Multi-Faith Leaders Representing 10 Million to Launch National Anti-Authoritarian Initiative
Faith leaders pledge to build a national coalition of moral resistance and take action to defend democracy.
Washington, DC on Oct. 26, 2026—Today, in the first-of-its-kind religious coalition, multi-faith leaders representing more than 10 million people shut down traffic outside the White House to launch A Pledge for Moral Defiance. The leaders pledged to lead faithful action – praying, protesting, challenging election subversion and holding elected leaders accountable – and turn the tide on the nation’s democratic erosion.
From a pulpit built on the street, religious leaders uplifted the need for moral defiance in this moment and the power of faith traditions to counter authoritarianism. Rooted in “An American Encyclical on Our Authoritarian Crisis,” the campaign calls on faith communities to actively reject authoritarianism and the weaponization of religion, and defend freedom of conscience. Law firms and higher education institutions have organized in the face of direct attacks but this is the first coalition of religious leaders to make this effort.
Join us on Monday, October 26 at 12:00 PM at the Black Lives Matter Plaza in front of the White House intersection of H St and 16st NW.
The Pledge emerged from a convening of multi-faith leaders to counter authoritarianism, hosted by the Charles F. Kettering Foundation. At the convening, leaders felt called by their faith traditions and moral responsibility to act on the crisis before us. Bishop William J. Barber II, a senior fellow at The Charles F. Kettering Foundation, organized leaders to draft “An American Encyclical on Our Authoritarian Crisis,” which is the foundation for this effort.