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For too long, voices of intolerance and exclusion have dominated the values debate. Convinced that it was time for a new vision of religion and politics, a small group of Colorado faith leaders began in October 2007 to meet and reflect on how to reclaim their state's values debate.
After many drafts and deliberations, the founding statement of We Believe Colorado was born. This consensus statement reflects our shared concerns about the challenges facing our state and our nation and our shared hopes for a more just future.
We invite you to endorse our founding statement and join us in our efforts to further the common good in Colorado.
 Founding Statement, Endorsing Organizations and Issues 2008
Our Founding Statement
Changing the Values Debate
The debate over values, morality, and faith in the public arena, particularly in election years, often woefully misrepresents the moral and religious principles that most people hold in common. Political parties, the media, political candidates, and even faith-based organizations are often complicit. Our faith communities are far more diverse than many realize. At the same time we have common ground in moral principles and values that bond us in a shared responsibility. The promising future of faith and religion in this country lies in our ability to build a consensus around these shared values. The morality of the common good offers a guide to enact policy based on shared values in a way that may help us survive and flourish on this earth into the future. The determination to open up this values debate has given birth to We Believe COLORADO. (Statement adopted April 8, 2008.)
Our Vision
We believe that moral principles and values held in common among faith leaders and people of conscience and good will can transform public policy and lead to the full realization of the common good.
Our Mission
We Believe COLORADO will publicly communicate our common moral principles and values by: Affirming the right and duty of all to have an equitable voice in politics and ensuring that election year discussions will be characterized by open, respectful, and compassionate dialogue. Ensuring that common good values are represented and discussed in the public square, in the media, in families, and in houses of worship on the most critical issues facing this nation throughout the 2008 election year and beyond.
Our Values
We believe that values lead us to a common destiny, shared by all, where no one is marginalized and all are included in God’s loving embrace.
Freedom Reciprocal bonds among people ensure freedom, including the capacity to dissent, the freedom to refuse what is morally wrong and the ability to work for change in religion, society and politics. This implies freedom from fear and the freedom to hope.
Human Dignity All human persons have transcendent dignity and deserve to live in society free of false judgment based on country of origin, race and ethnicity, gender, sexual orientation, legal status and religious identity.
Love Love of neighbor is foundational to our conscience and beliefs, as are acts of charity and work for systemic change.
Peace Peacemaking requires of us all a spiritual commitment to non-violence in resolving conflict and radically reducing all forms of violence and war.
Social Justice Ensuring human and civil rights, fairness and equality, access to adequate food, housing, and health care, safety from violence and aggression, and caring for the natural environment will help to create the social, economic, environmental and political conditions where all can live sustainably.
Truth Truth-telling is essential for understanding and resolving conflict, and in discerning, debating and enacting public policy that serves the common good.
Our Common Good Issues in Election 2008
Education
Quality, equitable public education is essential to a just and good society, a key component of effective democracy, and necessary for the full realization of individual aspirations and the common good.
Environment
Care for creation requires a commitment to healthy ecosystems, and demands political strategies for sustainable development, renewable energy, and environmental justice.
Health Care
Access to quality and affordable health care is a fundamental human right for all, and must be a top priority for study and debate on health care policy in this election year, leading to timely implementation of a just health care system for all in Colorado and in our nation. Recognizing the strong moral differences in the area of reproductive health, we encourage education, civil dialogue, and debate on which health care strategies and social conditions will best contribute to a common goal of reducing abortions and preventing unwanted pregnancies.
Human Rights/Civil Rights
Dignity, equality, and respect call for the recognition of all the ways in which the rights of people have been both undermined and championed.
Immigration
Just, fair and comprehensive immigration policy must offer worker protections, paths to legal status and family reunification, and must reject the criminalization of immigrants and condemn ICE (Immigration Control and Enforcement) raids that tear families apart and create a climate of fear.
Incarceration and neglect
The high incarceration rate in our state and nation reflects racism, elevates punishment above the need to address the underlying causes of crime, and drains public resources that could be used for prevention.
International Relations and Security
Foreign policy must reflect a commitment to a universal common good, with reciprocal rights and duties. Excessive military spending and war profiteering are immoral. Policy must respect international law and priority must be given to social development, equality, and conflict resolution over fear, dominance, and coveting world resources.
Racism and discrimination
Historic patterns of injustice should be reversed through education, practice, and policy changes. Today’s manifestations of racism, discrimination, and intolerance must be confronted, and measures such as affirmative action must be protected. All should be given the chance to flourish materially, spiritually and socially, and policy and public discourse should aim for the full inclusion of everyone, regardless of their immigration status, gender, age, sexual orientation, disability, race or ethnicity.
Poverty
All people need adequate access to income and other resources that enable them to meet their basic needs of nutrition, clothing, housing, health care, personal development and full participation in society. Public policies should be evaluated by their economic impact on the common good, and particularly on those most vulnerable and marginalized. Ending poverty must be a priority in all policymaking.
Public Budgets
Federal, state and local budgets are moral documents which must embody the common good and reflect our shared responsibility to each other. Tax policies should be structured progressively, so that people are taxed in relation to their ability to pay. Too often candidates simply “run against” government in election years instead of recognizing that just tax and budget policies are investments in our future, ensuring that the benefits of society are broadly shared.
Torture and Killing
Federal killing, whether it is kids dying on our streets or violent interventions abroad, and the justification of torture in national discourse and policy, diminish our humanity and must end.
Endorse our founding statement
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