Silent No More - Silence was Never! On July 13, Kendra Stanton Lee wrote an op-ed entitled The “Pro-Life” Movement Is Silent About Children Dying at the Border. She changed her mind. The July 16 essay is entitled I called the pro-lifers silent. Then I heard them roar. As she puts it: “By the time my essay calling out pro-life silence was published, though, it was clear much was happening under the banner of pro-life. My social media and inbox were filling to the brim with roaring dissent. Some pro-lifers came in peace. Some came with pitchforks. There were plenty of pro-lifers with boots on the ground, they said, rallying to help the plight of the asylum seekers in any way that they could.” She gives details about the #Bottles2theborder campaign of direct supplies to immigrant centers organized by our member group New Wave Feminists and co-sponsored by over 50 pro-life organizations -- including us, of course.
Destiny Herndon-De La Rosa and daughter Eiffel unload supplies at the respite center in McAllen, TX. Photo courtesy of Kristina Fernandez of And Then There Were None
Wild Goose Festival CLN board member Lisa Stiller and volunteer Stephanie Burger represented us this year at the Wild Goose Festival. It was our fifth year with a table doing outreach to 3,000-4,000 people. We also had a workshop with a small but engaged group. The CLN table had a steady stream of visitors, with many good conversations, and some stereotypes gently challenged. "I like this table. It is kind. It is compassionate," said one of the last people to stop by.
Stephanie Burger and Lisa Stiller at the table.
Left: Rev Sharon Risher takes a turn at making a gun into a garden tool. Right: CLN Endorser Shane Claiborne giving a moving speech on gun violence
Adventures Among Quakers We mentioned last week that at a national Quaker conference where many fine conversations took place, there was also the kind of reaction that one would never expect from pacifists. Rachel MacNair offers a longer report: FGC Gathering – 2019 / For the First Time, Hostility.
Latest CLN Blog Post In a reprint from 1977, Richard Stith explains how “Oppressors of Women Scapegoat Fetuses to Preserve Patriarchy.” He also connects this to racism and how people rebel against the situations that leave them in poverty.
Quotation of the Week Michael Wear Democrats Shouldn’t Be So Certain About Abortion The New York Times, July 14, 2019, pg. SR4 Mr. Wear served as part of President Barack Obama’s faith-based initiative and on both of his presidential campaigns. He’s not a consistent-lifer but makes some interesting points. Democrats used to express great offense if Republicans described them as the party of “abortion on demand.” Now, Democratic candidates seem happy to leave the impression that their party is just that, often justifying their position by suggesting it’s a direct result of listening to women, communities of color and those with low incomes. Here’s the problem: They don’t speak for these communities when they appear to support abortion on demand. We know that 73 percent of women believe abortion should be restricted to at least the first three months (with a large percentage of those women supporting even greater restrictions). According to a June Morning Consult/Politico poll, 42 percent of Hispanics support Hyde (28 percent oppose), as well as 36 percent of African-Americans (37 percent oppose) and 46 percent of Americans with an income under $50,000 (31 percent oppose). Note: Michael New has written a response.
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