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<\/a>Below is the Higher Ground Moral Declaration in conjunction with \u201cThe Revival: Time for a Moral Revolution of Values\u201d; a national tour to redefine morality in American politics and challenge leaders of faith and moral courage to be more vocally opposed to harmful policies that disproportionately impact the poor, people who are ill, children, immigrants, communities of color, and religious minorities.<\/em><\/p>\nWE NEED YOUR BODIES!!<\/strong><\/p>\n *Note:\u00a0<\/strong>On September 12, 2016 underpaid workers, people of faith, students, union members, clergy and many more will gather at state-capitols across the country. Everyday people will take action to address the ongoing attacks from right-wing state legislators. In Tennessee, we will gather in Nashville to fight back! We will make a moral declaration as well as unify our political efforts to create a better Tennessee. We need elected officials who will take the moral high ground and champion democracy, education equity, economic and racial justice, voting rights, and access to healthcare for all. Let\u2019s make our voices heard this election season. <\/em><\/p>\n On April 4, 1967, just one year before his assassination, Rev. Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr., called for a time to break the silence about the injustices in society. At the historic Riverside Church, he preached, \u201cwe as a nation must undergo a radical revolution of values.\u201d He proclaimed that silence was betrayal \u2013 the truth must be told.<\/p>\n Rev. Dr. King\u2019s charge for a revolution of values echoes the cries of the prophets to stand up for justice, righteousness, and the dignity of all throughout the ages.<\/p>\n \u201cIf you remove the yoke from among you, the pointing of the finger, the speaking of evil, if you offer your food to the hungry and satisfy the needs of the afflicted, then your light shall rise in the darkness and your gloom be like the noonday. The Lord will guide you continually, and satisfy your needs in parched places, and make your bones strong; and you shall be like a watered garden, like a spring of water, whose waters never fail. Your ancient ruins shall be rebuilt; you shall raise up the foundations of many generations; you shall be called the repairer of the breach, the restorer of streets to live in.\u201d (Isaiah 58)<\/p>\n \u201cThe believers, both men and women are in charge of and responsible for one another; they all enjoin the doing of what is right and forbid the doing of what is wrong.\u201d (Qu\u2019ran 9:71)<\/p>\n \u201cThe Spirit of the Lord is upon me, because he has anointed me to bring good news to the poor. He has sent me to proclaim release to the captives and recovery of sight to the blind, to let the oppressed go free, to proclaim the year of the Lord\u2019s favor.\u201d (Luke 4:18-19)<\/p>\n We declare that if silence was betrayal then, revival is necessary today.<\/p>\n Nearly 50 years after Rev. Dr. King\u2019s call to break the silence, poverty, inequality, and systemic racism are rampant, voting rights and democracy are being trampled, millions of people lack the health care, living wage jobs, and quality education they need, and racism, hatred, and bigotry are disintegrating any possibility for life, liberty and a pursuit of happiness for everyone in these United States.<\/p>\n Following moral traditions rooted in our faith and the Constitution, we are called to stand up for justice and tell the truth. We challenge the position that the preeminent moral issues today are about prayer in public schools, abortion, and homosexuality. Instead, we declare the deepest public concerns of our faith traditions are how our society treats the poor, those on the margins, the least of these, women, children, workers, immigrants and the sick; equality and representation under the law; and the desire for peace, love and harmony within and among nations.<\/p>\n Together, we lift up and defend the most sacred moral principles of our faith and constitutional values, which are:<\/p>\n <\/p>\n 1. Pro-labor, anti-poverty, anti-racist policies that build up economic democracy through employment, living wages, the alleviation of disparate unemployment, a just transition away from fossil fuels, labor rights, affordable housing, direct cash transfers and other support for all families struggling to get by, and fair policies for immigrants; and by critiquing policies around warmongering that undermine our moral standing and ability to address domestic issues;<\/p>\n 2. Equality in education by ensuring every child receives a high quality, well-funded, constitutionally diverse public education, as well as access to community colleges and universities and by securing equitable funding for minority colleges and universities;<\/p>\n 3. Healthcare for all by expanding Medicaid in every state, ensuring access to Medicare and Social Security, moving decisively towards a universal, transparent, and equitable healthcare system, and by providing environmental protection and protecting women\u2019s health;<\/p>\n 4. Fairness in the criminal justice system by addressing the continuing inequalities in the system for black, brown and poor white people and fighting the proliferation of guns;<\/p>\n 5. Voting rights, women\u2019s rights, LGBT rights, labor rights, religious freedom rights, immigrant rights and the fundamental principle of equal protection under the law.<\/p>\n We believe our moral traditions have a firm foundation upon which to stand against the divide-and-conquer strategies of extremists. We believe in a moral agenda that stands against systemic racism, classism, poverty, xenophobia, and any attempt to promote hate towards any members of the human family. We claim a higher ground in partisan debate by returning public discourse to our deepest moral and constitutional values.<\/p>\n The Higher Ground Moral Declaration provides a moral agenda for our nation. To affirm your agreement with this declaration, we invite you to do four things:<\/p>\n Join community leaders, pastors, and scholars in declaring inequality, poverty, voter suppression, environmental abuse, racism and xenophobia immoral and unacceptable by signing this moral declaration<\/p>\n Take this moral declaration to every candidate for President, the U.S. Senate, Congress and state Governor<\/p>\n Sign a personal pledge to lead direct actions in your state on three consecutive Mondays in September to promote this agenda<\/p>\n