Take Action to Stop Torture - Call Senators Today

Ariel Dorfman is the Walter Hines Page Research Professor of Literature and Professor of Latin American Studies at Duke University. He has written an editorial in the Washington Post on torture, which struck me very deeply. In it he says that torture not only contaminates the victim, the perpetrator and any intelligence that might be gathered, but it also contaminates anyone who stands by and lets it happen. To see it, go to the following link:
http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/content/blog/2006/09/25/BL2006092500493.html

I know that tomorrow I am calling my Senators and asking them to vote against any legislation that compromises our adherence to the Geneva Conventions and letting them know that I believe that torture is a moral issue, contrary to the true values of our country and our religion. Also, most experts agree that it doesn't work - other methods of interrogation are more effective. http://www.senate.gov/general/contact_information/senators_cfm.cfm

Amnesty International is having a campaign aimed at influencing the current discussion in the Senate seeking a "compromise" on allowing torture to occur in our detention facilities. You can find more information on their website - http://www.amnestyusa.org/index2.html

See Pastor Kevin's blog http://christianconversations.blogspot.com/ for a more in-depth analysis of this subject and, if you feel led to, call your Senators.

Report on Outreach Meeting – 9/17/06

Discussed joining Bread for the World as a covenant church and having a membership drive. Novelty idea would be baking loaves of bread as an incentive for individual memberships. We will have a letter-writing campaign in the Spring. Could possibly join up with Immaculate Conception on this. Sarah Phillips will discuss this idea with Kevin.

IHN
Discussed IHN fundraiser on November 11 – dinner and silent auction. Reconciliation will be putting together a basket with an athletic theme. Next IHN hosting is November 12. Volunteers are needed for food, transportation and overnight.

The Montegnards have some family members joining them who will need some services. Kent Gill expressed an interest in connecting with them.

Discussed having another movie and discussion group in conjunction with other churches with the theme of poverty. Melissa Rasberry is investigating obtaining a copy of the Morgan Spurlock episode on 30 days, in which he lives on a minimum wage job for 30 days. She will also facilitate a discussion after the showing.

Hispanic Outreach
Discussed having Latino dance class before the RUMC picnic date. Sarah will explore this idea further and her garage may be a potential site.

Outreach Team lunch.

Outreach Team lunch meeting to be held after worship on Sunday, September 17, at Baba Ghannouj in Erwin Square. We will talk about our projects for the coming year. Check out the June archives for the report on our past meeting and proposed projects.

On September 11, Join the Call for Freedom from Fear

It is a well-known psychological fact that fear, anxiety and stress actually closes down the rational part of the brain. Blood actually rushes from the neo-cortex to the older, more primitive reptilian brain (yes we all have one). The only responses available in that state are Fight or Flight. Needless to say, since September 11, 2001, there's been a lot of fighting and violence going on in the world with no end in sight. In addition, I fear we have been fleeing from many of our most precious values and rights in the name of security.

It's time for our country to step out of it's collective reptilian brain (remember the Garden of Eden), and start finding creative, loving and more Godly solutions to the problem of terrorism and war. Therefore, I wish to inform you of the following endeavor.

The Friends Committee on National Legislation (the oldest registered religious lobby in Washington, DC., run by the Quakers) is joining with the Center for Justice & Peacebuilding at Eastern Mennonite University, Faithful America, Maryknoll Office for Global Concerns, National Council of Churches of Christ, NETWORK, Peace Action, United Church of Christ Justice and Witness Ministries, Unitarian Universalist Association, United for Peace and Justice (UFPJ), Women's Action for New Directions (WAND) in calling for Freedom from Fear.

In response to 9/11, the U.S. invested in war--and got what it paid for. Five years after 9/11 it's time to invest in peace.

Reflect and pray on September 10 and act for change on September 11 by joining the Nationwide 9/11 Call for Freedom From Fear. For more details on how to participate, go to http://www.fcnl.org/index.htm

Pray for the People of Darfur—Act on Their Behalf

Pray for the People of Darfur—Act on Their Behalf

Government-sponsored militias are carrying out ethnic cleansing, rape, murder, starvation,
and displacement in the Darfur region of western Sudan, Africa

¨ 400,000 people brutally slaughtered
¨ 2.5 million people displaced
¨ 200,000 refugees in neighboring Chad
¨ More than 10,000 people dying each month
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A Candlelight Vigil
Thursday, September 7 at 8:00 pm
Fuquay-Varina UMC – Courtyard

A Service of Prayer and a Call to Justice
Sunday, September 17 at 3:45 pm
Fuquay-Varina UMC – Centrum


These events are planned in conjunction with the Global Day for Darfur on September 17. The Save Darfur Coalition is calling on communities across America to organize 10 Days of Action in anticipation of this event. These are not fundraisers; no monies will be collected. They are opportunities for Christians from across this land of privilege to gather in Jesus’ name for the sake of those whom he loves: the poor and dispossessed, the abused and mistreated, the forgotten and those who mourn.

For more information contact Debra Dean Murphy at Fuquay-Varina UMC at 552-4331
For a schedule of national events check out www.savedarfur.org



Do not withhold good from those to whom it is due, when it is in your power to do it.
Proverbs 3:27