Call to Duty

"We have the duty to change bad laws and resist grave evil in our public life, both by our words and our non-violent actions." --Archbishop Charles Chaput

Source: http://www.catholicnewsagency.com/new.php?n=15176

But the Archbishop goes on to say, "it doesn’t matter what we claim to believe if we’re unwilling to act on our beliefs". Excellent point. The question for all to consider then is: how shall we act?

I've called my congressional representatives. Senator Specter's office took their phones off the hook and Senator Casey's voicemail is full (thanks for listening to your constituents) . I've also emailed my representatives, and received, from all three, a lukewarm form letter explaining that even though the stimulus bill wasn't perfect or what they wanted, they voted for it because they had to act.

I've talked to people about the stimulus and what I've found is that people are in one of three camps:

a) those who are just as appalled as I am, and equally lethargic and lax, immobile and disengaged. To be fair, we don't know what to do or how to do it, and we're not sure that we can make any kind of difference.

b) those who have no idea what's going on. These are people who are just living their lives and hoping that everything will work out OK. They try not to pay too much attention, probably because they realize that if they did, they wouldn't like it and wouldn't be able to do anything about it. They keep busy with other things.

c) those who think this is all a good idea, but can't explain exactly why or provide uncontested proof of how it has ever worked in the past.

We've got to connect and network. We've got to look for opportunities to do our "duty" beyond calling congress and then let each other know when we find them, and make the most of them.