Washington National Cathedral

The Sunday Forum: Critical Issues in the Light of Faith

The Very Rev. Samuel T. Lloyd III, host

Cathedral Dean Samuel T. Lloyd III and Congressman Tom Perriello talk about the role of progressive faith in the public square, how religion influences public values, and the faith journey of one congressman from the war zones of Afghanistan and Darfur to Washington, D.C.

Perriello came of age in the 1980s and entered public service through volunteering before he ran for political office. “The question for me was always, how can I do the most to reduce human suffering? How can you do the most to promote human flourishing?” says Perriello, who links these motivations to his upbringing in the Catholic tradition.

As a young law student, he spent summers striving to end armed conflict in Sierra Leone, “a country that everybody had given up on.” After elections and disarmament, Perriello stayed on as special advisor to the prosecutor of a war crimes tribunal that gradually removed from power seven people (including Charles Taylor) who might have restarted the civil war. Taylor now “sits in a jail far, far away from the people he terrorized,” Perriello comments. “West Africa now may not be paradise … but there is now at least … a window of hope.”

Perriello speaks of the United States with a different mixture of idealism and pragmatism. He perceives a “cultural decay” that, having eroded American competitiveness, is now impeding economic recovery. While pointing to instant gratification as a key problem, he cautions against simplistic descriptions of the decay.

In a political age of “fear and anger, and also thoughtfulness,” Perriello observes that constituents expect him “to put right and wrong ahead of right and left,” and to produce results despite voters’ own differing opinions. Earlier work in conflict zones taught Perriello that “one of the worst aggravating factors is when people feel like they’re not being listened to, not being heard.” His town hall meetings last summer ran an average of five hours long.

About Tom Perriello

Tom Perriello represents Virginia’s 5th District in the House of Representatives, serving on the House Transportation & Infrastructure Committee and the House Veterans’ Affairs Committee. Prior to entering Congress in 2008, Perriello served as a national security consultant, working in conflict zones such as Afghanistan, Darfur, Kosovo, and Liberia. His work with child soldiers, amputees, and local pro-democracy groups in Sierra Leone played a significant role in the peace and reconciliation process that ended the blood diamonds war in that country. Congressman Perriello has also founded a number of nonprofit organizations aimed at bringing together faith communities to fight for children’s health care, economic fairness, environmental stewardship, and responsible solutions in Iraq.