"Jesus’ revolutionary essence is totally
missed each year as people rush off to max out credit cards.
Jesus’ ministry focused on fighting for justice for the powerless,
correcting the misuse of power by authorities, and bringing a new
dynamic to an oppressive, draconian social order. In other words,
if we are to really pay homage to the essence of what Jesus stood
for then let us embrace Christmas in a revolutionary spirit."
-- Cornell
Lewis
"Mayor Perez and Gov. M. Jodi Rell have poured public
funding into the oversized new convention center, Northland's Hartford
21 luxury apartments and developer Bradley Nitkin's 115 market-rate
apartments at Front Street. Taxpayers are, in essence, subsidizing
wealthy developers while Hartford's poor get poorer."
-- Jennifer Warner Cooper
| Kwanzaa, Dec. 26 -- Jan. 1 |
Kwanzaa provides everyone with the opportunity to join with other members of the African American community in embracing our/their rich cultural tradition and unique historical experience as a people in the Diaspora. Participation in Kwanzaa is particularly important for those of European ancestry as a gesture of respect for their brothers and sisters who were for so long forced into subservience in US society.
| Immigrant Rights |
"We immigrate because we have to, not because we want to. We need opportunities to study, get a career,
and give back to the community."
-- Candelaria Flores
| Death Penalty Abolition |
"Realistically, the idea that pain reduction somehow renders capital punishment more acceptable is absurd. Dead is dead, no
matter what method is used. There are many reasons capital punishment shouldn't be used in a civilized society."
-- Hartford Courant Editorial
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|
O Little Prison Town of Bethlehem |
"Israel's
desire to acquire maximum geography with minimum Palestinian demography
is the root of the suffering afflicting the Holy Land. Amnesty
International has observed that the peace processes failed because
Israel has ignored human rights, including the right of native
Palestinians to return to their homes and lands. There is now a broad
international consensus (with the exceptions of the US and Israeli
governments) on the danger to international peace and security posed by
Israel's continued violations of human rights and international law."
-- Mazin Qumsiyeh
What Would Happen if the Virgin Mary Came to Bethlehem Today?
Christians celebrate the birth pains of a Palestinian refugee in Bethlehem - but two millennia later, another mother in another glorified stable in this rubble-strewn, locked-down town is trying not to howl.
An American Jew's Journey to the Holy Land
"The
modern State of Israel in its policies, carried out purportedly to
preserve our people, and using the Holocaust as justification for
unjust actions, is betraying the meaning of Jewish history. You cannot
achieve your own deliverance, even from the most unspeakable evil, by
the oppression of another people."
-- Mark Braverman
"Peace On Earth" Means "No More War"
"Celebrating Christmas without cultivating nonviolence mocks Jesus' ethos of peace.
If we support the war on Iraq, or our nuclear weapons, or our imperial
domination, we do not honor Christ; we mock him, and Christmas turns
into widespread social hypocrisy."
--John Dear SJ
Petition to Withdraw Coalition Forces From Iraq
"Therefore, we urge all members of Congress:
-- to remove Coalition troops from Iraq in the first half of 2007
-- while at the same time engaging in or participating with
international efforts to assist Iraq with a political solution to solve
its problems and rebuild the country."
"Every day I try to do one thing that will make a
difference in someone's life. Nowhere in the Koran does it say a woman
cannot be a spiritual
leader. I don't use the word `challenge' because I love the work I do."
-- Shamshad Sheikh, First Muslim Chaplain at Yale University
| Queer Rights |
"See, I have yet to learn how to segregate my moral concerns. It seems to me if I abhor intolerance, discrimination and
hatred when they affect people who look like me, I must also abhor them when they affect people who do not. For that matter,
I must abhor them even when they benefit me. Otherwise, what I claim as moral authority is really just self-interest in
disguise."
-- Leonard PittS Jr.
Episcopal Presiding Bishop Katharine Jefferts Schori NPR Interview
"My leadership in this season is about reminding the church of its broader mission -- reconciling people over issues of
sexuality is a piece of our work -- but the larger piece is about human suffering around the world:
it's about people who go to bed hungry every night because they don't have enough to eat;
it's about girls and boys who don't have an opportunity to go to school;
it's about women who die in childbirth because there's no medical care;
it's about people who die needlessly from malaria, AIDS, and tuberculosis because there isn't adequate provision for drugs
and prevention."
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No Homos Need Apply
Accompanied by a Roman Catholic priest, she was wearing a shirt that said "No Homos Need Apply" and I wanted to know what it meant. Nov. 9 Constitutional Convention where the anti-gay marriage amendment was being voted on.
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