Yesterday, a group of clergy members 
engaged in an act of civil disobedience (organized by former Congressman Bob Edgar, President of Common Cause) and were arrested in the Capitol Rotunda after praying for Congress to resolve the debt crisis without abandoning and cutting crucial services for the poorest in our nation. There were also several clergy members who served as witnesses in the Rotunda, including Interfaith Alliance President and State of Belief host Rev. Welton Gaddy and the Religious Action Center of Reform Judaism’s Rabbi David Saperstein.
Thanks to the support of several members of Congress, the clergy members were whisked through the Capitol with a gaggle of staff members (including yours truly) in tow. We were greeted and welcomed by a few members of Congress and then escorted into the Rotunda where the clergy members formed a circle right in the center below the grand dome and began praying. I’ve been to the Capitol Rotunda several times in the past seven years I’ve lived in D.C. but yesterday’s trip to that grand space was a whole different kind of experience.
As the act of civil disobedience was taking place, Rev. Gaddy went out to the Capitol lawn to the Rebuild the Dream rally for a moral budget and called upon our elected leaders to end their “unpatriotic politics and get on with compassionate acts of goodness and generosity.” Rev. Gaddy also shared with the assembled thousands-strong crowd what was underway in the Capitol.
We’ve posted a bunch of pictures of yesterday’s events here and video of Rev. Gaddy’s speech at the rally is available here.
