Religious Groups Join for Protests

Taking advantage of the national spotlight on the Democratic National Convention in Los Angeles, religious groups across Southern California are planning interfaith protests on a host of issues--police brutality, juvenile justice, immigrant rights and the death penalty.

Roman Catholics, Jews, Methodists and Episcopalians will join for many of the planned worship services, marches and rallies to express strength and solidarity and to exercise what they consider a moral obligation to speak out.

From praying for prisoners on California’s death row to mourning the deaths of people who died trying to cross the U.S.-Mexican border illegally, most of the groups will be advocating left-wing positions that the Democrats--eager to appeal to centrist voters--have kept out of the convention’s formal activities.

“We are ordinary citizens trying to speak out on these issues that we can’t vote on. We are not here to crucify anyone. We are called to be people who proclaim life, not death,” said Eric DeBode, a member of the Los Angeles Catholic Worker, one of the groups helping to organize the protests.

The protesters hope to call attention to issues that they feel should be more prominent in the Democratic Party’s platform, DeBode said. Catholic Worker, in particular, is concerned with the growth of the nation’s prison population and continued U.S. economic sanctions against Iraq, he said.

The protesters include a predominantly Latina support group, from Dolores Mission Catholic Church, of mothers with children in prison. The group is planning an Aug. 16 rally in front of the Criminal Courts Building. At the same time as the mothers’ march, members of Catholic Worker will congregate at MacArthur Park in a demonstration against police brutality and which is being labeled “No More Ramparts!” The title refers to the Los Angeles Police Department’s Rampart Division, which is at the center of a corruption scandal.

On that same Wednesday, California People of Faith Working Against the Death Penalty will hold a candlelight vigil at St. Vincent Catholic Church, where religious leaders and community members from various denominations will pray for the more than 565 prisoners on death row in California.

Though several of the protests are being organized by Catholic churches, Tod Tamberg, spokesman for the Archdiocese of Los Angeles, said Cardinal Roger M. Mahony is not expected to participate in any of the marches or prayer services and will probably be out of town for much of convention week.

On Aug. 13, the day before the convention opens, members of the Religious Coalition for Reproductive Choice will convene an interfaith service at St. John’s Episcopal Church in Los Angeles.

Those expected to participate in the service include the Rev. James Lawson, pastor of Holman United Methodist Church; Rabbi Laura Geller of Temple Emanuel in Beverly Hills; the Rev. Madison Shockley, a former City Council candidate; and the Rev. Dan Smith of West Hollywood Presbyterian Church.

The coalition, based in Washington, D.C., includes more than 40 national organizations from 18 different denominations, movements and faith groups.

“With the nation’s attention on the political conventions, we have an opportunity to stand up for our pro-choice values and to let people know that religions strongly support a woman’s right to choose,” said the Rev. Carlton W. Veazey, president and chief executive of the group.

The Los Angeles Archdiocese’s Office of Respect Life decided against organizing demonstrations during convention week. But Survivors, an independent group of antiabortion high school and college activists, said they would be planning a week of activities against abortion. Organizers told the archdiocesan weekly, Tidings, that about 30 young people would demonstrate during the convention.

On Aug. 14, opening day of the convention, an international faith-based group called Jubilee 2000/USA plans to march from Pershing Square to Staples Center. The organization is part of a movement urging wealthy nations and international lending organizations to cancel the international debts of Third World countries. The campaign was inspired by the biblical concept of jubilee, under which all debts were canceled, land returned to its original owners and slaves set free every 50 years.

On Wednesday, the various protests by Dolores Mission Church, the Los Angeles Catholic Worker and St. Vincent Church will focus on law enforcement issues, including police brutality, the prison system and the death penalty.

At First United Methodist Church of Los Angeles, demonstrators plan to erect a memorial of 545 crosses to commemorate the people who have died trying to cross the U.S.-Mexico border in the six years since the implementation of Operation Gatekeeper, which is aimed at stopping illegal crossings.

In conjunction with the memorial, demonstrators will hold an afternoon rally Aug. 17 to protest sweatshops and support immigrants’ rights. The march is to begin in the garment district and proceed to Staples Center, where a candlelight vigil will be held during Vice President Al Gore’s speech accepting his expected presidential nomination at the convention.