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The following story came to my attention recently. I find the imagery to be quite powerful as I think of the hole of violence that we are digging in our world against each other and the environment. A man was walking down the street. There was a huge hole in the sidewalk and he fell in. It was deep and steep and there was not way out. The man started yelling to passers by: 'Help! Help! Get me out of here!' A comfortable, well-off, but not rich Mennonite walked by and felt a twinge of conscience. She hastily dropped a $50 bill into the hole and walked on by. The man continued to scream for help. A clinical counselor arrived on the scene. He tossed in a prescription for Prozac, and added a sample pack for good measure. 'I feel your pain,' he shouted. 'Stay in the moment! Allow yourself to grieve for all you've lost. You'll make it through!' And he continued on his way. A seminary graduate walked by. She was so grateful for her special training! As the man in the hole yelled again, she blessed him with a gender-neutral blessing and walked on. Someone else came down the street. An ordinary man, although he did have good taste in sandals. The man in the hole yelled for help. He was hoarse by now. The man in the sandals looked down, then jumped into the hole along side the hoarse, exhausted man. 'Why in the world did you do that?' whined the man. 'Now we're both stuck!' 'But I've been here before,' said the man in sandals. 'I know the way out.' It seems we have a God who chooses to be with us
to show us the way, rather than to rescue us or make our problems disappear.
I trust that the one who has been there before and knows the way out is
with each of you.
One Million Postcards is the inspiring story
of two grade-schoolers in California who are conducting a campaign to
send postcards to the US president, asking to lift the sanctions against
Iraq. Directed by award winning documentary film maker Joan Mandell, this
video shows how children can become involved in international affairs
through grassroots organizing and activitism. [top]
'In a make-shift shelter for the recently displaced people in the small city of Quibdó, women and their children - the primary victims of the displacement that has devastated the states of Chocó and Antioquia - sit on the floor with nothing to do but hold onto each other. One mother softly weeps into her startled baby that she clenches to her chest. The muggy air is thick with the smell of uncertainty and un-bathed bodies. This mother and child are just two of the thousands of children, women and men who continue to flee the violence wreaking havoc on the area called Bojayá in Chocó-a northwestern state bordering Colombia's Pacific and Caribbean coasts. The violence of Bojayá illustrates all too vividly the increasing violence on all sides of this war and how the civilian population is caught in the crossfire. As the United States Congress prepares to vote on the Bush Administration's request for more funding to the Colombian government and more leeway in using past U.S. funds directly to fight the insurgents, we as U.S. citizens must look carefully at the situation in Bojayá. This newest wave of violence clearly shows that those who suffer most from this senseless, bloody and unwinnable war in part funded by our tax dollars are innocent civilians.' When you write your senator express concern for the welfare of the people of Colombia. Ask them to consider the security needs of the men, women, and children who live in the villages and cities of Colombia; freedom from fumigation that endangers their health and abuses of human rights. More weapons with fewer restrictions are not likely to improve the lives of our brothers and sisters in Colombia. Pray for the people of Colombia and write a letter to your senators. Consider getting Colombia: Seeds of Peace, An Advocacy Project from MCC to use with your family, small group, or Sunday School class. Check the MCC web site for more information on Colombia. Death Penalty: US Supreme Court Decision in Atkins
vs. Virginia To Bring US in Line with International Standards of Decency
(Washington, DC) - Amnesty International USA (AIUSA) said that the US
Supreme Court decision in Atkins v. Virginia will provide the US criminal
justice system with a critical tool to uphold human rights standards.
The Atkins v. Virginia decision finds that executing mentally retarded
offenders is cruel and unusual punishment prohibited by the Eighth Amendment
of the Constitution. Twenty US states that execute mentally retarded offenders
will now have to comply with the US Supreme Court's decision, and the
ruling can apply retroactively to mentally retarded inmates. "To execute a mentally impaired offender flies in the face of international human rights standards," said Sue Gunawardena-Vaughn, Director of AIUSA's Program to Abolish the Death Penalty. Juvenile offenders could also be affected by this ruling. The Missouri Supreme Court temporarily halted the June 5 execution of juvenile offender Christopher Simmons pending the Atkins v. Virginia ruling, arguing that the decision should apply to juveniles who, like the mentally retarded, are also considered to be a group requiring special protection in the legal system. *Gallup Poll findings from May 23, 2002 indicated that 82% of Americans oppose the use of the death penalty for the mentally retarded, while 13% support it. (Washington, DC) Another US Supreme Court ruling in Ring v. Arizona is an important admission of the intrinsic problems associated with the US death penalty system. The ruling limits the power of a single judge to impose the death penalty, which the court found to be a violation of the 6th Amendment right to be tried by a jury of the defendant's peers. Ring v. Arizona will affect the application of the death penalty in more than 150 cases in at least in five states that previously allowed judges to determine capital punishment sentences following a jury's decision of guilt. No matter who makes the decision, the death penalty is simply a gross human rights violation. Twice in one week, the US Supreme Court has recognized problems in the nation's death penalty system. States should view this decision as an opportunity both to modify the sentences in the cases affected by Ring and to consider the next step to ensuring fairness: abolition of the death penalty altogether. Following is the final statement of Resolution 12A calling for a moratorium on the death penalty passed by the Council of the City of New York. It reflects the shift in public opinion concerning the death penalty. Hopefully others will join the opposition to the death penalty. 'NOW, THEREFORE, BE IT RESOLVED, that the Council of the City of New York urges the Governor and the State Legislature to place a moratorium on all executions in New York until the application of capital punishment in New York is investigated and issues of fairness, justice, equality, due process and cost are addressed; and calls upon the United States Congress to pass S.233/H.R.1038, the "National Death Penalty Moratorium Act of 2001," and H.R. 321, the "Accuracy in Judicial Administration Act of 2001."' Consider ways for your congregation to show support for the abolition of the death penalty in your state and in the nation.
Many have been arrested in mass arrests - the army
concentrated all men in their villages and towns and took them for detention
in Megido, Ofer base, and Ktsi'ot detention camp Ansar. Some were taken
from their homes in the middle of the night with only their underwear
on. The voice of Humanitarian and Human Rights organizations
is ignored by the courts and the media. The detainees' suffering is unseen
to the public eye. The State of Israel is selling to the world and to
its citizens a moral and righteous image, while hiding dark deeds. But
we see in the dark: we will not shut our eyes.' With the Israeli military in Palestinian towns and cities, imposing regular curfews on the civilian population, the Palestinian Authority will be unable to function effectively (in such areas as education, health care, etc.), if at all. The Israeli government is implementing a policy of occupying the land while absolving itself of the responsibility of attending to the needs of the Palestinian civilian population. International aid organizations, such as MCC, are asking themselves whether or not they are complicit in such a system by continuing to channel assistance. Pray for Palestinian civilians living under this new reality and pray that MCC and other organizations might be able to discern how to respond. Prayer Request, June 26, 2002, Pray for Palestinian high school students currently sitting for the tawjihi, or matriculation exam. The tawjihi is an incredibly important test within Palestinian society, with results typically proving determinative for career path and educational possibilities. Students this year must not only cope with the pressure normally experienced when facing the exam, but those in major cities, recently reinvaded, must also cope with the fact that they are living under curfew and are going to the exam only during periods when the curfew is lifted or under special exemptions for tawjihi students from the Israeli military. Pray for these students' safety as they go to write the exams and for the safety of teachers administering the exams. Prayer Request, June 27, 2002, Pray for
David Zonsheine, a First Lieutenant (reserves) in the Israeli army. Zonsheine
is a "refusenik," a soldier refusing to serve in the occupied
territories. His lawyers have been pressing for his case to be heard in
a military tribunal (a public venue where witnesses can be summoned) rather
than at a military disciplinary hearing. Zonsheine and his lawyers hope
to highlight the various breaches of international law committed by the
Israeli military in the occupied territories, illegalities which lead
Zonsheine and others to refuse to serve in the West Bank and Gaza. Prayer Request, July 1, 2002 - Pray for the 15,000 residents of the neighborhoods of Sameer Amees, Kufr Aqab, Qalandia, and "the airport." These people are Jerusalem residents, with Israeli-issued Jerusalem ID cards, and pay municipal taxes and fees. They live, however, on the other side of the Qalandia checkpoint. This prevents the 15,000 residents of these neighborhoods from accessing work, education, and health care, as travel through the checkpoint requires hours--when it is open--and is often completely shut down. The residents of these neighborhoods are in the position of paying taxes to the Jerusalem municipality while being unable to access services (schools, health care) provided by the municipality. Pray that these people might have freedom of movement restored to them. Prayer Request, July 2, 2002, Pray for unemployed laborers in the Gaza Strip and their dependents. During Israel's rule of the Gaza Strip it promoted a policy of "de-development," ensuring that tens of thousands of Gazans were available as a cheap labor pool for Israeli industry and agriculture. For the past 20 months the border between Gaza and Israel has been shut to these workers. NGOs and the UN estimate unemployment levels at 60% or higher in the Gaza Strip, with hundreds of thousands subsisting on handouts. Pray that a changed political climate might bring economic hope to despairing families. Please continue to pray for the situation in the Middle East. Look for alternative new sources that give a more complete Palestinian perspective. [top]
'The God of peace be with you all. Amen.' Romans 15 :33 Anita Barahona Oliver
and Lois Hess Nafziger
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© 2003 Mennonite Central Committee |