Civil Disobedience for a Moral Budget
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115 religious leaders were arrested in front of the Cannon House Office Building while kneeling in prayer to protest the immoral budget and tax agenda which slashes spending on the poor to finance tax breaks for the rich. Led by Jim Wallis of Call to Renewal, national faith leaders, clergy and faith-based providers of services to the poor held a press conference.
Following the press conference the leaders kneeled in prayer blocking the entrance to the Cannon House Office Building on the corner of Independence and New Jersey Avenues. The Capitol Police began arresting the participants after warning them three times to move from the entrance. The participants were escorted one at a time into one of two Metro buses transported to a Capitol Police warehouse facility at 67 K St., SW (South Capitol and K Street) where they were processed and released after paying a fine.
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Press coverage:
More Than 100 Arrested in Capitol Protest
Associated Press
U.S. Capitol Police arrested 115 religious activists who were protesting a House Republican budget plan's cuts in social programs when they refused to clear the entrance to a congressional office building Wednesday. "These are political choices being made that are hurting low-income people," said Jim Wallis, the event's organizer and founder of the Christian ministry group Sojourners. "Don't make them the brunt of your deficit reduction and fiscal responsibility."
'Christmas scandal' outcry
Chicago Tribune
For Wallis, an author who has argued that progressives have been passive and allowed conservatives to exploit faith as a potent political issue, the event was another chance to gain momentum in reclaiming the religious high ground in national policy debates.
Protesters against U.S. budget cuts arrested
Reuters
More than 100 religious activists protesting proposed cuts to health care and other social welfare programs were arrested on Wednesday after they staged a peaceful sit-in at a government building near the U.S. Capitol.
A Religious Protest Largely From the Left - Conservative Christians Say Fighting Cuts in Poverty Programs Is Not a Priority
The Washington Post
Jim Wallis, editor of the liberal Christian journal Sojourners and an organizer of today's protest, was not buying it. Such conservative religious leaders "have agreed to support cutting food stamps for poor people if Republicans support them on judicial nominees," he said. "They are trading the lives of poor people for their agenda. They're being, and this is the worst insult, unbiblical."
Activists protesting 'immoral' '06 budget are arrested Winston-Salem Journal
Officials said that 114 protesters were arrested after they blocked the main entrance to the Cannon House Office Building during a carefully choreographed event that was organized by Sojourners and Call to Renewal, two progressive faith-based groups that focus on poverty.
Some on Hill want to 'save' Christmas, but others fight for the poor Catholic News Service
"There is a Christmas scandal in this nation that has nothing to do with people at shopping malls saying 'Happy Holidays' instead of 'Merry Christmas,'" said Rev. Wallis, a nondenominational evangelical Protestant minister. He was one of several speakers to contrast their concerns with a campaign by some religious groups and politicians to encourage the use of the word Christmas instead of more generic terms and greetings. "The scandal is the budget in Congress," he said.
Budget cuts protested The Washington Times
"There is a Christmas scandal in this nation...and it is the budget that is an assault on poor people and low-income families," said Jim Wallis, founder of the Christian ministry Sojourners, which helped organize the protest. "This budget and these cuts fill the rich with good things and send the poor away hungry."
Religious Activists Protest Budget as 'Christmas Scandal' CNS News.com
"There is a Christmas scandal in this nation," Wallis told the group, "but it has nothing to do with shopping malls or saying 'Happy Holidays' instead of 'Merry Christmas.' The Christmas scandal is the budget coming out of this House of Representatives, a budget that is an assault on poor people, on low-income families.
Christian Groups fight 'immoral' Budget Bill The Coloradoan
Protesters gathered in front of the offices of Sen. Wayne Allard and Rep. Marilyn Musgrave in Loveland on Wednesday evening to oppose a controversial budget bill. The vigil was a part of a nationwide effort, organized by Jim Wallis, the founder and editor of Sojourners, a Christian journal, to "urge legislators to lead with compassion for the poor and marginalized."
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