ways to combat slavery, part 2 (at least)

FREED.  That's the name of the group at the Bethel church I have allied with.   The mission:  To equip and mobilize the church to effectively make disciples as we work togethr to combat the area of human trafficking, local and globally.

Our ambition: to see every man, woman, and child freed from opppression as we
Free slaves
Restore and redeem surviviors and perpetrators with the love of Christ
Educate about education and its factors
Equip and connect Christ-followers to combat human trafficking
Demolish cultural strongholds that enable and perpetuate slavery.

I am not on board with every word of this, because it limits itself to Christ followers.  But I'm on board anyway. 

FREED partners with International Justice Mission.  Also with Agape International Missions and Shared Hope International.

Thinking about how to fight slavery from my home, these thoughts come to me
Pray

1. Visit websites like Interanational Justice Missions, and learn and follow their suggestions
2. Exercise those First Amendment rights and petition our government to take stronger actions
3. Open that checkbook (figuratively speaking) and donate to slavery-fighting groups and to charities that help displaced and distressed populations, near and far. 
4. Refrain from buying things that are not slavery free.

After I click the "publish post" button, I'm going to order fair trade chocolates, the little bites I ran out of last week.

Peace, y'all

Molly

ways to combat slavery. part 1?

I have reflected much recently about human trafficking and how to stop it.

(maybe it's wrong to call this "part 1" because I have written on this topic before. Well, I've been wrong once or twice before.)

It's comforting to know that this isolated Quaker is not alone in this quest - in my community, I have found allies in a Christian church, and in a Republican state senator who I usually disagree with strongly. It is wonderful to have allies!

Allies told me about a neat app for Iphone or Android called Free2Work, which gives a scorecard to companies and specific products. Divine Chocolate gets an A, by the way. Hershey's gets a D. How sad, considering the honorable history of the company when it was founded. Ditto Cadbury, which hurts me more because that's a Quaker company. Or, was.

www.slaveryfootprint.org has a survey to help identify the slavery in the supply line of what you buy. They have an app too - Free World. It requires Facebook to log in, however.

The Christian group is on fire. Full of Christian zeal. The group is called FREED. You can find it on facebook, of course. More on this later.

The troublesome truth God gave me during the prayer part of the last FREED meeting is this: Slavery can persist in a free and democratic society. 21st century United States proves this, since there are labor slaves and sex slaves in this nation.

That means - and this is hard for me -- Peace is NOT the answer to fighting slavery. Sure, it helps, because peace allows people to get on with their business and not be displaced, for example. And peaceful societies are less likely to conscript children for their wars.

Peace's sister Justice is the answer to slavery. Slavery is unjust. Therefore Justice is the answer.

I have dedicated much of my heart and time and self-identity to peacemaking. This is not wrong, but it won't end slavery, which is something I care about deeply.

If you want peace, work for justice - Pope Paul VI
Injustice anywhere is a threat to justice everywhere - Martin Luther King
And what does the Lord require of you but to do justice, love kindness and to walk humbly with your Lord ? Micah 6:6-8

So, God has been suggesting this to me for some time.  It took more focused prayer with the FREED group (in Quakerese, it was a popcorn meeting).  The humble part is hardest for me.  

I have more work cut out for me.

Peace (and Justice!), y'all

Molly

On world hunger

We humans like to eat. It nourishes us, it satisfies us. I am grateful I always have enough to eat, and so do the people I love. Yet so many souls on this earth go to sleep with an empty tummy. This bothers me.

In 2010, 925 million people were hungry. Most were in Asia and the Pacific. A significant minority are in sub-Saharan Africa. A tiny minority are in developed countries such as the U.S. (Numbers courtesy United Nations)

Most of the undernourished are children. Undernourishment complicates and exacerbates illnesses. It's implicated directly in many deaths and makes the suffers fall to other diseases.

The world produces enough food. But not everyone has enough land to grow food or money to buy it.

Poverty is the prime cause. Harmful economic systems, in which a very wealthy and tiny minority control the resources and the rest must do without, is another main cause. Conflict causes hunger. Conflict displaces and destroys.

Peace prevails if conflict has just and nonviolent resolution. Peace's sisters are justice and love. With more justice, resources are more evenly distributed. In a just society with calm (another of peace's sisters)and stable conditions, people can find work or stick around to grow and harvest food.

Something to chew on....

Peace, y'all

Molly

Peace begins with me

So many things wrong in this world, yet many things are right as well. Peacemaking fixes wrongs and reinforces rights, in that word's many meanings.

I'm always seeking more ways to do Good in the world. I've just come home from a trip that distracted me fairly well from this goal, but now I'm home and want to renew my personal peacemaking efforts. What good shall I do this day?

How about you?

Tomorrow is another day, and I look forward to it and to the good I may do.

Here are a few thoughts:
* Give a kind word to everyone I talk to
* Work hard and honestly
* Finish some jobs that are lurking, persisting, and eroding my well- being
* Do something modest and humble.
* Sign some petitions and lobby a bit (I do this nearly daily, and it's good, though not enough)
* Write a few cards that are NOT petitions because they are said to have more impact than petitions.

That would be a fine start.

Ideas, friends?

Peace, y'all

Molly

Separate Oil & State

his I cribbed directly from price of oil.org, a website I found and like.

Our government should not be under the influence of Big Oil.

The greatest barriers to clean energy are political, not technical—and these barriers are largely fueled by the oil industry. We know that in order to achieve a clean energy future, we have to expose and eradicate the political influence of the oil industry; we have to achieve a separation of oil & state.

Over $114 million has been paid by the oil, gas and coal industries over the last decade to buy access and influence in Congress. Although we’re not sure yet, the 111th Congress could end up being the dirtiest yet.

The next step to ending our collective addiction to oil is reducing oil’s influence over our representatives and demanding political independence from Big Oil.

Here’s what you can do:
•Write to your member of Congress to demand a Separation of Oil and State.
•Check out www.DirtyEnergyMoney.com to find out how much money your elected officials have received from the oil, gas, and coal industries.


Lots of things wrong in the universe, and this is one of them.

Peace, y'all

Molly

How to oppose slavery

There's a story about a little boy throwing star fishes into the sea. Someone points out that there are far too many stranded star fishes and he cannot save them all. What does his effort matter? The boy throws another back to the life-giving sea and says, "it matters for that one."

That's how I fee about fighting slavery. We must say no every way and every time we can.

My advice on fundraising is 1. Any time 2. Any one. 3. Any where. 4. Always 5.Ask. This is the five finger, one A per finger.

Putting these thoughts together, and anytime, anyway, anyone, always oppose slavery. If there's slavery in the chocolate DONT EAT IT. If there is slavery in the making of the clothing, DON'T WEAR IT. Never buy it either. If you don't know about it, that's one thing. But once you do, you must not enjoy the fruits of a slave's labor.

I miss chocolate. But I think of children denied school, forced to work long hours with dangerous machetes and heavy loads, beaten or neglected, sold for as little as $130, and I can't stomach the chocolate either.

I know there is slavery in the world. I don't know how to stop all of it and would sure like some suggestions!

Peace, y'all

Molly

On our do-nothing Congress

Readers in other lands, excuse me. This is very US-centric.

I am disgusted and outraged at Congress. The partisan gridlock harms the people of the United States and on teh other living things in this nation and really, around the world.

Failure to implement comprehensive immigration reform means families are torn and separated. It means that hardworking souls risk their lives to come here. They die trying to get here. It means that undocumented people can be, and are, exploited by others.

Failure to implement comprehensive reform of our medical compensation system means that only in the US can people go broke because they're sick. And while costs continue to climb, we are getting fatter, sicker, and weaker.

Failure to control costs mean we will pass to our children an intolerable debt, and can someday soon undermine the full faith and credit of these United States. Someday soon we may have to sell off our treasures to pay the bill. What would we sell? Hawaii? The Grand Canyon? Yosemite? Fort Knox?

Failure to address climate change makes the problem harder, if not impossible to fix. And that means climbing costs from catastrophic weather events, and greater impacts to people who can afford it the least, the people who live on coasts in the global South.

Failure to reform mining laws means more miners will die.

Enough griping. I believe as individuals we have power. We have the power to influence others, we have in this nation some really great rights in our First Amendment. We can assemble, petition our government, write to Editor and read anything we want in the press, and we can speak out and we can pray.

I think grass roots action is not one option. It's the best option, especially with the impaired and useless Congress we now have. I think we need to model the behavior we want in our world.

Let's cooperate, even with people with opposing views. We can find common ground if we try.
Let's live gently on the land, and limit our impact on the planet.
Let's stay in touch with our representatives and make sure they know we expect them to work for the common good, not just the interests who contribute to keeping them in office.
Let's share.
Let's help others.
Let's build community, every way we can.

Let's show Congress what democracy looks like on the ground.

Peace, y'all

Molly