Clergy leaders try to counter religious right

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Clergy leaders try to counter religious right

Group emphasizes housing, education instead of abortion and gay marriage

By Mark Naymik, The Cleveland Plain Dealer, May 18, 2006

More than 100 religious leaders from Northeast Ohio threw themselves into statewide politics Wednesday, launching a campaign to counter the influence of religious conservatives.

At an event punctuated by prayers, songs and cheers from hundreds of people, the mix of ministers, rabbis and other clergy kicked off We Believe Cleveland, a coordinated effort to promote discussion among their congregations on issues such as housing, health care and education rather than gay marriage and abortion.

The effort is an extension of We Believe Ohio, started several months ago by moderate and liberal Columbus-area clergy critical of Ohio's religious right, which has successfully rallied voters around cultural issues.

The We Believe campaign specifically takes aim at conservative evangelical church leaders Russell Johnson of the Fairfield Christian Church in Lancaster and the Rev. Rod Parsley of the World Harvest Church in Canal Winchester.

Members of We Believe have filed two complaints this year with the Internal Revenue Service accusing Johnson and Parsley of using their pulpits to promote conservative candidates, most notably Republican gubernatorial candidate Ken Blackwell.

Though none of We Believe representatives mentioned Johnson or Parsley by name Wednesday, one of the speakers, the Rev. Kenneth Chalker of the First United Methodist Church, singled out Johnson's Ohio Restoration Project.

Through this organization, Johnson, who could not be reached Wednesday, has organized more than 1,700 conservative church leaders calling themselves "Patriot Pastors" to help push a conservative social agenda in the statewide races this year.

"I am one who believes in these moments as some others do that we should kick butt and take names," Chalker said from a theater stage at the Cleveland Play House, where he was flanked by a throng of religious leaders.

"But I don't want to mention Ohio Restoration Project today. I don't want to mention Patriot Pastors, an abomination today, the kind of organizations that are destructive of the wonderful message of God."

Rabbi Richard Block of The Temple-Tifereth Israel, who co-chairs We Believe Cleveland with the Rev. Otis Moss of the Olivet Institutional Baptist Church, said the group will not endorse candidates and will avoid partisan politics.

"The key issue - where the line gets crossed - is whereby explicitly or by obvious implication, there is endorsement of candidates for partisan political office," he said. "That is a boundary we consider impermissible. I don't believe that God is affiliated with a political party."

We Believe representatives said the group will openly campaign against Blackwell's proposed constitutional amendment to set a state spending cap. And they will promote a proposal to raise the state's minimum wage, which has not qualified yet for the November ballot.

While We Believe speakers didn't mention Democratic candidates, one clergy member on stage displayed on her purse a sticker promoting Democratic gubernatorial candidate Ted Strickland. Representatives from Stickland's campaign attended the event.

And Strickland's running mate, Lee Fisher, has a link to We Believe. His wife, Peggy Zone Fisher, is director of the Northeast Conference for Community and Justice, one of the prime organizers behind We Believe Cleveland.

Zone Fisher, who attended the event, said NCCJ began organizing the group long before she took over as director in March and that she is not promoting her husband's race.

"This was a train already in motion," she said.

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