Date: Mon, 29 Jan 96 17:52 EST From: TIAlliance@intr.net (by way of Maggie Heineman ) Subject: The Interfaith Alliance in Oregon For Immediate Release Contact: Jill Hanauer (202) 639-6370 January 24, 1996 Mary Carroll (503) 281-0597 The Oregon Interfaith Alliance's Distribution of Mainstream Voter Guides to Counter Extreme Religious Right Portland, OR - Over 70,000 voter guides were distributed by mail this week to voters in Oregon. These voter guides were distributed by The Oregon Interfaith Alliance and the national Interfaith Alliance. They were designed to educate voters as to where both candidates for the U.S. Senate seat vacated by Bob Packwood stood on a number of pressing issues. "Unlike the Christian Coalition's voter guides, these guides are fair and objective" stated Mary Carroll, state coordinator of the Oregon Interfaith Alliance. Issues covered in these guide included medicaid and medicare cuts, environmental regulation and minimum wage cuts and housing discrimination. Earlier this month Oregon religious leaders announced the formation of a state chapter of The Interfaith Alliance, an organization that provides people of faith with a mainstream alternative to the divisiveness and intolerance of the extreme religious right such as the Christian Coalition. Reverend Rodney Page, Executive Director of Ecumenical Ministries of Oregon stated, "We pledge to promote the positive role of religion as a healing and constructive force in public life, and to challenge those who manipulate religion for partisan political gain." Mainstream religious leaders from across the country organized The Interfaith Alliance in 1994 to speak out against the divisive use of religion in the public sphere, including political campaigns. TIA goal is to ensure that an alternative faith-based voice is heard in the public debate. The national grassroots movement now encompasses 16 state chapters and over 20,000 members. Rabbi Emanuel Rose the Senior Rabbi at Temple Beth Israel in Portland, emphasized the need for a reasonable and civil faith-based alternative to the prevalent influence of the extreme religious right in Oregon. He asserted these groups are "guilty of fostering divisiveness and bigotry, in addition to pursuing partisan political agendas, under the guise of religious certainties." Reverend Cecil Prescod, minister at the Highland United Church of Christ in Portland, declared, "The need for fair and honest voter guides should be obvious to anyone who has seen the so-called 'voter guides' distributed by extremist groups like the Oregon Family Council and Pat Robertson's Christian Coalition." Proclaiming the need for a mainstream faith-based response to groups like the Oregon Citizens Alliance, the Oregon Family Council and the Oregon Christian Coalition, Rev. Page asserted, "in the name of God and 'family values', these extremist organizations preach not the gospel of love and healing, but rather a destructive message of division, discord, and even outright hatred. To achieve their political goals, they unhesitantly engage in character assassination, distortion of facts, deliberate misrepresentation of the beliefs and values of their political opponents." He proceeded to issue a challenge to Oregonians, declaring, "When such deceptive and divisive activities are carried out in the name of God and religion, people of faith can no longer remain silent." (The speakers' statements can be downloaded from the WWW at htttp://www.intr.net/tialliance/ oregon.htm) # # # Jon Paone The Interfaith Alliance 1511 K Street, NW Suite 738 Washington, D.C. 20005 tialliance@intr.net http://www.intr.net/tialliance