tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-22279388104272638132024-11-01T00:53:22.038-07:00Oppression at its finest. Mennonite, Peace, JusticeOnnem Snomishttp://www.blogger.com/profile/17661388944946089351noreply@blogger.comBlogger5125tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2227938810427263813.post-69595570264615006632010-05-08T05:59:00.000-07:002010-05-08T05:59:40.214-07:00&nbsp;Another Challenge:<br /> <br /> As you earnestly seek out those in need and find them, allow others to join you in providing weekly support.<br /> <br /> <br /> Mennonite Peace Justice Mennonite Peace Justice Mennonite Peace Justice Mennonite Peace Justice Mennonite Peace Justice Mennonite Peace Justice Mennonite Peace Justice Mennonite Peace Justice Mennonite Peace Justice Mennonite Peace Justice Mennonite Peace Justice Mennonite Peace Justice<div class="blogger-post-footer">Mennonite Peace Justice</div>Onnem Snomishttp://www.blogger.com/profile/17661388944946089351noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2227938810427263813.post-43229916204232830032010-05-08T05:52:00.000-07:002010-05-08T05:52:39.507-07:00Challenge:<br /> <br /> Call your local Mennonite organization--a church, a school, a business, an organization.&nbsp; Ask the primary leader there who had to be let go over the past year.&nbsp; Ask who still does not have a job or who has taken a job paying poverty wages.&nbsp; Get their names.&nbsp; Dedicate a portion of your salary each week to help support them and their children.&nbsp; If you cannot find anyone, let me know--there are many in dire need.<br /> <br /> <br /> <br /> Mennonite Peace Justice Mennonite Peace Justice Mennonite Peace Justice Mennonite Peace Justice Mennonite Peace Justice Mennonite Peace Justice Mennonite Peace Justice Mennonite Peace Justice Mennonite Peace Justice Mennonite Peace Justice Mennonite Peace Justice Mennonite Peace Justice<div class="blogger-post-footer">Mennonite Peace Justice</div>Onnem Snomishttp://www.blogger.com/profile/17661388944946089351noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2227938810427263813.post-55028747473686472082010-03-28T14:29:00.000-07:002010-05-01T08:45:55.321-07:00“MCC seeks to demonstrate God's love by working among people suffering from poverty, conflict, oppression and natural disaster.&nbsp; MCC serves as a channel for interchange by building mutually transformative relationships. MCC strives for peace, justice and the dignity of all people by sharing our experiences, resources and faith in Jesus Christ.” <br /> <br /> <br /> “Be kind and compassionate to one another, forgiving each other, just as in Christ God forgave you.”&nbsp; Ephesians 4:32 (2009 annual verse)<br /> <br /> <br /> The Mennonite church and its affiliated organizations and businesses brashly proclaim they exist primarily “to demonstrate God’s love” by ministering to people’s “suffering from poverty” as it strives for “peace, justice and the dignity of all people.” <br /> <br /> <br /> The reality, however, is tragically to the contrary.&nbsp; The Mennonite church and its affiliated organizations and businesses refuse to pay its employees a livable wage, to provide them with reasonable benefits, or to contribute into their unemployment compensation fund. <br /> Thus, they actually causes suffering for its own employees by putting them into poverty, violating their peace, and denying them justice and dignity. <br /> <br /> <br /> The Mennonite church and its affiliated organizations and businesses merely give lip service to demonstrating God’s love, while its practices and policies are just the opposite.<br /> Before they boast about rescuing the global community from poverty, conflict, oppression, and injustice, they need to get its own house in order and rescue its own employees from poverty, conflict, oppression, and injustice by paying their employees a livable wage, by providing them with reasonable benefits, and by contributing into their unemployment compensation fund.<br /> <br /> <br /> What will be the response of The Mennonite church and its affiliated organizations and businesses?&nbsp; Will they, like the white slave masters’ of old declare that it is the employees’ biblical obligation to obey their masters, that it is the mission and a privilege for employees to suffer and sacrifice to benefit the their policies and procedures and pocketbook?&nbsp; And if the employees don’t like it, should they go to hell or find another job—with all of the Church’s prayers and blessings, of course?<br /> <br /> <br /> The Mennonite church and its affiliated organizations and businesses violate the most elementary notions of justice and morality when they refuse to pay its employees a livable wage, to provide them with reasonable benefits, or to contribute into their unemployment compensation fund.&nbsp; Even secular institutions pay their employees a livable wage, by provide them with reasonable benefits, and contribute into their unemployment compensation fund.&nbsp; Instead, their employees have become victims of their miserly misconduct.&nbsp; The employees pay the penalty for their parsimony. <br /> <br /> Their assertions to justify themselves, when carefully deconstructed, are revealed to be a contrivances designed to prove a façade of compassion to cover the embarrassing reality of their practice and policy of indifference and greed.<br /> <br /> <br /> Instead, the Mennonite church and its affiliated organizations and businesses should be on the forefront of championing a livable wage and necessary benefits—including unemployment—for everyone, especially its own employees.&nbsp; Certainly, if the secular organizations can do what they do—and some say they do the least they can get away with, the Mennonite church should not and cannot do less.&nbsp; Is not the Mennonite church called to a higher standard than its secular counterpart?&nbsp; By not actively pursuing its material obligations to its own employees, they are not being faithful to their own constituency.&nbsp; Whatever other lobbying efforts they pursue in in public and in politics, one must be requiring that religious affiliations provide reasonable benefits and contributions to unemployment compensation funds.&nbsp; If the legislature refuses to allow the them to contribute to unemployment compensations funds, they need to form a private cooperative to provide a similar safety net for their employees themselves.<br /> <br /> <br /> The response of the Mennonite church and its affiliated organizations and businesses to its employees on this issue has too long been just empty words at best, i.e., “We will pray for you.”&nbsp; At worst those words either justified its detrimental practice, i.e., “It is your mission and privilege to suffer and sacrifice to benefit their policies and procedures,” or threatened those decrying those hurtful practices, i.e., “If you don’t like it, you are not a team player, if you are not a team player, you are not on board, if you are not on board:&nbsp; Get out of here and get a job elsewhere.”&nbsp; Anyone directly involved in the Mennonite church and its affiliated organizations and businesses for any length of time will have a difficult time counting the number of times such rhetoric has been used to justify the exploitation of its employees.&nbsp; <br /> <br /> Mennonite Peace Justice<br /> Mennonite Peace Justice<br /> Mennonite Peace Justice<br /> Mennonite Peace Justice<br /> Mennonite Peace Justice<br /> <br /> Our dirty little secret.<div class="blogger-post-footer">Mennonite Peace Justice</div>Onnem Snomishttp://www.blogger.com/profile/17661388944946089351noreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2227938810427263813.post-70113779639881802602010-03-13T06:40:00.001-08:002010-03-13T06:41:13.816-08:00http://www.blogcatalog.com/blog/mennonite-justice<br /> <br /> Mennonite Peace Justice<br /> Mennonite Peace Justice<br /> Mennonite Peace Justice<br /> Mennonite Peace Justice<br /> Mennonite Peace Justice<br /> Mennonite Peace Justice<br /> Mennonite Peace Justice<br /> Mennonite Peace Justice<br /> Mennonite Peace Justice<div class="blogger-post-footer">Mennonite Peace Justice</div>Onnem Snomishttp://www.blogger.com/profile/17661388944946089351noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2227938810427263813.post-68381513128002628622009-09-21T12:23:00.000-07:002010-05-01T11:12:09.306-07:00“MCC seeks to demonstrate God's love by working among people suffering from poverty, conflict, oppression and natural disaster.&nbsp; MCC serves as a channel for interchange by building mutually transformative relationships. MCC strives for peace, justice and the dignity of all people by sharing our experiences, resources and faith in Jesus Christ.” <br /> <br /> <br /> “Be kind and compassionate to one another, forgiving each other, just as in Christ God forgave you.”&nbsp; Ephesians 4:32 (2009 annual verse)<br /> <br /> <br /> The Mennonite church and its affiliated organizations and businesses brashly proclaim they exist primarily “to demonstrate God’s love” by ministering to people’s “suffering from poverty” as it strives for “peace, justice and the dignity of all people.” <br /> <br /> <br /> The reality, however, is tragically to the contrary.&nbsp; The Mennonite church and its affiliated organizations and businesses refuse to pay its employees a livable wage, to provide them with reasonable benefits, or to contribute into their unemployment compensation fund. <br /> Thus, they actually causes suffering for its own employees by putting them into poverty, violating their peace, and denying them justice and dignity. <br /> <br /> <br /> The Mennonite church and its affiliated organizations and businesses merely give lip service to demonstrating God’s love, while its practices and policies are just the opposite.<br /> Before they boast about rescuing the global community from poverty, conflict, oppression, and injustice, they need to get its own house in order and rescue its own employees from poverty, conflict, oppression, and injustice by paying their employees a livable wage, by providing them with reasonable benefits, and by contributing into their unemployment compensation fund.<br /> <br /> <br /> What will be the response of The Mennonite church and its affiliated organizations and businesses?&nbsp; Will they, like the white slave masters’ of old declare that it is the employees’ biblical obligation to obey their masters, that it is the mission and a privilege for employees to suffer and sacrifice to benefit the their policies and procedures and pocketbook?&nbsp; And if the employees don’t like it, should they go to hell or find another job—with all of the Church’s prayers and blessings, of course?<br /> <br /> <br /> The Mennonite church and its affiliated organizations and businesses violate the most elementary notions of justice and morality when they refuse to pay its employees a livable wage, to provide them with reasonable benefits, or to contribute into their unemployment compensation fund.&nbsp; Even secular institutions pay their employees a livable wage, by provide them with reasonable benefits, and contribute into their unemployment compensation fund.&nbsp; Instead, their employees have become victims of their miserly misconduct.&nbsp; The employees pay the penalty for their parsimony. <br /> <br /> Their assertions to justify themselves, when carefully deconstructed, are revealed to be a contrivances designed to prove a façade of compassion to cover the embarrassing reality of their practice and policy of indifference and greed.<br /> <br /> <br /> Instead, the Mennonite church and its affiliated organizations and businesses should be on the forefront of championing a livable wage and necessary benefits—including unemployment—for everyone, especially its own employees.&nbsp; Certainly, if the secular organizations can do what they do—and some say they do the least they can get away with, the Mennonite church should not and cannot do less.&nbsp; Is not the Mennonite church called to a higher standard than its secular counterpart?&nbsp; By not actively pursuing its material obligations to its own employees, they are not being faithful to their own constituency.&nbsp; Whatever other lobbying efforts they pursue in in public and in politics, one must be requiring that religious affiliations provide reasonable benefits and contributions to unemployment compensation funds.&nbsp; If the legislature refuses to allow the them to contribute to unemployment compensations funds, they need to form a private cooperative to provide a similar safety net for their employees themselves.<br /> <br /> <br /> The response of the Mennonite church and its affiliated organizations and businesses to its employees on this issue has too long been just empty words at best, i.e., “We will pray for you.”&nbsp; At worst those words either justified its detrimental practice, i.e., “It is your mission and privilege to suffer and sacrifice to benefit their policies and procedures,” or threatened those decrying those hurtful practices, i.e., “If you don’t like it, you are not a team player, if you are not a team player, you are not on board, if you are not on board:&nbsp; Get out of here and get a job elsewhere.”&nbsp; Anyone directly involved in the Mennonite church and its affiliated organizations and businesses for any length of time will have a difficult time counting the number of times such rhetoric has been used to justify the exploitation of its employees.&nbsp; <br /> <br /> Mennonite Peace Justice<br /> Mennonite Peace Justice<br /> Mennonite Peace Justice<br /> Mennonite Peace Justice<br /> Mennonite Peace Justice<br /> <br /> Our dirty little secret.<div class="blogger-post-footer">Mennonite Peace Justice</div>Onnem Snomishttp://www.blogger.com/profile/17661388944946089351noreply@blogger.com4