California religious leaders, please respond to this letter to Arnold

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PCU is asking RELIGIOUS LEADERS, including ordained clergy, women religious, theologians, and church officers, to endorse the statement below.

Pass this on to your colleagues, and send names and organizational affiliation to [e-mail]

If you are religious, living in California, and want to endorse this statement, reply to this email with your full name, title, and organizational affiliation by 5pm Tuesday.

This is the statement we’re asking you to endorse:

Statement of Religious Leaders – on Schwarzenegger’s “Minutemen” Comments

We are appalled that Governor Schwarzenegger, who as our state’s chief magistrate is pledged to maintain the rule of law, has chosen instead to praise a group of vigilantes who operate outside of the law, saying “they’ve done a terrific job” in patrolling the border with Mexico.

Such a statement is dangerous and unprecedented. No responsible or moral public official would encourage citizens to take the law into their own hands, particularly on an issue that is already so laden with division and hatred.

Maintaining international borders is solely the responsibility of the Federal government. If the Governor believes that we need more resources at the border, why has he not raised this with his close associates within the Bush Administration, including the President? Does Governor Schwarzenegger really think that individuals with guns are better suited to enforcing our nation's laws than properly trained and supervised federal officers? Is he not aware that President Bush himself has criticized the Minutemen for undermining federal law enforcement?

The Governor’s statements do not constitute a verbal “slip” -- far from backing away from his original praise for the Minutemen, the Governor has since gone on to suggest that the vigilantes are involved in a positive activity similar to a neighborhood patrol. Surrounded as he is by a competent staff, the Governor cannot be unaware that Minutemen founder Jim Gilchrist speaks darkly of a coming “civil war” and that the activities of the Minutemen have been lavishly praised by Aryan Nation and other white supremacist organizations.

We call on Governor Schwarzenegger to honor the rule of law and to condemn and repudiate vigilante activity of all kinds in clear and unambiguous terms. We further suggest that if he is truly concerned about the security and well-being of the State of California, he should express that concern by funding schools and health care services adequately and also by asking the wealthiest pay their fair share of the cost of moving California forward.

Playing on people’s fears and divisions and dropping bombshells like those of last week represent demagoguery, not leadership. California deserves much better.

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For more information about Progressive Christians Uniting,

check out our website at: www.ProgressiveChristiansUniting.org

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