Editor's Note: Since Libby wrote this piece last week, following the mass murders in Buffalo, we have been horrified to learn of more horrific mass murders at Robb Elem
entary School in Uvalde, Texas.  When will people of faith move beyond "thoughts and prayers" to take substantive action?
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by Elizabeth Sholes, Director Emerita Public Policy

The mass murder of 10 Black Americans Saturday May 14 was sickening to all people of conscience. The shooter left massive evidence of his deliberate and calculated intent in his car and on his electronic gear. This was not an act of a mentally-ill person but one who carefully and deliberately planned the attack to get rid of as many Black people as possible.
 
We by now have read that he embraced the “replacement theory” propagated by extremists. It is the fear, that has been around since at least the 1960s, that the white race (as if it’s one solid block of people) is being replaced by people of color, especially immigrants.  Why that led the shooter to target Black Americans is unclear, but extremism is rarely rational. 
 
The shooting at a supermarket, TOPS, on the East Side has more than general horror for me. I lived in Buffalo for many years and was the originator of an effort to get a community-owned supermarket into that neighborhood.  “Our Market” was its name.  It did not succeed for a lot of reasons, the TOPS finally came to this food desert area. 
 
I’m glad of that, but the effort to build a community owned store was wonderful; it put me in contact with many community members and especially with the Masden District then-Council Member, David Collins who was a man of extraordinary vision and concern for his constituents.  He had a civil rights legacy second to few, and his actions were always principled and concerned for people and their needs.
 
Thanks to David’s friendship, I was involved in his campaigns, his activism for social justice, and through him met other good people, some of whom became friends. For years they were my “warmth of other suns”, anchors in my city to what was good, righteous, just, and downright fun.  I associate all we did as passionate justice coupled with raucous laughter, hard work followed by dancing, unending campaigning and delicious food.  It just doesn’t get better than that.
 
To have this area the target of such hate is incomprehensible. To have these people, these good, decent, hard-working, and loving people, cut down so disgustingly is almost more than I can bear.
 
How do we end these horrors?  For those of us who are white, where is our voice in all this?  How do our congregations and our voices matter?  
 
When do we make manifest that “All God’s Children” does not have qualifiers?  When we hear a congressional representative say children refugees at the border don’t deserve infant formula, when we read of hate crimes on the rise against everyone but especially Asian Americans blamed for COVID, when we see LGBTQ people targeted for simply being who they are, we see that too many professed Christians have “exception clauses” in their hearts.  When people die for the color of their skin, we have well and truly lost our way. 
 
It is up to us. We have to bear witness against hate.. We cannot be silent.  These are not political issues – these are the most profound values of faith and democracy. It takes courage, no doubt about it, but we will not honor either our faith or our nation is we are silent.  Silence is assent. And it is a moral cowardice we can no longer accept.
 
We have to challenge bias, prejudice, hate rhetoric, and acts of violence. We have to call out our elected officials who engage in such disgusting lies. We need to write to them, we need to challenge the media both locally and nationally to stop promoting “replacement theory” or any other biased and inhumane propaganda that serves to dehumanize anyone.
 
When Asian women were shot to death in Atlanta, the chief of police said the shooter was “having a bad day”.  A bad DAY?  The public outcry led to an apology from the chief and a renewed effort to investigate the hate-based murders.  
 
Here in Sacramento at a public meeting a city council member blamed the meth epidemic on Latin American immigrants. That is absolutely not true; meth is a local “cottage industry” in white communities around the Bay Area per the Department of Justice. I called him out on it for inflaming both anti-immigrant and anti-homeless views here in Sacramento. 
 
Word got back to me that he hates me. Fine. Oddly, I can live with that. Who would I be if that had gone unchallenged?  He can hate me. I bet he never says that again.
 
If we are going to sit in our pews on Sunday, we have to live the Word the remainder of the week. No one will stop this hate but us. We must do it with courage and without returning the hate.  But we must do it. 
 
We can be silent no more.

​Are we losing our democracy?  Only if we let it happen. Events of the past weeks are a call to action, to regrouping and recommitment to our founding principles.  Here is what we are seeing.
 
The Supreme Court’s ruling that was leaked showing the majority may overturn Roe v Wade was stunning for several reasons. Since it was settled law for 49 years, it seems inconceivable it could be removed. Second, the arguments contained in the leaked documents placed this decision on very weak foundations that are deeply troubling.
 
The issue of abortion is very personal. To that end, Roe had appealed to “common and customary” understandings about reproduction that existed in our nation’s Common Law history and principles that the first immigrants to this new world carried into the new settlements.

Common Law evolved over centuries with deep roots in Biblical principles back to the earliest days of England. Drawing on scripture, Common Law departed from Catholic theology by accepting that life begins not at conception but “first breath”. (see for example, Genesis 2:7 and Ezekiel 37: 5-6).  First breath was thus the start of life. Prior to that, it is potential life.
 
Scripture put the woman over the fetus in terms of societal values.  In Exodus 21:22 it states that if someone causes a woman to miscarry, he is fined.  If he causes her death, he is put to death.  The Common Law carried the primacy of the mother into English societal values by valuing the mother above the fetus until “quickening” or, essentially, viability outside the womb. At that point mother and future child are equal in the eyes of society.
 
Abortion was legal and available in the colonies and new nation until the 1860s. There are many reasons why it became illegal, but it cannot be said that it was ever criminalized in the US prior to that period. It was part of American law and an accepted practice until then. This is important because assertions it has always been illegal are not accurate.
 
In 1973, the Supreme Court, resting on centuries of English Common Law, wrote the Roe decision in keeping with the legal differentiation of before and after “quickening”. The decision follows Common Law that in its turn had followed Scripture.
 
The arguments against Roe are frightening above and beyond the destruction of a woman’s rights.  Justice Samuel Alito asserts that abortion was always criminalized prior to 1973 and that Roe rested on no legal principles.  That is simply not true.  To support his own argument, Alito points to the 17th C. Barrister and legal scholar, Matthew Hale whose diatribe against abortion he cites and upon which Alito rests his opposition today.  The problem is, it was a personal opinion, not a legal principle. Hale was at odds with the law and society of his time, but his objections never found their way into the law. Thus it is not a legal precedent for Alito at all.  Roe rests on Common Law. Alito’s opinion today does not.
 
The five conservative justices who look prepared to overturn Roe are part of the Federalist Society that has offered many oppositional arguments against Common Law per se. Common Law allows ordinary people the right to challenge laws and facts through the courts. One can argue that it is part of the reason England and her colonies have far fewer revolutions – if you can make changes through the law without appealing to the Legislature, you as a citizen have effectiveness and agency without needing to overthrow your government.  The Federalists want the United States to be more like France and Germany where the Legislature is everything and no challenges can be made.
 
To meet this argument, we are now going to be called on to codify Roe in legislation. No one should have to, but if we are to preserve the principles of Common Law that have served us well, that will become a new standard with this court.
 
So what has to happen is to shape the legislatures – state and federal – to assure we can pass bills that uphold what we, the people, desire. It ought to be an unnecessary step, but it no longer can be avoided.  We must vote into office people who both uphold our immediate goals and who accept the operation and importance of our legal system as a safety valve for right of access to justice.
 
Voting, therefore, becomes far more urgent than ever. Roe is the first but will not be the last challenge to both the specific concerns – abortion, marriage equality, interracial marriage, and even access to voting – and to the survival of Common Law and our access to courts.  If our courts are not living, breathing bodies for change, we are surely going to be less free.    VOTE as if your life depends on it!

​Elizabeth Sholes
Public Policy Advocate
California Council of Churches/IMPACT

Dear friends,

For many years California Church IMPACT worked closely with the Applied Research Center in Oakland. ARC was the leader in racial justice equity advocacy in California and across the nation. Now known as “Race Forward,” it retains its high standards set, in no small part, by our friend and colleague, Tammy Johnson.
 
Tammy is now offering workshops that may be of great interest to congregations dealing with local issues of racial equity. We encourage anyone interested to contact her concerning these programs. She is a brilliant and kind analyst and deeply supportive of the power of the faith community to help craft genuine solutions to some of our hardest problems.
 
Equity Mapping: Charting Liberation Pathways is a workshop series, held in 90-minute sessions created by equity consultant, Tammy Johnson. Participants will create Equity Maps that chart a course toward understanding and applying key concepts like equity, intersectionality, anti-Blackness and Black liberation. They will also learn and use the Culture Shift Guide Post tool. Each organization is allotted ten participant slots, and each participant will receive an Equity Mapping Toolkit and access to a recording of the sessions. More information about the series is included in the series overview. (Equity Mapping Series Overview - Google Docs) The deadlines are February 23 and May 9, 2022. ASL and language translation are available with proper notice. If you have questions about the workshop series you can reach Tammy at tmjabundance@gmail.com and find out more about her at tjunivers.com
 
Workshop Series 
March 1, 2, 8 and 9, 2022: Series Two
May 18, 19, 25, 26, 2022L: Series Three (same content different dates)
10:30-12:00 noon PST / 1:30-3:00pm EST
Fee: $2100
 
This is a major commitment to racial equity. There is a charge, and we thus urge congregations to collaborate with others to share the costs. But it is worth our time and effort to engage with the issue of our historical and present history.
 
Thank you for considering learning from the best. You won't be disappointed.

Elizabeth Sholes
Public Policy Advocate
California Council of Churches/IMPACT

Dear Friends,

We have received, and CNN has confirmed, that in addition to the publicized rally/protest/disturbance advertised for our nation's Capitol this coming weekend, Sept. 18, other dangers may occur.

Per internet "chatter" on extremist web sites, there are serious threats being made of local attacks on liberal churches and Jewish centers.  These are specifically worded threats and should not be ignored.

Any church that has publicly supported social justice issues is considered "liberal" to extremists. Even feeding the hungry is now perceived as a radical act.  Thus most all of our member denominations and allies fall into this high-risk category.

Please notify your local police department or sheriff and ask for extra patrols this coming weekend. If you can afford it, private security, especially for any events, would be prudent. In all cases, take heed of what we are being told by Homeland Security:  If you see something, SAY something.

We hope cooler heads will prevail. We hope goodness and decency will thrive. But we'd be foolish to ignore the harsh reality of our times.  Please don't become victims through inaction and inattention.
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Blessings to all.  May peace be with you.

www.calchurches.org/uploads/4/1/4/8/41486209/public_defender_sites.pdfA homeless man gets housing - and still dies untended, alone, from a totally treatable condition.
Indifference to state law forces homeless people to re-certify a second time to affirm eligibility for food assistance - and all the paperwork is lost. They go without for months.
A woman's child is taken from her by CPS against state law and department procedure. No findings of harm by her are ever found. Two years later she doesn't have him back.
California Council of Churches and Church IMPACT were founded to keep people of faith aware of what comes before our state legislature. IMPACT advocates for laws that are just and fair, that promote a democratic society where all may find equality and reliability before the law and from fickleness in the law.
We have labored with you to bring about socially responsible legislation that help those most in need and with the fewest resources.  We have, over the years, largely won those battles.
And then we see it all fall apart at the County level.
Monitoring how any given county upholds or abuses the state laws passed is very difficult. Some of the awareness may come initially from those victimized by bureaucratic nightmares. Other wrongs go largely untended.  Our media don't know the stories or the breakdown of justice any better than we do. 
We do know California has observable markers that are warning bells.  We have the lowest use of federal food assistance, "Cal Fresh" here, in the nation. About 50 percent of the available money is left on the table, not given to fully eligible people, meaning lots of people are going hungry for no reason.  
California has the highest rate of poverty in America. 
Through the pandemic there were statewide moratoriums on evictions with federal help going to landlords. And yet the counties abetted illegal evictions.  
Medi-Cal, our state's Medicaid program, is excellent. And yet thousands of very poor people get almost no help as they are assigned to clinics and doctors far from where they live or who have long ago stopped accepting Medi-Cal at all.   During COVID, this left the poor to flood emergency rooms too late to be helped well.  Others were unable to get the care they needed, partly from the clinic closing, partly from lack of all access in even normal times.
Our ask to you - our members, our congregations, our clergy - please start asking people you help if they are getting the programmatic assistance we all fought so hard to achieve.  Please start collecting stories of injustice as it plays out in bureaucracy.  Is someone denied Cal Fresh?  Why?  Is someone going without medical care?  Why?  
You may remember we have a study guide on how to help people with felony convictions served in county jail to expunge those records.  Your county may not have a public defender's office, the key to getting records expunged.  If you have a contract system - a system of defense.  That money-saving system depends on the defense counsel under contract  keeping not the client but the district attorney happy. That means defense is not vigorous, often flawed and rushed, and often sacrifices truth to the fear of not being rehired.  In sum, your county may not have a system of defense at all.  
Many of you support our work with donations.  We can keep advocating on your behalf and for your core values without difficulty.  But what good is it if at your local level it all falls apart?  We don't want you to stop donating! We do need you to help keep our work - and yours - truly meaningful and effective.
Lift your eyes to the counties as well.  Begin to demand accountability for those our state and local systems claim they support.  Let your voices ring out for justice. Because it is not rolling down as a river in our state.  
Feel free to write us with questions about what should be happening if you think it is not. We will do our best to offer up the laws and requirements your counties should be meeting.  We need your eyes and ears to let us know whether things are working or if the system is breaking.  We want to help you.  We must also rely on you.  
Together we may be able to bring real justice to our communities and to the people for whom we care.  Let's make this a new day for those in need.  
Thank you.

New Beginnings: A Congregational Guide to Restorative Justice Through Expungement
County-by-County List of Public Defender Contact Information for use with the New Beginnings Study Guide

The United Church of Christ has issued a warning to Conference Ministers and others to be on alert for attacks on liberal churches. Those supporting racial justice, LGBTQ equality, immigrant rights, economic rights, etc. may become targets of extremists. 

The alert is based on threats made to various churches in advance of both promised rightwing extremist actions at state capitol buildings and at the upcoming inauguration.  The alert particularly focuses on January 17-20.  

Here is a link to a Newsweek brief story on this alert.     Here is the UCC statement.  

We do not think this is alarmist.  We think it is a prudent warning.

Many of you may recall that a few months ago an historic Black church, Asbury United Methodist, in Washington DC was vandalized for its "Black Lives Matter" banner.  The same happened in Sacramento, CA to a UCC church there.

This warning, while originating with UCC, is not limited to that denomination's churches.  Any church that has promoted justice issues or possibly with congregations that are dominated by immigrants or people of color may also be vulnerable.

Clearly state capital cities are a prime area of concern, but any area that has encountered contentiousness, threats, or high levels of political action need also to be on alert.

We recommend contacting your local police department and noting this warning.  As UCC recommends, those churches able to hold gatherings due to their COVID status, may wish to revert to online or other remote forms of worship from tomorrow through next week.  

Blessings on all of you, part of our beloved community, with heartfelt prayers for your safety and for that of your churches and centers of worship.  May all be safe from harm.

 

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​Dear Friends:
 
Our elections are the foundation blocks of our democracy. Free and fair access is imperative.  We have only four months until the next general election, November 3, 2020, and assuring that everyone legally entitled to vote can vote is essential.
 
Black Church PAC has created the contemporary “Freedom Summer” program to reproduce the courageous voter registration drives of the early Civil Rights Era.  While this drive is targeted to more Southern states than to our northern and western ones, every state has pockets of voter suppression. No one is immune.
 
Monday, July 6 at noon California time, there will be a webinar on Freedom Summer voter registration drives.  You are invited to participate if you are Black clergy and laity or if you serve a diverse population in areas where voter suppression or obstacles may occur.
 
To register for this critical voter registration and enhancement webinar, please click here  
 
Other steps you can take, no matter where you reside, is to prepare for long lines and delays at the polls. While in California all voters will be receiving “vote by mail” ballots, things still can go wrong, and support for those standing in line will be needed,
 
Bring cases of water, some food, folding chairs.  Enlist your youth to hold line spots for voters needing bathroom breaks. Have masks available for anyone without one. Think about entertainment (socially distanced, of course).  There will be spots in every state, even California, where things will not go smoothly.  We need to anticipate those problems, be prepared to help voters vote. 
 
Thank you!

Dear Friends:

Once again we share an insight from our friend and ally, Jim Burklo.  His posts, "Musings" always give us uplift and something to reduce our stress and worries.  We share this with you today.

Sighs Too Deep: Breathing in a time of pandemic and protest

More MUSINGS by Jim Burklo

"Likewise the Spirit helps us in our weakness; for we do not know how to pray as we ought, but that very Spirit intercedes with sighs too deep for words."  (St Paul, Romans 8: 26)

I needed to sigh. 

So up to the mountains I went this past Saturday, and hiked among the huge slabs of sandstone at 4,000 feet on the desert side of the San Gabriel Mountains.  I paused to stand under a scrubby piñon pine tree and listen to the voice of its stubby needles in the cool clear wind. 

Last week, while I was teaching a mindfulness meditation class for USC students and staff on Zoom, we got into a discussion after I led the group through a "body scan" meditation, guiding them to attend to any emotions that might be associated with sensations in their bodies.  Several said that their breath was the focal point.  One woman said she found herself sighing in the meditation - and sighing a lot in general.  Others reported the same experience.  Then a graduate student in the class spoke up:  "Isn't this what's up for everybody now?  The coronavirus takes away your breath.  George Floyd, as he was dying under the policeman's knee, cried 'I can't breathe!'  And we are all sighing because of the mix of emotions we are feeling!" 

Her astute observation reminded me that when the virus started spreading, and the lockdown began, I found myself sighing a lot.  What was happening to the entire human race, all around the planet, was truly breathtaking.  In recent weeks I have noticed that the sighing stopped.  I habituated. 

I also habituated to police violence against black people. When the news about George Floyd's murder came out, I was saddened and disgusted, but my breath was not taken away.  Just another incident in a long series of examples of the lingering scourge of racism in America. 

Until I read a Facebook post written by a fellow member of Mt Hollywood Church in Los Angeles.  Hilary's anguish was palpable.  As a black woman with a son, she was in despair that what happened to George Floyd could happen to her own child.  Her despair broke through my spiritually-insulated, white-privileged soul.  With hers, finally, my sighs were too deep for words. 

I'm grateful that Hilary took my breath away.  I'm grateful to belong to a church where the Spirit can blow down the walls that inhibit our vulnerability, as she did for me. 

If we're sighing, we're not alone.  We're sighing with the Holy Spirit of divine Love who comisserates with us.  The biblical Greek word for "spirit" is "pneuma", which also means "breath".  If we're sighing, we're feeling emotion.  And emotion is energy.  Mindfulness practice and contemplative prayer are not about breathing deeply and being relaxed.  They are about paying attention to our experiences and thoughts and emotions and letting them be, even if they're hard.   And if we know our emotions, we'll be in touch with their energy, and then we can channel that energy into creative, positive work to relieve the suffering and injustice around us. 

Contemplative practice is the very opposite of withdrawal from the world and its struggles.  It is what we do in order to feel again when we've become hard-hearted, and to get clarity about how best to direct that power for the good of others.  When I am hard-hearted, when I am complacent, I don't know how to pray as I ought.  I need help.  Hilary helped.  And so did that piñon tree in the mountains.

Each kind of pine has its own voice in the wind, tuned to the length of its needles.  I stood and listened to the piñon, until divine Love made me sigh once more.

 
JIM BURKLO
Blog: MUSINGS
Senior Associate Dean of Religious and Spiritual Life, University of Southern California
JIM BURKLOSenior Associate Dean, Office of Religious Life, 
University of Southern California 
 
Copyright © 2019, Jim Burklo. All rights reserved.

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