{"id":6331,"date":"2026-04-21T03:48:01","date_gmt":"2026-04-20T22:18:01","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/banitoday.com\/faith-groups-seek-out-founding-documents-in-bid-to-rescue-democracy\/"},"modified":"2026-04-21T03:48:01","modified_gmt":"2026-04-20T22:18:01","slug":"faith-groups-seek-out-founding-documents-in-bid-to-rescue-democracy","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/banitoday.com\/hi\/faith-groups-seek-out-founding-documents-in-bid-to-rescue-democracy\/","title":{"rendered":"Faith groups seek out founding documents in bid to rescue democracy"},"content":{"rendered":"<p> <br \/>\n<\/p>\n<div itemprop=\"articleBody\">\n<p><iframe title=\"Everlit Audio Player\" src=\"https:\/\/everlit.audio\/embeds\/artl_JagLNUZlnRP?ui_title_intro=Listen+now%3A&amp;client=wp&amp;client_version=2.7.1\" width=\"100%\" height=\"136px\" frameborder=\"0\" allow=\"accelerometer; autoplay; clipboard-write; encrypted-media; gyroscope; picture-in-picture; web-share\" allowfullscreen=\"\"><\/iframe><\/p>\n<p>CHAPEL HILL, N.C. (RNS) \u2014 The prompt for the after-dinner discussion was a familiar phrase: \u201cWe hold these truths to be self-evident.\u201d<\/p>\n<p>Some 90 members of nine religious congregations gathered in the fellowship of hall of University Baptist Church recently to begin a study of the Declaration, with its foundational claim that \u201call men are created equal.\u201d<\/p>\n<p>They are just one of some 30 interfaith \u201cclusters\u201d in 16 states participating in <a href=\"https:\/\/faith250.org\/\">Faith250<\/a>, a new initiative intended to mark the country\u2019s 250th anniversary, or semiquincentennial, this July 4th. These clusters are now pouring over \u201cAmerica\u2019s sacred texts\u201d as part of a mission to revive democratic values they feel have been eroding.<\/p>\n<p>\u201cPeople are really concerned about what\u2019s happening in our democracy,\u201d said Meg Peery McLaughlin, the co-pastor of University Presbyterian Church and a program organizer. \u201cThey have been hungry for a place to bring their concerns about what\u2019s happening and encounter what our shared faith may have to say to it.\u201c<\/p>\n<p>In addition to the Declaration of Independence, the faith clusters will study other foundational texts including Katharine Lee Bates\u2019 1893 anthem \u201cAmerica the Beautiful,\u201d Emma Lazarus\u2019 1883 poem, \u201cThe New Colossus,\u201d and Frederick Douglass\u2019 1852 speech, \u201cWhat to the Slave is the Fourth of July?\u201d<\/p>\n<p>The Chapel Hill cluster comprises members of 22 faith communities, including Protestant churches, a synagogue and a Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints congregation. In this liberal town, home to the University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill, many congregations are critical of the Trump administration and its upending of democratic norms \u2014 from attempting to subvert the<a href=\"https:\/\/www.washingtonpost.com\/politics\/2026\/02\/26\/trump-elections-executive-order-activists\/\"> integrity of elections<\/a> to <a href=\"https:\/\/www.migrationpolicy.org\/article\/trump-2-immigration-1st-year\">mass deportations<\/a> without due process to unprecedented <a href=\"https:\/\/campaignlegal.org\/document\/tracking-trump-administrations-most-corrupt-transactions\">corruption<\/a>.<\/p>\n<div id=\"attachment_4255783\" class=\"wp-caption aligncenter\" style=\"width: 750px;\"><img loading=\"lazy\" loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" class=\"wp-image-4255783\" src=\"https:\/\/religionnews.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/04\/webRNS-250th-Interfaith2.jpg\" alt=\"\" width=\"750\" height=\"563\" srcset=\"https:\/\/religionnews.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/04\/webRNS-250th-Interfaith2.jpg 1600w, https:\/\/religionnews.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/04\/webRNS-250th-Interfaith2-427x320.jpg 427w, https:\/\/religionnews.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/04\/webRNS-250th-Interfaith2-807x605.jpg 807w, https:\/\/religionnews.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/04\/webRNS-250th-Interfaith2-768x576.jpg 768w, https:\/\/religionnews.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/04\/webRNS-250th-Interfaith2-1536x1152.jpg 1536w, https:\/\/religionnews.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/04\/webRNS-250th-Interfaith2-300x225.jpg 300w, https:\/\/religionnews.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/04\/webRNS-250th-Interfaith2-600x450.jpg 600w\" sizes=\"auto, (max-width: 750px) 100vw, 750px\"\/> <\/p>\n<p class=\"wp-caption-text edd-enabled\"><span class=\"caption\">Karen Vandersea bows her head during a closing prayer at the Faith250 kickoff dinner on April 12, 2026, at University Baptist Church in Chapel Hill, N.C. (RNS photo\/Yonat Shimron)<\/span><span class=\"credit\"\/><\/p>\n<\/div>\n<hr\/>\n<p><strong>RELATED:<\/strong> <a href=\"https:\/\/religionnews.com\/2026\/04\/16\/why-trumps-ai-image-is-reviving-old-antichrist-claims-in-new-ways\/\">When Trump\u2019s satire hits too close to home for American Christians, Antichrist claims emerge<\/a><\/p>\n<hr\/>\n<p>Over a dinner fried chicken, mac and cheese and sweet potato casserole, many congregants said they decided to participate because they felt disillusioned and dismayed at the direction of the country.<\/p>\n<p>\u201cI have no idea what is the truth from our government anymore,\u201d said Joseph Watson, a pharmaceutical developer and a member of University Baptist Church, a congregation affiliated with the Cooperative Baptist Fellowship. \u201cI\u2019m hoping this can ground me in just what the purpose was, and I hope it inspires me because it\u2019s getting hard to care about things like I used to because it feels overwhelming what\u2019s happening every day.\u201d<\/p>\n<p>The Chapel Hill cluster began with clergy getting together to study the four founding texts this past fall. Two in the group, Peery McLaughlin and Rabbi Jen Feldman of Chapel Hill\u2019s Kehillah Synagogue, had both heard about Faith250 and presented the initiative to their colleagues as a way help congregants reflect on their shared values amid democratic backsliding.<\/p>\n<p>Faith250 is the brainchild of Michael Holzman, rabbi of the Northern Virginia Hebrew Congregation in Reston, Virginia. Holzman was upset to learn that Trump had sidelined the nonpartisan congressional commission working for nine years to plan the country\u2019s 250th anniversary.<\/p>\n<div id=\"attachment_4255784\" class=\"wp-caption aligncenter\" style=\"width: 750px;\"><img loading=\"lazy\" loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" class=\"wp-image-4255784\" src=\"https:\/\/religionnews.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/04\/webRNS-250th-Interfaith3.jpg\" alt=\"\" width=\"750\" height=\"562\" srcset=\"https:\/\/religionnews.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/04\/webRNS-250th-Interfaith3.jpg 1600w, https:\/\/religionnews.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/04\/webRNS-250th-Interfaith3-427x320.jpg 427w, https:\/\/religionnews.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/04\/webRNS-250th-Interfaith3-807x605.jpg 807w, https:\/\/religionnews.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/04\/webRNS-250th-Interfaith3-768x576.jpg 768w, https:\/\/religionnews.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/04\/webRNS-250th-Interfaith3-1536x1151.jpg 1536w, https:\/\/religionnews.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/04\/webRNS-250th-Interfaith3-300x225.jpg 300w, https:\/\/religionnews.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/04\/webRNS-250th-Interfaith3-600x450.jpg 600w\" sizes=\"auto, (max-width: 750px) 100vw, 750px\"\/> <\/p>\n<p class=\"wp-caption-text edd-enabled\"><span class=\"caption\">The Rev. Meg Peery McLaughlin, co-pastor of University Presbyterian Church in Chapel Hill, N.C., sets the scene for the discussion at the kickoff dinner for the Faith250 initiative on April 12, 2026 at University Baptist Church. (RNS photo\/Yonat Shimron)<\/span><span class=\"credit\"\/><\/p>\n<\/div>\n<p>A few years earlier he had begun applying the Jewish tradition of Scripture study to non-sacred texts.<\/p>\n<p>\u201cI asked myself, \u2018What if we just applied that technique to American stories and American documents?\u2019\u201d Holzman said.<\/p>\n<p>He ran the idea by his interfaith colleagues who seized on it as a way to mark the semiquincentennial. One United Methodist bishop told him, \u201cYou\u2019re solving a problem most of us don\u2019t even realize we have yet,\u201d by which he meant, to celebrate the 250th in a nonpartisan, reflective and thoughtful way.<\/p>\n<p>With some grant funding and a small part-time staff, the project has been rolled out nationwide. As of last week, some 209 congregations, Christian, Jewish and Muslim, have signed up.<\/p>\n<p>The third leg of the project \u2014 after the clergy study and lay study \u2014 is a civic ritual that brings together the cluster\u2019s participants and the broader community for a shared event demonstrating a commitment to democracy. The Faith250 project does not prescribe the action. It\u2019s up to each cluster to decide.<\/p>\n<p>In Chapel Hill, members have yet to decide what they will do ahead of July 4. They are just beginning their study. But by June they hope to have a plan.<\/p>\n<p>\u201cThis is a time when democracy is under profound threat, and Judaism teaches us that hope is founded in action,\u201d said Feldman. \u201cI\u2019m looking for ways that we could do a values-led action in the face of the threats to democracy in our country.\u201d<\/p>\n<p>Organizers of the initiative said they recognized it is unlikely to draw conservative congregations to the effort.<\/p>\n<p>\u201cIt is true that the congregations which are drawn to multi-faith work and dialogue-focused programming are going to be the ones that are center left,\u201d Holzman said. \u201cThe right has embraced a scorched earth approach to politics, one that sees viewpoint diversity as impurity and pollution. So no, I do not expect congregations that have associated themselves with the MAGA movement to be part of Faith250.\u201d<\/p>\n<p>But both clergy and lay people said they saw the value of ideologically left and center congregations uniting and deliberating about democracy together. There are now plans to do a second round of Faith250 conversations timed to happen around Thanksgiving.<\/p>\n<p>\u201cIf people could come together and quit blaming and pointing fingers and complaining and come up with some solutions to what our country\u2019s facing today, I would really want to be part of that,\u201d said Linda Kopel, a member of University Presbyterian Church. \u201cMaybe faith is the one place where we can meet and talk.\u201d<\/p>\n<hr\/>\n<p><strong>RELATED:<\/strong> <a href=\"https:\/\/religionnews.com\/2026\/04\/16\/after-trumps-scathing-attack-against-leo-u-s-bishops-are-more-united-than-ever\/\">Trump slammed the first US pope. The country\u2019s bishops now appear more united than ever.<\/a><\/p>\n<hr\/>\n<p>\u00a0<\/p>\n<p><!-- CONTENT END 1 -->\n        <\/div>\n<p><br \/>\n<br \/><a href=\"https:\/\/religionnews.com\/2026\/04\/20\/ahead-of-the-250th-us-faith-groups-study-founding-texts-in-quest-to-rescue-democracy\/\">Source link <\/a><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>CHAPEL HILL, N.C. (RNS) \u2014 The prompt for the after-dinner discussion was a familiar phrase: \u201cWe hold these truths to be self-evident.\u201d Some 90 members of nine religious congregations gathered in the fellowship of hall of University Baptist Church recently to begin a study of the Declaration, with its foundational claim that \u201call men are [&hellip;]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":6332,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-6331","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail"],"amp_enabled":true,"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/banitoday.com\/hi\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/6331","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/banitoday.com\/hi\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/banitoday.com\/hi\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/banitoday.com\/hi\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/banitoday.com\/hi\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=6331"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/banitoday.com\/hi\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/6331\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/banitoday.com\/hi\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/6332"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/banitoday.com\/hi\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=6331"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/banitoday.com\/hi\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=6331"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/banitoday.com\/hi\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=6331"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}