ESA Public Policy Community

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Heidi is Director of the Congregations, Community Outreach and Leadership Development Project, providing research and consulting on faith-based community ministries. She received her M.A. in Theology and Public Policy from Palmer Theological Seminary of Eastern University. She formerly served on the ESA Staff with the Crossroads Program on Faith and Public Policy. Heidi lives in Hutchinson, KS, with her three children and husband, Jim, a Mennonite pastor.

Welcome to the Public Policy Community.

This community offers a forum for promoting informed, biblically-grounded action and dialogue in the public policy arena. We hope to shape political involvement that more deeply reflects our faith, and to enrich and challenge our faith through exposure to public policy issues. The goal is to help one another "seek shalom" for local, national, and global neighbors (Jeremiah 29:7).

What does the LORD require of you but to do justice, and to love kindness, and to walk humbly with your God?
Micah 6:8

The only thing that counts is faith working through love.
Galatians 5:6

Heidi Unruh,
Public Policy Community Editor

Read the Readers Respond letters to our ePistle Public Policy Community Editor.

Check out my blog on Hope for Children in Poverty.

Featured Article:
New Poverty Measure, Same Mandate
by Heidi Unruh

Add up how much your family spent on food last year, then multiply by three. Does that figure cover all your basic household expenses—including housing, clothes, utilities and medical expenses? If not > Read More

Ways to Interact

• Sign up for the ePistle weekly communiqué

• Write to the Public Policy Editor

• Click here to donate to the ESA Communities

New Articles

•	Life, Hope and a Future: Healthcare and Abortion by Heidi Unruh I was in a meeting recently when I got a text saying my friend and former Sunday school student had given birth to a son. I offered an unobtrusive fist-pump of joyand also a silent prayer of concern. > Read More

•	Debating Government's Role in Healthcare by Heidi Unruh As people of faith, we envision a society where every person is afforded health, wholeness and human dignity. Martin Luther King, Jr. famously wrote in his Letter from Birmingham Jail that justice > Read More

•	Want to Make a Difference? by Heidi Unruh We throw our readers lots of opportunities to sign petitions or send donations. Here are a few opportunities for you to take a step beyond internet advocacy: Get trained for hunger justice, get involv > Read More

•	The Good, the Bad and the Ugly by Heidi Unruh I don’t know about you, but I prefer to get my bad news first and end on an uplifting note. So let’s start with ugly and work our way toward good. > Read More

•	Dear Congressional Representatives: Repeal the Death Penalty by Heidi Unruh The Kansas state legislature will soon be debating a bill to ban capital punishment and replace it with life in prison without parole. Advocates cite “the will of the people” as giving momentum to the > Read More

Featured Ministry

Micah2010

Micah2010 and its sponsor, Micah Challenge USA, are part of part of a global Micah Challenge movement of churches, universities, organizations, families, and individuals dedicated to ending extreme poverty. At the Calvin Faith and International Development Conference last month, Ron Sider helped launch the Micah2010 campaign, speaking out about structural injustice and calling for Christians to hold leaders accountable to the Millennium Development Goals and to pray against poverty. Visit the Micah Challenge USA website for action guides, information about trainings, Bible studies and other resources, and sign the Micah Call.

Highlights, News & Events

Lobby Days to Close the School of the Americas (SOA), April 17-19

Graduates of SOA, the US combat training school for Latin American soldiers in Georgia, have been linked with assassinations, torture, disappearances, intimidation of advocates for the poor, and other human rights abuses. Currently HR 2567, the bill to suspend and investigate SOA has 98 cosponsors. Supporters will converge in Washington, DC, April 17-19 for lobbying, vigils and education.

America's Alternative Evangelical Voice

PRISM Magazine
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Featured Article
The United States' Greatest "Soft" Power: Religious Freedom
by Chris Seiple
Our nation's strength is best expressed in its seeking of liberty for all peoples.(March/April 2008)

Relevant Products in Public Policy

Foreign Policy and International Religious Freedom

A recent study on the role of religion in foreign policy found that an "uncompromising Western secularism" dominates American foreign policy, which impedes our effectiveness both in confronting religious extremism and in partnering with religious groups that promote peace and human rights. The report recommends that President Obama make religion "an integral part of our foreign policy." Rev. Richard Cizik, president of the New Evangelical Partnership for the Common Good, co-chaired the study. A press release and the full report can be found here.

On a related topic, see International Religious Freedom Advocacy: A Guide to Organizations, Law, and NGOs, (Baylor Press, 2009) a new book by H. Knox Thames, Chris Seiple, and Amy Rowe of the Institute for Global Engagement. The book equips advocates of religious freedom by explaining international legal protections and outlining practical strategies for safeguarding religious liberty.