What would JPII want us to be doing to honor his memory? This question is raised in an Op-Ed piece in today's New York Times. Specifically, Nicholas Kristof makes the connection between the compassion the world is showing for the Pope, and the lack of compassion the world is showing for those suffering atrocities in Darfur.
So what about it? If you're looking for a way to honor the Pope's memory, how about jotting off a note to the Prez and your representatives urging them to support the Darfur Accountability Act. NETWORK lobby has an easy to use legislative action center where you can compose your own e-mail message and send it to all those folks in Washington."John Paul wanted world leaders to show compassion for suffering people … not for dead popes. Mr. Bush and other world leaders flocking to Rome could truly honor the pope by meeting there to establish a protection force in Darfur. ... Mr. Bush should promptly back the Darfur Accountability Act, a bipartisan bill that would pressure Sudan to stop the killing (so far, the White House hasn't even taken a position on the act). Ordinary citizens can also urge their members of Congress to pass the act. ... If there is a lesson from the papacy of John Paul II, it is the power of moral force. The pope didn't command troops, but he deployed principles. And it's hypocritical of us to pretend to honor him by lowering our flags while simultaneously displaying an amoral indifference to genocide. "
Peace,
Susan
PS - Credit goes to my friend Keith spreading the word about this op-ed and suggesting this action. As he says, "maybe together we can effect change."
1 comment:
Amen, Amen, Amen.
You don't honour a person's life by weeping and wailing at their death ... you honour it by committing yourself to what that person committed his life to.
JPII's work has only just begun.
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