Fresh Updates from RAC

This Veterans' Day, many are thinking of the difficulties experienced by returning veterans who are looking for jobs in this tight economy.

Today, Americans observe Veterans’ Day, an occasion to honor those who have bravely served this country. As we pay tribute to our veterans and their service, we also reflect on the society to which our men and women in uniform return – and we might not like what we find this year.

Last week, the legal team for Arizona Governor Jan Brewer filed a petition requesting that the United States Supreme Court accept her appeal of a lower court’s ruling blocking the most aggressive elements of Arizona’s new immigration law.

Parts of the law put on hold would allow police officers to investigate individuals they suspect of being illegal immigrants and require them to show documentation if approached while enforcing other laws.

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Out of all of my friends, I have always been considered “the short one.” When I was in middle school, I regularly played basketball during recess. Throughout these youthful days, not a single one of my shots made it in the hoop. All of my friends were significantly taller than me and blocked every shot I made. I’d come home from school aggravated by my poor performance and complained to my mother about my short stature problems. She reminded me that I needed patience and that soon, I would grow.

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LGBT equality took center stage June 11th as Washington D.C. celebrated Capital Pride, the Districts biggest and most colorful gay pride festival and parade. Needless to say, staff members from the Religious Action Center of Reform Judaism were out in full force, marching shoulder-to-shoulder with our LGBTQ brothers and sisters through Dupont-Logan Circle.

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At the Religious Action Center, we tackle an array of moral issues ranging from protecting women’s reproductive rights to pursuing economic justice. One of the most important moral issues we face in the 21st century took center stage Sunday night during the first night of the Consultation on Conscience: climate change.

The world’s climate crisis is an epic tragedy in the making. Let’s put aside the fact that due to global warming, the world now has millions of climate refugees. Let’s put aside the fact the global warming is significantly increasing the severity of our weather causing significant damage and death. One of the most tragic elements to the climate crisis is that we have power to end it.

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As we celebrated Passover this year, we also celebrated the 41st anniversary of Earth Day, the global day of environmental advocacy. Talk around my seder table centered on preparing for the 50th anniversary of the Religious Action Center and the upcoming Consultation on Conscience. But then things took a darker turn as we began talking about the one-year anniversary of the BP oil spill disaster.

We all agreed that there were many elements to this dialogue that were baffling and frustrating. For example, despite the devastating impact the oil spill had on our ecosystem, our economy and the residents and communities of the Gulf, our fight to end our country’s crippling addiction to oil continues to feel like a losing battle. It also angered us to learn that 11 new deep water and 49 shallow water-drilling permits were recently issued in the Gulf.

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My mother always told me “things have a way of working out in the end.” She usually recited this piece of insight every time I wanted something I couldn’t afford or when I wanted to go somewhere special but couldn’t find the time. For the most part, hearing these famous words would annoy me and evoke a snarky response like “gee, thanks for that, Mom!”

Although this is my first year at the Religious Action Center, I’ve been well aware of the Consultation on Conscience for quite some time. In 2007, I was a recent college graduate in Los Angeles with little money and a lot on his plate so when I heard that Secretary of State Madeleine Albright and (then) Sen. Hillary Rodham Clinton were confirmed to speak, I was more than a little frustrated that I couldn’t attend.

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