GUEST BLOGGER: Kristin Houle, Amnesty International USA, The National Faith in Action Weekend

Amnesty International USA presents the
National Weekend of Faith in Action on the Death Penalty
October 22-24, 2004

"The movement to abolish the death penalty needs the religious community
because the heart of religion is about compassion, human rights, and the
indivisible dignity of each human person made in the image of God."
-- Sister Helen Prejean, author of Dead Man Walking

Amnesty International USA's Seventh Annual National Weekend of Faith in Action on the Death Penalty (NWFA) will take place THIS weekend, October 22-24, 2004! Throughout the weekend, hundreds of faith communities, interfaith groups, and human rights activists throughout the nation will spend time during their worship services and spiritual practices educating and mobilizing their members to raise awareness about the death penalty.

During the National Weekend of Faith in Action on the Death Penalty, Amnesty International USA encourages people of all faiths to come together and reflect on the death penalty, engage in dialogue, and consider ways to take action to end this retributive practice.

Major faith traditions around the world -- including Catholicism, nearly all Protestant denominations, Reform and Conservative Judaism, and Buddhism -- have taken explicit positions against the death penalty. Even faith traditions that do not specifically oppose the practice, such as Orthodox
Judaism and Islam, have expressed concerns about the random and biased way in which the death penalty is applied and administered. All people of faith should be troubled by a government practice that regularly sends innocent people to death row.

Local involvement in the NWFA takes many different forms and is based upon the needs and capacity of individual communities. This year, participants are organizing interfaith prayer vigils, hosting speakers, watching videos and leading discussions, conducting masses, delivering sermons, and much
more. These activities will be taking place on college and high school campuses, in churches, synagogues, mosques, temples, and sanghas, in public forums, and among interfaith groups of all sizes and affiliations. Find an event/activity in your area.

The National Weekend of Faith in Action takes place every October and seeks to bring together two important approaches to social justice: grassroots human rights activism and faith-based community action. The NWFA is not a national conference or event; rather, it is a weekend of solidarity action organized locally by faith communities all over the country.

Amnesty International invites individuals of all faiths, human rights activists, faith communities, and interfaith groups throughout the country to devote some time during the weekend of October 22-24 to the death penalty issue, using your own faith traditions as a starting point. Reach out and initiate an open dialogue with members of your community!

NWFA Organizing Packets, which include the comprehensive Faith in Action Resource Guidebook and other practical resource materials, are still available and can be used to organized faith-based activities at any time during the year. To request a packet, please email Kristin Houle, in Amnesty's Program to Abolish the Death Penalty, at khoule@aiusa.org.

Visit our website for more information about the National Weekend of Faith in Action, or Amnesty International USA's Program to Abolish the Death Penalty.

One Thing You Can Do by Angela Tucker, Deadline Outreach Director

Here is information about an organization that is hosting a screening of Deadline as part of The National Faith in Action Weekend.

Seattle, Washington
The National Weekend of Faith In Action Against the Death Penalty, in conjunction with the Buddhist Peace Fellowship, The Washington Coalition To Abolish the Death Penalty, Freedom Project, and others.
Friday, October 22, 2004, 7-9:30PM, Keystone Church, 5019 Keystone Place N. (0.4 miles west of the I-5 50th St. Exit - Metro Bus Routes 16, 26 & 44), Facilitated Community Discussion Follows.

Host a screening of your own this weekend by purchasing the DVD and downloading the Discussion Guide. Then, email Kristin Houle for an organizing packet.

Posted by Angela at 03:27 PM

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