By Mike Kennedy, Faith Climate Justice Voter Campaign Manager
“Where do we go from here?”
Invoking the title of the Rev. Dr. Martin Luther King’s last book, the Rev. Adam Russell Taylor asked this of the audience during our recent “Protecting Our Democracy” webinar, co-presented by IPL and our partner Creation Justice Ministries.
“I think the question facing us today is, where do we go from here?,” asked Taylor, the president of Sojourners. “Fascism or multiracial democracy? Now, you may think it’s alarmist to describe the potential risk of our country moving down the path of fascism. But if you really look at the definition of fascism, it literally is about putting a party or a figure over what’s best for your nation. It is about oftentimes an allegiance to a particular race and maintaining that race’s power, rather than recognizing the strength of our multiracial pluralistic democracy.”
Taylor then encouraged the audience to register voters, educate them about voting changes in their states, and inspire them to vote.
I signed off the webinar fired up to encourage IPL supporters to register voters as part of our Faith Climate Justice Voter Campaign and to invite them to our July 25th voter registration training with When We All Vote.
I then checked Twitter (self-care tip: don’t do that right before bedtime), and saw the breaking news that Senator Joe Manchin sided with the fossil fuel industry, placing profits over people, to prevent necessary climate action.
It felt like a punch to my gut. I’ll be honest: the next day was tough for me.
And then I remembered the words of IPL Board Chair Rev. Dr. Gerald L. Durley in this video: “And then get out to vote. That’s what we’ve got to do. As a team, as a family. And remember this: when it seems so foreboding and you feel like giving up, we didn’t give up. We didn’t quit. We didn’t turn around. We didn’t back up. We didn’t bend. We didn’t bow nor did we break. But what we did, we voted.”
IPL believes that together – as a team, as a family – we can register 1,000 new voters this year, and help elect leaders at every level who believe in smart climate solutions for us all.
Visit this YouTube playlist to view the full webinar or brief moments of Rev. Taylor and leaders from our IPL affiliates in Georgia, Michigan, and Texas discussing what’s at stake and why people of faith and our faith communities are uniquely positioned to protect our democracy.
Together, we can ensure that every American can safely and freely cast their ballot so that every voice is heard and our elections reflect the will of the people.
