As the United States prioritizes and cuts programs in seemingly endless efforts to reconcile our national balance sheet, the question is one we can’t avoid asking. It comes from Isaiah 58, which makes clear that people have been struggling with this question far longer than our current economic recession.
Isaiah offers a response to guide modern-day people of faith:
Is not this the fast that I choose: to loose the bonds of injustice…to let the oppressed go free and to break every yoke?
These words provide the inspiration for Ecumenical Advocacy Days’ 2012 theme: Economy, Livelihood & Our National Priorities. This weekend, LIRS joins with 50 other Christian organizations to welcome thousands of people to Washington D.C. to learn, organize and advocate for global peace with justice.
Over the weekend, LIRS will partner with Church World Service to present “Keep Your State From Being ‘Alabama-d’: The Economy and Anti-Immigrant Policies.” Our workshop will explore the growth of expensive detention practices in a time of economic “fasting,” share LIRS’s work to accompany migrants released from detention and equip participants to loosen the bonds of injustice through visitation ministry.
LIRS will also have a booth on display for the weekend. If you’ve already registered for EAD, stop by and say hello during the exhibit breaks! If you’re interested in joining the discussion, there’s still time to register. Or, if you can’t be with us in person this year, take a moment and tell your elected officials that the fast we’ve chosen doesn’t detain migrants and lets the oppressed go free.