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Amnesty International is a worldwide movement of people who campaign for internationally recognized human rights to be respected and protected. The vision is that of a world in which every person enjoys all of the human rights indicated in the Universal Declaration of Human Rights and other international human rights standards. Amnesty International is independent of any government, political ideology, economic interest or religion. It does not support or oppose any government or political system, nor does it support or oppose the views of the victims whose rights it seeks to protect. The sole objective of the organization is to protect human rights. Holy Trinity has long been a member. Over the years Amnesty International has built a solid reputation for integrity. It seeks the truth. This truth does not always please governments including our own. Governments are seldom willing to accept the truth about their practices that are unjust. Denial is usually the first line of defense. In the long run, the work of truth telling as carried out by independent groups such as Amnesty International helps governments to be more honest. The 2005 report of Amnesty International is a large volume of 309 pages. The reading is heavy and straightforward. An opening section contends that the “war on terror” seems to have been more effective in eroding the international framework of human rights principles than in countering the threat of terrorism. It is said that the international community has failed to address crises such as that in Sudan’s Darfur region. Clearly the United Nations has not been as effective as it should be in addressing rights violations. Some reform in this regard is needed. It should be noted that member nations, and particularly the larger nations, often stand in the way of enabling the UN to be effective. The violation of human rights is inherent in the persistence of poverty. The Universal Declaration of Human Rights lifts up the promise of a life with dignity, where every person enjoys an adequate standard of living and access to those essentials that give practical meaning to such a life—including food, water, shelter, education, work, and health care. The section on the United States makes for disturbing reading. The report reminds us that hundreds of people continue to be held in prison without charge at the Guantanamo base. Thousands have been detained in Iraq and Afghanistan and denied access to families and lawyers. The ill treatment of prisoners has been extensive and the government has clearly been looking for ways to justify such treatment. Some prisoners have been transported to other countries where torture is accepted practice. Two other sections of the report are cause for alarm. Congress approved in December a provision of the government spending bill mandating the withholding of certain economic assistance to governments that refuse to grant immunity for U.S. nationals before the International Criminal Court. Does this provision not place U.S. citizens above the law? The death penalty continues to be imposed, often with little attention given to questionable evidence. It is haunting to ponder the number of innocent people who have been executed. What could be a greater denial of human rights? Ronald K. Johnson, Pastor
During the past several weeks it has not been difficult to think of global warming. Minnesota and much of the nation have been visited with extraordinarily high temperatures. Of course, this in itself is not an accurate indicator of very much. There have always been some extremes in our weather patterns. For at least the last 15 years, scientists have engaged in study of long term weather trends. The results are disconcerting. In 2001, for example, the U.N. Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change, comprising hundreds of climate experts, issued a study stating that climates are changing and temperatures are rising. In addition it said “there is new and stronger evidence that most of the warming over the past 50 years is attributable to human activities.” The human activities relate primarily to the burning of fossil fuels, coal, oil and gas. The burning of these resources releases carbon dioxide into the environment. The result is the so-called greenhouse effect, which causes temperatures to rise. In the past century, the global temperature rise was 1 degree. It is estimated that temperatures could rise by 2 to 10 degrees over the next century. This may not sound like great change. In fact, such a rise in temperatures would have enormous consequences. For one thing, oceans would rise many feet and cover the living space for millions of people. Trees, forests and crop lands would be profoundly affected. It is likely that many species of trees would die because they would not be able to adapt quickly enough to the change in climate. Some people have been slow to acknowledge what the scientific community reports. There are persons in the political community who have been particularly slow. President Bush has only recently acknowledged the reality of global warming. Thus far, this acknowledgment has done little to influence the policies he supports. A member of Congress much in the news these days for his challenge to reports of global warming is Representative Joe Barton of Texas. He chairs the House Energy and Commerce Committee. This gives him great influence over energy policy. The New York Times cites a report by the Center for Responsive Politics in which it is said that Representative Barton receives a great deal of campaign money from the oil, gas and utility industries that are fighting efforts to control the burning of fossil fuels. Both The New York Times and National Public Radio indicate that Representative Barton is waging a campaign to discredit three climatologists who have been particularly influential in showing the rise of global temperatures. Fortunately there are some persons in Representative Barton’s own party who are doing their homework and acknowledging the validity of scientific studies supported by virtually the whole of the scientific community. The question is whether or not support for meaningful legislation and international cooperation can come soon enough. The earth is remarkably resilient, but there are real limits to what it can absorb. A frequent objection to measures dealing with global warming is that they will cost too much and have a negative impact on the economy. The rejoinder is that we are probably talking of the long term viability of the earth as a home for humankind. Besides, many studies indicate that measures dealing with global warming would actually be positive for the economy. Ronald K. Johnson, Pastor
Your gifts to the ELCA World Hunger Appeal support relief efforts in many ways to improve the lives of people: AFGHANISTAN With assistance from [ECLA World Hunger Appeal partner] Church World Service, the Cooperation Center for Afghanistan (CCA) has developed a children’s rehabilitation center. The CCA is providing some 100 children, ages 8-14, a place to come to before or after school. Many are orphans or lost a parent to war. Others have parents who can’t work or are having trouble finding work in Afghanistan’s continued pinched economy. On a recent afternoon, students enjoyed milk and rolls before a little recreation in the play yard; they also recited poetry. Asked by a visitor if they had enjoyed their time at the center, the quiet and respectful students broke out in raucous acclaim: “Yes!” Asked why, dozens of answers cam bubbling to the surface, one of them being safety. They feel safe and nurtured at the center—many come early and some linger after sessions are over. EL SALVADOR Through a Lutheran World Relief partnership with a local organization (FUNSAL), the community has built two reservoirs, owned by the community association. …FUNSA and LWR have provided credit for farmers to grow corn, sesame seeds and watermelon. The community has built corn driers, which keep crops off the ground and out of the reach of animals and the dampness… The community has acted together to develop a system for storing and purifying their water. Estéphani hopefully will never experience a disaster similar to Hurricane Mitch. Her community is better prepared to handle the storms ahead by careful planning and working together. SEATTLE - Material taken from ELCA World Hunger Appeal About a year ago someone, as he was leaving church after worship, asked me if I had read Guns, Germs and Steel. I had not, but the title was so intriguing I purchased the book. It is by Jared Diamond, a professor of physiology at UCLA. He has expanded his interest to the fields of evolutional biology and biogeography. He is the winner of many awards for his academic work. Guns, Germs and Steel is a large work—450 pages. It is not bedtime reading but it is fascinating. This column is prompted by the fact that Public Television will show a National Geographic presentation based on the work of Jared Diamond. It will be on the Mondays and Tuesdays of July 11 through the 26th, 9:00 to 10:00 pm. The first sentence in the preface is this statement. “This book attempts to provide a short history of everybody for the last 13,000 years.” With this modest goal, Diamond sets out to tell us what he has learned through travels and study around the world. In the 13,000 years since the last ice age, the world has developed in differing ways. Some parts of the world became literate industrial societies. Some areas became non-literate agricultural societies. Still others became some form of a hunting/gathering society. The question not easily answered is why the various portions of the world developed as they did. What does seem clear from Diamond’s writing is that what various parts of the world are today is rooted deep within the circumstances of history. It is also true that geography has played a major role in distinguishing various levels of development. According to an advance notice in the Public Television
magazine, the story will be told in three episodes. One of the valuable things about Diamond’s book is that he provides many recommendations for further reading. He even poses 24 questions to be answered as one reads the book. A teacher could take this book and build a whole course around it. Diamond may not tell us everything you want to know about our history, but he tells enough to make us much better informed. He fills us with questions that would normally never occur to us. Ronald K. Johnson, Pastor
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