One of over fifty Christian activists signing the Faith and Resistance Pledge at the launch

Martha Hennessy, granddaughter of Dorothy Day sent us this message of support:

FAITH-BASED NONVIOLENT DIRECT ACTION

I write in support of the Nonviolent Direct Action Network being launched this month in the UK. As disciples of Christ in His two thousand year old movement, we strain to hear the voice of God guiding us, giving us courage, helping us to walk while holding “enemy” love. We need each other in community as we follow our daily practice of the works of mercy. The best way to visit the prisoner is to be in prison.

Our tears are a form of prayer and protest in our awareness of the suffering we inflict on the so-called “other”. Our position of privilege and power reminds us that we are complicit in the sins of violence. Our high standard of living relies on the exploits of war.

“Blessed are they who mourn for they shall be comforted.” We are blessed in our rising up in protest against the misuse of nation/state law that refutes God’s law of loving our neighbor as ourselves. Christ was executed through devious yet “legal” means. We continue to practice this murder on a massive scale in Iraq, Afghanistan, Yemen, and many other countries, even in the streets of our own western democracies.

Our small but persistent actions may appear to be weak, but remember; God hears just one voice raised up against evil. Our brothers and sisters at Standing Rock, North Dakota are showing us the way. Many other people around the world are standing up and are paying a harsh price. Like our Christian forerunners in the early centuries of the Church, we too can place ourselves in solidarity with the oppressed. We must not idolize the state system by complying with the lust-filled force; we want heaven on earth here and now.