NJPN North West Justice & Peace E-Bulletin July 2018 The e-bulletin for the North West, linked to the National Justice and Peace Network (NJPN), is produced jointly by the dioceses of Lancaster, Liverpool, Salford, Shrewsbury and Wrexham. Please send diary dates to
[email protected] OPINION: AT WHAT COST TO OUR SOUL? Rev. Adam Taylor, Executive Director of Sojourners, Sojourners magazine 26 June 2018 In moments of moral crisis, certain issues break through the clutter and cacophony of the daily headlines. The U.S. government’s horrific separation of children from their parents at the border is one of those moments. President Donald Trump and his administration underestimated the degree of moral outrage that would follow this unconscionable policy, and falsely believed that a poorly-conceived executive order would resolve the crisis and suppress public pressure. But as church leaders in South Africa taught me many years ago, Kairos-like moments occur when our current reality becomes so fraudulent and egregious that the status quo is no longer acceptable. It is these moments when people of faith and conscience feel called to engage in increasingly bold and sacrificial action. Today, Sojourners president Jim Wallis and I will be joining the Poor People’s Campaign and other faith leaders in a nonviolent civil disobedience action in front of the White House to protest this zero-tolerance policy and the family separation crisis at the border. We will declare that the violence of policies against children cannot be tolerated. We have no illusions that this direct action on its own will change the hearts and minds of the Trump administration.