Rev. Danny Fisher

Just a Buddhist Minister Trying to Benefit Beings
December 17, 2009

Mr. President: Ratify the Treaty for the Rights of Women!

This from Human Rights Now – The Amnesty International USA Web Log:

30 years ago tomorrow, December 18, the United Nations General Assembly adopted the Treaty for the Rights of Women — the Convention on the Elimination of All Forms of Discrimination Against Women (CEDAW). CEDAW establishes international protections upholding the rights of women: it offers women redress against violence, guarantees equal access to education, and commits nations to fighting maternal mortality.

For 30 years and counting, the United States has failed to ratify the treaty — making it one of only a handful of nations that have not done so, including Iran, Sudan, and Somalia.

The State Department supports CEDAW ratification — but President Obama needs to show strong leadership so that the U.S. can finally ratify this crucial treaty. The best birthday present he could give is to raise his voice in support. AIUSA is joining the Center for Global Solutions to encourage President Obama to act. Call or email the president tomorrow, December 18!

December 17, 2009

Save Copenhagen!

This from Avaaz.org:

With only 2 days left, the crucial Copenhagen climate summit is failing.

World leaders have arrived and begun 60 hours of final negotiations. Each one will have to decide whether to step forward as heroes, or fail us all. But they will only act if we do.

Around the world a global movement has been building towards this moment. Now it’s time for one last, massive push — with a global public outcry for a real deal that will stop catastrophic climate change. In the next 48 hours we can build the largest petition in history. The names of petition signers are actually being read out inside the summit. Sign below, and tell everyone:  

Petition to the 110 Presidents and Prime Ministers negotiating in Copenhagen:

We call on each one of you to make the concessions necessary to meet your historic responsibility in this crisis. Rich countries must offer fair funding, and all countries must set ambitious targets on emissions. Do not leave Copenhagen without a fair, ambitious and binding deal that keeps the world safe from catastrophic global warming of 2 degrees.

Sign on here.
December 17, 2009

President Jimmy Carter’s Address to the 2009 Parliament of the World’s Religions at Melbourne

Video of President Jimmy Carter’s address to the 2009 Parliament of the World’s Religions at Melbourne, Australia, is now available online here.  Of special note is this excerpt that Nicholas Kristof pulled out for his latest post at his New York Times blog:

It is ironic that women are now welcomed into all major professions and other positions of authority, but are branded as inferior and deprived of the equal right to serve God in positions of religious leadership. The plight of abused women is made more acceptable by the mandated subservience of women by religious leaders.

The truth is that male religious leaders have had – and still have – an option to interpret holy teachings either to exalt or subjugate women. They have, for their own selfish ends, overwhelmingly chosen the latter. Their continuing choice provides the foundation or justification for much of the pervasive persecution and abuse of women throughout the world. This is in clear violation not just of the Universal Declaration of Human Rights but also the teachings of Jesus Christ, the Apostle Paul, Moses and the prophets, Muhammad, and founders of other great religions – all of whom have called for proper and equitable treatment of all the children of God. It is time we had the courage to challenge these views and set a new course that demands equal rights for women and men, girls and boys.

At their most repugnant, the belief that women are inferior human beings in the eyes of God gives excuses to the brutal husband who beats his wife, the soldier who rapes a woman, the employer who has a lower pay scale for women employees, or parents who decide to abort a female embryo. It also costs many millions of girls and women control over their own bodies and lives, and continues to deny them fair and equal access to education, health care, employment, and influence within their own communities.

A transcript of President Carter’s full address is also available here.