(C) Daily Kos This story was originally published by Daily Kos and is unaltered. . . . . . . . . . . People of Faith March on Tennessee State Capitol [1] ['This Content Is Not Subject To Review Daily Kos Staff Prior To Publication.', 'Backgroundurl Avatar_Large', 'Nickname', 'Joined', 'Created_At', 'Story Count', 'N_Stories', 'Comment Count', 'N_Comments', 'Popular Tags'] Date: 2023-04-18 Protesters, including clergy, carried caskets to the Tennessee State Capitol on April 17th, 2023. Hundreds of Tennessee clergy and people of faith took their protest to the Tennessee State Capitol on Monday. As The Tennesseean reported: Answering the call of the Rev. William Barber II, hundreds of Tennessee clergy and their congregants marched to the steps of Tennessee’s Capitol to protest gun violence and injustice in the state legislature. Forty-six of them carried six caskets for the six victims of The Covenant School shooting. Many others marched in lines of four, carrying signs saying, “Every day, 120 people in America are killed with guns” and “Faith without action is dead.” A pre-march rally was hosted by McKendree United Methodist Church Rev. William Barber speaks at McKendree United Methodist Church in Nashville, Tennessee The church was packed, with people standing along the walls after the seats filled. Rev. Barber supports Covenant School mom Sarah Neumann as she speaks in front of the Tennessee State Capitol on April 17th, 2023. Voices were raised from many different faith communities, including Barber’s Disciples of Christ (Christian), the hosting McKendree United Methodist Church, and several voices of Nashville’s Jewish community. One of the latter, Rabbi Shana Mackler, made a point that should resonate with persons of faith: Mackler called out an “idolatry” of the Second Amendment. She said, “As a nation, we have been sacrificing to this idol, offering our loved ones up in schools and synagogues and churches and on street corners and in malls and in movie theaters.” You can read the remaining details in the article linked above, but it’s important to note that this protest was only the latest expression of outrage and demand for action from Tennessee’s people of faith. As noted in this article from The Tennesseean, congregations and clergy were raising their voices in the immediate aftermath of the Covenant School shooting: The night of the shooting, the Islamic Center of Nashville prayed for The Covenant School families and for elected officials to find solutions during Tarawih, a special nightly prayer Muslims only perform during the month of Ramadan, said Imam Ossama Bahloul. [...] “Get these automatic rifles, assault weapons that are military grade out of the hands of people,” said the Rev. Aaron Marble at Jefferson Street Missionary Baptist Church, his words carrying above hand claps, hand waves and calls of response. “It’s time.” [...] At First Unitarian Universalist Church of Nashville, the Rev. Diane Dowgiert called on Tennessee’s legislators to “spend less time banning books and drag shows” and “spend more time on compassionate laws and allocation of resources” to boost schools and health care access and “limit access to weapons of war.” [...] At Woodland Presbyterian Church in East Nashville, lay leader Sarah Levy preached against state legislation that many see as targeting the LGBTQ community. She decried politicians who she said are remaining silent on the root causes of violence, but rather have “chosen to scapegoat trans people.” [...] At First Baptist Church, Capitol Hill, the Rev. Kelly Miller Smith, Jr. also called out state lawmakers, specifically House Speaker Cameron Sexton, R-Crossville, for likening protesters at a March 30 rally to “insurrectionists.” [...] The Rev. Travis Meier said at Nashville's First Evangelical Lutheran Church, “I fully believe if Jesus were here today, he would march with the high school students as they make their way to the Capitol to protest injustice and protest madness.” [...] Belmont United Methodist Church erected a table outside the sanctuary with resources encouraging churchgoers to contact their representatives to oppose bills lessening gun restrictions and push for “common sense” gun laws. A list of upcoming protests and public meetings was headed by a simple phrase written in marker: “We Show Up.” The Religious Left is raising its voice, even if the larger media refuses to cover it. Kudos to The Tennessean for both specifically seeking out religious voices in this time of tragedy and covering the faith-led protest in detail. [END] --- [1] Url: https://www.dailykos.com/stories/2023/4/18/2164582/-People-of-Faith-March-on-Tennessee-State-Capitol Published and (C) by Daily Kos Content appears here under this condition or license: Site content may be used for any purpose without permission unless otherwise specified. via Magical.Fish Gopher News Feeds: gopher://magical.fish/1/feeds/news/dailykos/