A new coalition of influential Christian groups is ramping up pressure on President Barack Obama and Congress to shield the poor from spending cuts in the ongoing debt-limit struggle, with one organization launching an advertising campaign Tuesday on Christian radio stations in politically important markets.
The ads, airing in the home states of Senate Majority Leader Harry Reid, D-Nev., and Minority Leader Mitch McConnell, R-Ky., and in the home district of House Speaker John Boehner, R-Ohio, feature local pastors declaring the federal budget a “moral document.”
“The book of Proverbs teaches that where there is no leadership, a nation falls, and the poor are shunned while the rich have many friends,” Las Vegas Pastor Tom Jelinek says in one ad. “Sadly, Congress has failed to heed these biblical warnings.”
The ads are sponsored by the liberal evangelical group Sojourners, which has teamed with other Christian organizations from across the political spectrum to form a coalition called the Circle of Protection.
The coalition includes black and Latino clergy organizations, as well as more conservative groups, such as the National Association of Evangelicals and the United States Conference of Catholic Bishops.
The group’s website poses a question designed to send chills through any politician who looks to churches and religious groups as a source for large voting blocs: “What would Jesus cut?”
Coalition leaders met last week with Obama, admonishing him to protect Medicaid and food stamps, among other programs specifically targeted to the poor. The group also has met with staffers for Boehner.
