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PAGEANT
Presented by Hope for Peace & Justice
An Uptown Players Production
Special One-Time Benefit Performance
Sunday, April 30
7pm | Trinity River Arts Center
 Support Hope for Peace & Justice on this special night.
The cast of Pageant has donated a special performance to
Hope for Peace & Justice. By purchasing your tickets
to Pageant through Hope for Peace & Justice, you help
us raise money for important campaigns, programs and workshops.
Your $50 ticket includes an invitation to a post-show dessert
reception.
Click
here to buy your tickets.
Book and Lyrics by Bill Russell and Frank Kelly
Music by Albert Evans
Conceived by Robert Longbottom
You've never seen a beauty pageant like this one! Pageant
pits six beauty queens (all played by men) against each other
in an extravaganza of evening gowns, bathing suits, and not-to-be-missed
talent.
While les girls swirl around the charming host in the
funniest beauty contest ever seen, judges selected
from the audience decide who will be crowned Miss
Glamouresse. A different winner each night ensures
non-stop nail-biting fun!
Theatre: Trinity River Arts Center
2600 Stemmons Freeway, Suite 180, Dallas, Texas 75207
The Trinity River Arts Center Theatre is located across
from the KD Studio in the same building complex.
Click
here for more information.
 |
Bob
Munro has generously offered a 15% donation to H4PJ
for every piece of art sold through Hope for Peace & Justice.
Please visit Sacred
Pause online. |
Commentary: Immigration
by Rev. Michael
S. Piazza
 Mark your calendar. This will probably come as a shock to
our readers, but I actually AGREE with the Republican dominated
Senate Judiciary Committee. While I was horrified by those
whom they have recently confirmed as Supreme Court Justices,
I greatly appreciate their efforts to craft just immigration
reform. While their bill faces tough hurdles ahead, I am
hopeful that anything George Bush and I agree on must be
right. Unfortunately, he and I are supporting this approach
to immigration for diametrically opposite reasons.
The Republican
Party is conflicted. On one side are nationalists who want
to preserve and protect America for Americans. (It doesn’t seem to occur to them, however, that would
mean giving this country back to the true Native Americans.)
Under the guise of “national security,” they
would treat those who have come to this country simply to
find work as criminals. In December 2005, the House of Representatives
passed the “Border Protection, Antiterrorism, and Illegal
Immigration Control Act of 2005” (H.R. 4437). This
bill not only would criminalize those who are in this country
without documentation, but would make it a felony for churches
and other social service agencies to assist them. If passed,
and strictly enforced, our own food pantry, health fair and
literacy programs could become criminal activities.
On the other side of this debate are those pro-business
forces that see undocumented immigrants as a source of cheap
and abundant labor. Companies, like major corporate farms,
are able to hire these individuals and then get away with
paying sub-standard wages and not providing health care.
Of course, as a result, when they are injured or become ill
they either go without treatment, or their treatment is paid
for by taxpayers who supplement public hospitals. Either
way the business benefits, while the immigrant and society
picks up the tab. Unfortunately, that is the major motivation
for many who are supporting the guest worker provisions of
the current legislation.
At the
risk of supporting people doing the right thing for the
wrong reason, I am writing to ask you to support the Senate
Judiciary’s
version of immigration legislation. It will require extraordinary
pressure to persuade the right-wing dominated House of
Representatives to compromise on this. In addition, the
bill still faces a major hurdle in the Senate. All eight
Democrats on the Senate Judiciary Committee voted in favor,
but only four of the ten Republicans agreed. With the support
of the Democrats and moderate Republicans and the President,
this is probably the most just and equitable legislation
for which we can hope.
The Bible
speaks repeatedly about how the people of God are to treat
those who are strangers and aliens in our midst. We are
a community who understands that the real sin of Sodom
was the proposed abuse of strangers. Now those who are
the children and grandchildren of immigrants want to make
criminals out of poor people who have come to this country
to take jobs the average American doesn’t want. We
must resist this evil. We are people of compassion and
of a Book that reminds us that we must care for the stranger,
because we once were strangers ourselves.
H4PJ
Dallas Mixer: Monday Night with
Mike
Monday, April 3 | 5pm-7pm | Sushi Zushi
This
month’s Monday Night with Mike will be held
April 3 at Sushi Zushi in Dallas. The event will begin
at 5pm and last until around 7pm. Sushi Zushi is located
at 3858 Oak Lawn Ave. Suite 145 at the corner of Oak Lawn
Ave. and Blackburn St.
Monday
Night with Mike is a free event. Everyone is invited!
This is a great way to meet new people that are passionate
about our issues.
Michael
Piazza, President of Hope for Peace & Justice, will
speak about current issues and H4PJ. Please mark your calendar
for this special event on April 3.
Remember
to invite your friends and family!
Indicted
DeLay makes appeal to Conservative Christians
Delay: Opponents are 'Enemies of virtue'
Originally published by the Dallas Morning News
Wednesday, March 29, 2006
By Wayne Slater
 WASHINGTON – U.S. Rep. Tom DeLay called on religious
conservatives Tuesday to stay active in politics and defeat
the "enemies of virtue" who have targeted Christians
like himself.
Mr. DeLay, who faces a re-election fight amid ethics
questions in Washington and money-laundering charges
in Texas, said moral values in America are under
siege.
"We have been chosen to live as Christians at a time
when our culture is being poisoned and our world is being
threatened," the former House majority leader told a "War
on Christians" conference.
"The
enemies of virtue may be on the march, but they have not
won," he said.
East Texas evangelist Rick Scarborough, a conference
organizer, introduced the congressman, praising him as "a man I
believe God wants" in office.
After two decades representing a suburban Houston
district, Mr. DeLay, R-Sugar Land, faces Democrat
Nick Lampson, a well-financed challenger making much
of the congressman's ethical lapses.
Mr. DeLay relinquished his leadership post after being
indicted in Travis County on felony money-laundering
charges that he used corporate contributions to elect GOP candidates
in Texas.
He also has been linked to disgraced lobbyist Jack
Abramoff in a widening corruption investigation. Mr.
DeLay has denied any wrongdoing.
Mike Malaise, Mr. Lampson's campaign manager, dismissed
Mr. DeLay's appeal to religious conservatives.
"I don't recall corruption as a value set out in the
Bible," he said.
Mr. Scarborough blamed Mr. DeLay's problems
on "hatred
and animosity on the left." He told the crowd he's confident
Mr. Delay will beat the corruption indictment and win again
in November.
"God always does his best work right after a crucifixion," Mr.
Scarborough said.
The conference, sponsored by Vision
America, featured several Republican
leaders who urged conservative "values voters" to
be involved in the 2006 elections.
Mr.
Scarborough said he hopes to engage 20 million Christians
and conservative Jews in a concerted
effort to register new voters and
press candidates to support conservative
judges, oppose gay marriage and expand
religious expression in government
settings.
Mr.
DeLay did not mention his Democratic foe or his legal problems.
He pitched himself to conference delegates as a staunch
ally in the culture war, quoting Scripture and citing his
Christian conversion 22 years ago.
"Our
faith has always been in direct conflict with the values
of the world," he said. "We are, after all,
a society that provides abortion
on demand, has killed millions of innocent children, degrades
the institution of marriage, and all but treats Christianity
like some second-rate superstition."
Mr.
DeLay said that so long as conservative Christians
hold office, "evil will be confronted. Nations will be
freed, morality will be defended and the innocent will be made
safe."
He was greeted by a standing
ovation, which he used to tweak
the news media.
"I
hope the television cameras got that," he said. "They
won't use it."
Join
Hope for Peace & Justice in our efforts to advocate
for real moral values.
Help us spread our message today. Tell
a friend about H4PJ and donate
today!
Related Links
Vision
America - Sponsor
of the War on Christians Conference
Oklahoma school board scraps gay
protections
Originally published at Advocate.com
March 28, 2006
 Days after the Equality Ride bus toured the state of Oklahoma,
with stops at Oral Roberts University in Tulsa and Oklahoma
Baptist University in Shawnee, the Oklahoma board of education
struck the sexual orientation portion from its antidiscrimination
policy. The change happened without notice last Thursday
in Oklahoma City in response to a state representative's
complaints about the Equality Ride, in which more than 30
young LGBT activists are attempting to meet with students
at Christian universities across the country that prohibit
the enrollment of gays.
Previously the school board's antidiscrimination policy
covered sexual orientation as well as a student's family,
social, and cultural background. Now those categories have
been struck from the policy, which has reverted back to state
and federal antidiscrimination laws protecting a student's
race, for instance.
The action
came at the request of Oklahoma representative Kevin Calvey,
a Republican seeking election to the U.S. Congress. He
said in a statement that "the board's new rule will
protect public schools from having to allow homosexual rights
organizations to hold meetings on school grounds."
Citing
the recent Equality Ride protests at the two universities,
where several Equality Riders were arrested, Calvey added, "This
isn't really at the high school level yet, but I would expect
it someday to be."
The head
of an Oklahoma gay rights group said that the policy change
is a part of wider political positioning by conservatives
this election year. "It's just open season on GLBT people
at the state legislature," Laura Belmonte, president
of Tulsa Oklahomans for Human Rights, told Tulsaworld.com. "It
is our belief that these conservative legislators are using
these issues as a wedge issue to try to mobilize their base
in an effort to take over the senate this year."
There was no comment from the school board's superintendent.
Equality
Ride Fundraiser
Thursday, March 30, 7pm
Dr. John A. Ehrhardt and Representative Harryette
Ehrhardt (retired) invite you to attend a fundraiser
at their home in support of the Soulforce Equality
Ride. This spring, 33 young adults are traveling
across the country on this journey for LGBT equality.
They are confronting the discrimination practiced
and taught at Christian colleges and military academies.
Come hear their stories and show your support for
youth-driven activism at the midpoint of their journey.
ENCORE! from the Turtle Creek Chorale will perform;
the program begins at 7:30 p.m. The Ehrhardt home
is located at 5731 Swiss Avenue in Dallas. For more
information, call Equality Ride Co-Director Haven
Herrin at 469-867-5725. To learn more or donate online,
please visit www.equalityride.com and www.soulforce.org.
|
Equality Riders: A Tale from Oklahoma
Commentary by Rev. Dr. Scott Jones
Wednesday night the (Equality) Riders rolled into Oklahoma
City to a rousing welcome at Church of the Open Arms - UCC.
Their stories of religious abuse were moving, and their courage
was inspirational.
Not long after I arrived Thursday morning at Oklahoma Baptist
University, I ran into Marty O'Gwynn, who was handling
everything with the Riders, and Bobby Canty, who is now
the Dean of Students. They told me that the group was going
to be allowed in the student union ground floor all day
to interact with students. He was hoping that was acceptable
to the Riders. I was amazed. I had dressed in long underwear
and layers of clothes, expecting to be outside. I couldn't
believe this was happening; never would have happened ten
years ago when I was a student.
All day the student union was full of openly GLBT young
people and straight allies who were engaging in conversation
with OBU students, staff, faculty, administration, and
the press. All the people from the university whom I knew
were warm and pleasant to me. I got lots of hugs and handshakes.
There were lots of great conversations. Many students took
business cards, e-mail addresses, and phone numbers. There
are even a few openly gay students who were working with
the Riders.
As I left, Bobby Canty asked me to come back and talk with
him about what it was like when I was a student. He asked
thoughtful, interested questions. He seemed genuine in
wanting to know what it was like for gay students at OBU.
I plan to follow up on this soon and hope to take other
students' stories with me.
Friday a small crowd gathered at Lion's Club Park around
1 p.m. There were a handful of OBU students, a couple of
administrators, some local ministers (Baptist, Episcopalian,
Unitarian, etc), members of the OKC gay community and only
a couple of OBU alums.
The first person to speak was a young woman named Ryan
who was kicked out of OBU at the end of her freshman year
(2002) because friends had twice reported that she was
kissing a girl. Though this part of Ryan's story was horrible
enough, what came next was worse. Her rejection and punishment
by OBU sent this once committed missionary major into a
spiral of drug abuse and a host of accompanying problems.
While Ryan was speaking, I began to cry uncontrollably.
What came to mind was the fact that I had warned the OBU
administration more than a decade ago that their treatment
of gay students was going to lead to damaged lives with
horrible consequences. I was up next to speak. Through
my tears I shared my story of arguing this issue with the
administration and my lack of courage to be out as a student.
I shared the story of one of my friends who was kicked
out of school. I was thankful that this conversation had
gotten started and that Thursday had been beautiful. Stories
were being shared that needed to be and conversations were
being had that we couldn't get going ten years ago. I was
thankful for the faculty and staff who had been silent
allies. We need silent allies in repressive situations.
But I wish that more of those allies would have the courage
to speak out, otherwise we'll have more stories like Ryan's.
I intended this last part as a challenge, and hope it was
heard as such.
As the rally broke up, we all mingled around. Marty O'Gwynn,
a University Vice President, thanked me for sharing my
story and hoped that with what had happened the last two
days, there wouldn't be any more stories like that.
But, then, it seems that fundamentalist forces in the state
decided to strike back. In what appears to be a violation
of the open access law, the State Board of Education voted
to change their existing policy and eliminate protection
of sexual orientation from their anti-discrimination policies.
A state representative had pushed for this change, and
the vote was taken with no prior announcement that this
would be on the Board's agenda. The congressman said that
Oklahoma schools needed to be protected from gay rights
activists like the Equality Ride. The clear message that
the State Board of Education sent was that it was okay
to discriminate against gay students.
This comes in a week that not only saw the Equality Ride
advocating for an end to religious based discrimination,
but there was also an Oklahoma high school student who
filed suit against his school district because they did
not protect him from anti-gay harassment.
With every small step we take here in Oklahoma, our opponents
rally and force us back two or three steps, proving the
importance of direct action campaigns like the Equality
Ride and the conversations that they generate.
 |
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