|
|
||||
|
||||
Posted in Uncategorized
Tagged 2008 elections, gay issues, gay marriage, lds church, politics, Utah
Greens: Read and Sign the letter here
November 13, 2008
Dear Cynthia McKinney, Rosa Clemente, Lucy Grider-Bradley, John Judge and the 2008 Power to the People Campaign…
We are delegates and alternates of the Green National Committee of the Green Party of the United States as well as other Greens from around the country who want to convey our most heartfelt and deepest appreciation to you for running for president on behalf of the Green Party.
We know it was not easy for you and that you sacrificed on many levels. We admire your courage and the light you generated throughout your campaign in spite of it.
Through it all, we got to know you, Rosa, Lucy and John better and the communities you represent – Black, Latina/o-Hispanic, Hip Hop, Women, Reconstruction Party. While we may not have broken through to the White House, achieved 5% of the vote, or won state ballot access for 2012, we have broken through other barriers that are very important to Green Party success. Together, we have brought people who typically are separate closer together.
We fervently hope all of you will work within the Green Party to achieve greater inclusion and to spread it throughout the Party. There are many many opportunities for everyone. We don’t promise that it will be easy, but you will find many supporters. You will also find a party that has built structures upon which much can be done to achieve these goals and many others necessary to someday become the viable party this country and world so badly needs. The Green Party is unique among parties in that it is a global party existing in almost 90 countries, all sharing the same values and working together to bring about change.
We extend our deepest appreciation for your historic Green Party campaign, your choice of Rosa Clemente as a running mate, for John Judge who handled an enormous amount of media, the incredible Lucy Grider-Bradley in charge of finances and the FEC and to everyone on your campaign team. Most of all. we appreciated the experience of our forces being joined and bonded. We have been deeply touched, our awareness expanded and our hopes strengthened.
As the country acclaims the historical event of the first African American elected President of the United States, we hail history with you, your campaign, the people it brought together and the choice it gave on the ballot. How proud we were to mark you and Rosa on our ballots.
Let us go to the future together. Let us make that future together.
On behalf of Delegates and Alternate Delegates of
The Green National Committee of the
Green Party of the United States
And Other Greens From Around the Country:
Posted in Uncategorized
Tagged 2008 elections, cynthia mckinney, Green Party, rosa clemente
I have always supported Father Roy and the closing of the School of the Americas. I have met Father Roy on several occasions, here in Utah and at Ft. Benning, GA in 2007, as have many others of us. Please read the post from the Christian Radical below and consider supporting him in his support of women being ordained into the Catholic Church.
———————
Rev. Roy Bourgeois Facing Excommunication Over Support for Women Priests
http://thechristianradical.blogspot.com/2008/11/rev-roy-bourgeois-facing.html
Bill Quigley
November 11 2008
PLEASE READ AND CIRCULATE
Friends:
Here is the latest communication, dated November 7, 2008, from Fr. Roy Bourgeois
regarding the threat of excommunication by Rome for refusing to stop speaking out in
favor of Women Priests in the Catholic Church.
I have also enclosed some action items with addresses where people can write. Please take
the time to read this and take action. Please feel free to send this to all the justice
people you know.
Bill Quigley
Rev. Roy Bourgeois, M.M.
PO Box 3330, Columbus, GA 31903
November 7, 2008
TO THE CONGREGATION FOR THE DOCTRINE OF THE FAITH, THE VATICAN
I was very saddened by your letter dated October 21, 2008, giving me 30 days to recant my
belief and public statements that support the ordination of women in our Church, or I
will be excommunicated.
I have been a Catholic priest for 36 years and have a deep love for my Church and
ministry. (…)
When I was a young man in the military, I felt God was calling me to the priesthood. I
entered Maryknoll and was ordained in 1972.
Over the years I have met a number of women in our Church who, like me, feel called by
God to the priesthood. You, our Church leaders at the Vatican, tell us that women cannot
be ordained.
With all due respect, I believe our Catholic Church’s teaching on this issue is wrong and
does not stand up to scrutiny. A 1976 report by the Pontifical Biblical Commission
supports the research of Scripture scholars, canon lawyers and many faithful Catholics
who have studied and pondered the Scriptures and have concluded that there is no
justification in the Bible for excluding women from the priesthood. Continue reading
Posted in Uncategorized
Tagged catholic church, school of the americas, women's rights
Posted in Uncategorized
Tagged 2008 elections, gay issues, gay marriage, lds church, Utah
Posted in Uncategorized
Tagged gay issues, gay marriage, government corruption, lds church, politics
Iraq and Afghanistan War Veterans Join The Homeless
June Moss drove from Kuwait to Iraq as an Army engineer in a truck convoy. When she returned to the United States, she lost her home, and drove her two young children from hotel to hotel across Northern California.
Sean McKeen, a hardy, broad-shouldered 21-year-old with a wide smile, went to Iraq to clear land mines, and to get money for college. When he returned home, he became homeless in less than a week. He found himself sleeping in a cot in a crowded homeless shelter in San Francisco.
They are all part of a growing trend of homelessness among returning war on terrorism veterans.
Posted in Uncategorized
Tagged afghanistan, anti-war, iraq war, military, peace, veterans
Mike Thompson, Executive Director Monday, November 10, 2008
Cell: 801.879.8880
Stephanie Pappas, Board Chair
Cell: 801.450.0660
Other Contacts:
Senator Scott McCoy – Cell: 801.809.3566
Representative Christine Johnson – Cell: 801.661.3489
Equality Utah announces Press Conference for Noon Monday
Equality Utah will ask the LDS Church to demonstrate its conviction on rights for same-sex couples.
Time: Noon
Location: Equality Utah Office
175 West 200 South, Suite 3001 – third floor, Salt Lake City
Throughout the recent election cycle, the LDS Church has demonstrated its willingness to participate in political issues by asking its members to do all they can do, including donating their means and their time, to support California’s Proposition 8, which amended the state constitution and eliminated same-sex couples right to marry by defining marriage as between a man and a woman.
The LDS Church has articulated it is not “anti-gay” but rather pro-marriage and it “does not object to rights for same-sex couples regarding hospitalization and medical care, fair housing and employment rights, or probate rights.” On November 5th, Elder L. Whitney Clayton stated the LDS Church does not oppose “civil unions or domestic partnerships.” In response to these statements, Equality Utah is drafting legislation for the 2009 General Session of the Utah Legislature to address each of the issues mentioned by the LDS Church.
During this press conference Equality Utah will be asking the LDS Church to demonstrate its conviction on these statements as well as its willingness to secure such rights for lesbian, gay, bisexual and transgender Utahns.
Today we have a great opportunity before us to begin to bridge the divide between the gay community and the LDS community and to seek out common ground. I take LDS Church leaders at their word that they are not anti-gay and that they sincerely understand that gay and transgender individuals and their families are in need of certain legal protections and basic benefits. I appreciate their statements that they do not oppose legal protections for gay people like those already enacted in California law that do not conflict with their genuinely held beliefs about marriage. This is our chance to come together and work to enact basic legal protections for gay Utahns. I am hopeful that the LDS Church will accept our invitation to heal our communities by bringing its considerable social and political influence to bear in support of laws that prevent discrimination and provide for the legitimate needs of all Utahns and their families.
~Senator Scott McCoy
#####
References
California and Same-Sex Marriage
The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-Day Saints
Newsroom
June 30, 2008
http://newsroom.lds.org/ldsnewsroom/eng/commentary/california-and-same-sex-marriage
The Divine Institution of Marriage – Introduction
The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-Day Saints
Newsroom
August 13, 2008
http://newsroom.lds.org/ldsnewsroom/eng/commentary/the-divine-institution-of-marriage
Church Responds to Same-Sex Marriage Votes
The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-Day Saints
Newsroom
November 5, 2008
Mormon Leaders Urge Respect for Foes in Gay-Marriage Debate
The Salt Lake Tribune
Brooke Adams
November 5, 2008
http://www.sltrib.com/ci_10907306?IADID=Search-www.sltrib.com-www.sltrib.com
LDS Official Lauds Work for California’s Prop. 8
Deseret News
Carrie A. Moore
November 6, 2008
http://deseretnews.com/article/1,5143,705260852,00.html?pg=2
(Reposted from my piece on the Green Pages blog)
Yes we are a rich nation; yes we are one of the most powerful nations. But, the greatness of our nation is not in our government—it is in our people. I have seen the essence of that greatness in those who made sacrifices to come down to help us in our time of need. – Malik Rahim
Green Party candidate for U.S. House of Representatives in New Orlean’s 2nd Congressional District Malik Rahim is working towards the December 6th election which was postponed from November due to Hurrican Ike.
Malik Rahim is the founder of Common Ground Relief Collective, the mission of which is to provide short term relief for victims of hurricane disasters in the gulf coast region, and long term support in rebuilding the communities affected in the New Orleans area. The collective was formed shortly after the flooding that occured as a result of Hurrican Katrina in 2005.
From Malik Rahim’s Campaign website:
Malik Rahim, born and raised in New Orleans’ Algiers neighborhood, has worked as an organizer for decades around housing and prison issues. During Hurricane Katrina, Malik stayed to assist the community and has been speaking out about racism and the failures of government exposed by the Katrina disaster.
Malik Rahim founded and operated the Algiers Development Center and Invest Transitional Housing. He is co-founder and outreach organizer of “Housing is a Human Right” in San Francisco, California and co-founded Common Ground Relief in September 2005, with Scott Crow and Brandon Darby. Since Hurricane Katrina, nearly 13,000 volunteers have gutted over 3000 homes in the Ninth Ward of New Orleans through their efforts.
Malik Rahim is quoted at the Nola.com blog regarding the Common Ground Relief Collective and the aftermath of Hurricane Katrina:
We started with $50 at my kitchen table. Now, by the grace of the most high, we have been able to serve well over 150,000 people in direct services and maybe another 400,000 in indirect services. We started three health clinics, and helped start another three health clinics. We work under the premise of restoring hope, while teaching civic responsibility. We have challenged and have broken the stereotype of racial divide. We have had over 10,000 volunteers, with maybe over 9,000 being Caucasians working in African-American and minority communities…. We can make this a better world. It’s all about restoring hope.
Malik Rahim’s Campaign is focusing on these issues:
Malik Rahim spoke at the 2008 Annual National Meeting of the Green Party of the United States in Chicago:
There are many ways to help with the campaign to elect Malik Rahim to Congress. Visit the campaign’s Take Action page to find out how you can help get him elected.
For information on the elections in Louisiana, visit the Secretary of State’s website.
Other sites offering information about the Malik Rahim:
I find it interesting that the Mormon Church went to great lengths to not only openly support the passage of Proposition 8, but financed an advertising campaign urging voters to support it which included messages to voters, believe it or not, such as if gay marriage is permitted, kindergärtners are likely to be educated on gay sex acts. The ads were filled with lies and deceptions, particularly at the last minute, and opponents did not have adequate time to respond.
From Alternet News: Why the Prop 8 Gay Marriage Ban Won
Yet when it comes to other "moral" issues (the LDS church’s defense on Prop 8 is that it is a "moral" issue) such as the act of killing in war, and in particular the illegal war and occupation of Iraq, the LDS church remains silent.
I cannot find any declaration or statement against the Iraq War from the LDS church. So why, then, is it permissable to remain silent on killing and the violation of human rights by the U.S. and other countries in war and occupation, while supporting efforts to violate human rights on other issues? Could it be that the LDS church has hidden financial benefits to profits from war?
And now, thanks to this campaign to violate the rights of human beings in America, Utah faces a boycott of its tourist industry which will affect citizens adversely.
And shame on other religious communities for marching in step with the LDS church.
The LDS church has overstepped its stance on "moral" issues by bringing this issue into the political arena – an issue that should remain out of politics- thereby violating the principle of separation of church and state. By virtue of its support on the gay marriage issue in the realm of politics, it has demonstrated to the world that an institution’s values can be imposed on a population of people with the right amount of money to influence how people should vote throught the pscyhological impacts of advertising.
Posted in Uncategorized
Tagged 2008 elections, gay marriage, gay rights, iraq war, lds church, proposition 8
Deanna Dee-Dee Taylor 