Faith in Ohio Briefing Book

7/30/2019 Faith in Ohio Briefing Book

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Briefing Book


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About Faith In Ohio

Faith in Ohio is a faith-based, statewide, political organizing

campaign.

Our vision is Democracy Resurrected.

Democratic Resurrection requires legislative and spiritual action.

Our citizen-initiated Constitutional amendment will establish Ohio asworlds first Voter-Centered Democracy . The Voter Centered

Democracy Amendment will finance elections through publicvouchers $50 for every registered voter to distribute to anycandidates, political parties, or initiatives of their choice. Once passed,

public financing will overtake corrupt private financing by a 3:1margin.

Our Institutional Partners

We seek to assemble institutional leadership from the following goodgovernment, community, and faith organizations:

RootStrikers Common Cause Ohio

Ohio Prophetic VoicesOhio Organizing Collaborative

Our Faith, Our Vote EL@M (Election Law at Moritz) Greater Cleveland Congregations

B.R.E.A.D. Congregations (Columbus) Toledans United for Social Action

First Church ColumbusVermilion United Church of Christ Congregational

Mahoning Valley Organizing Collaborative Northeast Ohio Alliance of Hope (NOAH)The AMOS Project (Cincinnati Congregations)


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Democracy Resurrected

Government shapes us.But we cannot shape our government.

Out of control, we dull our fear:Powerless, we become apathetic Apathetic, we become ignorant.

Communing as one body,Awakens boundless power.

Organized we take control. Empowered we declare ownership.

Responsible, we publicly finance elections.Financed, politicians need our power. Liberated, we beacon the world:

Our Faith In Ohio ,is Democracy Resurrected:

Gods Grace,finally Incarnate in politics.


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Table of Contents4 Introduction to Faith In Ohio

5-6 Democracy: A Beautiful Myth

7 Donor-Centered Democracy

8 The Money Primary: Crux of American Power

9 Protesting Corruption Denies the Deeper Crisis 10 The True Illness of Our Democracy: Dread

11 Civic Liberation

12 Faith In Ohio s Political/Spiritual Solution

13-14 The Amendment: Publicly Financed Elections 15-18 Assessing the Amendments Impact

19 The Plan to Pass the Amendment

20 Organizing Plan

21 Will Citizens Rise to the Occasion?

22 Organizing Philosophy

23 Leadership Development

24 Leader Responsibilities

25 Faith In Ohio Agape Meal Services

26 Our Faith In Ohio Hope for Democracy

27 Works Cited: Our Intellectual Foundation


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Introduction to Faith In Ohio Faith In Ohio s vision is Democracy Resurrected.

Democratic Resurrection requires legislative and spiritualaction.

Legislatively, we will amend the Constitution of Ohio to create publicly financed elections. Our historic Voter-Centered Democracy Amendment will make Ohio the first state in America to publicly fund

elections with vouchers $50 for every registered voter to distribute toany candidates, political parties, or initiatives of their choice. Once passed, public financing will overwhelm private financing by a 3:1margin.

To pass our Constitutional Amendment we are appealingdirectly to voters. We are organizing 1,000 leaders from Ohio faithcommunities and colleges collecting 500,000 signatures to put avoter initiated amendment on the March 2016 statewide ballot.

Campaign finance reform is not enough to build a truedemocracy. A deeper spiritual illness plagues our politics. Voters arein despair over the state of politics. And our despair has made usignorant and apathetic. We have disconnected, not because we actuallycannot effect political change, but because we feel that we cannot

change politics.So, even more important than our legislative action, we seek to

build civic spirituality in Ohio. Through this civic spirituality, citizensexperience Communion via political engagement. PoliticalCommunion is a new practice of love, whereby we graciously extendour gifts throughout our whole body politic. Within this state of Communion, we realize a civic power we never knew we possessed.

Once empowered over the electoral process, we hope votersextend our civic communion: to economic, education, environmental,and health reform.

Our model of voter-centered democracy will be a beacon of hope to the rest of our nation and the world.


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Democracy: A Beautiful MythAs Americans, we are born into a profoundly spiritual

understanding of Democracy. Our Revolution, the dawn of modernDemocracy, was inspired by a shockingly idealistic democratic vision.Mocked for his naivet, Thomas Jefferson struck the most devastating

blow to political cynicism the world has ever known.

At Americas birth, Jefferson declared that Democracy is a political expression of Gods Grace: A civic order rooted in our shared

spiritual experience of equality, freedom, and happiness.Millions of Americans have given their lives trying to make

this inspired Declaration a reality.

Yet, the birth of American Democracy was only possible because we were radically idealistic and relentlessly realistic. The brilliance of our founders was their realization that true democracy is

an elusive myth our societys most noble spiritual aspiration, whichcan never be fully realized. In fact, the Declaration of Independencessoaring idealism is only meaningful because it is balanced by our Constitutions grounded realism a fearless recognition of our inherent political sinfulness.

Human nature i s such that every individuals political effortsare always self-serving. The theologian Reinhold Niebuhr describedthe self- corrupting nature of individuals in democracy: Thedisposition to hid self-interest behind the faade of pretended devotionto values transcending self-interest is well-near universal. Man is acurious creature with so strong a sense of obligation to his fellows thathe cannot pursue his own interests without pretending to serve hisfellow men . To successfully acquire power, political agents must

become experts at concealing self-interest in this way. The Federalist Papers , the bedrock of our Constitution, argue that a successfuldemocracy must assume all political behaviors proceed from the sortof subtle corruption Niebuhr describes.

So the structure of a smart democracy will force political actorsto serve the public interest in order to serve their own interest.


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Our Constitution was infused with many practical measures

like the separation of powers aimed at accomplishing just this end.But in the 18 th century, our founding fathers could not anticipate howcampaign finance would become the primary means by which political

power is exercised. So, in the 21 st century, it is incumbent upon us tofollow our Founders example and reform campaign finance in such away that politicians can only serve their own interest i.e. gettingelected by serving the publics interest.

To blame Americas democratic impurities wholly on corrupt politicians and corrupt special interests, though, is nave. In fact, our

democracy has a much deeper problem than corruption.The hard truth is that democracy has never really existed

anywhere in the world. Nowhere has an entire citizenry ever built upenough civic capital broad-based public knowledge and civicactivism to run a real democracy. We falsely idealize democratic

pasts like early America or ancient Greece which were, moreaccurately, a small collection of elite individuals pretending torepresent the broader public interest. Just the sort of false democracywe have today.

The monumental task of empowering the broader public tomeaningfully exercise democracy has never occurred in humanhistory. As political philosopher Roberto Unger describes, What wehave around us is not a system founded on a rational plan. It is not a

machine, built according to a blueprint we are able only partly todivine. It is just an institutional and ideological settlement, a partialand temporary interruption of fighting, a compromise not just amonggroup interests but also between group interests and collective

possibilities. The discovery that we are dealing with a ramshacklesettlement rather than a law like system invites a question. Thequestion is: What is the alternative?

Like our most cherished faith traditions, the language of Democracy is everywhere, but the spiritual power of Democracy isfading before our very eyes.

How can we resurrect our Democracy? We must begin with anhonest account of the mess we are in.


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Politics in the 21 st Century: A Donor-Centered Democracy

Elite political donors, not the voting public, choose thedirection of American politics. A dominant class of political elite haseffectively neutralized our right to vote. Political elites run a secretivesystem centered in campaign finance by which elections areeffectively determined in advance.

Elections are not competitions. They are coronations. In thesecoronations, the winners of a secretive, elitist competition cruise tovictory because of their staggering financial advantage.

Most general elections are coronations because the politicalclass has remapped electoral districts in order to ensure thatincumbents do not face competitive opponents. Gerrymanderingmeans that the winner of any given districts majority partys primaryis nearly guaranteed victory in the general election.

Since the winner of the majority partys primary is almostguaranteed election in the general, it would seem that party primariesare the primary locus of power in our political system. However,

primaries themselves are effectively pre-determined coronationsmasquerading as an electoral competition. Primaries are merely

coronations because the winner of the Money Primary almost alwayswins the Partys Primary.

In our current electoral system, whoever raises the most moneywins the election. And those who win elections rewrite the rules bywhich elections are contested. Tragically, those with the money haverewritten the rules in such a way that as few elections as possible areever contested at all. In this way, our right to vote has beenneutralized. We have been cut off from our Democratic power. Worsestill, most of us dont even know it.

If political power is not won through electoral competition,how is it won? In American politics, politicians gain power, not bywinning over voters in the election, but by winning over donors.


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The Money Primary:Crux of American Power

Long before political candidates engage in meaningful publicdebate, they are busy at the true work of winning the election theMoney Primary.

Before the first public dialogue of our Democracy begins the primary election candidates meet with top-tier donors to sell them on

a governing vision. Donors give money based on how closely thecandidates adhere to the donors ideological agendas.

An especially charismatic candidate can sell donors on agoverning agenda the candidate truly believes in. Less talentedcandidates make more of an effort to accommodate their political

priorities to those of the donors. Though only the latter scenarioimmediately strikes us as corruption, the mere existence of the money

primary is the greatest corruption of our civic society.

Why is the Money Primary such a corrupting process? Whatsso bad about good people (candidates) collecting money from other good people (donors) based on their shared ideals?

The Money Primary is such a horrible corruption because itexcludes 99% of the population from having any meaningful impacton democratic outcomes. Serious candidates for elected office appraisetheir odds of winning an election before they publicly throw their hatin the ring. The way candidates appraise these odds is by comparinghow much money they can raise with that of their opponents. Soduring the Money Primary, before the public is even included in thedebate, the vast majority of serious opposition candidates drop out.Only in rare cases do two candidates with significantly differentgoverning agendas emerge from the Money Primary.

In this way our governing agenda is determined before theelection begins during the Money Primary. In this system, an elitesegment of wealthy donors determine the governing agenda of boththe Democratic and the Republican Party. Our votes barely matter.


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Protesting Corruption Denies theDeeper Crisis

Up to this point, none of this argument concerning the state of our democracy feels unfamiliar. We all agree that politicians andwealthy individuals engage in a corrupting quid pro quo. But, if wehope to truly reform our democracy, we must start thinking differently.

In our public dialogue, when we do talk about our democratic

dysfunction , we place blame exclusively on corrupt politicians andspecial interests. Since we blame these two parties for our democratic failures, we believe that the path towards true democracyis to limit financial contributions. We think, if only there was lessmoney in politics, elections would be so much more democratic.

In truth, we dont spend nearly enough money on politics. Byway of example, Campaign Finance Reform experts Ian Ayres andBruce Ackerman tell us that auto manufacturers spend four times moremoney marketing vehicles than our democracy spends marketingcandidates and issues. Are cars a more important consumer choicethan the direction of our society?

To blame the failures of our democracy on politicians andspecial interests is childish.

The difference between a child and an adult is a matter of perspective. Children run from responsibility. Adults embraceresponsibility. Children, when confused, create symbols

bogeymen to blame their fears on. Adults analyze their confusion tounderstand the deeper causes.

We will never fix our democracy so long as we choose to think

about politics like children. Unfortunately, corruption is not the trueillness of our democracy. Corruption is merely a symptom of the realillness. We must summon the courage to embrace our democraticresponsibilities and analyze our confusion.

We must confront the true illness of our democracy.


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The True Illness of OurDemocracy: Dread

We must have the courage to be honest about the biggest problem facing our Democracy:

Voters are powerless. We are ignorant and apathetic.

When we stop anthropomorphizing exploitative socialdynamics i.e. blaming the bogeymen of the 1% for intentionallycreating an exploitative world order we realize that socialtransformation is not as easy as popularly conceived. We cannotchange the world-order by merely giving what the 1% has to the 99%.The 99% must create their own power and democratic capital. Onlywhen we mature our socio-political worldview in this way does it

become possible to actually change social systems.

Two-thirds of Americans cant name a single Supreme CourtJustice. Almost half of Americans cant name the Vice President. Can

you even name both of your representatives in the state legislature?

Fortunately, voters are ignorant but were not stupid. We areapathetic but were not lazy. We are powerless but were not weak.

Voter ambivalence is a spiritual condition. We live in dread because we do not feel we have the ability to change the system thatshapes our lives. This dread is so deeply embedded, our fear is so

pervasive and all consuming, that we cannot even see it anymore. Wedont even k now that we are afraid of our lack of power.

We fear that average citizens actually shouldnt be trusted withthe responsibilities of government. We are powerless precisely

because we fear that we are so ignorant and apathetic that weshouldnt be trusted with the same influence as the political elite.

We have the ability to empower ourselves. In any givenelection voters could pass initiatives, independently of politicians, togive us power over the democratic elite. Spiritual dread prevents usfrom claiming the democratic power that is our American birthright.


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Civic Liberation Organizing is a spiritual discipline. Communing with one

another, we become empowered to shape our own world for the firsttime in our lives. Only through organizing can we become free.

Organizing must start from where the world is, not where wewould like it to be. In organizing for democratic resurrection, we musttake into account the whole scope of our democratic problem voter apathy and government corruption and then begin to work for

change from the root of the problem civic dread.Community organizing is Americas great civic religion.

Organizing has not yet produced transformative systemic change. But,all over the country, organizing has produced transformative spiritualchange. At its core, organizing is primarily concerned with liberatingthe human soul.

The human spirit becomes liberated when we experience the power to shape and determine the system that has previously shapedour lives in ways we could not control.

Once we have such an experience of holding power over thatwhich formerly held power over us we realize that we have lived our entire lives being controlled by something we could not even see. Werealize that we have been living half-lives blinded to the way thatour political system determines our job, income, education, family life,everything. And when we finally see the power that politics has over us, and we see the power that we can have over politics, we becomefree in a way that we could not have even conceptualized before.

If we hope to overcome Americas deep -seeded existentialdread, we must seek civic liberation. To be civically liberated we must

commune with one another. Together, we must claim ownership of our democratic birthright.

Religious practice is instructive for facilitating such civicliberation. At its core, ritual is about creating an experience. Throughreligious ritual we experience, in a small controlled environment, a

beautiful way of life that we hope to manifest in the larger world.


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A Political/Spiritual Solution Faith In Ohio believes that democratic resurrection must be

both a political and spiritual process.

The beauty of the Faith In Ohio campaign is that weaccomplish both of these objectives at the same time. Our organizingcampaign simultaneously heals the systemic and spiritual wounds of our Democracy.

Politically, we attack our democracys primary systemicissue the exclusive electoral power of an elite minority of the

population through an historic amendment to the OhioConstitution the Voter-Centered Democracy Amendment . Thisamendment revolutionizes campaign finance by empoweringregistered voters with public vouchers. Through these $50 publicvouchers, average registered voters will have a 3:1 funding advantageover the electoral elite.

Spiritually, we attack our democracys primary existentialissue our despair over our lack of power by communing voterswith one another. Our organizing activities are infused with an explicitspiritual practice. In keeping with the earliest worship practices of theChristian movement, our leaders engage in interfaith dinner services.At these dinner services, leaders share stories of civic empowerment,

pray, and discuss their hopes and dreams for democratictransformation. Through this religious ritual we experience, in a smallcontrolled environment, a beautiful way of life that we hope tomanifest in the larger world. Informed by ritual, we collect signatures,to concretely gather political power for our voter initiated amendment.

Pairing political and spiritual transformation together, Faith InOhio seeks to unlock the political power of Ohios faith community.As Ohios largest collection of organized individuals, the faithcommunity should be the most powerful political force in the state.Unfortunately, civic apathy and ideological polarity has made the Ohiofaith community politically powerless. Through our bipartisan,interfaith campaign, we hope to unite conservative and liberal faithcommunities under a shared banner: Faith In Ohio


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The Voter-Centered Democracy Amendment :

Publicly Financed Elections The essential nuts and bolts of the Faith In Ohio amendment:

Every registered voter is given a public voucher for $50 whichthey can choose to distribute to any combination of candidates,

political parties, or issues of their choice.To receive public voucher funds a candidate for office must

forego all private donations in excess of $100.

Why is this particular amendment the most effective means for democratic rejuvenation?

Contrary to popular perception, the problem with our democracy is not that too much money is being spent. Shockingly, the problem is that not enough money is being spent! More specifically, asthe wrong people are buying elections left and right (pun intended),the right people average citizens are not spending anywhere near enough money.

We know from our own life experience that sometimes thedecision processes we spend the most energy on turn out to be themost shallow. The key is to structure our democratic decision making

process in such a way that the energy (i.e. money) we spend propels usinto a deeper, more insightful conversation.

Realizing that campaign finance is the crux on whichdemocratic power is decided, the top legal and political minds in

America have spent decades trying to devise an ideal system by whichto fund campaigns. The Supreme Court decision in the Citizens United case seemed to make campaign finance reform impossible because itmade it illegal to cap electoral spending. However, the mostinnovative and comprehensive campaign finance reform remedyremains untouched by this decision.


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In Voting with Dollars , a pair of Yale professors first realized

that the problem with campaign finance was more of a bottom -upissue rather than a top -down issue. Essentially, they argue that themost effective way to reform elections is to give the little people moremoney than the big people. That way, politicians will need to cater their message to average voters in order to raise the money needed towin elections. And, simultaneously, average voters will have a muchgreater incentive to become civically informed and active, becausethey now have the power to control electoral outcomes.

Recently, Harvard law professor Lawrence Lessig has made

significant improvements to the Voting with Dollars system. His book, Republic Lost , outlines a campaign finance system of providing everyregistered voter with a $50 public voucher as the most effective way toreform electoral politics. Lessigs plan has a few essential qualitiesthat make it a much more comprehensive and viable campaign financereform system than other proposed alternatives. Most importantly, a

public voucher plan sidesteps constitutional prohibitions that have

invalidated past reforms and it does not allow your money to beused to support speech you dont believe in (p 228). In other words, a public voucher system avoids the partisan and constitutional pitfallsthat have sunk every other electoral reform effort.

Faith In Ohio honors the fact that all effective legislation iswritten by citizens with special expertise for a very specific, ever-changing context. Too many nobly intended organizing campaignshave failed because of their naivet regarding policy nuance.

For this reason, Faith In Ohio will assemble a committee of citizen experts to write our constitutional amendment. These experts Dr. Lessig, Ohio State Law professors specializing in electoral law,and Republican and Democratic legislative aides will be chargedwith writing an amendment that meets certain essential democratic

outcomes. Most significantly, the amendment must provide everyregistered voter with a sufficiently large voucher so that electoral power dynamics are dramatically shifted to the grassroots. Theseoutcomes are detailed in p 15-17.

A committee of Faith In Ohio leaders pastors, parishioners,and citizens will vote to approve the policy committees draft .


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Assessing the Impact of ourAmendment:

Three Essential Outcomes If Faith In Ohio s Voter-Centered Democracy Amendment is to

truly revolutionize American Democracy it must achieve threeessential outcomes. The Amendment-Writing Committee will becharged with meeting these three prerogatives:

1. Provide citizens a 3:1 funding advantage over the currentfinancing system. Enable citizens to dominate the Money-Primary, thus establishing an endless referendum-responseloop between voters and elected officials.

2. Ensure that grassroots, reform-minded candidates canviably contend for office.

3. Ensure that elected o fficials self-interest is powerfullywedded to the interest of the broader public.

Faith In Ohio recognizes the need to be relentlessly self-criticaland realistic. In keeping with this spirit, an informed, intelligent criticwould identify three major pitfalls that might prevent the Voter-centered Democracy Amendment from being a successful policy. Thethree greatest potential pitfalls of our amendment are:

1. Grassroots candidates cannot raise sufficient funds to beviable candidates

2. Private financing creatively responds (i.e. triples) andoverpowers public funds anyway.

3. Average voters do not rise to the occasion and becomemore engaged and informed citizens.

This third pitfall is the most likely pitfall of Faith In Ohio . Assuch it warrants a more extensive and developed analysis (p 24-29).On p 16-18 we analyze the potential to meet these three essentialoutcomes while avoiding the first two pitfalls.

The Electoral Viability of


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Publicly Funded Candidates The most powerful way to reform our civic society would be to

ensure that our brightest, most empathetic citizens could wingrassroots campaigns for elected office. The Voter-Centered

Democracy Amendment s publicly funded electoral system will makethis idealistic vision a reality.

One variable, above all, determines whether or not a candidatefor office has a viable chance of winning: how much money they raise.

For every elected office there is a viability hurdle an amount of money that, if raised, means the candidate can reasonably compete for the win. Candidates who raise enough money to meet this hurdle oftenwin. Those who dont reach this viability hurdle, almost always lose.

For Ohio State Representatives, for example, this viabilityhurdle is somewhere between $30,000-40,000. In our currentcampaign finance system, this hurdle is too high for average citizens toreach. In order to raise this much money, most candidates either relyon their own individual wealth or the wealth of their friends, family,and associates. In essence, the viability hurdle is high enough that onlywealthy individuals, or people with close relationships with wealthyindividuals, can reasonably expect to win elections.

With public vouchers, the playing field is leveled. Grassroots

candidates, relying solely on public vouchers, will finally be able toraise enough money to become electorally viable.

To raise $40,000 a candidate would need to receive 800 full-vouchers ($50), 1600 half-vouchers ($25), or 3200 quarter-vouchers($12.50). Effective networking, communications, and personal contactshould enable a skilled grassroots candidate to collect enough voucher funds to be electorally viable. Such fundraising enables approximatelyfour direct connections to primary voters: 2 direct mailers, 1 TV, and 1radio or print. In our democratic system, primary victors are usuallyeffective winners of the general election as well (p 7). All told, skilledgrassroots candidates can use public funds to become viable winners.

Privately-Funded Candidates


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Hit a Threshold of DiminishingReturns

2012 was supposed to be the year that mega-donors finallytook absolute control over elections. But something unexpectedhappened. Super PACS proved to be less influential in the 2012election than expected. Their curious lack of influence on the mosthigh-powered races demonstrated that there is a point at whichexcessive campaign expenditures stop working.

Ohio voters, in particular, were so inundated with politickingthat they started to tune out the excessive ads and doorknockers in thehigh-powered Presidential and US Senate Race. US Senate candidatesJosh Mandel and Sherrod Brown, for example, both shatteredstatewide campaign finance records. But studies show that their adshad relatively little persuasive impact on voters.

The fact that excessive private financing can only take acandidate so far is great news for the Faith In Ohio method of publicfinance. It shows that public financing can be highly efficient even if itmerely ensures viability without guaranteeing a financial advantage.

Ultimately, a candidates campaign finances are much moreimportant in terms of ensuring viability rather than dominating their

opponent. In other words, when it comes to campaign finance, it ismuch more important to hit a minimum floor level than it is to raisethe roof through maximum funding.

Consequently, while candidates with elite fundraising networkswill always enjoy a significant advantage, grassroots candidates whotake advantage of public financing will always have the opportunity tocompete for the win. Even in the most lopsided competitions, the

publicly financed candidate will at least force the electoral debate tofocus on issues of primary concern to the public itself, an historicimprovement.

Amendment Facts and Figures


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Amendment independently of elected officials, through a citizen-initiated constitutional amendment.

To put our amendment on the ballot we will collect 500,000

signatures throughout the state of Ohio. Of these signatures, Ohio statelaw requires that signatures must have been obtained from at least 44of the 88 counties in Ohio. From each of these 44 counties, there must

be signatures equal to at least five percent of the total vote cast for theoffice of governor in that county at the last gubernatorial election 5.

Such a signature gathering effort requires a massive

organizational effort. Special interest groups pay million dollar fees to professional signature gathering firms to complete the process. Faith In Ohio plans to accomplish what million-dollar special interestcampaigns purchase through a volunteer effort.

Such a grassroots organizing campaign will require remarkableheart, ingenuity, and perseverance. But our campaign has one asset,thats considerably more powerful than the special interests money :Faith.

This is the basic organizing model we will employ to put theVoter-Centered Democracy Amendment on the ballot:

1. Build relationships with 50 faith partners 44congregations in our target counties and 6 of Ohioslargest, most socially engaged congregations.

2. Organize a presence on 12 Ohio college campuses.3. From our institutional partners, develop 1,000 leaders.4. Faith In Ohio leaders, coordinating volunteers, collect

signatures at very large public events: county fairs,festivals, and sporting events.

Organizing Plan From May 2013 to March 2016 Faith In Ohio will recruit and

develop 1,000 leaders across the state of Ohio, collecting 500,000signatures in 44 counties. There are two essential components of our

5 Ohio Constitution: Article II, Section 1g
http://www.sos.state.oh.us/sos/elections/Research/electResultsMain/2010results/20101102percentage.aspxhttp://www.sos.state.oh.us/sos/elections/Research/electResultsMain/2010results/20101102percentage.aspxhttp://www.legislature.state.oh.us/constitution.cfm?Part=2&Section=01ghttp://www.legislature.state.oh.us/constitution.cfm?Part=2&Section=01ghttp://www.legislature.state.oh.us/constitution.cfm?Part=2&Section=01ghttp://www.sos.state.oh.us/sos/elections/Research/electResultsMain/2010results/20101102percentage.aspxhttp://www.sos.state.oh.us/sos/elections/Research/electResultsMain/2010results/20101102percentage.aspx


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organizing: Leader recruitment/development and Signature Gathering.

Faith In Ohio leaders will be recruited from two primary typesof institutions: faith communities and colleges. Every Sundaymorning, Faith In Ohio s organizer will lead a Faith In Ohio worshipservice for a different congregation. Beginning from this worshipservice, our organizer will network throughout the community,seeking out individuals with a passion for civic engagement and faithdevelopment. At the end of the week, the organizer will bring together these leaders for an Agape Meal Service (see p 22).

Our organizer will also network through college communitiesseeking potential leaders. By offering guest lectures and networkingthrough Greek organizations, service groups, campus faith groups, and

political clubs, our organizer will connect to young adults with a passion for civic engagement. Our college leaders will be invited tothe same Agape Meal services.

Faith In Ohio leaders, after training and engaging in spiritualdevelopment, will direct signature gathering events. These signatureevents will occur at large public gatherings of over 10,000 people.Such events include county fairs, festivals, and large sporting events.

In our first year, Faith In Ohio will operate with one paidorganizer. This year will be largely oriented towards buildinginstitutional relationships. Additionally, our organizer will travel

across the state in an old RV collecting signatures at fairs and festivalsacross the state and conducting impromptu Agape Meal Services. Thisfirst year we aspire to collect 50,000 signatures. After demonstrating ayear of successful relationship building to our donors, we will hire twoadditional organizers our second year. In the second year we aspire tocollect 150,000 signatures. In our third year we will hire three moreorganizers and, with the number of institutional partners and trained

leaders at its peak, collect the last 300,000 signatures.

Will Citizens Rise to theOccasion?


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The entire success of Faith In Ohio rests upon a single

question: Will citizens rise to the occasion and embrace their democratic responsibilities?

If Faith In Ohio was merely a political organizing campaignthen the answer to this question would likely be no. Politicalorganizing does not transcend citizen apathy because it does notaddress the most fundamental causes of our apathy. We cannot yetdevote ourselves to civic engagement because we do not feel like wehave the power to impact change that we really believe in.

In response to the true cause of citizens apathy, Faith InOhio s organizing campaign is infused with a spiritual practice aimedat defusing civic dread. We hope to tear down civic dread by replacingit with an active practice of civic spirituality.

Civic spirituality is, in a sense, a system of belief. At its core,civic spirituality believes that our societys political functioningshould be an expression of our most cherished spiritual values. But,more importantly, civic spirituality is a practice or a way of life.

The primary practice of civic spirituality is organizing.Through organizing we experience communion with those we sharesociety with. We realize that the bonds of love extend far beyond our families and our immediate social circles. We experience a new

practice of love one that extends through the political system to

people that we will never meet. In this way, we realize a deeper practice of love than we ever thought possible.

Remembering the Faith In Ohio prayer, the core of civicspirituality is this: Communing as one body, awakens boundless

power. Such democratic Co mmunion is Gods Grace finally I ncarnatein politics. Once citizens experience this democratic communion, wecan be confident that they will joyfully embrace their civicresponsibilities.

Organizing PhilosophyOur Organizing Philosophy is modeled on the Christian ideal

of servanthood:


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Let the same mind be in you that was in Christ Jesus, who,though he was in the form of God, did not regard equalitywith God as something to be exploited, but emptied himself,taking the form of a slave, being born in human likeness. And

being found in human form, he humbled himself and becameobedient to the point of death even death on a cross.Therefore God also highly exalted him (Philippians 2: 5-9)

In keeping with the ideal of servanthood, the institutionalhierarchy we seek to embody illustrates our organizing philosophy:

Citizens are served byVolunteers, who are served byLeaders, who are served byThe organizer

By the Christian ideal of servanthood, true leaders constantlyrevoke the power they have in order to empower others.

Faith In Ohio s organizer is primarily responsible for serving

the leaders. Specifically the organizer works to make sure that leadersenjoy a life-giving spiritual connection through their work on thecampaign. To this end, the organizer facilitates Agape Meals, helpsleaders learn more about the political nuances of Faith In Ohio , helpsleaders articulate their own theological connection to civicengagement, and equips them with practical organizing skills.

Faith In Ohio s leaders are responsible for serving voluntee rs.Leaders recruit volunteers from their social networks school, church,etc. More important than recruitment, leaders are responsible for ensuring that volunteers enjoy a life-giving spiritual connectionthrough their work on the campaign. To this end, leaders informvolunteers of the Mission and Vision of Faith In Ohio , lead AgapeMeals for volunteers, and help create meaning at signature gatheringevents for example by leading prayer or discussion.

Leadership DevelopmentThe spiritual development of our leaders is, by far, the most

important component of Faith In Ohio . We hope our leaders growspiritually through Faith In Ohio in the following ways:


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Experience the Divine through Civic Communion : Feel, in

this way, that each human individual is but a finger or toe of alarger, interconnected organism. And to deepen our sense of

purpose by further devoting our lives to justice. Grow as spiritual leaders : Help facilitate a similar spiritual

connection for volunteers. And learn to make explicitconnections between their own faith traditions and the practiceof democracy and then help others do the same.

Learn how to Exercise Democratic Power : To be able to seethe means by which electoral power is acquired and exercised.So that leaders can use these methods of power to promotecauses of love and justice. One of our dreams is that, once theVoter-Centered Democracy Amendment is passed, our leaderswill be among the first grassroots candidates for elected office.

To achieve these ends, Faith In Ohio employs two primaryleader development practices: Agape Meal Services and Signature-Gathering Events. We trust that leadership is inherent within each

individual. As such, leadership is best cultivated, not through teaching, but through experience.

During our Agape Meal Services, leaders are invited to exploretheir own sense of civic spirituality in a generous environment of communion. They, then lead their own Agape Meal Services withfriends and family, helping volunteers make the same spiritualconnection.

During signature-gathering events, leaders learn how toexercise political power. They then exercise their own civic leadership

by managing small teams of volunteers. Here, leadership developmentmeets the real world, as leaders endeavor to create a joyful spiritualexperience for both volunteers and citizen signatories.

Leader Responsibilities Faith In Ohio leaders learn how to lead the campaign by first

participating with the organizer in an Agape Meal service and asignature-gathering event. After these two participatory experiences,and a 1-on-1 meeting with the organizer, leaders get to work leading


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their own events.

Leaders primary responsibility is to recruit and manage a teamof eight volunteers to gather 5,000 signatures. The organizer works

with the leader to develop a plan of action for this effort. For the sakeof illustration, here is a plan of action developed by a leader inVermilion:

1. Identify Five Signature-Gathering Events in the County: Fish Festival 30,000 people. Vermilion. 6/17Vermilion Triathlon 20,000 people. Vermilion 7/9

Erie County Fair (day 1) 50,000 people. Sandusky. 9/2Erie County Fair (day 3) 50,000 people. Sandusky. 9/2Wooly Bear Festival 40,000 people. Vermilion. 10/4

2. Recruit 8 Volunteers:Volunteers are usually family or friends from church or school.

3. Hold an Information/Training Session for 8 Volunteers:

Using the Briefing Book the leader develops a lesson, designedspecifically for their volunteers, on the Faith In Ohio campaign.Writing the lesson is a learning opportunity for the leader as well.Typically, the session is a one-hour meeting after church.

4. Coordinate Five Signature Gathering Events:Make sure four volunteers attend each event and that each

volunteer, in addition to the leader, collects 200 signatures (1,000signatures per event= 5,000 total signatures).

5. Hold A Concluding Agape Meal Service Invite all eight volunteers. Encourage volunteers to make

explicit theological connections to the campaign and enjoy theexperience of civic communion.

Faith In Ohio Agape MealServices

Faith In Ohio seeks to develop leaders and volunteers inertcivic spirituality through Agape Meal Services.


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Agape is a Greek word that Christians use to describe a deep

love of communal fellowship. The earliest Christian worship serviceswere Agape meals where participants from all social stationscommuned together by praying, sharing stories, and discussing thenature of Gods love. Contemporary Christianitys practice of Communion is historically derived from these Agape Meals.

In this spirit, Faith In Ohio brings together its leaders inregular Agape Meal services. During these Agape Meals we pray,share a story of civic spirituality, and discuss our own spiritualconnections to civic engagement.

Through these meals we develop a spiritual Communion of civic leaders that stretches across the state of Ohio. And we deepenour sense of spiritual connection to civic engagement.

In the spirit of spiritual unity, our Agape meals are decidedlyinterfaith services. We hope to unite conservative Christians, liberalChristians, atheists, Jews, Muslims, and agnostics at the same table of civic Communion. Through such diversity we deepen our appreciationof the richness and ever-expanding power of civic unity.

Faith In Ohio:Hope for Democracy

Faith In Ohio is much more than a campaign to pass anamendment. We are a movement to recover something precious that


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has been lost: Hope for Democracy.

Without hope, our democracy is lost. Without hope, individualcitizens live their lives with a subtle, omnipresent sense of dread.

With hope, our democratic possibilities are endless. We mightfinally heal the generations-old wounds of our society that, until now,we lacked the democratic capacity to tackle: like education, budget,environmental, and financial reform.

If we pass our amendment, and if voter-centered democracy proves to be a success, Ohio will become a beacon of hope to theentire world. We will become the most democratic society of our sizein human history.

Most importantly, Ohio will become the sort of society inwhich we experience Gods Grace through Democracy.

Works Cited: Our IntellectualFoundation

Ackerman, Bruce A., and Ian Ayres. Voting with dollars: a new paradigm for campaign finance . New Haven: Yale University Press, 2002. Print.

Alexander, Robert M. Rolling the dice with state initiatives: interest group


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involvement in ballot campaigns . Westport, Conn.: Praeger, 2002. Print.

Alinsky, Saul David. Rules for radicals: a practical primer for realistic radicals .[1st ed. New York: Random House, 1971. Print.

Bowler, Shaun, Todd Donovan, and Caroline J. Tolbert. Citizens as legislators:direct democracy in the United States . Columbus: Ohio State UniversityPress, 1998. Print.

Braunstein, Richard. Initiative and referendum voting governing through direct democracy in the United States . New York: LFB Scholarly Pub., 2004.Print.

Curtin, Michael F., and Julia Barry Bell. The Ohio politics almanac . Kent, Ohio:Kent State University Press, 2008. Print.

Lessig, Lawrence. Republic, lost: how money corrupts Congress--and a plan to stopit . New York: Twelve, 2011. Print.

McCuan, David, and Stephen Stambough. Initiative-centered politics: the new politics of direct democracy . Durham, N.C.: Carolina Academic Press,2005. Print.

Niebuhr, Reinhold. Moral man and immoral society: a study in ethics and politics. . New York: Scribner, 1960. Print.

Reilly, Shauna. Design, meaning, and choice in direct democracy the influences of petitioners and voters . Farnham, Surrey: Ashgate, 2010. Print.

Schmidt, David D.. Citizen lawmakers: the ballot initiative revolution . Philadelphia:Temple University Press, 1989. Print.

Taussig, Hal. In the beginning was the meal: social experimentation & earlyChristian identity . Minneapolis: Fortress Press, 2009. Print.

The Ralph Nader reader . New York: Seven Stories Press, 2000. Print.

Trapp, Shel. Dynamics of organizing: building power by developing the human

spirit . Chicago: S. Trapp, 2005. Print.Unger, Roberto Mangabeira. False necessity--anti-necessitarian social theory in the

service of radical democracy: from Politics, a work in constructive social theory . New ed. London: Verso, 2001. Print.

Wood, Richard L.. Faith in action: religion, race, and democratic organizing in America . Chicago: University of Chicago Press, 2002. Print.

Faith in Ohio Briefing Book

Documents

Transcript of Faith in Ohio Briefing Book