For the past three years I have been involved with a wonderful organization called ICUJP: Interfaith Communities United for Justice and Peace, a group of people who came together after September 11th to say that religious communities should not be blessing war and violence. Some who blog here might know the Reverend George Regas from our organization - for those who don't, here's a copy of a sermon he gave at the National Cathedral that upset a few on the religious right.
TONIGHT at 7:00 p.m., ICUJP will be hosting a talk at Immanuel Presbyterian Church in Los Angeles – the question we will be asking is:
Should George Bush and Dick Cheney be Impeached? What are the Moral Implications of Impeachment?
Much of our work at ICUJP: Interfaith Communities United for Justice and Peace focuses on the faith aspects of a certain issue – how our faith perspective sheds a new light on a problem. In putting together this program, we have been informed by the words of many regarding issues of accountability.
Jonathan Sacks, chief rabbi of UK, offers a perspective that seems very much in keeping with ICUJP's prophetic role:
The figure of the prophet has always captured the imagination. He (or she) is a person of drama, "speaking truth to power", unafraid to challenge kings and courts or society as a whole in the name of high, even utopian ideals. No other type of religious personality has had the impact as the prophets of Israel, of whom the greatest was Moses.
There are many examples in the Bible and Torah of speaking truth to power:
John the Baptist challenged King Herod Antipas and publicly rebuked him for violating Jewish law. This "speaking truth to power" cost John his head.
The prophet Nathan served King David and his son and successor King Solomon. A fearless speaker of truth to power, Nathan rebuked David after the incident with Bathsheba, and intervened during the attempted palace coup by Adonijah.
Elijah and Elisha were prophets who challenged royal abuse of power.
Even secular figures note that there is a moral issue at the heart of impeachment, i.e. "sin" and "virtue":
'Liar' is just as ugly a word as 'thief,' because it implies the presence of just as ugly a sin in one case as in the other. If a man lies under oath or procures the lie of another under oath, if he perjures himself or suborns perjury, he is guilty under the statute law.
--Theodore Roosevelt
All in all, the framers would probably agree that it's better to impeach too often than too seldom. If presidents can't be virtuous, they should at least be nervous.
--Joseph Sobran
Helping us in this discussion will be some great speakers:
Marcy Winograd, President of Progressive Democrats of
Los Angeles
John Nichols, Washington correspondent for the Nation magazine
Dennis Loo, Associate Professor of Sociology at Cal Poly Pomona and author of "Impeach the President"
Stephen Rohde, constitutional lawyer and author of "American Words of Freedom"
We will also have entertainment from Billionaires for Bush, and we will also be announcing the opening of the Los Angeles Impeachment Center on July 4th! We will also have an Action Center set up at the church, where you can learn about various Peace and Justice organizations in Los Angeles.
I hope many Los Angeles DailyKos folks will be able to join us for this discussion on Impeachment at Immanuel Presbyterian Church tonight at 7:00!