court on whether pro-Palestinian foreigners have full First Amendment rights - Politico - July 8th, 2025 [July 8th, 2025]
- Airlines deportation deal with ICE sparks protests and boycott campaign, leading to First Amendment battle - The Free Speech Project - July 8th, 2025 [July 8th, 2025]
- Trump Judges Find No First Amendment Problem With Florida Forcing Teachers to Misgender Themselves - Balls and Strikes - July 8th, 2025 [July 8th, 2025]
- High Court To Hear Street Preacher's First Amendment Case - Law360 - July 6th, 2025 [July 6th, 2025]
- The Columbus Connection First Amendment, Independence Day Thoughts, and Happy Birthday CCN - Columbus County News - July 6th, 2025 [July 6th, 2025]
- Paramounts Trump Lawsuit Settlement: Curtain Call for the First Amendment? (Guest Column) - IMDb - July 6th, 2025 [July 6th, 2025]
- Fourth of July is a reminder to understand your First Amendment rights - The News Journal - July 4th, 2025 [July 4th, 2025]
- Big Tech Can't Hide Behind the First Amendment Anymore | Opinion - Newsweek - July 4th, 2025 [July 4th, 2025]
- FIRE amicus brief: First Amendment bars using schoolkid standards to silence parents' speech - FIRE | Foundation for Individual Rights and Expression - July 4th, 2025 [July 4th, 2025]
- The First Amendment Protects CNN's Reporting on ICEBlock and Iran - Reason Magazine - July 4th, 2025 [July 4th, 2025]
- MCPS to pay $125K to two county residents who sued over alleged First Amendment violations - Bethesda Magazine - July 4th, 2025 [July 4th, 2025]
- Commentary: Winter Garden arrest threat violated First Amendment rights - Orlando Sentinel - July 4th, 2025 [July 4th, 2025]
- First Amendment Expert Responds To BHUSD Policy - Hoover Institution - July 4th, 2025 [July 4th, 2025]
- Donald Trump: the surprise force who saved the First Amendment - Washington Times - July 4th, 2025 [July 4th, 2025]
- Paramount Will Pay $16 Million in Settlement With Trump Over 60 Minutes Interview - First Amendment Watch - July 4th, 2025 [July 4th, 2025]
- Trump Judges Reject First Amendment Challenge and Uphold Florida Law Requiring Teachers to Use Only Pronouns that Align with their Gender at Birth -... - July 4th, 2025 [July 4th, 2025]
- Justice Thomas sounds alarm on courts misapplying First Amendment in political speech cases - Courthouse News - July 2nd, 2025 [July 2nd, 2025]
- 'The full rigor of the Court's resources': Judge warns Trump against witness 'retribution' in First Amendment case over threatened deportations - Law... - July 2nd, 2025 [July 2nd, 2025]
- Federal Appellate Court Finds that School Board President Violated First Amendment in Restricting Followers on Social Media - JD Supra - July 2nd, 2025 [July 2nd, 2025]
- Protecting Kids Shouldnt Mean Weakening the First Amendment - Public Knowledge - July 2nd, 2025 [July 2nd, 2025]
- Opinion - Jesse Green: Congress must not violate First Amendment in fight against anti-semitism - Northern Kentucky Tribune - June 29th, 2025 [June 29th, 2025]
- VICTORY: New York high school to strengthen First Amendment protections following FIRE lawsuit - FIRE | Foundation for Individual Rights and... - June 28th, 2025 [June 28th, 2025]
- FCCs First Amendment Tour Arrives in Kentucky - The Daily Yonder - June 28th, 2025 [June 28th, 2025]
- ACLU of Pennsylvania Applauds Passage of Legislation to Expand First Amendment Protections in the Commonwealth - ACLU of Pennsylvania - June 28th, 2025 [June 28th, 2025]
- FIRE to court: AI speech is still speech and the First Amendment still applies - FIRE | Foundation for Individual Rights and Expression - June 28th, 2025 [June 28th, 2025]
- Podcast: Broadcast Journalism, First Amendment, and the Future - Wisconsin Broadcasters Association - June 28th, 2025 [June 28th, 2025]
- Advertising Companies Cave to the FTC. Media Matters Sues To Defend the First Amendment. - Reason Magazine - June 28th, 2025 [June 28th, 2025]
- Punishing Universities for Their Viewpoints Violates the First Amendment - Cato Institute - June 28th, 2025 [June 28th, 2025]
- Palestinian Student Sues Michigan School Over Teachers Reaction to Her Refusal To Stand for Pledge - First Amendment Watch - June 28th, 2025 [June 28th, 2025]
- CDT and EFF Urge Court to Carefully Consider Users First Amendment Rights in Garcia v. Character Technologies, Inc. - - Center for Democracy and... - June 24th, 2025 [June 24th, 2025]
- University of Oregon ordered to cover legal fees after settling First Amendment lawsuit - Campus Reform - June 24th, 2025 [June 24th, 2025]
- City attorney cites First Amendment rights in allowing rally; Third Street to open soon - Northern Wyoming News - June 20th, 2025 [June 20th, 2025]
- Guest column: 1,000 gathered in Oak Ridge to defend First Amendment - Oak Ridger - June 20th, 2025 [June 20th, 2025]
- Fighting Antisemitism Should Not Come at the Expense of the First Amendment - Reason Magazine - June 18th, 2025 [June 18th, 2025]
- How Hawley, Marshall choose Trump over the First Amendment | Opinion - Kansas City Star - June 18th, 2025 [June 18th, 2025]
- FARRAND: Saturday was a day we exercised three of our First Amendment rights - thenewsherald.com - June 18th, 2025 [June 18th, 2025]