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Society Statement on Immigration

27 Aug 2019
Emily
News

Statement prepared by Ethical Culture Society of Essex County Social Action Committee
516 Prospect Street, Maplewood, New Jersey 07040
www.EssexEthical.org, ecsec.nj@gmail.com, 973-763-1905
Zia Durrani, Society President
Meredith Sue Willis, Social Action Committee Chair

We are increasingly appalled by our nation’s immigration policies that demonize and criminalize people looking for asylum, for a refuge from oppression, or for a better life for themselves and their children. While it is clear in this age of mass migration that it is not possible for any single country to take in all those in flight, we believe that the United States must develop humane and rational laws to manage migrants and asylum seekers. The international community must also take strong measures to solve the problems which cause the migrations in the first place: food and water scarcity due to climate change, desertification, the breakdown of civil society, and the rise of brutal lawlessness.

Long term changes are essential, but helping migrants immediately is both our moral obligation and part of our heritage as Americans. From the very beginning, immigrants have contributed enormously to the intellectual, social and political health of our country. One of our founding fathers. Alexander Hamilton, immigrated as a young college student from the West Indies. In more recent years, we have welcomed the contributions of immigrants as different as Madeline Albright, Liz Claiborne, Albert Einstein, Gloria Esteban, Patrick Ewing, Wyclif Jean, Arianna Huffington, Satya Nadella, I. M. Pei, Natalie Portman, and Mariano Rivera, to name only a handful.

Remembering those who Emma Lazarus called in her poem for the Statue of Liberty “the homeless, tempest-tost,” and with the knowledge that the vast majority of us Americans come from immigrant families, we urge the following:

  • Improve and expand the laws of sanctuary and asylum.
  • Keep migrant children with their parents.
  • Stop treating migrants as criminals.
  • End privatization of prisons and detention facilities that convert human suffering into corporate profit.

The policies presently in effect and the way they are being administered violate the core principles of Ethical Culture and of all people of conscience.

Sincerely,

Social Action Committee of the Ethical Culture Society of Essex County
Ethical Culture Society of Albuquerque
Ethical Society of Austin
Ethical Action Committee of the New York Society for Ethical Culture
Ethical Action Committee of the Philadelphia Ethical Society
Susquehanna Valley Ethical Culture Society
Chris Kaman, President Ethical Humanist Society of the Triangle (Chapel Hill)
Riverdale-Yonkers Society for Ethical Culture
Union County (NJ) Peace Council
First Friends of NJ and NY
South Mountain Peace Action

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The American Ethical Union calls for nontheist participation in National Inaugural Interfaith Service.On Thursday January 21st, the Washington National Cathedral will host a virtual presidential inaugural interfaith service to mark the inauguration of Joe Biden as president. While presented as an opportunity to bring the whole nation together, and while part of the “America United” inaugural activities, one large community will not be represented at all: atheists, agnostics, humanists, and the nonreligious. Millions of Americans today make meaning and express their personal and civic values without reference to a god or traditional religious beliefs. These Americans deserve a voice, and should be included in formal interfaith programming like the Inaugural Service. Read our full statement here: aeu.org/resource/aeu-calls-for-nontheist-participation-in-national-inaugural-interfaith-service/ ... See MoreSee Less

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Today, as the nation continues to recover from an attempted white supremacist insurrection at our capitol, we are reflecting upon this quote from the Reverend Martin Luther King Jr. #MLK #MLKDay #MLK2021 #king #martinlutherkingjr #today #EthicalCulture #ethics #2021 ... See MoreSee Less

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AEU Statement Regarding the Events of January 6thYesterday, we watched in shock and horror as a violent mob attacked the US Capitol, forcing their way inside and occupying areas of the building for hours in an attempt to disrupt the certification of electoral votes submitted by the states. By the end of the day, 4 people were dead, 52 members of the seditious mob were arrested, and 14 police officers were injured. It took the assistance of many additional federal law enforcement personnel and the National Guard to remove the attackers from the Capitol and clear the way for the Joint Congress to resume its work.Fortunately, the Joint Congress was resolute and refused to let the interruption derail our democracy, working through the night to certify the electoral vote counts for all of the states. However, this episode was an attack on democracy itself, instigated by a sitting president whose actions have severely undermined respect for and trust in the very system that put him in office. Mr. Trump has shown only contempt for the democratic process and is a danger to our country. People who are in a position to remove Mr. Trump from office ought to proceed in haste as this president has repeatedly shown readiness to incite violence and mayhem, and also continues to demonstrate an obsession with the electoral results to the seeming exclusion of other national concerns. Our democratic system of government must be protected from his influence.As Ethical Humanists, we are called upon to repudiate the anti-democratic tendencies that have gained an unwelcome foothold in public life. Our country will need us to elicit the best from one another and ourselves in the months and years to come.#Jan6 #ethicalhumanism ow.ly/uxes50D2Gzn ... See MoreSee Less

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Share your voice! The AEU is seeking volunteers to contribute to our World Human Rights Day Project. Learn more here: ow.ly/YGDC50CYYPL ... See MoreSee Less

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The American Ethical Union calls for nontheist par The American Ethical Union calls for nontheist participation in National Inaugural Interfaith Service.

On Thursday January 21st, the Washington National Cathedral will host a virtual presidential inaugural interfaith service to mark the inauguration of Joe Biden as president. While presented as an opportunity to bring the whole nation together, and while part of the “America United” inaugural activities, one large community will not be represented at all: atheists, agnostics, humanists, and the nonreligious. 

Millions of Americans today make meaning and express their personal and civic values without reference to a god or traditional religious beliefs. These Americans deserve a voice, and should be included in formal interfaith programming like the Inaugural Service.
Today, as the nation continues to recover from an Today, as the nation continues to recover from an attempted white supremacist insurrection at our capitol, we are reflecting upon this quote from the Reverend Martin Luther King Jr. 

#MLK #MLKDay #MLK2021 #King #MartinLutherKingJr #Today #EthicalCulture #Ethics #2021
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