Opinion: ‘Ohio will never bow to totalitarian pressures’ – The Columbus Dispatch

Rev. Jack Sullivan, Jr., Rev. Susan Smith, Rev. Dan Clark, Rev. Joan VanBecelaere, Samuel Prince, Tarunjit Singh Butalia; Rev. Susan Ritchie, Elaina Ramsey and Rev. Terry Williams| Guest Columnists

Religious and civil liberties are in grave danger in the state of Ohio. As people of conscience and people of faith, we cannot stay silent in the face of the worst existential threat to First Amendment freedoms in our states history.

Our legislature has introduced bills designed to discourage public witness, protest and dissent.

Laws that would criminalize churches and nonprofits that engage in public witness have been proposed alongside restrictions that will make it harder to vote.

In the midst of a once-in-a-generation pandemic, while our state strains under decades of underinvestment in social programs, infrastructure and essential worker protections, the Ohio legislature is spending its time targeting speech conservative lawmakers do not like.

Legislators, voted into office through our dysfunctional, gerrymandered and partisan district structure, are promoting a crackdown on voices that speak truth to power, aspiring to stifle any people-driven effort to hold Ohios public servants accountable.

This portfolio of anti-democracy bills betrays a very clear racial bias. Limiting voter rights, stifling dissent, criminalizing protest and punishing faith communities that participate in public witness of their moral convictions will disproportionately harm Black and brown communities, and organizations.

New voting restrictions in House Bill294 would allow right-wing politicians to select their own voters rather than having us voters choose our elected officials.

It would cut early voting hours, severely limit ballot drop boxes, limit access to absentee ballots and require most Ohioans to pay for postage on absentee ballots and ballot request forms.

More: Ohio GOP lawmakers propose election changes, limiting drop boxes and allowing online ballot requests

Anti-protest bills in the House and Senatecontain overly broad definitions of prohibited action, as well as vague and confusing language.

House Bill 109 would create higher fines and prison time for individuals and punish nonprofits involved in or supporting a protest where roads or sidewalks are blocked or police officers are harassed, intimidated or injured, or where even nonviolent action is deemed to be a riot.Riots in Ohio are broadly defined as five people or more engaged in a misdemeanor action of public disturbance.

And it increases fines and charges for even temporary vandalism of government property or statues.

More: Anti-riot or anti-protest? Four Ohio bills would stiffen penalties for demonstrators

House Bill 22 would increase penalties for merely distracting a law enforcement officer or throwing a diverting substance such as confetti or glitter.

Senate Bill 41 would require participants in a protest to pay financial reimbursement for the cost of policing and damage if there is any violence or vandalism, even if the participant did not cause any damage or engage in violence.

None of these anti-protest bills have bipartisan support in our gerrymandered legislature, nor do they show any diversity of support. They are too extreme, punitive, partisan and damaging to our democracy.

More: Our view: Ohio's election system needs a tweak, not an overhaul

We declare that Ohio will never bow to totalitarian pressures that seek to disenfranchise voters and eliminate religiously and morally motivated dissent.

God has a burning desire for justice.

Some say that the burning bush described in the book of Exodus is actually representative of this divine yearning, the burning that is in the heart of God for justice for all of God's people.

Rev. Dr. Martin Luther King understood this when he wrote, "It is God's desire for justice that makes the struggle for justice and freedom holy ground." We are standing on holy ground and we are burning for justice. We will not be silent, because the fire of commitment within us will not let us.

Rev. Jack Sullivan, Jr.,The Ohio Council of Churches;Rev.Susan Smith,Crazy Faith Ministries;Rev. Dan Clark,Faith in Public Life Ohio;Rev. Joan VanBecelaere and Samuel Prince, Unitarian Universalist Justice Ohio;Tarunjit Singh Butalia, Religions for Peace USA;Rev.Susan Ritchie,North Unitarian Universalist Church, Lewis Center; andElaina Ramsey andRev. Terry Williams,Ohio Religious Coalition for Reproductive Choice.

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Opinion: 'Ohio will never bow to totalitarian pressures' - The Columbus Dispatch