Uniting for our Neighbors

Across faiths, we’re united by a shared obligation to protect our neighbors. Over the past week, we saw two powerful demonstrations of that principle in action in our nation’s capital, as faith leaders across diverse backgrounds and beliefs gathered on Capitol Hill to combat Islamophobia and advance marriage equality. This week on State of Belief, Interfaith Alliance’s weekly radio show and podcast, we’ll debrief these two inspiring multi-faith events with two guests who were at the center of the action.
The wave of hatred and discriminaton unleashed across America in the post-9/11 was a dark chapter in our nation’s history that we’ve yet to fully confront. The Muslim Public Affairs Council (MPAC), however, has been pushing Congress to reckon with the fallout by advocating for House Resolution 662, which would honor the victims of Islamophobic and anti-immigrant hate crimes over the past decades. Mohammad Hurr Ali, Director of Policy and Government Relations at MPAC, will sit down with Rev. Paul Brandeis Raushenbush, host of State of Belief, to debrief their event on Capitol Hill this week that highlighted this important effort.
When the radical majority on the Supreme Court overturned Roe v. Wade, they put the country on notice that other fundamental rights could be on the chopping block – including the right to marry who we love. Clergy representing diverse faiths have organized tirelessly in the months since, making the faithful argument for protecting same-sex and interracial marriage under federal law. With the historic Respect for Marriage Act poised to pass in the Senate in the days ahead, Rev. Nicole Garcia, Faith Director at the National LGBT Task Force, will join Paul to discuss why religious freedom and equality are complementary values.