Wisconsin Faith Voices for Justice, a state-wide interfaith education and advocacy organization, is dismayed and distressed at the Supreme Court’s decision today to uphold President Trump’s ban on travel from predominantly Muslim countries.
 
President Trump has consistently stated that his intent was to keep Muslims out of the United States. The Supreme Court abdicated its responsibility as the court of last resort when it decided to ignore these statements.  The Court, in today’s decision, stated that the president’s own words about the intent of this ban were immaterial and that the ban itself was ‘neutral on its face’.  Yet intent has always been taken into account when deciding the constitutionality of a law. 
 
Further, the Court accepted at face value the Trump Administration’s contention that national security was at risk. Justice Sonia Sotomayor, in her dissent from the bench, rightly countered that the excuse of national security merely was a cover for an “openly discriminatory policy motivated by animus” to a religious minority.
​
As people of many different faiths, many of whom have ourselves faced discriminatory immigration policies throughout history, we decry this decision and proclaim solidarity with our Muslim brothers and sisters. We will continue to work for understanding and to build bridges among our various faith communities and to work against the forces of discrimination and hate.

As people of differing faith traditions in the United States, we find it offensive when the Attorney General misuses any religious tradition to justify separating children from their families. As people of faith we derive our commitment to social justice from the teachings of our respective faiths, but it is entirely inappropriate for a government official to invoke religion in promoting an inhumane policy.
 
Attorney General Jeff Sessions recently quoted Christian Scripture – Romans 13 – in defense of his policy of tearing children away from their parents when they arrive at our border, seeking asylum. These are people fleeing from civil war, gang violence, and domestic violence. Border officials often take the children away, some as young as 18 months, under false pretenses of taking them for a bath. The parents realize too late that their children are not coming back, and they have no way to find where they have been taken or contact them. These people are seeking safety and hospitality at our borders, and they are receiving the opposite.
 
The Scripture AG Sessions cited (Romans 13:1) does indeed read, “Let every person be subject to the governing authorities, for there is no authority except from God and those authorities that exist have been instituted by God,” but he ignores the context. The following verses explain not only that we are to obey the law, but also lay out an expectation that the laws are made for the benefit of all God’s people. The passage culminates in this admonition: ‘Love your neighbor as yourself. Love does no wrong to a neighbor, therefore, love is the fulfilling of the law.’”
 
While we deplore the misuse of scripture to justify public policy, if our government officials are going to use religious text, there are many others we suggest: “‘When a foreigner resides among you in your land, do not mistreat them. The foreigner residing among you must be treated as your native-born, love them as yourself” from the Hebrew Bible (Lev. 19:33-34: 33). From Christian scripture: “Truly I tell you, whatever you did for one of the least of these brothers and sisters of mine, you did for me.’” (Matthew 25:40).
 
From the Quran: "And do good unto your parents, and near of kin, and unto orphans, and the needy, and the neighbour from among your own people, and the neighbor who is a stranger… " (Quran: An-Nisa (4:36)). From the Baha'i: "Be a home for the stranger, a balm to the suffering, a tower of strength for the fugitive" (Gleanings from the Writings of Bahá’u’lláh).
 
Faith traditions around the world teach versions of the Golden Rule. We encourage our elected representatives and government officials to look to that Golden Rule when making policies, for then our collective values of love, compassion, empathy, and generosity toward those who come seeking safety and peace will be reflected.
 

Reverend Susan Schneider
Trinity Lutheran Church
Madison, WI 53704
 
Rabbi Bonnie Margulis
President, Wisconsin Faith Voices for Justice
Madison, WI 53719

 
Organizations/Congregations

Community of Hope UCC Steering Committee
Lutheran Office for Public Policy in Wisconsin
Madison-Area Urban Ministry
Wisconsin Council of Churches
Wisconsin Faith Voices for Justice

 
Signatories: (congregations/organizations for identification purposes only)
Rev. Anne Andert
ELCA (retired)
Janesville, WI
 
Alicia C. Armstrong
Immigration Attorney
Owner, Alicia C. Armstrong Law Office, LLC
Sun Prairie, Wisconsin
 
Rev. Ann Beaty
Associate Minister
First Congregational UCC
Madison, WI 53726
 
Joanna Berke
Madison, WI
 
Rabbi Jonathan Biatch
Temple Beth El
Madison, WI 53719
 
The Reverend Jeffry G. Billerbeck
Chaplain (retired)
Blue Mounds. WI
 
Rev. Winton Boyd
Senior Pastor
Orchard Ridge UCC
Madison WI
 
Rev. Joe Brosius
Pastor of Outreach
Good Shepherd Lutheran Church
5701 Raymond Road
Madison, WI 53711
 
Marlene Buechel
Verona, WI
 
The Rev. Mark M. Clinger
Senior Pastor
First Baptist Madison
Madison, WI
 
Catherine Coberly
2580 Lalor Road
Oregon WI 53575
 
Merle Cohen
Madison, WI
 
Kia Conrad
Madison, WI 53704
 
Tim Coughlin
Middleton Community United Church of Christ
Middleton, WI
 
Rev. David C. Couper
Madison Chief of Police (Ret) and St Peter’s Episcopal Church
North Lake, WI
 
Reverend Cindy Crane
Director
Lutheran Office for Public Policy in Wisconsin
Madison, WI 53719
 
Rev. Kirsten Curtis
Christ Lutheran Church
Spring Green, WI 53588
 
Rev. Timothy Dean
Senior Pastor
McFarland Lutheran Church
McFarland, WI 53558
 
Ruby Dow
Mauston, WI
 
Rev. Mark Elsdon, M.Div, MBA
Executive Director/Campus Pastor
Pres House at UW Madison
Madison, WI 53703
 
Rev. JoAnne Fabie
ELCA (retired)
Waunakee, WI
 
Rev. Dr. Jerry Folk
ELCA (retired)
Madison, WI
 
Reverend Jeff Fox-Kline
Minister of word and sacrament
Covenant Presbyterian Church
Madison, WI
 
Rev. Kristin Gorton
Memorial United Church of Christ
Fitchburg, WI 53712
 
The Rev'd Dr. D. Jonathan Grieser
Rector
Grace Episcopal Church
Madison, WI 53703
 
Reverend David Hart
Sherman Avenue United Methodist Church
Madison, WI 53704
 
Rev. Phil Haslanger
United Church of Christ (retired)
Fitchburg WI 53711
 
The Reverend Dr. Miranda Hassett
Rector
St. Dunstan's Episcopal Church
Madison, WI 53705
 
Rev. Heather Hayward
St. Luke’s Lutheran Church
Middleton, WI
 
Reverend Eldonna Hazen
First Congregational United Church of Christ
Madison, WI 53726
 
Nathan Houston
Madison, WI
 
Rev Breanna Illéné,
Pastor
Trinity & First United Methodist Church
Madison, WI
 
Reverend Sonja Ingebritsen
Community of Hope United Church of Christ
Madison, WI 53717
 
Rev. Peder Johanson
Bethlehem Lutheran Church
Broadhead, WI
 
The Rev.  Andy Jones
Saint Andrew's Episcopal Church
Madison, WI  53716
 
Barbara Katz
Madison, WI
 
Linda Ketcham
Executive Director
Madison-area Urban Ministry
Madison, WI 53713
 
Rev. Robb Kosky
St. Paul’s Lutheran Church
Waterloo, WI
 
Reverend Tina Lang
First United Methodist Church
Madison, WI
 
Reverend Lex Liberatore
Lake Edge United Church of Christ
Madison, WI 53716
 
Ellen Lindgren
Middleton WI
 
Rev. Erica Liu
Campus Pastor
Pres House
Madison, WI 5370
 
Rev. Doug Locken
Pastor
Peace Lutheran Church
Waunakee, WI
 
Rev. Karen Locken
Lead Pastor
Peace Lutheran Church
Waunakee, WI
 
Rev. Jason M Mack
First Baptist Church
Madison WI
 
Bill and Bobbie Malone
Madison, WI
 
Maureen McDonnell, O.P.
Madison, WI  53711
 
Rev. Dr. Paul J. Melrose ( ret )
United Methodist Church
Michigan Conference
Madison, WI
 
The Rev. Jonathan Melton
St. Francis House Episcopal Student Center
Madison, WI 53715
 
Rev. Lisa Nelson
Faith Lutheran Church
Columbus, WI
 
Rev. Katya Ouchakof
Lake Edge Lutheran Church (ELCA)
Madison WI 53716
 
Rev. Kathleen Cook Owens
Pastor
First Presbyterian Church
Oregon, WI 53575
 
Rev. Kerri Parker
Executive Director
Wisconsin Council of Churches
Sun Prairie, WI

Leila Pine
Madison, WI
 
Rev. Matthew Ploeger
Spiritual Care Coordinator
Heartland Hospice
Madison, WI
 
Rev. Lori Powell
Pastor
St. Mark's Lutheran Church
Madison, WI
 
Reverend Michael Rehak
Director, Institute for Congregational Identity
Cambridge, WI 53523-9401
 
The Rev. Oscar A. Rozo
Priest in charge
St. Mark’s Episcopal Church
Beaver Dam, WI 53916
 
Rev. Dick Runge
Retired UCC Pastor
Member of Memorial UCC
Fitchburg
 
Janet Ruszala-Coughlin
Middleton Community United Church of Christ
Middleton, WI

Mary Sanderson
De Forest, WI
 
Reverend Leslie Schenk
Plymouth Congregational United Church of Christ
Madison, WI 53704
 
Erica Serlin Ph.D.
Licensed Psychologist
Co-Chair Temple Beth El Immigrant Action Team
Madison WI
 
Reverend Larry Sexe
Deerfield Lutheran Church
Deerfield, WI 53531
 
Janice Cittasubha Sheppard
Lay Buddhist Minister
Abhayagiri Buddhist Monastery, and
Madison Insight Meditation Group Tuesday night weekly sitting
 
Pastor Pat Siegler
Zion Faith Community
Madison WI
​
Myrna Solganick
Madison, WI
 
Laura Stalder
Immigration Group Plymouth UCC
Madison Wisconsin
 
Rev. Nick Upthall
Advent Lutheran Church
Madison, WI 53717
 
Reverend Brad Van Fossen
Monona United Methodist Church
Monona, WI 53716
 
Rae Vogeler
Oregon, WI
 
Donna Vukelich-Selva
Madison, WI
 
Wendy Ward
Madison, WI 53704
 
Rev. Joe Wilkinson
Christ Our Savior Lutheran Church
Sussex, WI
 
Reverend Cynthia M. Wunder
Lodi First Presbyterian Church
Lodi WI 53555
 

44% of Wisconsin women who could vote, didn’t vote in the last midterm election.
Because voters trust information from people they know, we want to equip, engage, and empower people like you to help turn out more Wisconsin women voters. Wisconsin Faith Voices for Justice is proud to partner with the Wisconsin Alliance for Women’s Health in this project.

If you’re interested in helping to get more Wisconsin women to the polls this year, we invite you to participate in the Relational Voter Program (RVP).  By encouraging 5 to 10 of your friends, neighbors or family members to get out and vote in 2018, you can make an enormous difference!

How does it work?  It’s easy, and you can do it at your own pace!

Step 1: Decide to give the relational voter program a try
Agree to participate and help turn out family, friends, and neighbors to vote this year!

Step 2: Identify 5 – 10 people you know and can contact to help get to the polls in 2018
Make a physical list of 5 to 10 people that you agree to work with through November 6th.  Ideally, select people who trust you, who respect you, and who would welcome your help to get them to the polls.  Once you have your list, enter it online at http://bit.ly/wiwomenvotervp.

Step 3: Have an initial conversation with each of your list of contacts

• Do they plan to vote?
• Are they registered to vote?
• Do they know they can register at the polls?
• Do they know where their polling place is?
• Do they have the voter ID they need to vote?
• What issues does the voter care about?
• Do they know who their representatives are?

 
Step 4: Follow up conversations (inform, persuade, and assist)
Have at least one follow-up conversation with each of your voters one or two weeks before the election.  All RVP leaders will be provided with additional information and resources that you can use for these conversations, but essentially, it will be a casual conversation reminding them about the upcoming elections.
 
Step 5: Get Out the Vote
Make an election day plan and follow up with your contacts to ensure they have voted.  You can even go with others to the polls or arrange to vote early as a group.
​
For more information, visit: http://www.asklearnvote.org/relational-voter-program.html
We are indebted to the Wisconsin Alliance for Women’s Health for their leadership in this project! 

You shall not abuse a needy and destitute laborer (Deuteronomy 24:14)
 
As people of faith, we believe that work is sacred and brings dignity to the worker. However, current proposals before our state legislature and coming from our federal government threaten that dignity and will harm low-income Wisconsinites’ ability to make ends meet. Our faith traditions teach us to honor the worker, to pay her appropriately and in a timely way, and to reach out a helping hand to those in need.
 
Many of these proposals – such as drug testing and work requirements, have no purpose other than to shame and stigmatize the poor. The real shame, though, is to a society whose policies and structures serve to keep people in poverty.
 
These proposals, Special Session AB/SB 1-5, and Special Session AB/SB 8-10, have passed in the Assemby and next week will be before the Senate. Among the provisions of these bills:

• Work requirements for ‘able-bodied adults’ to qualify for FoodShare (food stamps)
  • Exempted are adults caring for children under the age of 6. However, there is no provision for job placements to take place only during the school day. This leaves parents with the choice of losing food benefits or paying for after-school care.
  • Further, the FoodShare Education and Training program has been shown to be inadequate to providing stable, well-paying employment, but it has been shown to result in needy Wisconsinites losing access to nutrition.
  • The reality is, when an adult loses their FoodShare benefits, the whole family suffers, as FoodShare is allocated per household, not per family member. This legislation will result in increased hunger for low-income Wisconsinites. 
• Photo ID for FoodShare cards – Photo ID’s are expensive, and ultimately unworkable, as many states have found.
• Drug testing and employability for low-income housing –
  • low-income able-bodied Wisconsin residents who otherwise qualify for public housing would be required to be screened by local housing authorities to determine if they are unemployed or underemployed, requires the housing authority to create an employment plan, and the resident to follow the plan. However, local housing authorities have no expertise in creating or administering employment plans. Further, to deny public housing to someone based on their employment status only serves to exacerbate unemployment, as stable housing is an important factor in obtaining stable employment.
  • Drug-testing is simply an effort to stigmatize the poor and discourage them from applying for benefits.  There is no evidence to suggest low-income Wisconsinites are any more likely than the general population to engage in drug use. Further, no additional funding or support services are offered, either to assist with employment or to address treatment for drug use.

Click here for more information on these and other Special Session proposals.
Please call your Senator and ask them to oppose these bills.  Find your legislators here 

As I write this, we are hours away from a potential government shut-down.  The inability of our leadership to come together on issues that so profoundly affect people’s lives, such as DACA and the Children’s Health Insurance Program, is deeply disturbing.

Equally disturbing is the threats that are being made to our nation’s social safety net, to life-saving programs like Medicaid, SNAP (food stamps), and other supports that help families and individuals make ends meet. After enacting a tax cut bill that benefits the wealthy and corporations and will add up to $1.5 trillion to the deficit, Speaker of the House Paul Ryan is now poised to pay for the tax bill by cutting services for the poor, elderly, disabled, and children.

(To see how the tax bill will disproportionately harm Wisconsin’s poor and middle-class, and benefit the wealthy, read this)

Congressional Democrats and Republicans will each be holding retreats at the end of January/beginning of February, to talk about their party’s respective legislative priorities for 2018.  It is imperative that we keep in contact with our Wisconsin Congressional Delegation and let them know we fervently oppose policies that harm Wisconsin’s poor and middle-class. 

Please let your Congress member know you support programs that help struggling Wisconsinites make ends meet and that lift them out of poverty – programs like SNAP, Medicaid and Medicare, Social Security, and the Affordable Care Act. Let us each do our part to lift up our voices for those most in need. Call the Congressional switchboard to be connected to your member of Congress - 
(202) 224-3121.

Genesis 37:1-36
 
From Joseph’s Dreams to the Dreamers of Today
 
The story of Joseph and his prophetic dreams is familiar to us all, even iconic. It is the beginning of the foundational story of the Jewish people – the 430-year sojourn in Egyptian slavery leading to the Exodus and the coming together as God’s people at Mt. Sinai. Without Joseph and his dreams, the children of Israel would never had ended up in Egypt in the first place.
 
But Joseph himself could not know what would come of his journey into Egypt, neither for himself nor for his descendants. Even if he had known, there was nothing he could have done about it, for the journey was not of his own volition.
 
Because of his dreams, he was brought into Egypt at the tender age of 17, and put to work as a servant. From this lowly position, and, also as a result of dreams, he eventually rose to a position of power and authority, making an invaluable contribution to his adopted homeland.
 
Today there are Dreamers among us whose journeys in some ways mirror that of Joseph. Brought to this country as children, not of their own will, they have made the United States their home. And like Joseph, they do not yet know the invaluable contributions they might be able to make to this country. If our country’s current leadership has its way, they may never be given a chance to find out. And we all will be the poorer for that loss.
 
Thirty-six times the Jewish community is reminded to be good to the strangers in our midst, for Jews know what it is to be strangers in a strange land. Joseph’s journey led the Jewish people to that experience of oppression, and inspired in the Jewish people an empathy and a sense of righteous justice for those who find themselves similarly strangers among us.  Let us all employ that empathy now, as we stand together with the Dreamers of today.
 
You can help today by calling your Senators and Representative and telling them to pass a clean DREAM Act. Legislators are talking about using the DREAM Act as a vehicle to attach funding for more ICE agents, to build a wall on the Mexican border, and to build more detention facilities. These policies threaten the safety and well-being of the Dreamers’ parents.  A clean Dream Act, without those provisions, would protect young immigrants without holding them hostage to their parents’ safety.
 
The bipartisan Dream Act would protect DACA (Deferred Action for Childhood Arrivals) -recipients by providing qualified undocumented immigrants who came to the U.S. before the age of 18 a pathway to citizenship. To be eligible, individuals must graduate from high school or pass the GED and either attend college or enlist in the military.
 
Call your Senators and Representatives today and urge them to pass a clean Dream Act!
 
US Capitol Switchboard (202) 224-3121
 

 
Wisconsin Faith Voices for Justice condemns the violence and hatred that white supremicists brought to Charlottesville, Virginia this weekend. Our thoughts and prayers are with the family of Heather Heyer, who was killed in an act of terrorism, the families of Virginia state troopers H. Jay Cullen and Berke M.M. Bates, and all those who were injured.
 
We are deeply disturbed that our President seems to make a moral equivalency between those who spew racist and anti-Semitic hate speech and counterprotesters bringing a message of peace and love. The hate, violence, and terrorism of white supremacists and neo-Nazi groups have been emboldened by his own hate-filled rhetoric toward Muslims, immigrants, the LGBTQ community, and women. Hatred, intolerance, and incitement to violence cannot be allowed to flourish in this country, and we need for our President to be someone who will stand up against the forces of evil.
 
Above all, we pray for a restoration to peace and sanity, in Charlottesville and across the country. In the face of such brutal and evident inhumanity, we as people of faith will continue striving against divisive rhetoric and violent behavior. And even when dominant voices of our country refuse, we invite all concerned citizens to join in the work for a more just and perfect union. May we all stand together for justice, equality, and in celebration of the rich diversity that has made our country great!

Mishnah Torah 10:7-14
The highest level of tzedakah (righteousness), exceeded by none, is that of the person who assists a poor person by providing him with a gift or loan or by accepting him into a business partnership or by helping him to find employment – in a word, by putting him where he can dispense with other people's aid.
 
Last week, President Trump sent his 2018 budget proposal to Congress.  Widely denounced as cruel and heartless, pundits and lawmakers on both sides of the aisle have sought to placate us with the pronouncement that the proposal is “dead on arrival”.  This message is meant to persuade us that we have dodged a bullet. But make no mistake, the bullet is still speeding toward us.
 
The Trump budget is very much in line with previous Republican budget proposals, as illustrated in this chart from the Center on Budget and Policy Priorities. So, while the Trump budget might be dead, the same policy proposals will still be put forth, just under other names.
 
Our faith traditions teach us to share our bounty with those less fortunate than ourselves. Jewish tradition teaches that the highest level of giving is to provide the poor with the means to lift themselves out of poverty, to the point that they no longer need help. The Republican policies would turn this teaching on its head. They would withdraw the assistance (food stamps, health care, housing assistance), without providing the means to end poverty (education, job training, economic development).
 
These extremist policy proposals target the most vulnerable in our communities.  Those most at risk include the elderly, children, and the disabled, as funding for Medicaid and Medicare, Social Security Disability Insurance, and Supplemental Security Income are slashed. Working families will struggle to get even their most basic needs met, as nutrition assistance, health care subsidies, and low-income housing are all on the chopping block.

Touted as a ‘job creation budget’, the reality is these policies will end funding for education programs, student loan supports, job trainings, and other supports for low-income workers and their families.  Instead, the real winners will be the wealthiest Americans, who will see an average of $50,000 in tax savings every year.
 
This week, Congress is on recess.  We must take advantage of this recess to call and visit our Senators and Representatives in their home offices or attend their town hall meetings and urge them to oppose budget policies that will make America sicker, hungrier, and poorer.  Instead, we urge them to support policies that help people meet their basic needs, that invests in our future by investing in infrastructure, education, health care, renewable clean energy, and provides needed support for the elderly, disabled, and our children. Use this link to find your Congressperson.
 
Further resources:
https://americansfortaxfairness.org/trumps-budget-steals-working-families-give-tax-breaks-billionaires-big-corporations/
 
http://www.chn.org/fiscal-year-2018-budget/
 
https://www.americanprogress.org/issues/economy/reports/2017/05/26/433065/trump-budget-threatens-american-people/

Wisconsin Faith Voices for Justice is outraged at the passage of the American Health Care Act in the House of Representatives. We can only hope that wiser, more compassionate, heads will prevail in the Senate.  This dangerous legislation will result in the loss of health care for 24 million Americans, including the millions of Americans who live with pre-existing conditions. This legislation is immoral and unconscionable.  We call upon all members of the Senate to stand against pressure from those extremists who promote tax credits and benefits for the wealthy at the expense of the health and well-being of moderate and low-income Americans. We are appalled that a cynical political calculation on the part of certain members of Congress placate their base by passing “Trumpcare” was placed above the welfare of the American people.
 
The American Health Care Act was passed before the Congressional Budget Office could issue its assessment of the impact the bill will have on Americans’ access to health care and the impact on the national budget and the economy.  However, we do know that it will gut Medicaid, slashing $849 billion dollars from this vital program, and putting at risk millions of the elderly, the disabled, and children.  It strips the protections from the 130 million Americans with pre-existing conditions. And it eliminates the Ten Essential Health Benefits that had guaranteed free preventive care measures such as mammograms and other cancer screenings, brought mental health services on par with other health care, and ensured access to habilitative and rehabilitative health care, among other provisions.
 
In exchange, the American Health Care Act provides tax breaks and tax shelters to wealthy Americans, allows Americans aged 50-64 to be charged premiums up to five times those of younger individuals regardless of their income or ability to pay, and allows for annual and life-time caps on coverage, which means the sickest Americans, such as people with chronic disease or cancer, will use up their coverage and be faced with the devastating choice of bankruptcy or forgoing necessary treatment.
 
As people of faith, we believe that access to affordable, comprehensive health care is a right, not a privilege.  We call upon members of the Senate to refuse to consider this legislation and allow it to die the death it deserves. Otherwise, millions of Americans will die premature deaths for lack of access to affordable care.