Advocacy

“I can officially vote!” This is what I wrote on my Facebook wall the day I turned 18. Out of all the things I could have chosen to be excited about in becoming a legal adult, I chose voting. Besides being kind of a silly story, I share this because I’m discovering that that kind of thinking appears to be more unique than I had realized. Whereas I was almost in tears once because I thought I had missed the deadline to mail in my absentee ballot, it turns out most of my friends, especially in Christian circles, have not voted, or even registered to vote, in recent elections.

As I write this, it’s just a couple of hours after the Prime Minister asked the Governor General to dissolve Parliament and call an election.  I know that elections come with a lot of partisan silliness that can cause us to groan and slip into cynicism and apathy. But as people of hope, rooted in Christ, it’s important to buck the trend of political cynicism, to be surprising by being hopeful, even grateful.  Visible gratitude for the opportunity to act as citizens for the good of our communities is counter-cultural in an age of cynicism.

“Each one of you is to be God’s microphone.”

These are the words of Oscar Romero (1917-1980), the fourth archbishop of San Salvador and an advocate for the oppressed during the Salvadoran Civil War. He was martyred in 1980 while celebrating Mass in the Chapel of Divine Providence Hospital.

September 6th is National Read a Book Day! With the upcoming Canadian election in mind, the Centre for Public Dialogue has compiled this great list of books for you to read on Sept 6th, or any other day this fall. These titles have been read and enjoyed by our staff and board members as they endeavor to speak hope to elected officials, and to engage our families, neighbourhoods, and church communities in doing justice. 

I’ve been procrastinating on writing this blog, hoping that some inspiration would hit me and I would punch out a message that would lift you up and fuel your desire to care for God’s world and its’ people. Usually it comes. 

Hope is the newest member of the Office of Social Justice team. She joins our team this week as the Justice Mobilizing and Advocacy Fellow, a one year position with our office. Hope comes to us with a background in Political Science after attending Gordon College in Massachusetts. Most recently Hope worked as an English teacher in Jordan.  

We are thrilled to welcome Hope to the team!

The state of Maine Legislature and its governor, Janet Mills, signed a new law on June 13, 2019 that protects its citizens from two groups of ubiquitous chemicals that threaten human health: phthalates and PFAS.

An anti-alcohol law was passed in 2017 in Gulu district, after concerted and collaborative efforts of the Diocese of Northern Uganda and other stakeholders with support from World Renew. Petitions were raised by Diocese of Northern Uganda and peaceful protesters, both Muslim and Christian, marched through Gulu town to raise awareness of the need to have a law to stop the dangers associated with this kind of drink. And we were successful! All alcohol sold in sachets under 50 millilitres were banned in Gulu district.

This is the first post of our Power Over/Power With series, a collaboration between Safe Church Ministry and Do Justice.

We all have some power. Power to act, to choose, to alter our world and affect others, is part of being image-bearers of God.

Yet power can so easily become corrupt and be used to marginalize, manipulate, or control others. When we are unaware of or not careful with the power we hold, we can cause deep harm.

Jesus’ way of wielding power looks different from our own sin-corrupted ways of using our power.

We're grateful to welcome Richard Silversmith as a new Do Justice columnist! 

Perhaps you have heard about the disturbance and engagement between Omaha Native American elder Nathan Phillips and Covington High School student Nick Sandmann on the major news outlets and social media, January 19, 2019.