The Gaytheist Agenda

The detainee abuse at Guantánamo has been in the news for years. Amnesty International will be bringing it to Americans in a way that makes it more real than any photos or video ever could.

Amnesty International is bringing a life-size model of a maximum security cell at Guantánamo to cities across the USA. The tour is a way to enable people in the United States to get a glimpse of the harsh realities of illegal detention and prolonged isolation.

Most of the detainees at Guantánamo are held in isolation, many of them with virtually no access to natural light or contact with other human beings, for up to 24 hours a day. Compounding their suffering is the fact that they have no indication of when or if they will be freed from Guantánamo.
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Starting in Miami on 8 May, the tour will make a stop in Washington D.C. on 26 June, to mark International Day in Support of Victims of Torture.

Visitors to the cell are encouraged to enter and to experience the conditions of isolation and then share their experience in a video message. Watch a panoramic photo from inside the model cell to get an idea. And before leaving, they can also take action to end illegal US detentions at Guantánamo and elsewhere.

 


 
The tour has gone to Miami, and plans to visit Philadelphia, Portland (ME), New York, Washington DC and Los Angeles. For more information see the Amnesty International site.

 

Today is Holocaust Remembrance Day.

Holocaust Remembrance Day is a day that has been set aside for remembering the victims of the Holocaust and for reminding Americans of what can happen to civilized people when bigotry, hatred and indifference reign. The United States Holocaust Memorial Council, created by act of Congress in 1980, was mandated to lead the nation in civic commemorations and to encourage appropriate Remembrance observances throughout the country. Observances and Remembrance activities can occur during the week of Remembrance that runs from the Sunday before through the Sunday after the actual date.

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The Holocaust is not merely a story of destruction and loss; it is a story of an apathetic world and a few rare individuals of extraordinary courage. It is a remarkable story of the human spirit and the life that flourished before the Holocaust, struggled during its darkest hours, and ultimately prevailed as survivors rebuilt their lives.

Ultimately the death toll reached about:
Six million Jews
2-3 million Soviet POWs
1.8-2 million Poles
220,000–500,000 Roma
200,000–250,000 Disabled
80,000–200,000 Freemasons
5,000–15,000 Gay men
2,500–5,000 Jehovah’s Witnesses

A monument honoring the gay and lesbian victims of the Holocaust is to be built in Meir Garden in Tel Aviv.

A quarter of a million homosexuals were persecuted during the Holocaust, and tens of thousands were murdered because the Nazi Party believed their sexual preference to be deviant. In the concentration camps in which they were imprisoned, gay men were forced to wear a pink triangle while lesbian women wore a black patch.
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The monument is to be the first in Israel to commemorate these victims, though four of its kind exist worldwide, in Sydney, Copenhagen, Berlin, and Amsterdam. It has been designed as an iron triangle, on which the victims’ names are to be inscribed.

I am simply overwhelmed whenever I read or hear about the Holocaust. It is indeed one of the deepest, darkest stains on the history of humankind.

 

The National Day of Silence is a day LGBTs and their allies remain silent to bring attention to the LGBTs who are silenced by anti-LGBT name-calling, bullying and harassment in schools. This year’s DOS is being held in remembrance of Lawrence King, the 15-year-old boy from Oxnard, CA, who was killed because of his sexual orientation and gender expression.

I’m not a student nor am I in any way affiliated with a school. However I am a lesbian so I obviously support LGBT equality and fight bigotry and bullying in every way I can. Accordingly I will honor the Day of Silence on The Gaytheist Agenda. All posts on April 25th will be made without text, save for the title, and without audio content. It will be somewhat challenging for me, and probably for my readers as well, but the goal is certainly worth it.

 

About a week ago I posted Ask the Gaytheist. My first question comes from thewalrus whose e-mail address is, it seems, fyou@******. Alrighty then, let’s get to the question:

how does an atheist have the odds stacked against him? All the hipster protesters are atheists and everyone hears them practicing their right to free speech. Here is the shocking part though… nobody cares

I’m going to break that down into three separate parts to make things easier. First; how does an atheist have the odds stacked against him?

As you are likely aware, the majority of people in the United States profess belief in God and adherence to a religion. According to a 2001 study 76.5% of adults over age 18 report being members of a Christian faith and 3.7% report being Jewish, Muslim or Buddhist. 13.2% claim “no religion”, 0.5% agnostic and only 0.4% reported being atheist. It’s possible, even probable, that some in the “no religion” category (or even one of the other groups) are atheists who were unwilling to say as much due to societal prejudices. Nonetheless the fact is we are greatly outnumbered by theists and followers of religion.

A 2006 study by the University of Minnesota found that atheists were the most despised group in America. The results from two of the most important questions were:

This group does not at all agree with my vision of American society…

Atheist: 39.6%
Muslims: 26.3%
Homosexuals: 22.6%
Hispanics: 20%
Conservative Christians: 13.5%
Recent Immigrants: 12.5%
Jews: 7.6%

I would disapprove if my child wanted to marry a member of this group….

Atheist: 47.6%
Muslim: 33.5%
African-American 27.2%
Asian-Americans: 18.5%
Hispanics: 18.5%
Jews: 11.8%
Conservative Christians: 6.9%
Whites: 2.3%

Negative attitudes like these stem from a number of common misperceptions about atheists. It is believed, for example, that atheists (because they don’t believe in gods) have no reason to behave morally/ethically, that they want to impose atheism or secularism on America, and that in place of gods atheists worship themselves/money/Satan. While none of these perceptions are even remotely true, they’re widespread and very difficult to change in the eyes of those who hold them.

Thanks to the misperceptions about atheism and atheists, there is a great deal of discrimination toward atheists.

Gray, Tennessee: Carletta Sims joined a financial firm in June 2001. Shortly afterward, two Baptist coworkers took offense upon learning that Sims was an atheist. Management granted the coworkers’ request to be assigned workspaces further from Sims. When Sims complained about a picture of Jesus left on her computer, management discharged her. Sims filed suit, seeking $250,000; U.S. District Judge Thomas Hull ruled that “religious discrimination (or preferential treatment of Christians) can be inferred.” In January 2004, the major bank that had since acquired the firm settled with Sims for an undisclosed amount.

Ada, Oklahoma: A Baptist student told a local newspaper she wouldn’t take professor William Zellner’s classes because he was an atheist, triggering a flurry of abuse. Zellner received harassing notes and telephone calls, some threatening. His car was vandalized, for a time on a daily basis. A local church sold “I am praying for Dr. Zellner” buttons. His children experienced shunning and beatings from religious children.

Minneapolis, Minnesota: First-grader Michael Bristor, an atheist, was denied an honor roll certificate when he refused to participate in an unconstitutional “prayer time” at a public school. For three years, administrators ignored the family’s complaints until a lawsuit was filed.

The case of Chuck Smalkowski of Oklahoma gained national attention. Smalkowski’s daughter refused to pray with her basketball team before games and was then thrown off the team on grounds based on lies. When Smalkowski attempted to discuss the matter with the school principal the principal struck Smalkowski and the two fell to the ground. The principal pressed charges claiming Smalkowski had assaulted him. Smalkowski won in court.

Discrimination against atheists is written into numerous state constitutions effectively restricting atheists from running for public office. Though these restrictions are no longer technically valid, they’re still in the constitutions. More importantly, the societal bias against atheists is so entrenched that it ensures none will be elected to most offices–particularly the presidency. For example, notice in particular how presidential candidates must profess their faith (Christianity, of course) endlessly in order to be considered acceptable. Mitt Romney raised many eyebrows because he is a Mormon, and Barack Obama is continuously under fire with accusations that he is a Muslim. Then there is this article that insists America is right to resist an atheist president. No, an atheist has no chance of becoming president any time soon in America.

It is not uncommon for atheists to lose custody of their children simply because the are atheists, particularly if the other parent is religious and the judge is also religious. It is often felt that an atheist is unfit to raise children and/or that children should be raised in a religion. Atheists also have a harder time adopting children than do their believing counterparts.

Then there are these bigoted quotes from various individuals that show how deeply entrenched anti-atheist sentiments are in America. This is a small sampling, mind you.

“No, I don’t know that atheists should be considered as citizens, nor should they be considered patriots. This is one nation under God.” George H.W. Bush

“No, I agree with her 100 percent. I think that the real discrimination is atheists against Americans who are religious. Listen, we are a Christian nation. I’m not a Christian. I’m Jewish, but I recognize we’re a Christian country and freedom of religion doesn’t mean freedom from religion.” Debbie Schlussel

“I don’t mind receiving the atheist hate mail, since I know that in a few years, many of these same people will either be Muslim extremists (redundant) or helping the country fall further in its fight against the creep of Islamic imposition on America . . . or both.
(later on the blog)
THANKS FOR CONFIRMING THAT ALL ATHEISTS ARE IDIOTS IN ADDITION TO BEING FUTURE MUSLIM EXTREMISTS” Debbie Schlussel

“I’d like to eliminate all Atheists. That isn’t such a bad idea.” Captain Windu

(In an argument that went from ‘Atheists are evil’ to ‘we should be able to mix church and state’ back to ‘Atheists are evil’)
“Panzer, if it would have been my business I would have fired you for being an atheist. I just would have found a way to fire you without using your lack of belief as a reason. Bad company corrupts good morals and I wouldnt have a non believer work for me. Plus, why should I have an atheist work for me when there is a christian that needs a job?” Don

“atheists and unfaithfuls are the responsible for all the world disgraces” ximmamrayadj

“To all atheists, you are no better than the worst terrorists ever lived. You are trying to kill human nature physically and morally. But this will not work.” gandovli

“To an atheist, anything that shows respect and etiquette to another person is mindless and meaningless, which is why they refuse to say such simple phrases as “Bless you” and “Thank you” and “Please.” Although atheists (claim to) have high IQs, their EQs are surely in the single digits” MessiahWWWKD

“have any atheists ever done a THING for the betterment of mankind? NAME ONE. They certainly can’t just BE…no they have to FORCE their views on us all by tearing down every decent institution in the country because they are “offended”. They do it so cowardly too by using the bought and paid for court system so that we the people have no say in the matter.” bdn2004

“15.) The theory of evolution is supported almost completely by atheists…and atheists don’t have just a great track record for telling the truth. Lying comes natural for them, as they don’t believe in The 10 Commandments and see nothing wrong with lying, cheating, stealing, murdering, etc….because, hey, we’re all just dumb machines that operate by random chemicals bouncing into each other. To them, (or many of them) telling lies and killing Christians is a good thing because they hate Christians and wish we were dead.” Supersport

“Anyway I would like to make a comment I love god, he speaks to me when I walk down the street he tells me to do good. When ever I see an Atheist I feel like slapping them, however then god gives me this vision of atheists burring, and I think to myself. God will deal with them. ” Kasaova

“Atheists don’t have a church they can join for fellowship, friends, sports, bible readings, bingo, coffee and donuts, education, etc. There are not Atheists organizations that help out the poor, homeless, sick, disabled, hungry, and others less fortunate. When you look at an Atheist organization, most likely than not they are filing civil suits against Religions and trying to get Religious things removed from the public. Not seeing that Religious organizations help out the community. For example the Cub Scouts have a Scouting for Food program, but the ACLU and Atheist Organizations filed civil suits to get the Cub Scouts out of public schools because the Cub Scouts mentions duty to God in their pledge. But because of that the Cub Scouts cannot recruit as many boys to help out in the Scouting for Food program and as a result Fire Stations and Food Pantries only get 50% to 35% of the canned food they used to stock up on thanks to the Cub Scouts for collecting it for them. Now homeless and hungry and poor people go without food, thanks to the ACLU and Atheist Organizations kicking the Cub Scouts out of public places.” OrionBlaster

The last statement in particular is completely inaccurate. The Boy Scouts are not losing access to public places because they mention duty to God in their pledge. They’re losing free access to public places, and complete access to some public places, because they refuse to allow gays, atheists and agnostics to be scouts or scoutmasters. If they want to consider themselves a private group, which gives them the right to practice discrimination based on “religious beliefs”, they can’t benefit from things like free access to public lands and other things that are provided to public groups that are open to all. Essentially they want to have their cake and eat it too. It should be noted that the Girl Scouts don’t discriminate like the Boy Scouts do, and therefore don’t have any such problems.

Moving on now to the second part: All the hipster protesters are atheists and everyone hears them practicing their right to free speech.

It does seem that more atheists are speaking out, particularly of late. Thanks to the Internet even those who have otherwise been “in the closet” due to fear of repercussions have found a voice and the opportunity to use it. Nonetheless atheists are hardly the only ones protesting, and certainly not the only “hipster” protesters (though I’m sure many would be thrilled to be classified as such). We’re just getting more backlash because we (along with those evil gays) are screwing up the status quo when we assert ourselves.

Finally, Here is the shocking part though… nobody cares

On the contrary, many people care. You cared enough to submit your question, whatever the intent behind it may have been. The 600 (and counting) bloggers on the Atheist Blogroll certainly care. Some others who care include:

Rep. Monique Davis, who stated “It’s dangerous for our children to even know that your philosophy exists!”.

InGodWeTrust.org certainly cares. They couldn’t allow an atheist group to simply run their first-ever billboard campaign without interfering. They had to respond with the outrageous and false claim that “Atheists hate America”.

Karen Hunter cares enough that she thinks atheists need to shut up about their rights/wants, etc. and Debbie Schlussel agrees–because this is a “Christian Nation”.

Yes, many people do care and many of them would like us to shut up and go back in our closets with the LGBT people. That’s just not going to happen. We’re here, we don’t believe, and people are just going to have to get used to it.

That concludes this edition of The Gaytheist Answers.

 

That’s the simple yet critical lesson of this video . Please be warned that this piece contains some adult language and brief violence.

Martin Luther King. Jr. was a significant force in the Civil Rights Movement for 15 years until felled by an assassin’s bullet on April 4, 1968. Though he is dead his legacy and his dream live on.

King advocated non-violent protest and activism as means of achieving civil rights, economic justice and other forms of equality. He led the Montgomery Bus Boycott, the March on Washington during which he made his historic I Have a Dream speech, opposed the Vietnam War, and much more. That he was cut down in his prime is indeed a travesty.

If only more would take the lead of Martin Luther King, Jr. and advocate equality, non-violence and tolerance. The world would be a much better place were they to do so.

What is it that these groups can’t achieve their agendas using facts, rational discussion and cooperative effort? Oh, that’s right. The facts aren’t on their side, and why use rational discussion or cooperative effort when fear-mongering and strong arm tactics have worked so well in the past? Now The Eagle Forum of Alabama is falling back on the tried and the true to enrage local residents against immigrants in a series of workshops called What You Can do About Illegal Immigration.

 

Clearly aimed at riling up nativist fury, the fliers for the event allege that “the average illegal immigrant household receives approximately $30,000 in government benefits each year but pays only $9,000 in taxes.”

The problem, as is often the case with the “facts” nativists dredge up to illustrate the evils of immigration, is that these calculations are wildly misleading at best. The numbers above originate in a quote from Robert Rector that was posted on the website NoFreeMustang.com, a new anti-immigration site put up by the conservative Heritage Foundation where Rector is a senior fellow. The website’s title refers to the difference between the two numbers above, $21,000, which Rector alleges is the net cost taxpayers pick up for undocumented workers. “That’s like buying each of these illegal immigrant families a brand new Mustang convertible,” he claims.

Rector is almost certainly wrong, as is reflected in a fact sheet summarizing immigration studies that was put together by the Immigration Policy Center.

According to a 1997 study by the National Research Council, part of the National Academies that also includes the National Academy of Sciences, “the average immigrant pays nearly $1,800 more in taxes than he or she costs in benefits” each year — and undocumented immigrants receive far less in government benefits (for which they are ineligible) than legal immigrants. Generally, the federal government profits the most, because it gets Social Security and other taxes, while state and local governments pick up such costs as emergency medical services for the undocumented. Still, according to a 2006 study by the Texas state comptroller, even “[u]ndocumented immigrants produced $1.58 billion in state revenues, which exceeded the $1.16 billion in state services they received.” A 2007 report by the Iowa Policy Project put it like this: “Rather than draining state resources, undocumented immigrants are in some cases subsidizing services that only documented residents can access.”

No surprise there. It’s a constant refrain I’ve heard that “illegals” drain the social service system and produce nothing. Yet much of the RW is very fond of “guest workers” for the lowest of the low work and treats them like slaves. They both claim they hate these individuals, yet secretly want them here so they can exploit them. It’s quite a vicious cycle.

 

That’s not all. Rector’s analysis also fails to take into account the fact that second- and third-generation immigrants increasingly benefit the United States economy, paying more and more taxes and growing the overall economy. And he ignores efficiencies that the economy gains by having these workers available to do the kind of work that most Americans shun, such as agricultural labor. The general consensus among economists is that immigrants of all types — legal and illegal — provide a substantial net benefit to the U.S. economy.

This isn’t the first time that Rector’s been wrong. In 2006, he told the far-right NewsMax.com that the proposed Kennedy-McCain immigration reform bill would likely result in a minimum of 103 million legal immigrants in the next 20 years. For that to happen, nearly the entire current population of Mexico would have to migrate to the U.S. And to reach his maximum estimate of 200 million people moving to the United States in that same period, you’d have to throw in the equivalent of the current population of Central America, too.

There are many reasons the bigots put forth for opposing immigration, be it legal or “illegal”. On the surface they’ll speak of laws, the economy, etc. What is often left unsaid except by the more openly racist is that if “too many” immigrants come to the USA from places like Mexico we’ll eventually have more non-whites than we will whites, and the bigots see that as very bad indeed. The notion of the US being anything but predominantly white and English-speaking strikes terror in their hearts. Giving up their majority status, and therefore their self-proclaimed right to run things, is simply not part of their plan. (Have you ever asked yourself why there are no Minutemen and no proposals for a “wall” at the Canadian border?) The fact that Latinos tend to vote Democratic is no doubt a factor in the RW’s desire to keep our South of the Border neighbors out.

 

It’s not surprising that the Eagle Forum is touting misleading information about immigrants. In the last few years, the group has added immigration to its list of social evils, which had long centered on the gay rights movement. In 2005, the group joined the “Secure Borders Coalition.” An alliance of Christian Right groups, hard-right organizations like Accuracy in Media and the Swift Boat Veterans for Truth, and strident anti-immigration outfits including the Minuteman Civil Defense Corps, the coalition issued a statement attacking all amnesty and guest worker proposals and vowed to oppose any candidate, regardless of his or her stance on other issues, taking a different tack.

Phyllis Schlafly, who heads the Eagle Forum, has also been a major proponent of the dominant conspiracy theory now animating the anti-immigration movement — the so-called “North American Union,” a supposed plot by global elites to surrender American sovereignty in a planned merger with Canada and Mexico. Schlafly has called for a congressional investigation into the North American Union and for the disclosure of supposedly secret documents related to the non-existent union.

I get the impression that some people might simply fall apart if they didn’t have an “enemy” to hate and fight against. Hence the need to create one. Once the Cold War was over, the RW no longer had an enemy and they began looking within the US. That’s when their war on “immorality” began, and LGBTs and womens’ reproductive rights have been the target ever since. Now that those issues are less lucrative for them both financially and at the ballot box the RW is searching for new ways to whip up the masses. Enter Illegal Immigration. The Mexicans are coming, and they want your money, your jobs and your way of life.

Of course people like those in The Eagle Forum conveniently forget that their ancestors were the original “illegal immigrants”. I rather wonder if some Native Americans wish their forebears were a little stricter about border control.

 

Sadly you would be incorrect, because to a very real extent it is still going on today. True, people are not being shackled sold and kept as legal property. However what is being done is very close to that, particularly with the amount of manipulation and intimidation utilized against these individuals.

Years ago when I first heard George W. Bush use the words “Guest Worker Program” I had a bad feeling. Knowing his type (Republicans who refuse to raise the minimum wage because poor people don’t count) as I do I could only envision desperate people coming from destitute nations, being put to work in our nation’s most dangerous and dirty jobs for rock bottom wages, then tossed out when their Guest Worker visas had expired. Then they’d be replaced with a fresh batch of desperate people willing to do the “jobs Americans won’t” (because we won’t do those horrible, dangerous jobs for peanuts). Now my dark visions are coming true, with an insidious twist.

 

March 10, 2008 – Hundreds of guestworkers from India, lured by false promises of permanent U.S. residency, paid tens of thousands of dollars each to obtain temporary jobs at Gulf Coast shipyards only to find themselves forced into involuntary servitude and living in overcrowded, guarded labor camps, according to a class action lawsuit filed by the Southern Poverty Law Center.

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Several of the workers were illegally detained by company security guards during a pre-dawn raid of their quarters after they began organizing other workers to complain about abuses they faced.

“We were like pigs in a cage,” said Sabulal Vijayan, a worker who tried to commit suicide when company guards attempted to detain him.

Filed in the U.S. District Court for the Eastern District of Louisiana, the complaint claims defendants engaged in forced labor, human trafficking, fraud, racketeering and civil rights violations. Signal is a marine and fabrication company with shipyards in Mississippi and Texas. It is a subcontractor for global defense company Northrop Grumman Corp.

After Hurricane Katrina scattered its workforce, Signal used the federal H-2B guestworker program to import employees to work as welders, pipefitters, shipfitters and in other positions. Hundreds of Indian men mortgaged their futures in late 2006 to pay recruiters as much as $20,000 for travel, visa and other fees after they were told it would lead to good jobs, green cards and permanent U.S. residency.

Many of the workers gave up other jobs and sold their houses, family farms, jewelry and other valuables to come up with the money. Some took out high-interest loans. Many were also told that for an extra $1,500-per person fee, they could bring their families to live in the United States.

When the men arrived in early 2007, they discovered they wouldn’t receive the green cards as promised but only 10-month, H-2B guestworker visas. They were forced to pay $1,050 a month to live in crowded company housing in isolated, fenced labor camps where as many as 24 men shared a trailer with only two toilets. When they tried to find their own housing, Signal officials told them they would still have the rent deducted from their paychecks.

The camps were miles from the nearest shopping areas, places of worship and residential neighborhoods. With the exception of rare occasions, such as Christmas, visitors were not allowed into the camps, which were enclosed by fences. Company employees regularly searched the workers’ belongings.

“This company and its recruiters exploited foreign workers who legally entered the country under the belief that they were going to be able to live the American dream,” said Mary Bauer, director of the SPLC’s Immigrant Justice Project. “Instead, they found themselves chained to an abusive employer, forced to live in a substandard labor camp and threatened with ruin if they tried to stand up for their rights. This case illustrates everything that’s wrong with our guestworker program.”

Workers who complained about the conditions they faced were threatened with deportation.

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By March 9, 2007, the workers had started organizing. Signal responded with an early-morning raid by armed guards on the labor camp in Pascagoula, Miss. Three of the organizers were locked in a room for hours. They were told they would be fired and deported.

Vijayan, who sold his wife’s jewelry and borrowed from friends to build a better life in America, slit his wrist in desperation. He recovered after being hospitalized.

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Last year, the SPLC released Close to Slavery, a report that documented the widespread, systematic abuse of guestworkers by U.S. employers. It found that guestworkers are routinely cheated out of wages, forced to pay thousands of dollars in fees to obtain low-wage temporary jobs and held virtually captive by employers or labor brokers who seize their documents. It also found that these workers are often forced to live in squalid conditions and denied medical benefits for on-the-job injuries.

The SPLC has worked in the courts and Congress to reform this system fraught with abuse and exploitation. “We are taking action to protect these workers because the Bush administration is refusing to enforce their rights,” Bauer said. “We need Congress to reform this shameful system.”

Delmonte Corporation is also under fire for serious abuse of individuals under the Guest Worker Program. Doubtless they’re one of hundreds, if not thousands of offenders.

I am utterly revolted by these practices. These people are human beings, not personal property to play around with. I just can’t fathom how people can live with themselves when they use and abuse other people like this, but then again I have a conscience. Maybe those people don’t.

The Guest Worker Program is resulting in widespread abuses of human rights and is tantamount to indentured servitude at best, and slavery at worst. The program as it is now needs to undergo a massive overhaul or be completely disbanded. Otherwise things will go on as they have been, and that is simply unacceptable.

The Southern Poverty Law Center is asking you to put yourself on the map as taking a stand against hate. There are currently 888 recognized hate groups in the US, an increase of 48% since 2000. The more we speak out, the greater our chances of putting a stop to them. I’m on the map. Will you join me?

A few days ago I wrote about boycotting the upcoming summer Olympics in Beijing based on China’s continued human-rights violations in Tibet. I’m now even firmer in my desire to have nothing to do with the Olympics based on China’s contributions to the atrocities in Darfur. I myself will be boycotting completely, but for those who don’t wish to go that far Dream for Darfur recommends a somewhat different course of action.

1. Write to the ambassadors of the US, the UK, Russia and France to the UN.

Urge them to help China insist that Khartoum stop its obstruction.

Take action! E-mail the ambassadors.

2. Email or call the Olympic Corporate Sponsors.

Send a letter to companies sponsoring the 2008 Olympics, hosted by China. (Our email system will let you do this with the touch of a button.)

Take action! Send emails.

3. Pledge to turn off the commercials of Olympic Sponsors during the Games.

Olympic corporate sponsors have been silent about China’s financing of the Darfur genocide, even as the sponsors are spending billions to enhance China’s image as Olympic host. If sponsors continue to ignore China’s complicity in the Darfur genocide, we will ignore their million-dollar ad campaigns.

Take action! Sign the pledge.

(Continued at action center)

Here is a list of the corporate sponsors of the Beijing summer Olympics. If you are so inclined, drop them a message to let them know your opinions or even boycott them starting right now. Enough pressure may just get some of them to pull their sponsorship before the games. I will be sending out a flood of pointed e-mails very soon.

The Dream for Darfur Website has a wealth of helpful information so take some time to peruse it. I doubt you’ll be sorry–I certainly wasn’t.

As Margaret Mead said, “Never doubt that a small group of thoughtful, committed citizens can change the world. Indeed, it is the only thing that ever has.” Carry on!