Interfaith Committee of the Coalition Against NATO/G8 War & Poverty Agenda (CANG8) statement against Mayor Emanuel sponsored ordinances restricting First Amendment rights

As part of the pressure campaign to stop Mayor Emanuel from restricting the freedom to assemble, the Interfaith Committee of CANG8 circulated the following statement to faith leaders in the Chicago area.  The letter with the signatures of 35 prominent ministers and faith leaders was presented to Mayor Emanuel’s office Wednesday morning, January 18th, just prior to the opening of the City Council meeting.

The Interfaith Committee intends to continue to gather the support of faith leaders to defend the right to protest war and austerity. 

 The Petition:

A Petition to the Government for Redress of Grievances

WHEREAS the founders of our American democracy, when debating the freedoms that should apply to “we the people,” rejected the proposal that these freedoms be “tolerated,” and affirmed that these freedoms are “rights – even unalienable rights – that the government must always honor; and

WHEREAS the Bill of Rights – not the Bill of “Toleration” – of the United States Constitution places the freedom of religion first, but associates it with the essential freedoms of speech, of the press, of peaceable assembly, and of petition the government for redress of grievances; and

WHEREAS religious leaders and their communities have a long and continuing tradition of defending these essential and interconnected rights whenever the government has sought to compromise or deny them as a means of exercising control, exploiting fear, and imposing unreasonable physical and expressive restrictions on persons and groups; and

WHEREAS the political and community leaders of the City of Chicago have determined that benefits will be realized by inviting the G8 and the North Atlantic Treaty Organization to hold their scheduled summits in May of 2012 in the City, and that these invitations have been accepted; and

WHEREAS the political leaders of the City of Chicago have now used the occasion of the forthcoming summit meetings of the G8 and NATO to rewrite and make significantly more restrictive and oppressive those ordinances applying especially to the freedom of speech and the freedom of peaceable assembly, and to threaten and intimidate with massive police action, arrest, and exorbitant fines those who are planning to assemble and speak in protest against the policies and actions of the G8 and NATO as well as other matters of national and international concern; and

WHEREAS these political leaders of the City of Chicago have taken steps to unreasonably limit the hours and places for free speech and peaceable assembly during the G8 and NATO summits, including spaces that are officially acknowledged to be “public” in character, and even to discourage non-protesting persons, groups, and institutions from their presence in these public areas; and

WHEREAS, we as leaders of faith communities of the greater Chicago region and other parts of the country have a religious and public responsibility for demanding that political and community leaders meet their assigned duties ethically, legally, and in keeping with the Constitution of the United States of America;

WE, therefore, the undersigned religious leaders petition the Mayor of the City of Chicago, Rahm Emanuel, and members of the City Council, to cease and desist from the enactment of any and all laws and ordinances, policies and practices that, in word or in spirit, violate, compromise, and undermine the clear and consistent meaning of the United States Constitution and it Bill of Rights.

Petition signatures

(Institution/Religious affiliation is for identification purposes only)

 

The Rev. Thomas Aldworth, Pastor, Morgan Park Baptist Church, Chicago

The Rev. Luis Alvarenga, Iglesia Unido de Cristo, Berwyn

The Rev. Jacki Belile (ABC – USA); Founder and Director, Living well Ministries

Fr. Bob Bossie, SCJ

John Cassel, First Church of the Brethren

Joyce Cassel, First Church of the Brethren

The Rev. Ann Coburn, Episcopal Church

Dr. Pauline Coffman, Middle East Task Force of Chicago Presbytery

The Rev. Daniel Dale, Senior Minister, Wellington Avenue United Church of Christ, Chicago

The Rev. William Exner, Vice-Chair, National Executive Council, Episcopal Peace Fellowship

The Rev. Sarah Fisher, Rector, St. Peter’s Episcopal Church, Chicago

The Rev. Dr. Cotton Fite, Priest Associate, St. Luke’s Episcopal Church, Evanston

The Rev. Lee A. Gaede, Deacon, St. Giles Episcopal Church, Northbrook

Dr. Linda Gaither, Chair, National Executive Council, Episcopal Peace Fellowship

The Rev. Larry Greenfield, Executive Minister, American Baptist Churches of Metro Chicago

Dr. Marshall Elijah Hatch, Senior Pastor, New Mount Pilgrim Missionary Baptist Church;  The Leader’s Network,  Chairman

Rafeeq Jaber CFP, Treasurer, Civil Rights Education Center

The Rev. Damon R. Jones, Senior Pastor, First Baptist Church of Berwyn, American Baptist Churches of  Metro Chicago

The Rev. Jackie Lynn, Executive Director, Episcopal Peace Fellowship

The Rev. Loren McGrail, Wellington Avenue United Church of Christ, Chicago

Imam Abdul Malik Mujahid, Chair, Board of Parliament of World Religions

The Rev. Emeka P. Nwachuku, Vicar, St. Andrew’s Pentecost Episcopal Church, Evanston

Fr. Robert H. Oldershaw, Pastor emeritus, St. Nicholas Parish, Evanston

Ahmed Qadeer, Co-Vice Chairman, DuPage United Secretary, Naperville Interfaith Leaders Association (NILA), Ex-President, Islamic Center of Naperville)

The Rev. Bonnie  Perry, Rector, Rector/Senior Pastor, All Saints’ Episcopal Church, Chicago

The Rev. Primitivo C. Racimo, Vicar, St. Margaret of Scotland Episcopal Church, Chicago

The Rev. Elizabeth Ritzman, American Baptist Churches, USA

The Rev. Dr. Douglas R. Sharp, Interim Minister, Lake Street Church of Evanston, American Baptist Churches, USA

Swami Shraddhananda, Yoga Chicago (magazine)

Mr. Newland Smith, Librarian Emeritus, Seabury-Western Theological Seminary

The Rev. Dr. Jerome A. Stone, Evanston

The Rev. Linda Tossey, Pastor, Community Baptist Church, Warrenville

The Very Rev. Kara Wagner Sherer, Rector, St. John’s Episcopal Church, Chicago

The Rev. Robert T. Yeager, Oak Park