For Faith and Union
Thank you for “Make Unions Great Again,” by Tony Campolo (September-October 2018), a wonderful article that advocates for Christians to support unions. As a full-time staff member for the teachers’ union in Los Angeles and a woman of faith, I find the bias about Christians working in unions goes both ways. My colleagues lump me with the “Trump-vangelicals” and my Christian friends view me as a union “thug.” I am neither. I’m committed to bringing about “expressions of God’s kingdom” by working toward better worker rights for my members and excellent schools for all students, not just the wealthy. I will share Campolo’s article with my colleagues, union members, and councils.
Kim McLaughlin
Burbank, California
Who Will Care?
Bless you, Jemar Tisby and Sojourners, for “The Most Powerful People in the System” (August 2018). The role that prosecutors play as the feeding tube for the prison-industrial complex has been overlooked for too long. I’m a chaplain at a homeless shelter. While accompanying the shelter’s guests to court appearances, I’ve witnessed firsthand prosecutors charging poor people with a crime more serious than the one they’re guilty of, because the prosecutors can, and who will care if one more homeless person is taken off the streets and shipped away to prison? Well, I care. Good people are being victimized to increase conviction rates and feed political ambitions. This is nothing short of human sacrifice, and it’s wrong.
Rob Cairns
Nevada City, California