A Christian in today’s society may feel like a Hebrew in exile. “[The Hebrews] were asking similar kinds of questions that we are asking,” said James Evans, pastor of Crosscreek Baptist Church, Pelham. “How do you be faithful in a culture like this?”
Evans spoke July 16 during the “Call to a Faithful Decision” teach-in hosted by Interfaith Alliance at Samford University, which focused on voting from a faith-based perspective and the importance of justice.
The teach-in offered panels comprised of local and national religious leaders and scholars. They spoke about justice in their faith, answered questions on political issues and suggested ways for people to apply their religious faith when voting.
Thomas E. Corts, president of Samford, said the most difficult thing is gaining public awareness of you opinion. “There is certainly nothing wrong with expressing your opinion to your legislator,” he said.
Kimble Forrister, executive director of Alabama Arise –a coalition of 140 religious and community groups concerned with issues affecting low-income Alabamians –agreed. Write to a legislator, congressman or newspaper so various opinions are available for the public to read, he noted.
Jessica Brockman, a rabbi of Temple Beth El in Boca Raton, Fla., said, “Education is so important. We need to educate ourselves on the history of the [political] issue from sources that are reliable and truthful.”
Other speakers included Lemarse Washington of Birmingham, executive director of the National Conference for Community and Justice; Scott Douglas, executive director of Greater Birmingham Ministries; Imam W. Mahdi Bray, executive director of the Muslim American Society, Freedom Foundation in Washington, D.C.; William McKinney of Pacific School of Religion in California; Navtej Khalsa, executive director of the Sikh Mediawatch and Resource Task Force in Washington, D.C.
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