WELCOME TO…
American Values, Religious Voices: 100 Days, 100 Letters
Four years ago, for the first 100 days of the Trump administration, American Values, Religious Voices sent powerful, insightful letters from a diverse range of religious studies scholars to President Trump, Vice President Pence, and Members of the 115th Congress. The letters challenged our leaders in Washington to govern in ways that align with core American values that are connected to our different faith traditions.
Four years later, we remain convinced of the potential of this grassroots effort to foster civil discourse and bring people together around shared values. So starting on Inauguration Day and continuing for the first 100 days of the Biden administration—from January 20 to April 29, 2021—we will send a letter a day to our explicit audience: President Biden, Vice President Harris, and Members of the 117th Congress. At the same time, the campaign aims to reach a wide multifaith implicit audience: all those who subscribe to Values & Voices or read the letters on our website or through Twitter, Instagram, and Facebook.
Which letters will surprise you, inspire you, motivate you to do your part to contribute to the common good?
Day after day, each new letter will appear on our website, alongside the archived 2017 letters, all of which are searchable by the main values highlighted in the letters. Four years ago, some of the most prominent values were justice, care for the stranger and the vulnerable, freedom, love, and compassion. Which values will come to the fore this time? Which messages will you find most meaningful? Which letters will surprise you, inspire you, motivate you to do your part to contribute to the common good?
In February 2017, we learned about two brothers—one a Democrat in Manhattan and the other a Republican in Tulsa, Oklahoma—who stopped talking during the presidential campaign but then reconnected over the letters. They told us that Values & Voices “created dialogue and healing” for them. This story encapsulates the potential of this project, especially now, when our country is sorely in need of healing and hope.
Thank you for joining the campaign.
Sincerely,
The Values & Voices 2021 Campaign Team
Andrea L. Weiss
Rabbi Andrea L. Weiss, Ph.D.
Jack, Joseph and Morton Mandel Provost
Hebrew Union College-Jewish Institute of Religion
Lisa Weinberger
Lisa Weinberger
Founder & Creative Director
Masters Group Design
Kayla Gillman
Kayla Gillman
Values & Voices Creative Assistant
Sophia Sonnenfeldt
Sophia Sonnenfeldt
Values & Voices Communications Assistant
Rebecca Tauber
Rebecca Tauber
Values & Voices Editorial Assistant
This national campaign brings together scholars from a range of religious traditions to speak about core American values that have grounded our nation in the past and should guide us forward at the start of a new administration.