The Interfaith Alliance: Looking to the Future
TIA can look forward to 1997 with confidence that our message of the importance of
religion as a healing and constructive force in public life, and of the vitality of the shared
religious values of the religious mainstream in promoting active civic participation will be
heeded at all levels of the public debate.
This is due in large part to our successes in 1996. Last year we benefited from the truly
remarkable growth of the backbone of this organization, our grassroots network. Not only
did the number of activists organizing alliances around the country expand to 35 states,
but our alliances conducted high-profile and ground breaking projects and events all
across the country.
From our involvement in key school board and congressional races where we distributed
millions of voter guides, to the myriad issue and candidate forums and other public
education activities sponsored by our Alliances, TIA was there shaping the public debate
and championing the cause of civility and tolerance in our political process.
Further, due to a coordinated effort between local Alliances and the Washington TIA staff,
we were able to raise serious questions in the media and among millions of voters about
the veracity and fairness of the Christian Coalition’s voter guides. For the first time, their
selective lists of issues, biased language, and manipulative timing of the guides’ release
became focal points for news stories and of interest to voters targeted by the Coalition.
And TIA played a central role in making that happen.
In 1997, we will put our major emphasis on continuing to build and support our state and
local Alliances. We are planning to use high technology more effectively to keep our
Alliances in touch with each other and with us. We hope to sponsor a series of regional
meetings later this year when local Alliance leaders can share their experiences and ideas
with each other. We will be releasing our long-awaited training manual and moving more
aggressively in our outreach efforts. The success of our Statement of Concern on welfare
reform is the beginning of an long-term effort at the state level to turn around the
government’s abandonment of its responsibilities to our nation’s disadvantaged.
We will proceed on this and on other issues with an eye toward enhancing dignity and hope
among all our people and challenging those who would use religion to promote an extreme
political agenda. This is, after all, what our values and our faith traditions call on us to do.
We have much work ahead of us, and we look forward to doing that work with you.
The Light Table of Contents
|
