In this Issue:

Special Event :	Come Ride the Peace Train
Commentary:	Is torture an American value?
Save the Date:	November 12 - What is a Culture of Peace?
Support H4PJ:	Your help is greatly needed!
Equality Coalition:	Why Should I Vote Against Texas Proposition 2?

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Come Ride the Peace Train
benefiting the Hope for Peace & Justice
fight for Marriage Equality

Join us on October 15th as we gather to celebrate and encourage Peace in our world. The Peace Train is a progressive dinner designed to help supporters of Hope for Peace & Justice share this organization with their friends in a fun atmosphere. Come Ride the Peace Train in a night with dessert, drinks and silent auction benefiting the Hope for Peace & Justice fight for Marriage Equality.

Date: Saturday, October 15
Time: Dessert Party begins at 8pm
Place: Station 4 Granite Bar | 3911 Cedar Springs Rd | Dallas 75219
Suggested Donation for Dessert Party:$25

Sign Up to Attend the Dessert Party

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Commentary: Is torture an American value?
By Rev. Dr. Scott Jones

Last week the Republicans got restless. After the Harriet Miers nomination, conservatives were up in arms against the President. There appears to be growing disagreement in the GOP over how to handle the Katrina rebuilding, increased government spending, the various scandals plaguing Republican leaders, and even the war.

I think that the biggest news story last week was that 43 Republican members of the Senate disagreed with the President on how to fight the war on terror, sending the signal that the administration is outside the mainstream when it comes to basic American values.

On Oct. 5, the Senate voted on the McCain amendment to the Defense Appropriations Bill. This amendment would set a standard in the Army Field Manual for interrogation of prisoners. The standard is: "No individual in the custody or under the physical control of the United States Government, regardless of nationality or physical location, shall be subject to cruel, inhuman or degrading treatment or punishment."

Sen. John McCain, a war hero and former POW, explained the reason for his amendment. Military personnel in the field had written to the United States Congress asking for clarification on how to carry out interrogations because the statements from the administration have led to confusion:

"I can understand why some administration lawyers might want ambiguity, so that every hypothetical option is theoretically open, even those the President has said he does not want to exercise. But war does not occur in theory, and our troops are not served by ambiguity. They are crying out for clarity. The Congress cannot shrink from this duty, we cannot hide our heads, pulling bills from the floor and avoiding votes. We owe it to our soldiers, during this time of war, to take a stand."

Sen. McCain went on to discuss the various treaties and conventions that the United States has entered into since World War II, all of which would hold the U. S. to a high standard of conduct. The problem has arisen, though, because the administration has interpreted that it still has a right to use whatever means it chooses in interrogations, despite these treaties. We've seen the results at Abu Ghraib and Guantanamo. Sen. McCain said, "What all this means is that America is the only country in the world that asserts a legal right to engage in cruel and inhuman treatment."

The President has vowed to veto the Defense Appropriations Bill if the McCain amendment is attached. And the White House reaffirmed that position last week before and after the vote.

Despite the President's opposition, 43 members of his own party challenged his authority and ability to lead in the war on terror by voting for the McCain amendment that passed the Senate 90-9. In this age of partisan politics with values often being the issues separating red states from blue states, a vote like this is clear evidence that an overwhelming consensus exists about what America truly values, and the administration is outside that mainstream.

Only 9 senators voted against limiting interrogation techniques, including both Oklahoma Senators, Jim Inhofe and Tom Coburn. Coburn explained his vote by saying he was against torture but was afraid the amendment would put at risk our intelligence officers. Inhofe rebuffed the amendment with these words to the Washington Post:

"I have made it clear that we are spending far too much of our time and effort on the prisoner abuse issue and not enough time on the quality of our interrogations. ... It is my feeling that the more we air this issue publicly, the more we are emboldening the terrorists. The more we talk about our methods of interrogation we must remember that the enemy is listening."

Sen. Inhofe seems to think that using our American values to keep interrogations from being "cruel, inhuman or degrading" would affect their "quality." And Coburn seems to want our field officers to employ "cruel, inhuman or degrading" techniques, if necessary. So, it would seem that these two esteemed senators value torture above human rights, decency and the rule of law.

If torture is an American value, then I hope we are a threat to it.

Me, I'll keep upholding those values like compassion, peace, freedom and love.

Click here to tell President Bush torture is not an American Value.

Rev. Dr. Scott Jones is the pastor of the Cathedral of Hope in Oklahoma City.

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What is a Culture of Peace?
A Hope for Peace & Justice Workshop
November 12 | 9am – 4pm
5910 Cedar Springs Rd | Dallas, TX

Save the Date: Saturday, November 12

On November 12, Hope for Peace & Justice will host the workshop, “What is a Culture of Peace?” This workshop will introduce ideas and methodologies designed to generate dialogue on creating cultures of peace.

Developed by Rev. Shelley Hamilton, Program Director for Hope for Peace & Justice, the workshop will consist of four parts. Individual segments will focus on four intersecting pathways to nourishing cultures and communities of peace. Each section will contain theoretical and practical components designed to assist us in our efforts to become people of peace and to understand cultures and religions different than our own.

The segments include:

Introduction: A Culture of Peace
Part I – Inner Peace: Nonviolence and Love
Part II – Peace within the Community: Relationship, Mutuality, and Justice
Part III – Peace outside our Community: Religious Pluralism In America
Part IV – Peace in Nature: The Body of God?

Guest Presenters will be announced soon. Registration begins next week.

Why Should I Vote Against Texas Proposition 2?
Click here to download this information.

IT IS ALREADY THE LAW.
The Texas Family Code states that a “marriage license may not be issued to persons of the same sex.” In 2003, the state legislature passed the Defense of Marriage Act, prohibiting Texas from recognizing same-sex marriages or civil unions from other states.

IT IS UNFAIR.
In 2000, the state of Nebraska passed a similarly worded amendment and in May 2005, the U.S. District Court of Nebraska ruled the amendment unconstitutional stating that it unduly limited LGBT people from equal access to the legislative process. LGBT families would lose the right to protect their families in many important areas of life: medical decisions, inheritance, property, parental rights and more.

IT IS SIMPLE DISCRIMINATION.
This amendment would be the first time that Texans have used the Bill of Rights to discriminate against their own citizens.

THE LANGUAGE IS SIMPLY TOO BROAD.
In Ohio, judges dismissed domestic violence charges because the victim and abuser were not legally married. In Michigan, where a similarly worded amendment narrowly passed, a lawsuit was filed to prohibit the state from offering domestic partnership benefits because it was deemed unconstitutional. The language is so broad that some legal scholars interpret it to ban common law marriage.

IT HURTS TEXAS FAMILIES.
Protecting one’s family is both a responsibility and a right. This amendment would unduly limit the rights and abilities of families led by same-sex couples. This amendment would hurt LGBT families by jeopardizing the legal agreements put in place for such things as inheritance, medical powers of attorney, and property ownership. Second parent adoptions could be challenged as being too similar to marriage and thus ruled as invalid.

IT SOLVES NO REAL PROBLEM.
This amendment does nothing to strengthen Texas families. The energy spent promoting this could have been better spent finding solutions to real problems such as school finance and job creation. In Arizona, where a ballot initiative for the same amendment is underway, a poll of 390 voters found that 60 percent are likely to oppose the initiative if it makes the ballot. (Poll Conducted Sept. 2005.)

IT GOES AGAINST A FAITH OF LOVE AND JUSTICE.
A vote against this amendment is not an endorsement of any one person or group of persons.
A vote against this amendment supports the common ideals of justice and fairness that are shared among people of faith.

Do not pervert justice; do not show partiality to the poor or favoritism to the great, but judge your neighbor fairly. Leviticus 19:15

Speak out for those who cannot speak, for the rights of all the destitute. Speak out, judge righteously, and defend the rights of the poor and needy. Proverbs 31:8-9

A brochure with this information has been added to our Resources page.
Click here to download this Informational Brochure

Early Voting Begins Monday, October 24!
Click here to look up your County’s Early Voting Locations

Make your Voice Heard: Click here to Write a Letter to the Editor