In this Issue:

The antiChrist Goes to Washington: Donor pays to send book to elected officials
H4PJ and Uptown Players Present Hair: March 4 at 7 p.m.
The True Face of Homophobia
Which Babies Are Real Americans?
Kansas: Anti-Evolution Guidelines Are Repealed

The antiChrist Goes to Washington
Generous donor pays to send book to elected officials

Recently, Hope for Peace & Justice staff and volunteers mailed more than 600 packages, each containing a personal letter and a copy of Rev. Michael Piazza’s new book, The Real antiChrist: How America Sold its Soul. The intended recipients? Every member of the United States Senate and House of Representatives, the nine justices of the U.S. Supreme Court, each Secretary in the Cabinet, the governors of all 50 states, the Vice-President and the President.

This massive effort was made possible by a generous donor who, after reading the book, felt that the prophetic message needed to be read by all those who are leading our country. Interestingly, the donor’s suggestion came only days after an H4PJ staff meeting in which a similar idea was discussed and a plan was crafted to enlist the assistance of a multitude of donors. With no knowledge of that meeting, our donor sent Rev. Piazza an email that enabled the project to happen. We are grateful for his generosity.

The first “Thank You” note came from the Democratic Governor of North Carolina who was grateful we considered him for the mailing.

The Real antiChrist, according to Rev. Piazza, “Is the way in which America, and in particular the evangelical church in America, has come to embody a vision and values that are diametrically opposite of Jesus.”

H4PJ is called to equip progressive people of faith to be champions for peace and justice. For more information about the book or Hope for Peace & Justice, please visit www.h4pj.org.

<--back to top-->

H4PJ and Uptown Players Present Hair
Benefit Performance – March 4 at 7 p.m.
Tickets are selling out fast!

Uptown Players has joined once again with Hope for Peace & Justice to present a special one-night only benefit performance. “Hair,” the American tribal love-rock musical, will be performed on Sunday, March 4 at 7 p.m. to raise money for the campaigns, programs and workshops of Hope for Peace & Justice. Tickets for this special performance are only $40 and include a post-show dessert reception. Seating is limited.

Come celebrate the 40th anniversary of this groundbreaking musical and recall the “Age of Aquarius” with this “rockumentary/rock musical” revival. “Hair” captures the innocence and passion of the 1960s, concentrating on the values of peace, love and understanding. The storyline follows a group of politically active young people in New York’s East Village, who band together as “The Tribe” and try to change the world.

Featuring songs like “Aquarius,” “Good Morning, Starshine” and “Hair,” this musical celebrates the hippie days of the late 60s, which still hold relevance today.

“Hair” is intended for mature audiences and contains partial nudity.

Click here to buy your tickets today!

The True Face of Homophobia
by Leonard Pitts Jr
Originally Published by the Seattle Times

Last week, Tim Hardaway declared his hatred of gay people. Gay people should be thankful.

Let me tell you a story. It's about a man named Bull Connor. In 1963, he was the police commissioner of Birmingham, Ala. Back then, Birmingham was pleased to be considered the most segregated city in the South. Then, civil-rights demonstrators under the leadership of Martin Luther King Jr. came to town. Connor directed the city's response.

When you see those famous images of dogs attacking unarmed marchers and firefighters directing high-pressure hoses at men and women singing freedom songs, you are seeing Connor's work. He was a hateful cuss, but there was a useful purity in his hate: The sheer violence of his response to the civil-rights movement brought international condemnation and irresistible pressure for change.

Segregation was, for many people, still socially respectable in that era. Politicians defended it with honeyed euphemisms like "state's rights," and preachers assured their flocks that it was God's will. So you could be a segregationist and still feel good about yourself, still feel moral.

Connor inadvertently made that impossible. How moral can you feel when a guy is loosing dogs on children in your name? Connor stripped segregation naked. He made people face it for what it was.

Hardaway, a retired jock who once started at guard for the Miami Heat, did the same thing for gay-bashing last week. No, he didn't turn dogs or hoses on anybody. But he surely stripped homophobia naked.

Click here to continue reading

<--back to top-->

The Real antiChrist: How America Sold Its Soul Join H4PJ and Receive a Free Copy! Bishop John Shelby Spong calls The Real antiChrist, “A searing indictment of popular Christianity by a passionate Christian.” When you sign up to support H4PJ on a monthly basis, we will send you a free copy of Rev. Piazza’s new book. Click here to sign up today! Since September 11, 2001, the Religious Right has used fear to manipulate America. It has used 19 terrorists to make us so afraid that we are willing to abandon our values and do things that are virulently anti-American and un-Christian. The sale of millions of books in the Left Behind series, which portrays the Religious Right’s apocalyptic vision, is just one example of how fear-based religion is foundational to what is going on in this country. That demon has to be named and called out if we are to be free of it.

Which Babies Are Real Americans?
by Priscilla Huang
Originally published by TomPaine.com

Yuki Lin, born on the stroke of midnight this New Year’s, became the winner of a random drawing for a national Toys “R” Us sweepstakes. The company had promised a $25,000 U.S. savings bond to the “first American baby born in 2007.” However, Yuki lost her prize after the company learned that her mother was an undocumented U.S. resident. Instead, the bond went to a baby in Gainesville, Georgia, described by her mother as “an American all the way.”

The toy retailer soon found itself in the midst of the country’s heated immigration debate. Under mounting pressure, Toys “R” Us reversed its decision and awarded savings bonds to all three babies, including Yuki. The issue of citizenship was at the heart of this controversy: Is a baby born to undocumented immigrants an American in the same way that a baby born to non-immigrant parents is? Since the 14th Amendment grants automatic citizenship to persons born on U.S. soil, both babies have equal standing as citizens. Not all people, however, view citizenship this way. As the grandmother of the Gainesville baby told reporters, “If [the mother is] an illegal alien, that makes the baby illegal.”

Today’s immigration debate extends beyond the goal of limiting the rights and humanity of immigrants: It’s about controlling who may be considered an American. Anti-immigrant activists contend that American citizenship is not about where you were born, but who gave birth to you. By extension, they believe—the 14th amendment notwithstanding—that the government must limit the reproductive capacities of immigrant women. Thus, immigrant women of childbearing age are central targets of unjust immigration reform policies.

Anti-immigrant groups, such as the Federation of American Immigration Reform (FAIR), believe immigrant women of childbearing age are a significant source of the country’s so-called “illegal immigration crisis” and want to limit the number of immigrant births on U.S. soil. They are calling for changes to jus soli, our birthright citizenship laws. Unfortunately, some Congressional members are listening.

In the last two sessions of Congress, lawmakers introduced the Citizenship Reform Act, which would amend the Immigration and Nationality Act to deny birthright citizenship to children of parents who are neither citizens nor permanent resident aliens. The bill was reintroduced last month by Rep. Elton Gallegly, R-Calif, and is pending committee action.
Groups like FAIR assert that immigrant women enter the U.S. to give birth to “anchor babies,” who can then sponsor the immigration of other relatives upon reaching the age of 21. They further contend that “anchor babies” and their families create a drain on the country’s social service programs. The irrational stance of anti-immigrant advocates echoes that of 1990’s welfare reformers. Both assume that childbearing by immigrants or poor women of color creates a cycle of poverty and dependence on the government. Immigrant women and women on welfare are depicted as irresponsible mothers and fraudulent freeloaders.

Click here to continue reading

<--back to top-->

Kansas: Anti-Evolution Guidelines Are Repealed
Originally published by the Associated Press

The State Board of Education repealed science guidelines questioning evolution, putting into effect new ones that reflect mainstream scientific views. The move was a political defeat for advocates of “intelligent design” who had helped write the standards being repealed. The intelligent design concept holds that life is so complex that it must have been created by a higher power. The board removed language suggesting that basic evolutionary concepts were controversial and being challenged by new research. It also approved a new definition of science, limiting it to the search for natural explanations of what is observed in the universe. The state has had five sets of science standards in eight years, each affected by the seesawing fortunes of socially conservative Republicans and a coalition of Democrats and moderate Republicans.

<--back to top-->