Living God's Politics

Jim Wallis

• Publisher: HarperOne
• Year: 2009
• ISBN:
  9780061748523
• Topic: Theology & Religion
• Subtopic: Religion, Politics & State

After fifteen weeks on the New York Times Bestseller list, God's Politics not only changed the conversation about faith and politics in this country, it began a movement. All across the country, wherever Jim Wallis spoke, people were frustrated by tax cuts and budgets that widened the gap between rich and poor, aggravated by the government's lack of response to natural disasters, wearied of misinformation and the ongoing war in the Middle East, and exasperated by the impractical political rhetoric about sexual abstinence in lieu of policies that would strengthen more broadly family values and community health.

Folks began asking what they could do to promote peace, economic justice, racial equality, and the sanctity of life. They wanted to know how they could influence government policies to better reflect their moral values. In response, Wallis and the editors of Sojourners magazine offer Living God's Politics, a reader's guide for putting the lessons of God's Politics into action. Who will change our government's policies to better integrate our values? We're the ones we've been waiting for, and this book offers us the tools and techniques to change the political landscape for the better.

A Summary of Social Activism Techniques

JUST ADD CONSCIOUSNESS: A GUIDE TO SOCIAL ACTIVISM

By Liz Carty, Jane Fleming, and Stephanie Seidel

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CONTENTS	CONDUCT A LETTER-WRITING CAMPAIGN
	MEET WITH YOUR MEMBER OF CONGRESS
	CARRY OUT A PHONE-CALLING CAMPAIGN
	TIME YOUR MESSAGE
	USE THE MEDIA
	ORGANIZE A TEACH-IN
	COORDINATE A DEMONSTRATION
	TAKE CREATIVE ACTION
	INITIATE CYBER-ACTIVISM
	FINANCE YOUR ACTIVIST PROJECTS
	GET THE WORD OUT

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This appendix¹ focuses on activism opportunities for students, but all of the ideas can be applied among a wide range of age groups, issues, and organizations. With a little tweaking, you can make any of the following suggestions succeed for your group!

CONDUCT A LETTER-WRITING CAMPAIGN

It takes only a piece of paper and a pen to be an effective advocate. People often ask, “Will my letter make a difference?” Yes, it will! Congressional staff members say all it takes is ten to twenty handwritten letters to draw their attention to an issue.

Since writing a letter takes only a few minutes and requires limited supplies, it is the perfect advocacy tool to take anywhere on campus or in your community. Write letters at a group meeting, after class, or at a related event. National, state, and local organizations that follow the issues you care about can provide helpful information, such as sample letters and fact sheets. Also, check out the Cyber-Activism section of this guide for information on how to effectively use email to communicate with legislators.

If you’re an active young person, you can write to the representatives of your school’s district and state, or of your hometown. Check out the Web sites listed in the reference section below to find your members of Congress by zip code. If you’re hosting a campus-wide letter-writing table, don’t worry about knowing the address of each member of Congress. Students can always write to the representative and senators from their school’s district and state.

For more targeted letters, write to your representatives who are on key committees. Web sites—including the ones listed in the reference section below—and congressional guides in public libraries list the committees each member of Congress serves on and explain what the committees represent. Don’t be tempted to write to a key representative to whom you have no connections. Many congressional offices disregard mail that is not from a student or constituent in the district or state.

Most congressional offices respond to handwritten letters with information about their positions on the issue. If your elected official is not supportive, find answers to his or her concerns. If your representative takes your recommended action, write a thank-you note. It shows you care enough to watch how your representative responds. Be sure to stay in touch with that person throughout the year, track the progress of your issue in Congress, and let your representative know you voted on election day!

Important contact information:

Representative _________________________

U.S. House of Representatives

Washington, D.C. 20515

Senator _______________________________

U.S. Senate

Washington, D.C. 20510

Capitol Switchboard: [phone]

President _____________________________

The White House

1600 Pennsylvania Avenue NW

Washington, D.C. 20500

White House Comment Line: [phone]

Sample Letter

The following sample shows the essential elements of a persuasive letter to an elected representative. (Note that the numbers shown in the letter correspond to the numbered tips that follow.)

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The Honorable Robert Smith

U.S. House of Representatives

Washington, D.C. 20515

Dear Representative Smith (1):

Thank you for supporting the recent House legislation to increase the minimum wage by $1 over two years (2). As you know, the debate is not over yet (3). In this critical time, I urge you to continue to push for passage of an increase in the minimum wage of at least $1 over the next two years (4).

One in ten households in the U.S. cannot afford the food their families need. In my work at Shepherd’s Table in southwest Houston, I have met many hard-working families whose full-time job does not make ends meet (5). A higher minimum wage would help these families make work pay and put food on their tables.

Your leadership on these issues is very important. I look forward to working with you to help end hunger in our world.

Sincerely,

Ann McCurry

123 Stella Link

Houston, TX 77012 (6)

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Tips

1. Always start with the proper title: Honorable or Representative/Senator.
2. Be brief and courteous. Many effective letters are only four or five sentences long. If you can, begin your letter by thanking your representative for a recent vote or speech that you appreciated. Check out voting records to find out about votes you favor and how elected officials have voted.
3. Time your message to be most effective. The legislative process list on page 134 (under “Time Your Message”) shows at what key times to write your letters to have the most impact.
4. Be specific. Identify the particular legislative proposal you are writing about, and briefly explain why you want your representative to support or oppose it.
5. Write your own letter and personally sign it. Think about what makes you change your mind on an issue. It is not always the fact-filled argument, but a concerned person who shares his or her own experiences and observations.
6. Put your return address on the letter as well as on the envelope. Most congressional offices respond to constituent mail with a letter. Your address shows your member of Congress that you are a constituent, as either a student or a registered voter in the congressional district or state.

References

www.vote-smart.org is a nonpartisan organization that tracks voting records and contact information.

thomas.loc.gov supplies research on specific legislation. It is a service of the Library of Congress.

www.networklobby.org includes tools for lobbying Congress and local elected officials, as well as the steps to a bill becoming a law.

www.bread.org is the Web site for Bread for the World, a grassroots advocacy organization that tracks hunger-related legislation and shows how members of Congress are voting on key issues.

www.sojo.net contains action alerts on critical issues of the day.

Advice from a Seasoned Letter-Writer

After educating ourselves as a group on the issue, we plan our letter-writing campaign about a month in advance. We set up our letter-writing table for three consecutive days, usually Monday, Tuesday, and Wednesday of the same week. We set the table outside, or just inside, a different building each day for about four hours during a popular time.

At the table, we are always sure to have plenty of paper, pens, envelopes, sample letters (which should be only a paragraph or two), clipboards, and several lists of representatives and senators by state. We make posters with facts and a sample letter around the table to attract attention to it. Making sure no one can pass the table without looking at it is key.

We always have two volunteers behind the table, coordinating and distributing the materials and answering questions. The volunteers behind the table make the letter-writing campaign run smoothly and without confusion.

We also have at least two to three volunteers in front of the table, with clipboards and paper in hand, actively approaching people. The volunteers in front of the table are crucial to getting a high number of letters. If people aren’t asked to write, they most likely won’t ask what’s going on. An effective way to confront people is to approach confidently, with a friendly smile, explain the issue in one or two sentences, and then ask if they could take a minute to write a letter. We continuously emphasize to everyone that their letter can make a difference in the lives of hungry people. This is particularly important on campuses, since many young people don’t vote because they feel that they can’t make a difference.

One last piece of advice for your letter-writing campaign: Never sit! Those working the campaign are supposed to be the ones most committed to the campaign and most excited to be a part of it.

—TERRY MAMBU, VILLANOVA UNIVERSITY

MEET WITH YOUR MEMBER OF CONGRESS

Few actions can match the effectiveness of meeting with your member of Congress face to face, whether at his or her Washington office, a district office, or a community forum. Elected officials are strongly affected by the opinions of constituents who are committed enough to a specific concern to arrange a visit.

Tips

Call your representative’s appointment secretary to schedule a meeting time. Tell the scheduler what topic(s) you want to cover, and be sure to mention how many people you’ll have with you. Some congressional offices are small. If you’re bringing a large group, the office staff may need to prepare an alternative meeting space. Small groups are okay; you don’t need to promise a crowd.

If you’re a student, organize a diverse group from your campus’s congressional district to attend. Consider what may help persuade your representative. For example, if your member of Congress has a particular religious persuasion, invite prominent community leaders from that faith tradition to accompany you on the visit.

You don’t have to be a policy expert, but you do have to be well prepared. You should be conversant with the main points of the legislation you’re addressing without engaging congressional staff in a heated debate. Prepare main talking points that are ...

Table of contents

• Cover
• Title Page
• Contents
• Getting the Most from Living God’s Politics
• Before You Start
• Week One: Faith and Politics
• Week Two: War and Peace
• Week Three: Economic Justice
• Week Four: Poverty
• Week Five: A Consistent Ethic of Life
• Week Six: Racism
• Week Seven: Strengthening Family and Community Values
• Week Eight: Hope for the Future
• A Summary of Social Activism Techniques
• Getting Involved
• Notes
• Acknowledgments
• About the Authors
• Credits
• Copyright
• About the Publisher