As reported throughout this newsletter, state alliances are making news across the country! The following is summary of the type of activities alliances are engaged in :

Public Education:

Alliances are helping educate and inform the public by holding forums on "Religion and Public Life." These forums which feature clergy, academics, politicians and public school educators examine various issues from a faith-based perspective and explore the possibilities for individual commitment within a framework of religious diversity.

Alliances are educating the public about the agenda and tactics of the "Religious Right." Alliances accomplish this by sponsoring community lectures and speakers bureaus featuring educators, legislators, clergy, and concerned activists.

Alliance are holding issue-specific forums which address controversial local issues from school prayer to affirmative action.

Voter Education:

Alliances have developed candidate pledges, questionnaires, and voter guides which educate voters on candidate issue positions and "shine the light" on stealth candidates. The guides were developed in Washington and Virginia and distributed by volunteers and through the mail.

Alliances are generating significant press coverage. In addition to appearing in a number of press conferences, alliance members are being featured in radio talk shows, letters to the editor and op eds.

Supporting Victims of Religious Right Attacks:

Alliances are mobilizing "Faith SWAT Teams" to counter religious right attacks on local governing bodies.

Alliances are providing crisis mediation and counseling to teachers and school administrators, helping them combat attacks on the public schools and their staff.

ARKANSAS

Patterning New Dialogue

Since our last newsletter, the Arkansas Interfaith Alliance (AIA) has taken its "searching for common ground" issue discussions and created a public forum on Family Values. Specifically, the AIA held a forum this fall in which it invited "Religious Right" activists to work with moderate and liberal clergy and laity to identify common areas of concern about the family. The forum provided a unique opportunity to practice "listening" and many participants left feeling a new dialogue had developed between the widely divergent groups. Common ground did emerge with a unique agreement to jointly lobby the Arkansas State Legislature on some issues of poverty and the family.

In northern California, the Center for Ethics and Social Policy at the Graduate Theological Union has begun its organizing of The Interfaith Alliance in Northern California. The Interfaith Alliance of Northern California is serving as a framework under which local Alliances from different cities will organize. Already an Alameda County group has begun organizing and is starting "sister groups" in Contra Costa County and San Francisco. The first public event is expected in late January or early February.

The Center is also hoping to utilize the faculty resources of the Graduate Theological Union to produce policy papers and public statements that will counter on theological grounds initiatives of the extreme religious right.

Under the leadership of national board member Rev. Leonard Jackson, organizing efforts are underway in southern California. Initial community meetings are being held and there is strong interest in starting a TIA chapter.

Under the leadership of national board member Denise Davidoff, Connecticut has become the latest state to launch a statewide alliance. Significant representation from throughout the state has already been achieved, and The Connecticut Interfaith Alliance is planing its statewide announcement for February 11. National board member Dr. Joan Brown Campbell will be the featured speaker addressing the topic, The Moral State of the Union: A Faithful Response to the Religious Right. A panel of respondents from across the state will contribute to the dialogue.

Since our last newsletter, The Interfaith Alliance of Central Florida (IACF) has held a string of successful events. Beginning in September the IACF made a local splash with a kick-off event where national board member Dr. Albert Pennybacker addressed a community wide gathering. From this event the Central Florida Alliance was established.

Soon after the Alliance's formation, the IACF was given a spotlight opportunity to present faith-based voices that directly counter the Christian Coalition at the Florida Straw poll, also known as "Presidency III." (Please see story on page one). The IACF held a well attended press conference that cautioned the Republican Presidential candidates not to adopt the Christian Coalition's extreme agenda. The IACF also encouraged the candidates and delegates to support the Alliance as a mainstream alternative for faith-based people in Florida

The following Sunday, to cap off the Presidency III weekend, the IACF held a forum on "The Role of Religion in Politics." This was the first in a series of forums in which the IACF will engage and educate the public about a host of issues. The IACF's next forum will address the current attempts by Congress to pass an amendment which will change the Religious Establishment Clause of the Constitution.

The Interfaith Alliance of Georgia is based out of Atlanta and its suburbs where a group has been meeting regularly since late last spring. The Alliance is organizing a public announcement for January. The announcement will be followed by a public forum similar to the forums other alliances have constructed on religion and the public square.

The Interfaith Alliance of Georgia has also been working to present a faith-based voice among the mainstream coalitions that are forming to counter the extreme religious right.

PENNSYLVANIA

This November with the help of Republican National Committee woman Elsie Hillman and her staff, Southwestern Pennsylvania joined the Alliance efforts to create a statewide organization. National board Chair Dr. Herb Valentine traveled to Pittsburgh to speak at the public announcement. Rev. Sampson Cooper of Bethel A.M.E. and Sister Mary Carol Bennett of the Sisters of Mercy serve as co-chairs and also spoke. The announcement received good press coverage and members are already moving onto addressing community concerns.

On December 7, the Southwestern Pennsylvania Interfaith Alliance (SWPIA) hosted its first public forum titled "Religion in Public Education: Problems and Prospects." The forum was addressed by Dr. David E. Engel, former President of Pittsburgh Public School Board, Professor at the University of Pittsburgh and author of the book Religion in Public Education. Educators from throughout the Pittsburgh area and its suburbs were invited to join SWPIA at Trinity Cathedral to discuss character development, support of public education, and other issues. Participants engaged in an important dialogue which has now launched a continuing discussion between the public schools and the faith community which seeks to support them.

The Southeastern Pennsylvania Interfaith Alliance (SEPIA) recently sponsored a successful forum on "Religion and Public Life" at which among other important community members, Rev. Tony Campolo and former mayor Wilson Goode spoke. The forum was also notable for its use of video technology which linked the SEPIA with the new Pittsburgh area based Southwestern Interfaith Alliance. In a truly statewide dialogue, the groups were able to respond to each other's questions and build the TIA network.

The Interfaith Alliance of Middle Tennessee has been established and is prospering! National Director of Religious Education and Outreach Ken Brooker Langston spoke before two successful community-wide meetings in Nashville of one hundred people each. With a committed core group of leadership, the Alliance is currently working on a myriad of concerns from basic resource needs like research to monitoring and tracking local religious right activity. The Alliance is also working on a programmatic schedule for the winter as well as working to identify basic issues around which they can rally, educate and motivate the community. With interest and membership rapidly expanding, what was originally a Nashville group has already spread to include middle Tennessee. The Alliance has also completed basic organizational structuring, electing officers and creating by-laws.

The Interfaith Alliance of Washington State (IAWS) has been rapidly growing, and since its formation last spring, 15 state chapters have been established! Involved in a myriad of activities, the IAWS covered new ground with its foray into the electoral process in local school board elections. As reported on page 1, the IAWS produced a Campaign Pledge which established protocol for respectful use of religion in politics and as well as advocating a non-discrimination stance. IAWS also created a Candidate Questionnaire. The results of both the Pledge and the Questionnaire were mailed to voters in the four school districts.

Aside from providing unbiased information about the school board candidates, the Alliance also worked to expose dishonest campaign tactics. In one instance the IAWS discovered and shared with the press the fact that widely distributed "voter guides" supposedly produced by a "non-profit, non-partisan foundation" were actually paid for by a single individual and contained biased information. The activities of the Alliance raised public interest in the school board races and promoted thorough examination by the press of dubious tactics used by some candidates. On election day all Religious Right candidates were turned away by voters!

The Northern Virginia Interfaith Alliance produced voter guides which surveyed the candidates on important state issues in five legislative races. The guides were produced in races where the extreme Religious Right was playing a strong role by either fielding a candidate or strongly supporting a candidate through the distribution of Christian Coalition voter guides. Christian Coalition voter guides have repeatedly come under attack as biased, incorrect and thinly veiled attempts to endorse candidates - which they cannot legally do.

Look for news about the following states to join the T.I.A. family soon: Minnesota, New York, Oklahoma, Oregon, Texas, North Carolina, Iowa and Kentucky!

The Light