Let's Kill The Death Penalty

To take a life when a life has been lost is revenge, not justice.
Desmond Tutu

The death penalty is a poor person's issue. Always remember that: after all the rhetoric that goes on in the legislative assemblies, in the end, when the deck is cast out, it is the poor who are selected to die in this country.
Sister Helen Prejean

He who is without sin among you, let him throw a stone at her first.
Jesus of Nazareth (John 8:7)

This November, voters will have the opportunity to organize and mobilize and to cast our votes for a more humane and fiscally prudent criminal justice system in California. On Thursday, June 21, Witness To Innocence will be making an appearance at Sacred Heart Catholic Church in Los Angeles at 6:30. Witness is dedicated to giving voice to former death row prisoners who were wrongfully convicted by states. It is well known that the sentencing involved with the death penalty is racist (black and brown men are overwhelmingly overrepresented) and far more expensive than life-in-prison (due to the appeals process and the mandating of one prisoner per cell). CA has more than 700 prisoners on death row and the state has killed 13 prisoners in the past 23 years, costing the state an extra $4 billion.

Join us next Thursday as we listen to the testimonies of death row survivors!
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A 2007 study of death sentences in Connecticut conducted by Yale University School of Law revealed that African-American defendants receive the death penalty at three times the rate of white defendants in cases where the victims are white.

My Mind Was Changed: A Workshop For LGBT Equality

I still hear people say that I should not be talking about the rights of lesbian and gay people and I should stick to the issue of racial justice...But I hasten to remind them that Martin Luther King, Jr., said, ‘Injustice anywhere is a threat to justice everywhere’...I appeal to everyone who believes in Martin Luther King, Jr.,’s dream to make room at the table of brotherhood and sisterhood for lesbian and gay people.
Coretta Scott King

On Saturday, June 9, the Progressive Christians Uniting's LA office is coordinating with the Pacific School of Religion in the Bay Area for a webinar for clergy, faith leaders and other professionals:

During this workshop, entitled “My Mind Was Changed” – A New Way to Talk with Conflicted Christians about People Who are Gay, Lesbian, Bisexual, and Transgender and using the Communications Toolkit, we will share what we believe to be the most powerful approaches to helping conflicted Christians to move from a place of standing against LGBT equality to standing for it, in church and state. To succeed, we must give conflicted Christians the emotional space to work through their discomfort and root the discussion in core Christian beliefs. So, we hold close to our hearts John 16:12-13, where Jesus says to his disciples: “I still have many things to say to you, but you cannot bear them now. When the Spirit of truth comes, he will guide you into all the truth; for he will not speak on his own, but will speak whatever he hears, and he will declare to you the things that are to come.” Come to this workshop to learn new ways to understand, talk with, and listen with curiosity to conflicted Christians in your congregation and community of faith. This Breakthrough Conversation is designed for clergy, faith leaders and other professionals who work with Christian audiences and will focus on sharing effective messages based on the latest research on the topics of LGBTQ inclusion and welcome in faith communities, talking about marriage equality from a religious perspective and defending the FAIR Education Act in our public schools.


Register here for $15 and PCU will reimburse anyone who joins them in LA AND will provide lunch at 12:30pm. Webinar starts at 1:45. Email Sean Patrick Coady at spcoady@pcu-la.org to RSVP for PCU event. Here's a map to the PCU office in downtown LA.