How faith leaders can fight back

A new toolkit series can help communities meet this moment

Throughout history — on the global stage and in states across America — religious leaders and communities have played a crucial role in protecting people and pushing back against authoritarian systems. As an authoritarian president consolidates power in the United States, now is the time for religious leaders and communities in the United States to organize and mobilize.

President Trump’s unprecedented attack on American institutions and vulnerable Americans requires an unprecedented response. The good news? Religious communities are already mobilizing — from filing lawsuits to stop harmful policies, to leading prayer vigils, to advocating for policies that take care of Americans.

One strategy of authoritarianism is to overwhelm people and make them feel a lack of agency. The best way to resist this temptation is to ground ourselves in community and make a plan to take action — and we are here to help.

Today, we are launching The Faithful Fight, a toolkit series for religious leaders and communities to help them make a plan to push back on the authoritarian threat.

These toolkits will feature inspiring stories from people who have spent their lives working to advance justice, and will include practical ways that you can take action.

Why faith communities are key to the struggle between democracy and authoritarianism

Religious actors and communities have historically played key roles in both propping up and in dismantling authoritarian systems. Religious symbols, slogans, rituals, organizing infrastructure and communications networks have been important sources of power for autocrats and pro-democracy movements alike. It is important to build on the history of faith-based actions to promote pro-democracy movements. From the leadership of Black Churches during the American Civil Rights movement, to Pope St. John Paul II confronting Communist systems in Eastern Europe, to a multi-denominational faith movement in Zambia uniting to publicly oppose manipulation of their country’s constitution, to Muslim-led nonviolent resistance to autocracy during the Arab Spring, to Buddhist clergy rejecting military junta rule in Myanmar, religious leaders are the engine of helping communities overcome authoritarian rule.

The goal of authoritarian strategies is to create the politics of “us vs. them,” to give themselves the singular “authority” to determine who is deserving of rights, dignity, and even having their basic needs met, and who is not. Such efforts run in direct contrast to religious communities which believe that every person has human dignity — and many of which believe that each human person is made in the image and likeness of God.

From a policy perspective, the administration and its allies in Congress are taking extreme measures to delegitimize, intimidate, and divide religious communities, including:

• Authorizing Immigration and Customs Enforcement to conduct deportations inside houses of worship — repealing decades-old regulations prohibiting this practice.

• Pausing refugee resettlement and stopping funding for refugee resettlement work — including work to support refugees who have already been vetted and arrived in the United States.

• Spreading lies accusing Catholic, Lutheran, and other organizations of criminal operations and promising to defund their work altogether.

• Attacking diversity, equity and inclusion programs, resulting in Christian groups being forced to suspend their operations.

If history has taught us anything, it’s that the best way to defeat an authoritarian system is to build a broad coalition of individuals who might have major disagreements on politics or policy, but who are willing to join together to prioritize the defense of fundamental democratic freedoms. As two people who work closely with faith communities, we have been inspired by the leadership that has already been shown by people of faith across America. We are also hearing that people want concrete ways to take action, and more information on how to build the broad coalition that is necessary to meet this moment.

Read more: Why collective action is the only way

We want to do our part to build this coalition with you. In the coming weeks, we will publish toolkits from inspiring leaders who are taking on the work to protect our freedoms in communities across the country. They will provide concrete ways that you can take action, and we’ll be inviting you to share other information and materials that could help orient our collective action.

Today, we are publishing the first two toolkits in this series:

• Dr. Barbara Williams-Skinner of Faiths United to Save Democracy writes about strategic policy advocacy, and the ways that effective advocacy can lead to policy change: Advocating for a multiracial democracy.

• Mary Ellen Giess of Interfaith America writes about the ways that bridgebuilding and dialogue across differences can strengthen social movements: Building bridges across difference.

In the coming weeks we will publish toolkits from additional experts on urgent topics, including:

• Amanda Tyler of The Baptist Joint Committee for Religious Liberty, on how to protect religious liberty.

• Rev. Deth Im of Faith in Action on how to organize for collective action.

• Shailly Barnes of The Kairos Project on Mutual Aid and Strategies for Survival

• Tamara Upfal of The Religious Action Center for Reform Judaism on welcoming the stranger and standing up for immigrants and refugees.

• Maggie Siddiqi of Interfaith Alliance on how to stand up against attacks on government agencies.

• Rev. Stephen A. Green and Maria J. Stephan on non-cooperation and civil disobedience.

• A resource from Protect Democracy on security best practices.

At a time when an authoritarian movement in the United States is seeking to divide us from each other and degrade fundamental freedoms and our shared humanity, religious communities have a critical role to play in bringing communities together and fighting back. The religious opposition can harness the power of faith actors and communities to draw on different strategies, ranging from bridge-building and advocacy to grassroots organizing, community care, and nonviolent resistance, in order to confront and transform hateful authoritarianism with spiritual tenacity and loving defiance, while moving us closer to the beloved community.