June 2000

NEAC Supports Peace and Justice Resolutions

Harriet G. Langfeldt, NEAC Co-Chair

NEAC is joining with the Episcopal Peace Fellowship (Lent 2000 Newsletter) in encouraging deputies to the General Convention to familiarize themselves with resolutions that promote justice and peace for ALL people. Particularly we encourage deputies to consider carefully the resolutions that relate to the death penalty, restorative justice (e.g., in addition to problems in our own country, conflicts continue to rage in the middle East, the Balkans, Indonesia, India and Pakistan, just to name a few), nuclear weapons, hate crimes, Mordechai Vanunu, and a decade of nonviolence.

Additionally, the year 2000 has been designated a Year of Jubilee by the Episcopal Church, with the major focus being debt relief.

The Standing Commission on Anglican and International Peace with Justice concerns (SCAIPC) is submitted a number of resolutions which relate to NEAC’s concerns. They call upon ECUSA to accept the challenge of Lambeth Resolution l.1.15j “to cooperate with other people of faith in programs of education and advocacy so that we may help raise public awareness of vital economic issues that impact deeply on the daily lives if the poor.”

Additionally, SCAIPC is submitting several resolutions dealing with South Africa, Haiti, and the Dominican Republic, in response to the spreading AIDS epidemic in the developing world. SCAIPC is submitting a resolution that calls on world governments to make AIDS drugs available at affordable prices. And, in response to a charge from the 1997 General Convention to respond to the Kuala Lumpur Statement on Sexuality, SCAIPC is submitting a resolution permitting parishes to identify themselves as “safe spaces” for lesbians and gays to tell their stories.