Sometimes campaigns at the college level are drawn out and take a great deal of time and energy. In the middle of the summer I began working on a resolution to introduce at the first meeting of the Muhlenberg Student Council. The resolution called for a divestment of Muhlenberg funds from the "highest offending" companies working in Sudan to perpetuation the genocide in the Darfur region.

Hard work pays off, over time. It took a few weeks to get it passed through the Student Council (with all but one vote) followed by meetings with administrators, articles in the student newspaper, and meeting with a group of members of the Board Of Trustees.

Over half a year later, the Board of Trustees voted in favor of the following resolution to:

not knowingly make direct investments with Category One highest offender companies engaging in business in the Sudan as defined by the Sudan Divestment Task Force.  Furthermore, if Muhlenberg commingled investments are invested in Category One companies, letters will be submitted to managers of these funds requesting that they consider removing such companies from the fund or create a similar actively managed fund with commingled holdings devoid of such companies.

"The death penalty remains fraught with arbitrariness, discrimination, caprice, and mistake."
- Justice Blackmun, after years of attempting to constitutionally justify the Death Penalty

June 29, 2007 marks the 35th anniversary of Furman Vs. Georgia, the landmark Supreme Court case abolishing the Death Penalty.
July 2nd, 2007 marks the 31st Anniversary of Gregg Vs. Georgia, the Supreme Court case reinstating capitol punishment.
And the four days in between are reason for protest by a group calling itself the Abolitionist Action Committee. For the past 14 years, this group of concerned citizens has been holding their annual 4 day "Starvin' For Justice" fast and vigil at the front steps to the Supreme Court building. The Fast and Vigil is a four day protest-in-residence at the Supreme Court including a rally, and daily vigils and teach-ins.

Father Beck from the Passionist Retreat Center in New York attended the DC action as a result of his religious beliefs - "As a Roman Catholic, I am opposed to the Death Penalty" Beck began, "It is the official church policy so I have broad support from my congregants for being here." Beck explained that "since God gives life, only God should take life away, not the government. Many people of faith oppose the Death Penalty because even one wrongful execution is reason enough to ban them all."

Bill Pelke, a leader of the Murder Victim Families for Reconciliation, and a self identified Christian (raised Baptist, and attends a Methodist church) remembers when his grandmother was Murdered, He told the audience that he opposes the Death Penalty, as a Christian because Jesus was all about forgiveness -- forgiveness leads to healing. A lot of people who support the Death Penalty talk about revenge - but Jesus talked about forgiveness." Pelke, and others who have seen their loved ones murdered have taken part in a "Journey of Hope" to learn to forgive the killer of their loved one in order to give them healing.

Christians aren't the only ones to oppose the death Penalty (and for the record, not all Christians do). Since 1959, the Central Conference of American Rabbi's, the rabbinic arm of Reform Judaism, has passionately fought against capitol punishment every step of the way. Rabbi Eric Yoffie, President of the Union For Reform Judaism stated in March of 2000: "When it comes to the death penalty, we cannot afford a system of justice that is inconsistent and arbitrary; we cannot afford to fall short of the absolute integrity that God demands of us in such matters. Nothing could be more of a nightmare and a miscarriage of justice than for the American people, through its government, to execute an innocent person."

Justice Blackman is joined by Rabbi Yoffie, and the URJ; the Roman Catholic Church, the Mennonite Central Committee, the United Methodist Church and many other organized groups of faith in opposition to the death penalty. All of whom believe in Blackman's assertion that it is still and always will be "Arbitrary and Capricious."

“I think we’ve got to be prepared to take aggressive military action against the Iranians to stop them from killing Americans in Iraq,” Senator Joe Lieberman (I-CT) told Bob Schieffer. “And to me, that would include a strike into… over the border into Iran, where we have good evidence that they have a base at which they are training these people coming back into Iraq to kill our soldiers.”

Lieberman’s claim is that Iran is a national security threat to the United States and to Israel. But the Orthodox Jewish Senator does not seem to speak for all people of faith when it comes to advocacy regarding this potential new war.

CodePINK, an anti war group of feminists, attempted to bring a delegation of Iranian, Iraqi, Israeli, and Jewish activists who oppose the war in Iran to a meeting with Senator Lieberman. The Senator originally agreed to the meeting but backed out at the last minute. CodePINK did not, they showed up at the Hart Senate Office Building with at least 100 people ready to meet with the Senator – the antiwar group was met with a particularly hostile staff member who asked the police to ensure that all the activists leave the office. In compromise, the Senator’s staffer agreed to meet with three of the activists if everyone else would leave the office.

Here is what some of the activists had to say:

Kit Kimberly, a spiritual progressive, told me that “Without peace, spiritual people cannot be spiritual.” Similarly, Unitarian Universalist lay leader, Carol Waser, recently returned from Iran on an interfaith delegation sponsored by the Fellowship of Reconciliation. She went to Iran after feeling like Iraq was becoming more and more of a lost cause – but that stopping war in Iran before it starts is a feasible plan. She told me that it was her faith that drives her to strongly oppose Senator Lieberman’s call to bomb Iran.

Many people of faith oppose Senator Lieberman’s plan. The American Friends Service Committee, The Episcopal Church USA, National Council of Churches, Pax Christi USA, the Methodist Church, The Friends Committee on National Legislation, and the Mennonite Central Committee have been actively involved in pushing for dialogue on Iran.  Additionally, the Reconstructionist Rabbincal Association (the rabbinic arm of the Reconstructionist Jewish Movement) stated in a resolution in March of 2007 that “a military strike against Iran would only result in another military, political and humanitarian crisis and would further strengthen Ahmadinejad’s regime and radical elements within Iranian society.” The RRA is the largest Jewish group to officially oppose US military action in Iran.

There are other practical reasons to avoid a war in Iran. Martha Perez, a political science student at American University explained that already with a War in Iraq, many students are struggling financially as they have seen federal financial aid dwindle. Undoubtedly, the military costs should the US invade Iran would economically hurt America’s students even more.

The general call to action at Senator Lieberman’s office was to stop the next war now. Iranian activist Dorna Mohaghegh, "the real question is not if Iran with a bomb is a threat – Iranians don’t want Ahmadinejad with a bomb, as it would be Iranians, not Americans who would be hurt most. The real question to ask is what the result of the US going to War with Iran will be. Will it simply get rid of their President, or will it provide an impetus for Iranians to rally around their unpopular President in self defense?"

“Si Se Puede!” was the common theme at the rally on June 2nd at the Nation’s Capitol – a rally for compassionate, humane and comprehensive immigration reform. The rally, sponsored by the National Capital Immigrant Coalition drew a mostly-Latino/a crowd of at least a thousand activists on a hot Saturday afternoon.

The goals of the rally were clear and sloganeered to fit neatly on bumper stickers and rally signs: Keep the Family Immigration System! Protect Due Process! Integrate Immigrants! And others were the general calls to President Bush and to Congress regarding the S.1348, the Immigration bill in the Senate. The protesters cried out: “Bush! Escucha!” But their cries will most likely fall on unforgiving ears from the White House who has called the “compromise bill” sound public policy.

It was disappointing to see what could be described as a general lack of support from the non-Latino/a populous regarding humane immigration policies. Looking around during the rally, one could count the number of Caucasian supporters on their hands – and equally surprising was the lack of immigrant activists from non-Spanish speaking countries. One possible explanation is that the rally was in Spanish almost in its entirety, which admittedly could turn off some non-Spanish speakers. However, it was Dr. King who said that an injustice against one is an injustice against all – leading me to wonder where the other politically marginalized populations were in fighting for immigration rights this past weekend. The endorsements of the rally were almost universally Latino/a or immigrant organizations – Where were the other civil rights groups in this call to action?

There was a significantly high religious tone to the rally, comforting to many and alienating to some. A catholic priest led a prayer blessing immigrants for their hard work and labor in their effort to make America great. He mentioned that it is immigrants who do the dirty work in this country: housekeeping, maintenance, restaurant workers, child care – but that immigrants are also doctors, and lawyers, and teachers, and academics. And that all who have come to America, have given of themselves and should be blessed.

My friend asked me later why I attended a rally to give rights to “illegal immigrants” rights. I responded with Audre Lorde’s famed statement that “there is no hierarchy of oppression.” There should be no “me first-isms” in the fight for equal rights and justice for all. Can we divide the pie of equality into enough slices for everyone? Si Se Puede! Yes we can!

Adrian Shanker is a rising Junior at Muhlenberg College in Allentown, PA.