The fourth annual “Faith in Democracy” vigil was held this week lamenting and commemorating the January 6 insurrection. The event exhorted Americans to “resist the attacks on democracy and social justice anticipated during the second Donald Trump presidency.” The event was held at Reformation Lutheran Church in Washington, D.C. Muslim, Jewish, Catholic, and Protestant leaders all attended.
Sister Michele Dunne, executive director of Franciscan Action Network, explained why she organized the event. ” We are here again because the wound of January 6 has not healed. The polarization persists. Politically motivated violence is still happening and there are strong concerns about the health of American democracy and about our civil liberties.”
She added, “We want to remember the need to preserve and improve our democratic system, to ensure that all voices are heard and that the rights of all of our neighbors are protected, especially the rights of our neighbors who are most vulnerable and marginalized.” Bishop Julius Trimble, another faith leader, added his take on the event.
He specifically called out Trump’s immigration policy. “The language of mass deportation literally means family separation,” said the Bishop. He called for the crowd to “Commit ourselves not to ignore the need for support for all those persons who now face forced deportation.” He added “And while the incoming administration beats the drum of mass deportation, we must demand bipartisan work on comprehensive immigration reform and recognition that the language of mass deportation literally means family separation.”
Jeanné Lewis, CEO at Faith in Public Life, said that the January 6th riots “disrespected the promise of the democratic republic that is the United States of America, the promise that was made by our ancestors to each other and to us, the promise that inspired so many of our ancestors and so many of our neighbors to come to this country, the promise that created a pathway to correct the injustices of chattel slavery and colonization.”
Paul Raushenberg, who leads the Interfaith Alliance believes that “They are trying to lure us with propaganda, a poisoned songbook designed to invite us to sleepwalk in lockstep as our hard-fought democracy becomes as a forgotten dream,” he said. “In defiance, we keep our eyes open and call upon all that is sacred to keep us alert, alive, awake. We are called to the watchtower to stand guard and cry out, ‘Warning!’”
He conduced his remarks by saying “I invite us to keep our eyes open, to look around and to trust who and what we see. For beware, even as we commemorate the insurrection of January 6, we are being told by too many that what we saw was not what we saw and that what we know is not what we know.” Another prominent activist, Leslie Copeland Tune, chief operating officer of the National Council of Churches added her thoughts.
She said “I don’t want to over-spiritualize it — there’s been some trauma in our nation and in our lives — but I want to prick your heart and your spirit and your soul to remind you that others have gone through this (political and social turmoil) before.” She dramatically proclaimed God, we are listening. We are watching. God, we are watching to see where you are going to show up. We are watching to see how you are going to use us.”