Quakers condemn Bush hard-line immigration stance

http://www.ekklesia.co.uk/content/news_syndication/article_060519afsc.shtml

President Bush's recent national speech on immigration reform and the measures that he proposes continue a downward spiral on the critical national issue of immigration, says the influential American Friends Service Committee (AFSC). snip

She declares: "They have called for increased enforcement, detaining and summarily deporting undocumented immigrants, the increased militarization of the southern border, and quick-fix remedies such as a temporary guest worker programme." snip

Saddled with low approval ratings, public opinion that disagrees with the ongoing war in Iraq, and a fragile economy, the administration has opted to focus its remaining tenure on an already vulnerable population: undocumented workers and their families.

"When policing is done by soldiers, our communities become the enemy," comments Pedro Rios, interim co-director of the AFSC San Diego office. "Individuals such as 17-year old Ezequiel Hernandez, who was killed by US. Marines conducting drug enforcement activities along the border, become the victims of these poorly conceived policies. Moreover, the President's proposed actions continue to whittle away at the Posse Comitatus Act, which prevents the use of US military on domestic soil."

Hernandez, a US citizen, had been herding his family's goats near the town of Redford, Texas when he was mistakenly shot in May 1997.

don't even begin to understand the poetic beauty of PNAC planning.

to give a "What would Christ do?" view when forced with fleeing Hispanic families in search of food and a decent life?

Would He turn those families back?

we have 6 practicing Jews in my Meeting, including a rabbi! (He's not busy on Sunday mornings) And there's a number of people who don't feel the need for a central authority figure type deity, a coupla eastern religion types - you get the idea. Your typical Friends Meeting.

rather than just the greedy.

Does your group allow atheists and agnostics?

Actually, when I said "people who don't feel the need for a central authority figure type deity", I meant atheists and agnostics, but avoided those terms because in this society that's equated with having no religion. By which standards the Dalai Lama has no religion.

And Derby378, we're Hicksite, if you're curious.

Did you ever read any of Walt Whitman's essay on Elias Hicks? It's a great read.

My jaw dropped when I first learned about the sermon he gave that produced the definitive split between Orthodox and Hicksite Quakers. I'll leave it to you to discover if you haven't yet, but suffice it to say that that old hymn "Are you washed in the Blood of the Lamb?" never did a thing for gentle Elias.

but not Whitman's essay. I'll have to look it up. Coupla weeks back our adult study hour discussed, among other things, "if one does not believe in orginal sin, what does the crucifixion mean?" So, yes, hicksite.

And yeah, can't say the whole concept of original sin ever panned out for me, too. I think Augustine had what we would refer to as "issues."

Being Quaker myself, I see the Society of Friends as being a distinctly Christian institution, but one that realizes that God doesn't just work through those who call themselves "Christian." Our local Meeting, however, appears to be in the same tradition as yours (Hicksite/Beanite, if you want to get archival), but I'm afraid you have us beat on the rabbi count!

:hi:

(One of these days I'm going to find a Quaker smiley or make one of my own...)