Year End "Faith in Action" Statement by All Saints Rector Ed Bacon

As we come close the end of another year of working to turn the human race into the human family we pause to celebrate some significant legislative victories. Last week’s repeal of “Don’t Ask Don’t Tell” ended seventeen years of state sanctioned discrimination against gay and lesbian military personnel. And today we applaud the Senate approval of the New START treaty – a bilateral nuclear arms agreement -- by a 71 to 26 margin.

Other good news from the so-called “lame duck congress” was the extension of unemployment benefits, the approval of health care legislation for 9/11 first responders and an encouraging spirit of bipartisan cooperation. There is much to be grateful for!

There is also much work still to do. Sadly the Dream Act -- which offered a path to citizenship for undocumented immigrants brought to the country as children -- fell short of moving forward. Standing in alignment with God’s love, justice and compassion calls us always to be advocating for those on the margins. While we rejoice in these important steps forward we also redouble our efforts to make God's love tangible by working for comprehensive immigration reform and call the new congress to prioritize issues of poverty, peacemaking and equality.