For Augustine and his followers, attention was a rare and valuable experience, perhaps even more than for us since they associated it with the divine. One might expect that as a result they should have simply dismissed distraction. But they didn’t.
The Rose Garden event was part of a deliberate strategy to raise the visibility of anti-abortion protesters, who have complained they haven’t gotten as much attention as other Washington protests, including last year’s Women’s March — which specifically excluded women opposed to abortion.
It’s not just the Dreamers who stand to lose if there are no new legislative protections put in place: It could have hefty economic consequences for states like North Carolina. Patrick McHugh, economic analyst for the progressive research and advocacy organization North Carolina Justice Center, said the Cato Institute (a libertarian think tank) predicted that ending DACA could cost North Carolina $7.8 billion in the next decade alone.
"The native Amazonian peoples have probably never been so threatened on their own lands as they are at present," the pope told a crowd of indigenous people from more than 20 groups including the Harakbut, Esse-ejas, Shipibos, Ashaninkas, and Juni Kuin.
3. Pope Francis Marries Couple in Impromptu Ceremony Aboard Papal Plane
The pontiff offered the couple a hand-written wedding certificate.
This is not the first time Congregational United Church of Christ has offered their church as sanctuary to undocumented immigrants. Minerva Garcia took sanctuary in the church from June 28 2017 to Oct. 2 2017 A federal judge in Texas vacated her deportation order leading her to claim sanctuary. Garcia came to the U.S. in the 1990s so her son, who is blind, could have more opportunities. She came to the U.S. undocumented because it was too expensive and too time consuming to accommodate her son’s needs while traveling, according to the Triad City Beat. She said her hometown in Mexico was violent because of drug cartels, also propelling her to leave.
Throughout the week, faith leaders and DACA recipients — young immigrants who were guaranteed protection from deportation under an Obama-era program, since rescinded by President Trump — have urged legislators to refuse a vote on a spending bill to fund the government if it does not include a Dream Act. Trump said he would sign the current version of the bill, up for vote in the House as soon as Thursday evening. That version does not include protections for DACA recipients — a potential make-or-break piece that could force a government shutdown Friday.
Women's, LGBTQ rights, and other physician groups have expressed concern for the heavy implications on patients' access to abortion and treating LGBTQ patients.
“You are bringing politics into the church!” That is a frequently heard comment when pastors and community leaders bring things like MLK Day commemoration services into their churches. I asked the gathered audience at the Millbrook Christian Reformed Church in Grand Rapids, Mich., on Monday night if they had ever heard that question before. I was honored to give the keynote address for their MLK Day 2018 service — which was filled up with leaders and members of local Christian Reformed Churches and students and faculty from Calvin College. Heads were nodding yes in response to my question all over the congregation.
"When a black man gets shot and killed on the side of the road for doing nothing other than being black, and no one says anything about it but maybe some black people for a little while, and then it goes away, the church has not done enough. It has done nearly nothing."