Justice Alerts

Action alerts from several sources often request adding the signature of organizations or individuals to a letter or a petition going to the President or Congress. NETWORK, the national Catholic lobby in Washington, and the Leadership Conference of Women Religious (LCWR) regularly send updates on current issues. The BVM Leadership Team frequently signs on as Leadership Team, Sisters of Charity of the Blessed Virgin Mary.

Some recent issues which the BVM Leadership Team has endorsed include extending unemployment compensation for those who have lost jobs in the current economy, continuing the National Housing Trust Fund to provide needed housing opportunities for those with the lowest incomes, pursuing comprehensive immigration reform, passing health care reform, urging Israelis and Palestinians to continue the work toward peace and justice in the Middle East.

At the same time, alerts go to the BVM distribution list which includes all sisters and associates, providing everyone with information about adding individual signatures. Usually this is done quickly and easily via email at various websites, and in some instances by phone call to senators and representatives.

Whether the responses come from leadership or from  individuals, they are specific ways of taking action on political issues that affect the lives and wellbeing of many people on local, national and international levels. 

NETWORK urges continued support for healthcare as voting time nears. www.networklobby.org

Comprehensive immigration reform remains a goal

According to a recent New York Times editorial (1/6/10), it's time for the Obama administration to deal with immigration reform, in spite of economic hard times and many other pressing and difficult issues. "America needs to shut the path to illegal entry and employment while opening smoother and more rational routes to legal immigration...When the recovery comes, the country will need a functioning system more than ever--one which encourages legal entry and bolsters all workers' rights." 

Senate needs to create a jobs bill

Before the winter recess, the House passed the Jobs for Mainstreet Act of 2010. As the Senate works to craft a jobs bill, NETWORK urges constituents to contact their senators. Jobs  should meet needs, create pathways to long-term employment, provide work for low-income communities, and protect against displacement of existing workers.

Middle East tensions continue

Churches for Middle East Peace deplores Israel's plan to build 1600 new homes in Gaza, as Palestinians and the U.S. express strong objections. www.cmep.org

Illinois bishops and the Leadership Conference of Women Religious of Illinois call for the end of human trafficking

A joint press release states that "Approximately 2.5 million persons are victims of human trafficking, which is the movement of people through violence, deception or coercion for forced labor, servitude, or prostitution."  The bishops and LCWR Region 8 call on Catholics and all people of good will to become educated and aware of human trafficking and to participate in "concerted efforts to prevent and eliminate the ongoing practice of trading in human lives."

Death sentence numbers diminish

According to the National Coalition to Abolish the Death Penalty, "a new report from the Death Penalty Information Center shows that death sentences in the U.S. hit an all-time low in 2009. The report notes that the economic recession and budget issues forced  many states to make cuts to essential areas like education and law enforcement in order to maintain their capital punishment system. In addition, nine people were exonerated from death row in 2009, the second highest number of exonerations since reinstatement of capital punishment over 30 years ago. Law enforcement officials point to the death penalty as the least effective tool in their arsenal."

Another source, The American Law Institute (the leading U.S. independent legal organization comprised of 4,000 attorneys, judges and law professors who produce scholarly work to improve the law) has concluded that capital punishment is hopelessly flawed and broken beyond repair.

In solidarity with a national initiative among religious organizations, For Whom the Bells Toll, each date of a scheduled execution, the bell from the Old BVM Motherhouse at St. Joseph Prairie in Dubuque is tolled.  The BVM community email distribution list carries the name(s) and state(s) of the condemned. From time to time, someone will raise the question, “Why are we remembering only the ones condemned? What about the victims?”

The bell or the email marking an execution day calls us to remember in prayer ALL involved—the victim, the victim’s family, the one condemned, the family of the one condemned.  All have suffered; the families of the victims and the families of those executed continue to suffer the result of violent actions.

Poll results: Can torture be justified?

The Pew Research Center's Forum on Religion and Public Life found that a majority of evangelicals and Catholics and a large number of people of other faiths believe that the use of U.S. government-sponsored torture against suspected terrorists to procure important information can be justified. Overall results reveal that 15% of Americans agree torture can often be justified, 34% agree it can sometimes be justified, 22% that it can rarely be justified, while 25% believe it can never be justified. (Poll was taken in mid-April, 2009)

National Religious Campaign Against Torture has information on its website www.nrcat.org about the moral issue of torture.

Last July, the PBS Frontline program aired a 15-minute documentary entitled, “Guatemala:  a Tale of Two Villages.”  It follows up on the May 12, 2008 Postville raid by U.S. Immigration, revealing the human stories affecting the population of El Rosario and Postville. 

http://www.pbs.org/frontlineworld/rough/2009/07/guatemala_a_tal.html

An American Dream is a visit into the lives of those people who have been affected most by the country's antiquated immigration policies, from the border patrol agent guarding the border to the migrant worker who sends money back home to his family. As the immigration debate continues in the United States, An American Dream shows an intimate portrait of the people who are caught in the middle of that debate.

You can view this 33-minute Documentary Channel film for free any time at: http://www.documentarychannel.com/screening_room/un_sueno_americano.html