Justice, Peace and Sustainability |
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July 17, 2008 The IHM Leadership Council recently endorsed the "Declaration of Principles for a Presidential Executive Order on Prisoner Treatment, Torture and Cruelty." Torture violates the dignity of everyone involved - perpetrators, policy-makers and victims. It contradicts our nation's most cherished ideals. Policies that permit torture and inhumane treatment are morally intolerable. Americans of all faiths were horrified when they heard about the abuses at Abu Ghraib. Abu Ghraib, however, turned out to be just the tip of the iceberg. Our government has since admitted to waterboarding detainees and we learned earlier this spring that the President's top advisors met in the White House to approve specific "enhanced interrogation techniques." The National Religious Campaign Against Torture, in alliance with Evangelicals for Human Rights and the Center for Victims of Torture, has launched an effort that calls upon the President to issue an executive order banning torture based on six core principles embodied in a Declaration of Principles. The success of this effort depends upon thousands of people of faith and other opponents of torture joining together to endorse the Declaration. Prominent faith leaders from Catholic, Protestant, Evangelical, Jewish, Muslim and Sikh communities, as well top officials from every Administration since the 1970s, have joined together to endorse the Declaration of Principles. In the IHM Assembly Directions '87, the IHM congregation committed itself to "nurture a reconciling and healing community among ourselves and beyond." This endorsement was made with this commitment and with previous endorsements condemning torture in mind.
April 24, 2008 The IHM Leadership Council recently endorsed a Pax Christi USA sign-on statement, challenging plans to upgrade and expand U.S. nuclear weapons capabilties. Under a proposed plan, called Complex Transformation, the United States could build a new nuclear weapons plant. The goal is to consolidate existing nuclear facilities while increasing the capacity to produce material for new nuclear weapons. According to a report jointly released by the Energy Department on January 10, 2008, the administration seeks an annual production capacity of 80 plutonium pits or triggers for new nuclear bombs. The main justification for the program is the perceived need for a more adaptable and responsive nuclear infrastructure to react to unnamed future threats. To commemorate the 25th anniversary of the U.S. bishops' peace pastoral, The Challenge of Peace, and to express opposition to the Complex Transformation plan; Pax Christi USA will be publishing the sign-on statement in the May 2nd issue of The National Catholic Reporter and selected diocesan newspapers. The statement will also be delivered to members of Congress and the United States Conference of Catholic Bishops. "Because of the increasing danger of nuclear holocaust..." The IHM Community pledged to "...work with others of the human community to raise consciousness about and to resist the evils of the arms race and increased militarization throughout the world." This statement was endorsed with the Community's 1980 congregational stance on peacemaking and disarmament in mind.
February 5, 2008 The IHM Leadership Council recently endorsed the Michigan Health Care Security Campaign supporting a 2008 ballot initiative that would amend the state constitution to require the legislature to enact laws that would provide affordable health care for all Michigan citizens. Click here for additional details on the endorsement of the campaign.
The IHM Leadership Council recently endorsed two sign-on statements concerning global climate change. In the near future, those most seriously affected by climate change will be the most vulnerable people on the planet - coastal populations that will be wiped out by increasingly harsh weather and rising seal levels, and poor communities which will experience increased food shortages as fertile land becomes desert and growing seasons are shortened. It is predicted that we will see an increase in violent conflict over resources and civil unrest arising from weather-related tragedies like Hurricane Katrina. This fall, the House and Senate will begin holding debates on legislation to address global climate change. Pax Christi USA drafted the sign-on statement, "People of Faith Speak Out on Global Climate Change: Acting for the Common Good." The statement will be published in the November issue of Sojourners magazine and will be sent to Congress. Interfaith Power and Light drafted the sign-on statement, "Interfaith Declaration on the Moral Responsibility of the U.S. Government to Address Global Warming." The statement will be sent to President Bush and Congress. In the Chapter 2000 Directions, the IHM community acknowledged that "we are interconnected with the whole web of life and that the escalation of violence, increasing global poverty and the exploitation of the Earth threaten all of creation..." These statements were endorsed with this commitment in mind. |
