The Northern Virginia Interfaith Alliance and the national Interfaith Alliance together distributed voter guides in northern Virginia. In both state assembly and state senate races, these voter guides provided voters of northern Virginia with information about the positions taken by their candidates on issues important to them. Unlike the "voter guides" distributed by the Christian Coalition, these guides avoided misleading language and concentrated on the real issues facing Virginia voters.

The need for fair and honest voter guides became painfully obvious in the wake of previous Virginia elections where Christian Coalition activity was very strong. Its "voter guides," which were distributed in churches the weekend before elections, were greatly deceptive in both the choice and wording of issues. Candidates were said to favor such things as "taxpayer support of obscene art," "the promotion of homosexuality among school children," and "the banning of all legal firearms." The issue of abortion was used in different ways in different races, depending on how "pro-choice" or "pro-life" the candidate favored by the Christian Coalition happened to be.

In contrast, the voter guides distributed by The Interfaith Alliance concentrated on the issues identified by Virginians as most important to them in this election: Virginia's concealed weapons law, Governor Allen's $2.1 billion tax cut, the use of taxpayer money to fund private schools, the Family Life Education curriculum, and efforts to amend the US Constitution for prayer in public schools. These same issues, and the same wording of the issues, appeared on each and every voter guide distributed. Furthermore, in order to counter the political manipulation of religion so often undertaken by the forces of the extreme right, Interfaith Alliance voter guides were mailed to voters and distributed at public places such as shopping malls and polling sites - not at churches!

Many Virginians wanted these voter guides to help them avoid voting for candidates who hide their more extreme positions on important issues. The Reverend Chuck Wildman, pastor of Rock Spring Congregational Church in Arlington, explained this at a press conference in northern Virginia. According to Rev. Wildman, "The extreme right has used divisive issues such as prayer in school, ending Family Life Education curriculum, and the promotion of concealed weapons legislation to organize their base. We felt it was important to let the voters of northern Virginia know exactly where candidates stood on these and other issues."

Also speaking at the Alexandria press conference was the Reverend Madeline Jarvis, pastor of Clarendon Presbyterian Church. Her words about what had motivated her to be a part of this election-day activity aptly expressed the reason why many people of faith have joined the Northern Virginia Interfaith Alliance and contributed to its work: "We are here today to say to Virginia and the nation that Pat Robertson and Jerry Falwell are not the only religious voices in Virginia."

This was not the first time that The Interfaith Alliance made its presence felt in Virginia elections. The Northern Virginia Interfaith Alliance was started by Virginians who came together last year to speak out about the divisive use of religion in the U.S. Senate race between Oliver North and Chuck Robb. These Virginians were concerned that the public debate was being dominated by extremists who manipulate religious language for partisan political gain. Like many Americans, they very much wanted to be part of a faith-based alternative to groups like the Christian Coalition. They wanted the public to know that being religious does not mean being an extremist. So, like many people of faith in many states across the nation, they came together and formed a local Interfaith Alliance.

Philip J. Wogaman is the pastor of Foundry United Methodist Church in Washington, DC, and a national Board Member of The Interfaith Alliance. In his comments about the work of the Northern Virginia Interfaith Alliance, Dr. Wogaman captured the vision that inspires such activities as the distribution of fair and honest voter guides: "What we are witnessing today is a grassroots movement that is calling our nation back to the traditions of civility, truthfulness and compassion - and moving us away from the politics of division practiced by many on the extreme right."