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Nuns on the Bus for Immigration May 31st, 2013
The Nuns on the Bus have kicked off a 40-city tour to promote immigration reform. Nuns on the Bus is a project by NETWORK, a catholic social justice lobby group.
The nuns are visiting cities across America to advocate for humane immigration policies that protect family unity, workers’ rights and provide a pathway to citizenship for those already in the U.S.
Visit the website for the Nuns on the Bus to know when they might visit your city. Follow the nuns on twitter and facebook to support the advocacy for comprehensive immigration reform!
Peace & Life Connections for May 31, 2013 May 31st, 2013
We reproduce the Consistent Life “Peace & Life Connections” weekly newsletter on this website. If you are interested in more information, or in subscribing to the e-newsletter directly, please visit www.consistent-life.org/ Please note that we do not edit the content of this publication.
Life/Peace/Justice Youth Conference
Aimee Murphy of Life Matters Journal, a member of the CL Advisory Board, has initiated a regional CLE conference in the Philadelphia area: “Life/Peace/Justice: A Conference on Life Issues.” It will be held March 29, 2014 at Villanova University. It’s for all ages with a large university student component. Several CL Board members have been involved with the planning.
To keep costs low, sponsoring groups are contributing funds. Gold Sponsorship costs $1000. We’re trying to raise special funds above normal donations to cover all or part of that cost. Funds donated here go directly towards the conference, and are credited towards our sponsorship. We greatly appreciate your support for this important effort.
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Legislation to Protect U.S. Taxpayers from Funding Violence
Our U.S. subscribers might want to contact their representatives, and subscribers outside the U.S. might have U.S. friends to spread the word about these ways of having the money that’s being cut from the federal budget come from places the federal budget has no business funding in the first place:
No Taxpayer Funding of Abortion Act (H.R. 7 in the House and S.B. 946 in the Senate) would replace all the annual riders and scattered amendments with one permanent rule: taxpayers don’t pay for abortions. This doesn’t just protect taxpayers; the numbers of abortions drop dramatically when there’s no taxpayer funding available for them. (See co-sponsors in the House and co-sponsors in the Senate)
The Smarter Approach to Nuclear Expenditures Act (SANE) (H.R. 1506) would cut billions of dollars and several programs out of nuclear weapons. See House and Senate co-sponsors.
Various amendments will come up during the budget process to cut Pentagon extravagance at a time when desperately needed anti-poverty programs are being cut instead. It’s a good idea to communicate the principle to representatives – money going for violence and taken away from life-affirming services is a double whammy against the vulnerable.
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CL Endorser David Gushee has published a new book, The Sacredness of Human Life: Why an Ancient Biblical Vision is Key to the World’s Future. From the publisher’s blurb: “Tracing the concept of the sacredness of human life from Scripture through church history to the present day, David Gushee argues that viewing human life as sacred is one of the most precious legacies of biblical faith — albeit one that the church has too often failed to uphold. Besides providing a masterful historical survey, Gushee’s discussion covers the many current ethical challenges and perspectives that will impact the survival and flourishing of human life, including biotechnology, the death penalty, abortion, human rights, nuclear weapons, just war theory, women’s rights, and creation care.”
CL member group Evangelicals for Social Action has also published a review (and we have one coming up in our print newsletter, due out in June).
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Quotation of the Week
Kelsey Hazzard
The Catholic World “Atheist, Secular, and Pro-Life,” January 24, 2013
History has many lessons about human beings who were not legal “persons.” What seems like common sense to one generation—“Of course Negroes aren’t real people”—is horrific to the next. What criteria can we set that will prevent this from happening? Every criterion proposed to exclude the unborn can also be used to exclude others . . . At the end of the day, human rights are for all humans. If we don’t protect them for the weakest among us, they’re rather worthless.”
issue #162 05.31.13 Consistent Life web page / Join or Donate / Previous Issues / Index
Setback for Indigenous Peoples’ Right to Prior Consultation in Peru May 29th, 2013
The Peruvian government is refusing to publish a database on indigenous peoples and has excluded from the consultation process, coastal and mountain communities, where mining activity is concentrated.
The implementation of the Law of Prior Consultation of Indigenous Peoples over legislative or administrative measures that directly affect them — in effect for a little over a year — is facing huge setbacks in Peru. In late April, in the context of falling metals prices and slowing economic growth in China and Europe, the government temporarily waived prior consultation on 14 mining projects located on the coast and in the mountains and that are currently in exploratory phase.
Pope Francis and Shareholders United in Priorities May 28th, 2013
In this blog on Huffington Post, Fr. Seamus Finn OMI examines the connections between faith-driven shareholder activism and a recent talk by Pope Francis on some of the important issues that have been publicly debated since the near collapse of the financial system.
2012 International Religious Freedom Report Available May 22nd, 2013
The International Religious Freedom Act is a law passed by the US Congress that mandates the preparation of the International Religious Freedom Report. Produced by the US State Department, this report shines light on the challenges that people face as they seek the right to worship as they wish.
Read the 2012 International Religious Freedom Report
