|
Advocacy Blog
Friday, September 29, 2006
Religious Voter Guides Increase
The group Catholics in Alliance for the Common Good, a 501(c)(3), plans on distributing at least one million voter guides before the November election. This is more of a moderate response to voter guides put out by more conservative religious groups that discuss moral values. These voter guides highlight church teachings on war, poverty, social justice, abortion, contraception and homosexuality. Secular groups have published and distributed election guides for many years now. The Common Good guide summarizes themes of Catholic social teaching, "including 'prioritizing the needs of the poor and vulnerable' -- and lists 18 'issues important to Catholics,' including immigration, the environment, nuclear disarmament and workers' rights."
The liberal evangelical magazine Sojourners and the anti-poverty group Call to Renewal has put out "Voting God's Politics," which discusses issues and not individual candidates.
Even the term 'voter guide' has been so tainted by the religious right that people are afraid that ours is going to be just a left-wing version of theirs, a thinly camouflaged signal to vote for particular candidates," said Jim Wallis, editor of Sojourners. "Our guide levels the playing field; it makes clear that God is not a Republican or a Democrat." In numbers, however, the battle of the voter guides is still not an even match. Sojourners has distributed 50,000 of its brochures and plans to print 150,000 more. Roberta Combs, president of the Christian Coalition, said her group will distribute "millions" of its guides, which she said it is now compiling, to candidates in key races.
The Washington Post discusses how voter guides are being published from all political and religious viewpoints.
Posted by Amanda Adams
|