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About Portland observer. (Portland, Or.) 1970-current | View Entire Issue (Oct. 31, 2012)
October 31, 2012 11,1 ^Jortlanh (Dbseruer Page 13 Our Faith, Our Vote and God’s World Join me in voting by R ev . J ames M oos r I vote because I am .acitizen. Yes, la m a citizen of the United States and I take civic responsibilities seri ously. More importantly, however, I am a citizen of G od’s realm; as such 1 am called to live out my faith in the public arena. This means casting my vote not out of economic self-interest, but for the sake of all of God’s people and all of creation, and especially on behalf of the vulnerable and powerless. I vote because of a little Palestin ian girl named Siham in East Jerusa lem who my wife and I sponsor through Global Ministries’ Child Sponsorship program. Siham’s future and the prospects for peace in the Middle East will be deeply impacted by U.S. foreign policy. Siham cannot hold our nation’s leadership account able, but we can. I vote because I live in Cleve land, Ohio, a city where 44 out of every 100 adults over the age of 16 lack basic literacy skills. They can not read a bus schedule, or write a letter explaining a credit card billing error. Through elections we both demand better educational systems and we support them. I vote because 15 percent of households in the wealthiest coun try on earth lack food security. At some point in the past year, they had insufficient nutritional food to lead healthy, active lives. While private generosity is good and nec essary in addressing these needs, the structural inequities that under lie them are matters of public policy. I vote because, as a former mili tary chaplain, I know all too well the grief and trauma inflicted upon the innocent and suffered by veterans and their families during unjust and seemingly never-ending wars. On Nov. 6, we will choose the next Com- mander-in-Chief. I vote because the first eight months of 2012 were the hottest on record. South Pacific islanders are being swamped by rising sea levels due to global warming. The legisla tors we choose will decide on whether we take bold action, or con tinue on the path of environmental catastrophe. I vote because nearly 50 million Americans lack health insurance, some of them are close friends and family members. Access to quality health care is not a privilege, it is a human right. The future of that ac cess will be determined on Election Day. 1 vote because I affirm marriage equality. In the land where the con stitution guarantees equal protec tion to all citizens, same gender lov ing people are entitled to all the rights and responsibilities of mar riage. Elected officials and ballot measures are keys to attaining and maintaining marriage equality. I vote because, while faith is in tensely personal, it is never purely private. In his Letter from Birmingham Jail, Martin Luther King chastised his contemporaries who were “. . . more cautious than courageous and have remained silent behind the anesthetizing security of stained glass windows.” Faith that is nurtured in the church must be boldly lived out in the world. In a democracy, the ballot box is one place for us to live out that faith. Please join me in voting. Rev. James Moos is executive minister o f Wider Church M inis tries fo r the United Church o f Christ. Supremely High Stakes in This Election M arge B aker The rig h ts o f working fam ilies acro ss A m erica hang in the balance this Election Day. The future of laws protecting work ing people— our right to safe work ing conditions, to organize, and to sue employers who have discrimi nated against us — will depend on who we elect. But when it comes to workers' rights, some of the most influential government officials we’ll be vot ing for are ones whose names don’t actually appear on the ballot. Either Barack Obama or Mitt Romney will nominate Supreme Court justices — as many as three — over the next four years. Those men and women, serving lifetime appointments, have a pro found impact on our nation’s laws for a generation. Ronald Reagan's by administration ended a quarter cen tury ago, but two of the Supreme C ourt ju s tic e s he n o m in ated , A n to n in S c a lia and A nthony Kennedy, continue to form the core of a 5-4 majority that consistently twists the law to favor big corpora tions over the rights of individuals. That 5-4 majority could be re versed if Obama has a chance to name our next Supreme Court jus tices. H e’s already put Sonia Sotomayor and Elena Kagan on the Court, and they are exactly the kind of judges we need on the nation’s highest court. Both of them have a clear commitment to our rights un der the Constitution and a deep understanding of the impact of the law on the daily lives of Americans. In contrast, Mitt Romney has said he would nominate justices like Scalia and his fellow pro-corporate justices Samuel Alito, Clarence Tho mas, and John Roberts. In case after Il!' |Jortlanò (Obstruer Established 1970 USPS 959-680 __________________________________ 4 7 4 7 NE Martin Luther King, Jr. Blvd., Portland, OR 97211 E d it o r - in - C h ie f , P u b l is h e r : Charles H. Washington E niroR .M ichael L e ig h to n A ssistant to P ubusher , P ublic R elations ." C reative D irector : M a rk W a s h in g to n P a u l N e u fe ld t A ssistant to P ubusher , O ffice M anager /C lassifieds : A ssistant P ublisher : Lucinda Baldwin Leonard Latin A dvertising M anager , P ubuc R elations : S taff W riter /P hotographer : Tony Washington Cari Hachmann case, they have confounded logic, all those years of discrimination. ignored or overruled precedent, and These are the same justices who ignored the plain meaning of laws in tossed out a nationwide class-ac order to rule in favor of the powerful tion discrimination lawsuit on be and against ordinary Americans, half of 1.5 million women employees especially workers. of Walmart who had shown they It was Romney’s model justices were victims of systemic illegal dis who notoriously told Lilly Ledbetter crimination. They misinterpreted language in Either Barack the Age Discrimination in Employ ment Act of 1967 to make it harder Obama or Mitt for victims of discrimination to win Romney will nominate in court, giving it a different mean ing from identical language in the Supreme Court 1964 Civil Rights Act. justices — as many as But perhaps the most astonish of their 5-4 rulings against work three — over the next ing ing people came earlier this year, in four years. a case called Knox v. SEIU. Romney ’ s model justices made up a — and every other woman who dis rule that makes it much harder for covered her employer had for years public sector unions to raise the been illegally paying her less than dues they need to effectively advo her male counterparts — that they cate on behalf of workers — and couldn’t sue for compensation for they did so even though neither The Portland Observer welcomes freelance submissions. Manuscripts and photographs should be clearly labeled and will be re turned if accompanied by a self addressed envelope. All created design display ads be come the sole property of the newspaper and cannot be used in other publications or per sonal usage without the written consent of the general manager, unless the client has purchased the composition of such ad. © 2008 THE PORTLAND OBSERVER ALL RIGHTS RESERVED, REPRODUCTION IN WHOLE OR IN PART WITHOUT PER MISSION IS PROHIBITED. The Portland O bserver-O regon's Oldest Multicultural Publication-is a member of the National Newspaper Association-Founded in 1885, and The National Advertising Representa tive Amalgamated Publishers, Inc, New York, NY, and The West Coast Black Publishers Association P ostmaster : Send address changes to Portland Observer, PO Box3 1 3 7 , Portland, OR 9 7 2 0 8 CALL 503-288-0033 FAX 503-288-0015 news@Dortlandobserver.com ads@Dortlandobserver.com siibscriDtion@portlandobserver.com party in the case even asked them to consider the issue. Every American deserves their day in court. That is part of the American ideal of justice, and it is embedded in our Constitution. But that “day in court” becomes noth ing more than a charade if the judge rules against you on the basis of something you never even had a chance to argue. Over the next 20-30 years, the Supreme Court will decide numer ous cases involving the rights of workers. These cases will affect working Americans all over the coun try. If Mitt Romney has a chance to put his stamp on the Court, it will be bad news for working people long after he leaves office. Marge Baker is the executive vice president o f People For the American Way. PFAW.org. Distrib u te d via O th erW o rd s. OtherWords. org. THE LAW OFFICES OF Patrick John Sweeney, PC. Patrick John Sweeney Attorney at Law 1549 SE Ladd Portland, Oregon Portland: Hillsoboro: Facsimile: Email: (503) 244-2080 (503) 244-2081 (503) 244-2084 Sweeney@PDXLawyer.com
