Stand up for Democracy
For some of us, the dawn of the second Trump administration engenders strong feelings of caution. For others, it’s about opportunities. And for all Americans it harkens a major shift in the way our country is run.
There is a group of islanders who are working with Showing Up for Racial Justice (SURJ) to assure that democracy is maintained, and our Constitution is respected throughout the process of that shift. These folks are part of a national SURJ campaign titled Gear-Up to assure that we concerned citizens are organized and ready to speak up on behalf of democracy should it be necessary.
To get some momentum going, the Vashon SURJ Gear-Up circles are hosting opportunities to sign a pledge that reads: “I pledge to protect the rights, safety and dignity of people in our community, and to resist Trump’s’ antidemocratic and immoral agenda.”
There will be stations at the four-way stop in Vashon town and at the Burton Coffee stand where interested islanders may sign the pledge on Saturday, February 1, from 10 a.m. to 1 p.m. Signatures will remain private if signers so desire. Numbers will tell the story.
We will share the numbers of signatures with the national SURJ organization, and with our legislators and community leaders to encourage them to sign.
I invite you to join me and some of your neighbors in standing up for democracy and urging mercy from the current administration as did Reverend Mariann Budde in Washington, DC. We are all in this time together, and I’m confident we share the common value of kindness and respect for our fellow citizens.
Susan McCabe
God is no fool
Many American citizens who have studied the Hebrew Torah forgot that God said to Moses that this is my covenant with you and with Israel … Here are my commandments … follow these and Israel will be yours. Many people seem to have forgotten this one: Thou shall not kill.
God kept his word, but, it seems to me, the people he made that covenant with did not live up to their end of the deal. God is not a fool. Truth, honor, dignity, compassion, courage, love. Learn the meaning of these words and also this one: Forgiveness. And this one: Atonement.
Mark Goldman