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Heaven Can Be This Moment Through Our ChoicesPsychologists tell us not to dwell on the past because it prevents the life of now from being embraced and utilized for best growth into our future. This theory is reflected on a grander scale also. What is oil/petroleum\coal? These are the remnants of creatures that lived long ago. Not only did the Eternal Source Creator destroy them but also buried the majority of it very deep and away from the living world. What has become of our collective thoughts in society when we have lived myopically embracing the past? We have become a culture of worshipping the dead, preventing others from embracing life. We saw it with the Buffalo, the Passenger Pigeon, the North Carolina Parakeet countless others and now in the midst of a 6th mass extinction. Species are dying at an average of 5000 times the normal rate.* How is this happening? Through the sense of entitlement. From 1950 fishing increased from 18 to 100 million metric tons per year, ¾ of fishing grounds are depleted most large fish gone and industry would rather let their carcasses rot than offer the protein at below market rate while still edible. Furthermore industry says that the decomposing lives must go in landfills where they create the gas methane up to 71% more toxic than carbon dioxide. When the creatures of our time and space are returned to the soils of now they fertilize the ground with their knowledge and love allowing the next generation to rise from the ground with a power built upon their foundation of being. It is in the human psyche to return things to the Mother Earth. It used to be seeds and peels and shells and other biodegradable waste that nourished the soil in many ways. Now we are feeding the death industry by spreading the gift of our hands as plastic waste. Americans use 100 billion plastic bags a year, which require 12 million barrels of oil to manufacture. It only takes about 14 plastic bags for the equivalent of the gas required to drive one mile. Target gives away enough plastic bags a year to wrap around the Earth 7 times. The average American family takes home almost 1,500 plastic shopping bags a year. According to Waste Management, only 1 percent of plastic bags are returned for recycling. That means that the average family only recycles 15 bags a year; the rest ends up in landfills as litter. Up to 80 percent of ocean plastic pollution enters the ocean from land. At least 267 different species have been affected by plastic pollution in the ocean. 100,000 marine animals are killed by plastic bags annually. One in three leatherback sea turtles have been found with plastic in their stomachs. Plastic bags are used for an average of 12 minutes. It takes 500 (or more) years for a plastic bag to degrade in a landfill. Unfortunately the bags don't break down completely but instead photo-degrade, becoming microplastics that absorb toxins and continue to pollute the environment.* How is our immersion into clouding our beings any different; the news glorifies dyfunction, most tv programming also, video games affect the entire society as people retreat into a world of make believe. Grocery stores need to be returned Our waterways are in peril: Jordan river near dried up, 1 in 10 rivers around globe stop flowing through the year, Dead Sea shrinking at a meter per year and Western India has 30% of wells dried up and the Colorado River no longer reaches the sea. By 2025 2 billion people affected by water shortage. This is nothing short of affluent greed: 800-1000 liters of water per person per day in Las Vegas,Palm Springs has lush golf courses. We have used the living waters of this planet to feed the greed of animal exploitation where creatures that have no voice to protest in governments are trans-species raped, their children forcibly removed from their wombs, mutilated and violently assaulted through their lives and then sent to a slaughterhouse were they see, hear and smell the death of their breed and their own impending demise. We know that every entity on this planet has a portion of water within its being. Water does conduct electricity and emotions are electrical conductions. When we consume their pain, suffering, bewilderment of being so savagely attacked and sorrow for the loss of life experience ingrained in their psyche how can it not alter the thoughts of our own being? Is this a reflection of the oils of the past (death) integrating into our present and creating a new life in misery? www.biologicaldiversity.org/programs/biodiversity/elements_of.../extinction_crisis/ http://www.biologicaldiversity.org/programs/population_and_sustainability/expect_more_bag_less/facts.html https://www.google.com/search?q=water+footprint+of+meat&tbm=isch&source=iu&ictx=1&fir=XTwZKw6DMGt7_M%253A%252Cf9zUaKyv5TPjKM%252C_&usg=__q5ioZJ9LKgmfXweHH0AvVNLBC3s%3D&sa=X&ved=0ahUKEwiOj_Sa_P_ZAhVS0VMKHQsdAt4Q9QEIuAEwEg&biw=1164&bih=631#imgrc=UppEVqXtLVKfcM:8 of 100 SignaturesCreated by Loa Bennett
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We Condemn The Desecration Of An Apache Nation Sacred SiteUnder the American Indian Religious Freedom Act (AIRFA) the U.S. government is required to protect the religious freedom of “Native Americans” (indigenous people), “including but not limited to access to sites, use and possession of sacred objects, and the freedom to worship through ceremonials and traditional rites.” We write as diverse people of this nation--black, brown, white, Apache, gay, straight, transgender, poor, young, old, able bodied and non-able bodied--to demand immediate action from the U.S. Forest Service Agency and federal law enforcement officials who have jurisdiction to investigate the desecrated crosses and feathers in Oak Flat/Tonto National Forest, which falls under the jurisdiction of AIRFA and the U.S. Forest Service Agency.3,430 of 4,000 SignaturesCreated by Repairers of the Breach PPC: NCMR
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Justice for Martinez FamilyIt is important that families like the Martinez family are not separated by broken immigration policies. It is crucial that U.S. citizen children like those of the Martinez family are not separated from their parents and family members. U.S. children should not have to be going through the psychological traumas of family seperation. ------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------- Es importante que familias como la familia Martínez no estén separadas por políticas de inmigración. Es crucial que los niños ciudadanos de EE. UU. como los de la familia Martínez no estén separados de sus padres y familiares. Los niños de EE. UU. no deberían tener que pasar por los traumas psicológicos de la separación de la familia.183 of 200 SignaturesCreated by Justin Remer-Thamert
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Release Rogelio Tejada back with his wife and kidsRogelio is a father of 3 beautiful children who love and need him oldest daughter is 17 who lost her mother last year in a tragic death he is the only living parent that she has this poor child is traumatized with not having any bio parents around her. His Step daughter is in her teens at 13 she really does not express much only you will her listen to his favorite songs in he room and get emotional behind closed door his son is 9 and is a Rogelio Jr. this little man is always expressing to his mom I miss my Papi when is Papi coming home, I want to play outside wit him and play my game with me. Rogelio Mother lives here in Colorado and has ben diagnosis with Cancer Rogelio was her care giver. Rogelio also suffers from a Traumatic Brain injuries in which he has hard time getting memories out as well as words he was in physical and speech therapy before ICE took him now he has to do his own therapy because the facility does not offer this for the inmates. when Rogelio got detained he was not given the meds that he need, one for his diabetes and two for his brain injury. Rogelio has been in the united states for 30 years went to americian schools and graduated from an americian highschool supported his family and before his injury had his own business Tejada Tree service that was successful before getting detained by ice due to his brain injury he would over see the business. Please sign this and bring this wonderful man home to his family Rogelio and his family would be in extreme hard ship if he was to get deported due to the culture change and the children being young and there stages of development..56 of 100 SignaturesCreated by Lisa Rooney
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White Supremacists Cannot Be Nominated To The Federal Bench: Senators Must Vote Against Thomas Farr!Amos 5:15 says, “Hate evil, love good; maintain justice in the courts.” To place someone who shows conspicuous contempt for equal protection under the law and a racist mindset is not only the wrong use of the judiciary, it is an offense of the moral law of God. “We will have to repent in this generation,” Dr. Martin Luther King wrote from an Alabama jail, “not merely for the vitriolic words and actions of the bad people… but for the appalling silence of the good people.” Add your voice and demand the U.S. Senate Judiciary Committee reject this atrocious nominee!615 of 800 SignaturesCreated by Repairers of the Breach PPC: NCMR
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Release Eliseo Jurado, Colorado father, back to his family*** Sigue en espanol*** On January 11, 2018, ICE detained the husband of Sanctuary leader Ingrid Encalada Latorre. Eliseo Jurado has lived half his life in the US. His father is a US citizen and his mother a permanent resident. His son, Anibal who is two years old, and his step-son Bryant, who is nine, are both US citizens. Eliseo is the breadwinner for his family and has supported Ingrid as she fought her deportation. He owns his own framing company and has literally helped build a new Denver. Nothing new has happened in Eliseo’s life. There was no reason for ICE to target him now. ****************************** Hoy, el ICE detuvo al esposo de la líder del Santuario, Ingrid Encalada Latorre. Eliseo Jurado ha vivido la mitad de su vida en los Estados Unidos. Su padre es ciudadano estadounidense y su madre es residente permanente. Su hijo, Anibal, que tiene dos años, y su hijastro Bryant, que tiene nueve años, son ambos ciudadanos estadounidenses. Eliseo es el sostén de su familia y ha apoyado a Ingrid mientras luchaba contra su deportación. Es dueño de su propia empresa de enmarcado y, literalmente, ha ayudado a construir un nuevo Denver. Nada nuevo ha sucedido en la vida de Eliseo. No había ninguna razón para que ICE lo atacara ahora.2,664 of 3,000 SignaturesCreated by Jennifer Piper
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A Call to Break the Silence on Violence Against Women and GirlsThis moment in history is ours to steward. More than 150 initial signatories are calling churches everywhere to end the silence and stop all participation in violence against women. Silence is not spiritual. Action is not optional. O surgimento dos recentes movimentos #MeToo e #ChurchToo despertou o mundo para a natureza e extensão da violência contra mulheres e meninas. Por muito tempo, as vozes de mulheres e meninas que sofrem violência tem sido marginalizadas, ignoradas ou silenciadas. A Igreja global tem sido lenta para falar e tomar uma atitude. Até agora. Mais de 150 líderes espalhadas pelo mundo estão convocando a comunidade de fé global para que parem de serem espectadores e se levantem em defesa das mulheres e meninas vítimas da violência. Em poucas horas apos o lançamento do #SilenceIsNotSpiritual milhares responderam em apoio. Nós enfrentamos um momento decisivo como igreja. Nos encolheremos de medo e desespero ou faremos coro com o pranto das mulheres vulneráveis, ecoando suas vozes e defendendo sua coragem? Junte-se ao Movimento! Declaração em Português: https://www.silenceisnotspiritual.org/portugese-statement6,419 of 7,000 SignaturesCreated by Groundswell Movement
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Trump's FCC voted to end the open Internet. Congress can still save it — if they hear from us.President Trump's FCC just held a 3-2 vote that tries to end the Internet as we know it. But the fight isn't over. Championing the vote were telecom giants who want more control over what happens on the Internet. On the other side of the debate is everyone else — start-ups, businesses, educators, artists, advocates, and people of all backgrounds who are defending net neutrality, the principle that keeps the Internet free of corporate control. They argue that net neutrality is necessary for American democracy and the economy. There’s also an unexpected voice in the chorus: America’s leaders of faith and moral conscience. Free speech, including moral and religious expression, depends on the open Internet. The Internet has already become a prophetic platform for faith in the United States. Faith groups are using the Internet as a medium for spiritual life, service, prophetic leadership, innovation, and social justice. This would not be possible without meaningful net neutrality protections. Losing these protections could be the end of the Internet as we know it. Net neutrality rules codify principles that have governed the Internet in the U.S. for decades. They ban carriers like Comcast and AT&T from blocking or slowing down websites at will — or charging websites money for access or a faster connection to their users. It keeps the Internet an open space for free speech and dissent, vital now more than ever. In this critical window, faith voices could help persuade Congress to protect net neutrality — not just as sound policy but as a moral imperative, but only if they hear from enough of us. We will press to use the Congressional Review Act to reverse this hasty and misguided FCC action. We have 60 legislative days (i.e. days when Congress is in session) to pressure Congress to act. Sign and share this to tell Congress that you oppose the FCC’s rollback and support full net neutrality protections for everyone.3,535 of 4,000 SignaturesCreated by Valarie Kaur and Cheryl Leanza
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Tell ICE to immediately release detained dreamer Osman Aroche Enriquez (A#207612730). #FreeOsmanMore than 10,000 DACA recipients like Aroche Enriquez have already lost their status because Congress has failed to act. Just last week, Congress failed to include the Dream Act in the continuing resolution that will fund the government for two weeks. Every day the Congress delays is another day of uncertainty for 800,000 young people. We pray that ICE and Congress find the courage to do the right thing and not only release Osman immediately, but also pass the Dream Act by the end of the year.400 of 500 SignaturesCreated by Myrna Orozco
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Carmela Libre: Stop the Deportation of Carmela and her 4 Children now!SANCTUARY/SANTUARIO On December 13th, 2017, Carmela, Fidel, Keyri, Yoselin and Edwin took the prophetic and bold step to enter into Sanctuary at Church of the Advocate, a member congregation of New Sanctuary Movement of Philadelphia. “I am taking Sanctuary to fight for my family, to protest our deportation orders and the injustices of the immigration systems. Everybody deserves to live with dignity and safety,” said Carmela. El 13 de Diciembre del 2017, Carmela, Fidel, Keyri, Yoselin y Edwin tomaron el paso audaz y profético de tomar Santuario en la iglesia Church of the Advocate, miembro del Nuevo Movimiento Santuario. “Estoy tomando Santuario para luchar por mi familia, para protestar nuestras ordenes de deportacion y las injusticias de los sistemas de inmigracion. Todos merecemos vivir con dignidad y seguridad,” dijo Carmela. CHURCH OF THE ADVOCATE/IGLESIA CHURCH OF THE ADVOCATE Drawing on its long legacy of organizing for social justice, the Church of the Advocate is responding to the mounting attacks on immigrants and other communities of color by joining the movement to build Sanctuary for all. The Church is on the National Register of Historic Places, is a National Historic Landmark, and is well known for providing spiritual enrichment, social services, and community programming in Philadelphia. It is also the site of the ordination of the first female priests in the Episcopal Church in 1974. Basada en su largo legario de organizar por la justicia social, la iglesia Church of the Advocate está respondiendo a los ataques contra los inmigrantes y otras comunidades de color uniéndose al movimiento para construir Santuario para todxs. La Iglesia esta el en Registro Nacional de Lugares Históricos, es un Sitio Nacional Histórico, y es muy bien conocida por proveer enriquecimiento espiritual, servicios sociales, y programación comunitaria en Filadelfia. También es el sitio de ordenación de las primeras sacerdotisas en la Iglesia Episcopaliana en 1974. CONTEXT/CONTEXTO Deportations continue to wreak havoc in immigrant communities as the Trump Administration has increased immigration arrests by 45%. The federal administration explicitly targets “Sanctuary” cities such as Philadelphia, and it has stripped young people, refugees, asylees, and other populations from conditional relief programs like Temporary Protected Status (TPS) and DACA. Asylum law, even when applied to its full extent, does not protect the lives of people who have been displaced from their countries of origin by violence and poverty exacerbated by U.S. foreign policy. Las deportaciones continúan causando estragos en las comunidad inmigrantes mientras la Administración de Trump ha incrementado los arrestos de inmigrantes por el 45%. La administracion federal explicitamente ataca a las ciudades “Santuario” como Filadelfia, y ha robado a lxs jóvenes, refugiadxs, recipientes de asilo, y otras poblaciones de programas de relieve condicional como el TPS y DACA. Las leyes de asilo, aun cuando son bien aplicadas, no protegen las vidas de las personas que han sido desplazadas de sus países de origen por la violencia y la pobreza exacerbada por la política exterior de los Estados Unidos.3,390 of 4,000 SignaturesCreated by New Sanctuary Movement of Philadelphia
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Congress: Don't cut taxes for rich people like meSince the election of Ronald Reagan, the gap between rich and poor has grown dramatically and “trickle down” economics has turned out to cause more of a trickle up. But nothing has brought the problem of inequality into sharper focus for me than the current proposals by Republicans to overhaul the tax system. The process has been rash, ill-conceived and opaque — all the things legislation of this much consequence should never be. And why? The hurry is purely political: Republicans badly need some sort of win for their benefactors, and they need it soon. An attempt at so-called tax reform like the current one can be dressed up in the rational-sounding language of economics and finance, but tax policy is always, at its heart, an expression of our nation’s shared values and priorities. The values and priorities expressed by the bills now being considered in Congress are so unlike those of my childhood as to be unrecognizable to me. I can’t sit idly by and pretend that people of my class are not, by deception and chicanery, looking to augment their already absurd wealth and power by way of this tax reform process. Sign and share this now to join me in stopping this #TaxScam. We’ve stopped legislation like this from moving forward before, but it has never gotten this far. We’re going to have to pull out all of the stops.2,037 of 3,000 SignaturesCreated by Abigail Disney
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Boston DeclarationChoose Life: This is a time of heightened racist and patriarchal empire where wealth is concentrated at the top. The Living God asks us to make a decision: "Today I offer you the choice of life and good, or death and evil. ... Choose life." (Deuteronomy 31). Following Jesus today means choosing life, joining the Spirit-led struggle to fight the death-dealing powers of sin wherever they erupt. Whenever one of God’s children is being oppressed, we will fight with them for liberation with the power of the Holy and Life-Giving Spirit. And yet, we live in a moment when death and evil seem to reign supreme in the United States, when those with the power of a uniform or the president’s pen or a position of authority or fame or economic tricks of capitalization and interest or sheer brute force… again and again choose death rather than life. In a moment when too many who confess Christ advocate evil, we believe followers of the Jesus Way are called to renounce, denounce, and resist these death-dealing powers which organize and oppress our world, not to embrace or promulgate them. We acknowledge the manifold and complicated ways we participate in these systems, even as we are often complicit in them. We confess that the Church, in a variety of forms, has too often failed to follow the way of Jesus and perform the good news. We are people who are still discovering the ways we participate with death and evil, even while continue seek the good, to choose life again and again. This declaration is such a choice, hoping and clinging to the God of life and seeking to bear witness to that life in our present moment. Acknowledging our own failures and embracing an appropriate sense of humility should not, however, silence us. While we do not have ready-made answers for all the problems we face, we know something about the pathway we must follow if we are to find those answers, and this is the pathway of Jesus. Who is our God and What is the Jesus Way? We believe in a God who holds all difference within God’s own life and in whom there is no one or no people who are distant from God’s justice, merciful love, and presence (Micah 6:8; Acts 10:34-35). We affirm the beauty and humanity of all people in their manifold difference--race, ethnicity, gender, sexuality, and religion--as reflecting God’s image through lives of love and hope. We believe the Jesus Way calls us to the possibility of living in a world where all can love and be loved, and live into joy. The Jesus Way continues through our best prayerful, honest, and empirical attempts to understand why and how the world has come to be in the shape it is today. This pathway calls us to act in ways that are Spirit-led and strategic in confronting evil wherever evil exists, to combat ignorance wherever ignorance has led people astray and to place our lives and our bodies on the line with whoever is being threatened, beat down, or oppressed in any way, anywhere. Read the full Boston Declaration Here: https://thebostondeclaration.com/blog/2017/11/18/the-boston-declaration1,374 of 2,000 SignaturesCreated by Groundswell Movement