Reform Movement Organizes Multi-Denominational Call to Congress Against Guns
The Reform movement corralled a broad array of religious denominations to call into Congress on Monday and demand action on gun violence.
Participant organizations in the “Faiths Calling” event organized by Reform’s Religious Action Center include the Reform, Orthodox, Conservative and Reconstructionist streams, as well as mainline and evangelical Protestant, Roman Catholic, Eastern Orthodox, Sikh and Muslim groups.
Also included are a number of Jewish public affairs groups.
Callers-in, who may access Congress through the Faiths.org website, are asked to advocate for one or several of four policies: Universal background checks, a ban on semi-automatic assault weapons, making gun trafficking a federal crime and improving access to mental health services.
The breadth of the participation is rare, encompassing liberal and conservative groups.
One of the more conservative groups, the Southern Baptist Convention, sounded a qualified and almost apologetic note in its emailed appeal.
“We believe our representatives do need to hear from people around the country,” said the email from Richard Land, the body’s president of its Ethics and Religious Liberty Commission. “We encourage you to call as well to tell your congressman and senators what you think should be done. Do you want universal background checks? A ban on semi-automatic guns? A ban on high-capacity magazines? More attention to mental health issues? Or something else?”
Did you know that only 2% of Forward readers donate to support our nonprofit newsroom? That 2% make it possible for millions to read the Forward without a paywall or subscription — removing any barriers to the full and fair Jewish story.
But while the Forward is free to read, it isn’t free to produce. Big stories — like deep dives into the antisemitism data, political scoops or reporting trips to college campuses — take months of research and fact-checking. All while we keep you informed of what you need to know each day.
— Rachel Fishman Feddersen, Forward Publisher & CEO
Support our mission to tell the Jewish story fully and fairly.
