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Justice Jottings August
2008 |
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Voting the Common Good:
Reflections on the Convention: July 11-13
"Nearly 800 Catholics gathered in Philadelphia July 11-13 for the Convention for the Common Good to discern our role as faithful citizens this election year, pray for the most vulnerable members of our society, support each other in our efforts to effect change at the policy level, and to ratify the Platform for the Common Good. The platform, which will be distributed to elected officials and candidates in each of the major parties this cycle, articulates solutions to the challenges that are evidenced by reading the signs of the
times in light of the gospel and Catholic Social Teaching. The platform urges governmental action on issues ranging from poverty to the environment; from education to healthcare. It also, however, offers suggestions for individual and community action. . . " Tara Poling, pictured voting in favor of the Platform for the common Good, is program coordinator for the Marianist Environmental Education Center (MEEC), which educates communities in sustainability, simple living, social justice and spirituality. Click here to read Tara's entire reflection.
Tim Prendergast, pictured here voting in favor of the Platform for the Common Good, is a recent graduate of Marquette University, and, previously, an intern with NETWORK. He says". . . . But I see the real change coming in a different way. I see true change coming through personal relationships, through revolutions of the heart, and honest conversations in our local communities. An internet campaign may help to get a candidate elected in the upcoming election, but only a true understanding of what we are called to do as brothers and sisters in Christ can bring about a change, not only the way we vote but also in the way we think and live as disciples of Jesus. To this end I will be not only discussing and debating it with others but I will also be trying to live out the common good through my actions as a follower of Christ as best I can." Click here to read Tim's entire reflection. | |
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New on our Website
Reflect on immigrant issues: Hot Button Issue #5
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Learn about Voting for the Common Good and sign the Platform for the Common Good. Click here.
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 Anti-Racism
Racism in Peru
Bro. Phil Melcher spoke by phone with the Anti-Racism Issue Team during their June 26 conference call. Bro. Phil administers a Trade School. He will be sharing information about racism and immigration from the South American perspective.
Immigration and White Supremacists
Click here to view a video Behind the Veil: America's Anti Immigration Network, produced by the National Council of La Raza (NCLR) and the Southern Poverty Law Center (SPLC). The video details the common origins of many of the country's leading anti-immigration groups and their ties to white supremacists.
Hot Button Issue #5
Assertion: Undocumented immigrants should just get in line and play by the rules like everyone else.
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 Death Penalty
IMPENDING EXECUTIONS - ACT NOW!
Arbitrariness of Death Penalty
A recent article in the St. Louis Post Dispatch (July 6, 2008) illustrates how arbitrary the decision to seek the death penalty is. Prosecutors from two adjacent Missouri counties - both Democrats - are profiled. One prosecutor has secured ten death sentence convictions since 2000; his neighbor has never sought the death penalty since her election in 2001 - despite having four times as many murders in her county.
More Prominent Voices speak Out
Two prominent people - a former Chief Justice of the Florida Supreme Court, who has also served as a prosecutor, defense attorney, and trial judge, and a former California deputy district attorney - have recently spoken out against the death penalty. In California, Darryl Stallworth, wrote, "I now understand that the death penalty is an ineffective, cruel, and simplistic response to the complex problem of violent crime." Gerald Kogan, the former Florida Justice, says flatly, "Florida's system of capital punishment is broken." |
| Alternatives to Violence
Click here to learn about five more ways: Contemplation, Groundedness, Creativity, Humility, and Reverence, to practice non-violence in August.
War with Iran?
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 Environment and Ecology
The Problems with Plastic Bags
Click here to view a slide show about the impact of plastic bags on the environment.
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Adele Social Justice Project
Planning in Cleveland 
The planning team for the Cleveland Adele Social Justice Project immersion/reflection weekend met for the first time in Cleveland on July 25-27. The weekend will be in either May or June of 2009. Members of the planning team pictured include: Joanna, Matt and Stacy Jones, Sarah Eichner, Amy Elliott, Jim Laing and Laura Libertore. |
| GLBT Initiative
News from the Presbyterian Church
On June 27, the leaders of the General Assembly of the Presbyterian Church voted to admit gays and lesbians to ordination. The Church also retained its definition of marriage: "a covenant between a woman and a man." If you want more information about this issue, please contact Beth Garascia at bgarascia@sbcglobal.net or Hank and Nancy Mascotte at mascotte@comcast.net.
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Resources
Hiroshima Prayers for Peace 
With the anniversary of the Hiroshima and Nagasaki bombings on August 6 and 9, consider using the "Hiroshima Sunday Prayers for Peace." Click here. Prepared by Lutheran Peace Fellowship and available from the Institute for Peace and Justice, it includes a call to worship, Scripture, and a litany for peace.
Nagasaki, 30 days after . . .
Embracing The Common Good
- www.votethecommongood.com offers the text of the Platform for the Common Good. It will provide you with information and tactics for engaging the electoral process using your Catholic faith.
- A Nation for All,
by Chris Korzen and Alexia Kelley, explains how the Catholic vision of the common good can save America from the politics of division.
- Catholic Social Teaching
(our best kept secret) by DeBerri, Hug, Henriot, and Schultheis, reviews the Church documents explaining the Catholic approach to social justice, beginning in 1891.
Just Neighbors is a program of Family Promise (www.justneighbors.net.) It is an interactive multi-media curriculum that will educate a group about poverty, spur them on to greater service, and empower them for advocacy. It is designed for adults and for high school youth.
MarianistsInternational
Click here to read the latest update from the Marianists International at the U.N. |
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A Senate Victory over Nuclear Weapons!
The Senate voted not to fund the Reliable Replacement Warhead (RRW) program that would have allowed revamping of the US nuclear weapons arsenal. For more information, click here.
What Do You Think about our U.S. Health Care System?
Click here to take the online survey. It takes about 15 minutes.
A Summer Suggestion - Get on the Bus 
Take a ride on your local bus system between now and Labor Day. It's a great way to see and meet the working poor - they are the ones who have no choice but to ride the bus. As an added benefit, with gas prices soaring and growing concern about our "carbon footprint", it's a way to find out if taking the bus is a possible alternative to at least some of the trips you make in your car. So go ahead - get on the bus! If you e-mail us at msjc523@yahoo.com, we'll include your comments in the next Justice Jottings! |
| A Thought to Ponder
Picture a very long boat - in it 800 people, all pulling together.
Their destination is the "Common Good."
The rowers cut through the weeds: media sound bites that pretend to be analysis.
The rowers maneuver through sandbars: petty islands of self-interest.
The rowers strive to follow the cadences of Christ:
Love one another as I have loved you
Whatever you do to the least of these you do to me.
I am the Way, the Truth, the Life.
Where 2 or 3 are gathered together, there I am in the midst
The Convention for the Common Good was a sacred time for me -- a mix of
social analysis, community prayer, and a draught of hope and gratitude.
Social analysis that probed the causes and effects of social injustice ---
Prayer that opened 800 hearts and helped them beat as one ---
Hope that filled the meeting space with energy for the Common Good ---
Gratitude for the talents of those who planned the Convention, and for the women and men who contributed their talent and wisdom to make the content clear and compelling, and thanks to those who sponsored this work: You are a beacon lighting our way!
Ann Rene McConn | |
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