This election season, we've heard a lot of sensationalized talk about religion, but not nearly enough substance.

On Sunday, April 13, The Compassion Forum, sponsored by diverse religious leaders, will enable us to go deeper with the candidates -- and you can vote on what they'll be asked -- live on CNN, as well as CNN International!

Sens. Clinton and Obama have accepted invitations to appear at the Compassion Forum, an unprecedented discussion of urgent moral issues that matter to people of faith: climate change, genocide, torture, poverty, and HIV/AIDS. Faithful America has been invited to weigh in.

Click below to vote for a question that reflects your values.

Have you seen the headlines?

A newly released memo reveals that the Bush administration said torture was legal.

His lawyers argued that government officials who torture could not be prosecuted unless their act of torture was inspired by malice or sadism. They argue: "Whether conduct is conscience-shocking turns in part on whether it is without any justification."

Startling isn't it?

Bush's lawyers have given him some bad advice. He needs to hear another message.

Sign our different "torture memo" to President Bush from the faith community. Tell him torture is always wrong, and always shocks the conscience, no matter what his lawyers say.

Tell the pollsters to stop stereotyping people of faith

The television networks' presidential primary exit polls are reinforcing false stereotypes about religious voters by asking Republican voters more religion questions than Democratic voters, and in some cases ignoring Democrats' religion entirely. In Michigan and Iowa they didn't ask Democratic voters any religion questions at all. In every state, they have exhaustively analyzed Republican evangelicals and completely ignored evangelical Democrats.

Can you sign the petition asking that the media pollsters to stop stereotyping people of faith? We will deliver the petition with your name and comments to the networks' pollsters in the next two weeks -- before the March 4 primaries in Texas and Ohio.

The petition says: "The presidential primary exit polls, sponsored by ABC, CBS, NBC, CNN, Fox and the AP, must stop stereotyping people of faith. We call on the media pollsters to ask all voters -- Republicans and Democrats -- the same religion questions on the exit poll surveys."

If we are silent, the media pollsters will continue to reinforce false stereotypes about religious voters. The wedge-issue "values voter" will be the face of faith in politics AGAIN. We must refuse to be pigeonholed.

October 2007

The State Children's Health Insurance Program covers millions of low-income families and children, which in many cases makes the difference between life and death. When President Bush vetoed expanding it to cover four million more uninsured children, we sent an alert urging Faithful America members to contact their Congressional representatives immediately and encourage them to override the veto. Congress did not succeed in overriding the veto, but we are poised to take action when children's health legislation comes up again. It's not a red state or a blue state issue. Supporting the health of children is a fundamental responsibility for our nation, and we can successfully urge Congress to insure every child.

March 2007

"Congress...by its action or its lack of action, has proven to be totally morally inept to intervene and too politically compromised to act with real conviction... More than ever America needs our moral witness." --Rev. Dr. Raphael G. Warnock, Ebenezer Baptist Church, Atlanta

When thousands gathered in Washington for a religious witness for peace in Iraq, Rev. Warnock reminded the crowd that people of faith are a critical force for peace. We followed up by alerting Faithful America members to write their representatives in support of a House bill mandating a withdrawal of U.S. troops from Iraq by the fall of 2008. Ending the Iraq war remains a top priority for people of faith, we're watching for opportunities to take action to finally end this unjust war.