Arrested for protesting Darfur genocide

From the e-mail files:

Last Sunday, I had the privilege to join with over 50,000 people on the National Mall to call for a stop to the brutal genocide in Darfur. The diverse set of speakers included Assistant Secretary of State Jendayi Frazer, Reps. Nancy Pelosi and Frank Wolf, religious leaders of all faiths, and advocates like actor George Clooney and Olympic champion Joey Cheek. I hope you were with me in Washington or at one of the other rallies around the country.
What a truly amazing experience! And what a contrast to Friday afternoon when I found myself with four other members of Congress, faith leaders and Darfur advocates, sitting in a cell at the D.C. Jail after having been arrested for protesting in front of the Sudanese Embassy.
Yet despite the less than pleasant conditions in jail, we were exhilarated – as we all were again on Sunday at the rally – for having called attention to the terrible suffering of the people of Darfur.
Right now, the world is listening. In fact, after tens of thousands rallied on Sunday, Deputy Secretary of State Robert Zoellick was dispatched to the Sudanese peace talks. Let’s keep the pressure on.
Would you consider making a tax-deductible contribution today to the Save Darfur Coalition? Your donation will help fund their efforts to raise awareness and persuade the Bush Administration and other governments to act to stop the genocide in Darfur now.
It is tragic that two years after the situation in Darfur was first identified as “genocide” that the killing, rape, and displacement has continued nearly unabated.
I don’t think any human being can listen to the testimony of the people who have fled, and see the savagery that is going on there and not feel compelled to do something.
The world has said, “Never again.” Now is time for action.
And we know President Bush and other leaders are listening.
Can you help the Save Darfur Coalition keep the pressure on?
Click here to make a tax-deductible contribution today.
Thank you for everything you have done so far in the effort to end the genocide in Darfur. And as we continue the fight, there will be more opportunities for you take action, both online and off, to help make a difference.
Thank you,
Congressman Jim McGovern
3rd Congressional District of Massachusetts

Day of Prayer quotes

Here’s some interesting information on the National Day of Prayer:
In the National Day of Prayer School Events Guide available on the National Day of Prayer Task Force’s website, they argue for the constitutionality and need for a National Day of Prayer, claiming that the “Founding Fathers did not mean for our government to be separated from our God, the God of Abraham, Isaac and Jacob”.
Thomas Jefferson, one of the founding fathers seems to disagree. In 1808 in response to national days of prayer, Jefferson wrote “Fasting and prayer are religious exercises; the enjoining them an act of discipline. Every religious society has a right to determine for itself the time for these exercises, and the objects proper for them, according to their own particular tenets; and right can never be safer than in their hands, where the Constitution has deposited it.”
In 1813, president James Madison proclaimed a day of prayer; but he later decided that National Days of Prayer were inappropriate, because “they seem[ed] to imply and certainly nourish the erroneous idea of a national religion”.
– From Wikipedia