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‘Better Days’ Ahead
By Megan Blood Seawright, MWEG Utah Chapter Lead MWEG’s Utah chapter recently participated in Better Days 2020’s “Radification Celebration,” a lively festival celebrating Utah’s ratification of the 19th amendment. MWEG hosted a booth at the event, where members helped to inspire attendees through a Principles of Peacemaking activity. We had each of MWEG’s six Principles of Peacemaking displayed, along with a woman from Utah history who exemplified each one, as the foundation of our “tapestry.” We asked people to write on ribbons things they could do or are doing to make the world a more peaceful, better place. They then wove their ribbons into the tapestry. Here are some of…
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Official Statement from Mormon Women for Ethical Government on Child Detention
August 23, 2019 Mormon Women for Ethical Government condemns the regulation announced by the Trump administration on Wednesday that would abolish the 20-day limit on holding families in jails. Our opposition to this regulation is grounded in our clear and deeply held conviction that families are sacred and all children deserve to be cherished and protected. A government that disregards clear evidence of its own abuse deserves a strong rebuke and should immediately correct the harm it is causing to innocents, many of whom bring with them past trauma. To knowingly inflict further trauma on families upon their arrival at the southern border is intolerable. While children are already a…
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Official Statement from Mormon Women for Ethical Government on El Paso Massacre and White Supremacy
August 5, 2019 We spent the Sabbath mourning and praying for the families of the innocent who were gunned down Saturday in pre-meditated massacres in El Paso and Dayton, as well as for precious children of God killed in Gilroy last week. Familiar with the image of a Maker who weeps with us, we feel deep sorrow in our knowledge that the shooters are âwithout affection, and… hate their own bloodâ (Moses 7:29 and 33). We refuse to become numb or to believe that mass shootings are a way of life in America and will never accept this horror as inevitable or unstoppable. We actively pray that the hearts of…
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Official Statement From Mormon Women for Ethical Government on New Asylum Rule and in Defense of Fair and Just Policy Solutions
July 16, 2019 Yesterday the Trump administration published a new rule designed to end most asylum protections for migrants arriving at the U.S.-Mexico border. The administration claims this action is necessary in order to stop the flow of migrants, but the change certainly violates the spirit of asylum and is likely illegal under both U.S. law and international conventions. Mormon Women for Ethical Government recognizes that our nation is suffering real consequences as a result of poor public policy surrounding human migration and immigration. However, we feel a moral imperative to sound a watchword following the intensification of defamatory language and uptick in extra-legal policies produced by the President and…
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Official Statement From Mormon Women for Ethical Government on Unethical Policing Practices by the Woods Cross Police Department
June 7, 2019 Yesterday, in West Bountiful, Utah, a police officer who was involved in a multi-agency manhunt for two adult suspects stopped his vehicle and drew his firearm on a 10-year-old black child who was playing in his front yard. The officer ordered the child at gunpoint to get on the ground before determining that he did not fit the description of the suspects and quickly leaving without further explanation. The incident was witnessed in part by the child’s mother, who ran outside to the child’s defense. A lieutenant with the Woods Cross Police Department dismissed this as âan unfortunate situationâ in which the boy was âin the wrong…
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Official Statement From Mormon Women for Ethical Government on the Victimization of Children in Our Broken Immigration System
June 6, 2019 Last week, the Acting Inspector General released a report recommending that the Department of Homeland Security take immediate action to address the dangerous and inhumane treatment of detainees, including family units and unaccompanied minors, at a border patrol processing center in El Paso, Texas. On Monday, we learned that 37 migrant children between the ages of five and twelve were kept in vans in the sweltering Texas heat last July for between 23-39 hours, depending on the child, while waiting to be processed for reunification with their parents. This happened after public outrage forced the administration to backpedal on its inhumane zero-tolerance policy that led to thousands…
