[Mb-civic] Let’s raise up OUR ‘moral values’

[ean at sbcglobal.net]

>From the Fellowship of Reconciliation
http://www.forusa.org

Let’s raise up OUR ‘moral values’ 

Many in the FOR family are distressed at this week’s election result, and the 
prospect of another four years of this administration’s aggressive policies 
abroad and reactionary measures at home. Adding to the feelings of dread is 
the fact that the President received an even stronger mandate by decisively 
winning the popular vote, while gaining firmer control of both houses of 
Congress. 

But even as we mourn what might have been, we look to new beginnings and 
a new commitment to our vision for the future.   As we deal with sadness, we 
learn that our Local Groups Coordinator has, since Election Night, received 
half a dozen requests to establish new FOR local groups!   The last time that 
happened was just after the start of the war in Iraq.   

We find strength by looking into the past. There we re-learn the positive 
lessons that against enormous odds, truth, justice and freedom will 
eventually prevail. The early abolitionists faced tremendous disappointments 
in their long struggle to end slavery. There were many moments of despair 
and hopelessness in the early years the civil rights struggle.  During the 
Vietnam War, there were times when the contempt of our fellow citizens 
almost made us falter. But we stayed the course –against slavery and Jim 
Crow; against war; for human and civil rights around the world; for the rights 
of women, minorities and workers; for the protection of the environment; for 
an end to weapons of mass destruction everywhere. 

We learn from post-election polls that it was won on “moral values.”   The 
Fellowship of Reconciliation believes in moral values, but doesn’t believe they 
are the exclusive property of any religious ideology. War and violence is a 
moral issue. Genocide is a moral issue. The threat of nuclear annihilation is a 
moral issue. Racial, economic and gender discrimination, the exploitation of 
women, children and ethnic minorities around the world --- these are all moral 
issues. 

As we recommit ourselves to the work that lies ahead, let us raise up our 
moral values in the public arena. Let us reach out with our progressive faith. 
Let us engage those whose speak of moral values but support war and 
killing. There are many more of us who wish to live in a world free of war and 
violence than there are those who view faith purely a matter of personal 
salvation, or whose purpose is to bring about Armageddon . 
The challenges are difficult, but not insurmountable. We’ve been through 
difficult times in the past. Let us work even harder to promote our 
progressive, inclusive and courageous vision for our nation and our world. 
Let us renew our commitment to work for what Martin Luther King called “The 
Beloved Community” – a world in which differences are respected, conflicts 
addressed nonviolently and oppressive structures dismantled; a world in 
which people are able to live in harmony with the earth, nurtured by diverse 
spiritual traditions that foster compassion, solidarity, and reconciliation.

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Action is the antidote to despair.  ----Joan Baez
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