Over the last quarter century, religious has almost become synonymous with Republican and right wing. Religion has been limited to abortion, homosexuality and stem cell research. But that is changing. People of faith are reviving the movements that helped to make America a more just nation–care for the immigrant, the children and those who labor.
Today, I launch my blog with praise for the Catholic clergy and rabbis who marched along with 1000 peaceful protestors to decry the working conditions at the meat packing plant in Iowa which federal authorities raided last May and detained nearly 400 illegal immigrants mostly from Guatemala. Over the last few months, evidence of exploitation, child labor and unsafe working conditions has emerged. Sixteen year old working 15 hour days six days a week.
The clergy who led this protest walk the great tradition of religious leaders who have fought for the justice and the common good. Our sense of solidarity with these women and men who have been detained in Pottsville helps us realize that they like us want a better life for themselves and their family.
Commitment to the common good reminds us that we are connected to one another and that our well being is based on the community and country in which we live.
Yesterday’s protest is yet another example that those in the progressive religious tradition are raising our voices and our visibility. Religious politics is changing.
posted July 28, 2008 at 7:34 pm
I welcome you to the blog-world. As a believer in the wholeness of Christian thought, I have been boggled by the self-righteous attitudes of the Far Right.
Because my web site does not reflect a political viewpoint, only a biblical one, I have come under con damnation from some quarters. But Wholy4Christ is progressive while committed to Christian thought as conveyed in the Old and New Testaments. Feel free to visit.
Paul Shiras
posted July 28, 2008 at 7:38 pm
Thank you Kathleen Townsend for posting on this topic. It seems to me that the times when religious progressives were at their most powerful were when they teamed up with the labor movement. Why did that alliance disappear or weaken so much? I hope this is a sign of its return
posted July 29, 2008 at 5:15 pm
I can’t (and as a matter of environmental conscience, probably shouldn’t) hop in my car and drive 1500 miles to Iowa to support labor reform. But if the company is recalcitrant against changing conditions, I would make a point of avoiding their products. (I confess, I’m not so progressive as to be vegan.) Could someone offer some enlightenment as to which brands are being made under these conditions?