People of Faith Challenge Democrats

Religious leaders and people of faith who've been invited to the table at this week's Democratic National Convention are not sitting quietly with their hands in their laps.

The head of a large African-American denomination challenged the party on abortion. An Orthodox Jewish rabbi raised his voice about school choice. A thirty-something evangelical Christian author warned against Democrats who mock believers.

Although well aware that party officials have political reasons for reaching out to them, several faith figures taking part in convention events say they want to go beyond talk about how faith and values inform longstanding Democratic policies. They are also calling for change on core Democratic issues, which could create tension.

"It's important that people of faith are being listened to just like other constituencies, that we're not marginalized," said Alexia Kelley of Catholics in Alliance for the Common Good, which has pressed the party to support policies aimed at reducing abortion rates. "Just because we're participating in the process and engaging people who may not agree with us doesn't mean we're just a mascot."

Religion has played a visible role at the convention, starting with an interfaith service and continuing Tuesday with the party's first caucus meetings for people of faith.

Beneath "Pro-Family Pro-Obama" placards, a range of faith leaders — and Joshua DuBois, Barack Obama's religious affairs director — framed poverty, climate change, human rights and abortion as not just policy causes but moral ones.

"Let's be honest: Religion has been used and abused by politics," said Jim Wallis, an evangelical and editor of Sojourners magazine. People of faith, he said, "should speak prophetically more than in a partisan way." Wallis is not endorsing a candidate and will also appear on a panel in St. Paul, Minn., next week during the Republican convention.

Wallis said religious voices lobbying Democrats have gotten results, including language in the platform that aspires to reduce poverty rates by half in the next decade.