Rev. Breanna Illéné also recognizes the intersection of faith and politics, asserting, “Your faith should impact your life. Politics impact your life… and they do mix and need to mix.”
Rev. Breanna Illéné is the Director of Ecumenical Innovation and Justice Initiatives at the Wisconsin Council of Churches. She leads the WCC’s advocacy program, working to engage churches in policy on local, state, and national levels.
Hear the full November 2, 2024 episode here.
TRANSCRIPT:
REV. BREANNA ILLÉNÉ, GUEST:
I’m Reverend Breanna Illéné, and I am the director of ecumenical innovation and justice initiatives at the Wisconsin Council of Churches.
REV. PAUL BRANDEIS RAUSHENBUSH, HOST:
And let me just say that Breanna has been amazing to work with, and such a major part of our trip here. And so thank you, thank you, thank you, to start. Why don’t you tell our listeners a little bit about what has been pressing for the Council of Churches right now, especially in light of this election, and this moment in our democracy?
BREANNA ILLÉNÉ
I think a lot of folks are just asking, how do you be a Christian in our current context? And how do you talk about faith and democracy, faith and politics? So many people are hesitant to talk about that. We are told politics and religion don’t mix. Don’t talk about it. But the reality is, is your faith should impact your life. Politics impact your life. And so they do mix and they need to mix. And we need to help people navigate that.
So, at the Council, we’ve been developing resources to help people do that in their congregations. We launched a campaign called Loving Your Neighbor in an Election Season, which included worship resources, preaching resources, prayers, all kinds of stuff that help equip congregations to do the work in this season.
And some of that is our spiritual resources. So we handed out prayer cards that had a prayer for when times get tough and when the news is depressing. One of our leaders wrote a prayer. We ordered a thousand, originally. We’ve handed out over three thousand, now, because people are hungry for this. They are scared, they are worried. How do we do this? And so we have found that to be really helpful, to help people root and ground.
And then we’ve also been really involved in our democracy and how the minutiae, the bureaucracy, the, Okay, you cast your ballot, and then ballots are counted, and then certification. Like, what is that whole process, and helping people understand that? And we’ve actually been pretty deeply involved in building relationships and infrastructure, so that my work really begins next Wednesday. We’ve got poll chaplains who will be on the ground on Election Day, but we also are prepared to keep working to make sure that every vote is counted, that all people get a voice in this process, and that we follow a process that has been set out.
PAUL RAUSHENBUSH:
This is so important. And you know what it’s called? Like, sowing trust. There’s a lot of people sowing distrust, but you’re sowing trust in our election. And also, recognizing that relationships matter in moments of potential crisis. And so developing those relationships early, rather than like, does anybody have the number for… You know, when it’s all going down, you’re not going to find it then. And so I think this is just incredibly important – and great work, also, for the population.
We’re civically starved, in a way, and we think, Oh, it’s like some sort of weird alchemy. But it’s not that strange. Once you break it down, you say, Okay. And it’s just so important to do that work. Do you have a sense of how Wisconsin is prepared for November 6th, through the 20th, even, of January? You know, those are those are some key weeks there.
BREANNA ILLÉNÉ:
Yeah, there’s a whole infrastructure. I’ve said I’ve never sat in so many rooms with lawyers or been in contact with so many lawyers in my life, and they are people who are just invested in making sure our democracy functions; building those relationships – whether it be with attorneys, whether it be with city clerks, whether it be with poll workers, whether it be with clergy and people of faith and community members and nonprofits to say, We have a process. We have a process that works. We have a process that has worked for years and years and years. It hasn’t always been perfect. We are moving onward towards perfection, I like to say as a Methodist, but we have a process. So how do we help it function better? And in this season when there have been attacks on our process, how do we keep the checks and balances working, maintain the system, keep the system in a way that makes sure that every vote is counted? Make sure that we all get a voice?
PAUL RAUSHENBUSH:
This is it really, really important work. It’s also so important that whether or not you were invited or whether or not you presented yourself, that religion is a part of that, religious communities, because we have a way, we have networks, we have ways of getting out truth. We have ways of rallying people, mobilizing people. But then also bringing people in. I mean, it’s so important that democracy workers recognize the role that religion can and must play in the preservation of our democracy. And I just think that it’s so great, what you’re doing, and so important.
I want to switch, slightly, topics because I know that part of what you do at the Wisconsin Council of Churches, and also you have a passion for it as a pastor, is recognizing that right now, there are two groups that are the “scary” groups that that are being targeted, and one of them is immigrants, and one of them is trans people. And, and I know that you’ve done significant work with trans people. How do you, in your relationships with trans people, how is the community feeling right now in Wisconsin?
BREANNA ILLÉNÉ:
Under attack. I mean, they are not in a great place. One of my friends is an elected official who’s the first openly trans woman elected to the city council in her city, and has just been posting on Facebook about how disparaging this is. And I heard an ad for the first time this morning – partially because I just haven’t been listening – but I happened to have the radio on for the first time and it said, “This is about us, not they/them…” Just, attack, attack, attack.
PAUL RAUSHENBUSH:
And the contradiction in that phrase.
BREANNA ILLÉNÉ:
It was awful. and so one of the things we’ve been talking about, at the Council, is, how do we, as the Church, show up? And so we’ve actually done this in our legislative work. I have been in this role about a year, and so we’ve been doing a lot of experimenting, recognizing, especially in a state like Wisconsin, things are divided, i.e., bills are put up, and one side will vote for them, and one side will vote against them, and then the governor will veto or approve – because it’s all based on political party and kind of a lot of these games.
And so we’ve said, whether we show up or not, the path is already written of how legislation will happen in this state. But people are still showing up, and people still need to hear that the Church cares. And so, this past year in Wisconsin, there was a bunch of anti-trans laws because this election season is not the first attack on transgender people. And so, we said, we know what’s going to happen. One side will vote for these bills, one side will vote against, the governor has said he will veto them. Legislatively, trans people are safe in Wisconsin.
In reality, this rhetoric is super harmful and violent, and the Church needs to stand up and say this isn’t okay. And so we organized clergy and youth directors and youth and all kinds of people to show up at the Capitol to speak out and say, Stop using our faith – because Christian language was often used in promotion of these laws – and that we, as people of faith, are saying, have been saying: This is not okay, this is violent.
And so the first session, there was a whole slew of activists, teachers, social workers… And 40 clergy showed up to say, This is not okay. And many people, including myself, testified, for the first time, and spoke against these bills. And I was told later that the one side who was against the bill said: We expected the teachers and the social workers and the psychologists; we didn’t expect the Church. How did you get the Church to show up?
And then the other side, who was for these bills, said: What happened? We thought the Church was on our side. And they got really nervous. But what was also important was for us to say: We as the Church, are people who sometimes people assume we are against LGBTQ people. And how do we say: No, the Church is much more diverse than that. There is a side of the Church that promotes inclusion and love, and has trans clergy and has queer clergy, and we are all part of this and stop using our faith to bludgeon people.
PAUL RAUSHENBUSH:
Oh my God, you are speaking my language completely. I just love that. And that’s a huge part of what we believe, as well. Too often, religion is used as the bludgeon rather than the bridge it can be. And so this is great work. And, you know, it’s heightened right now because of the political season. And in some ways, trans people have become a pawn in this terrible game. But you know, it’s going to go on. And so it’s not over November 5th. And I’m just so glad that you all are doing what you’re doing. And thank you again for welcoming us to Wisconsin. It’s been such a pleasure to be with you for sure.
BREANNA ILLÉNÉ:
For sure. Glad you’re here.
