The Righteous Indignation Project

Action Plan - September 2008 - Fighting Poverty with Faith

[insert week of action logo logo]

To:  [Name of Grassroots Affiliates]

From: [Your Organization]

Re: "FIGHTING POVERTY WITH FAITH": A WEEK OF ACTION

As candidates for local, state and national candidates ask for votes from people they faith, we must ask them to tell us what they will do to serve the powerless. With 37 million Americans trapped in poverty, we need more than slogans - we need action.

ACTION! Call or write your local, state, national candidates and ask them what they will do in their first 100 days in office to fight poverty in America.

As people of faith, we are called upon to hold ourselves and our communities accountable to the moral standards of justice and compassion that are central to our religious traditions.  But as we look across our country today, we see a nation where millions of people lack the basic necessities of life and where the futures of far too many people are threatened by economic and social insecurity and policies that have failed to promote a shared prosperity. In the past year alone gas and food prices have surged, record numbers of homeowners in [insert STATE NAME] face foreclosure, and more and more families are being priced out of healthcare. 

This week, hundreds of faith leaders across the country are speaking out about the problem of poverty and lack of opportunity in our country today, drawing attention to the moral outrage of deep and persistent poverty in our land of abundance and opportunity. We need you to join them!

Many of our local, state and national candidates have outlined their general position on economic issues. A few have made commitments to specifically address poverty and opportunity. However, poverty in America is a pressing and moral problem and deserves detailed solutions and direct answers.

What, specifically, will the candidates do in their first 100 days in office, when priorities are set and decisions are made that will impact the rest of the candidate's term?

This week, as people of faith, we are asking for answers.  Our common scriptures present a vision of shared responsibility that commands that we leave the corners of our field for the poor and the stranger.  They mandate that, "There Shall Be No Needy Among You" (Deuteronomy 15:4).  (OR OTHER SCRIPTURE OR MESSAGE RELATED TO RAMADAN OR LEAD-UP TO THE JEWISH HOLIDAYS.)

ACTION! Call or write the campaigns during the week of September 10-16 at [Insert phone numbers for presidential campaigns and key local, state and congressional races]

By acting during this time, you can be a part of a national interfaith movement to build the political and public will to address poverty in America.

Tell the candidates that:

• Poverty in America is a pressing and moral problem. All faiths speak out on the need to care for the poor and vulnerable and to strive for the common good [insert specific language or faith context here].
• Our current economy is not working for everyone. This is evidenced by rising unemployment, the subprime mortgage and credit crisis, widening inequality, and skyrocketing food, energy and healthcare prices. History shows that when we ignore our society's vulnerable populations and do not strive towards the common good, it affects all of us
• However, We CAN solve poverty with political leadership powered by a citizen movement. Government can and must play a constructive and leading role.
• Poverty is not a Republican or Democratic issue; it is a moral issue, and if we build the political and public will across different sectors of society, we can solve this blight on our nation.

During this week of action, we are holding ourselves accountable to do more to address poverty in America. What will YOU DO in your first 100 days in office to address this pressing and moral issue?!