Catholic Workers Take a Stand Against Anti-Terrorism
Mary Valle: Way to go, Baltimore City Paper, for covering Viva House’s rejection of the loyalty oath now demanded of United Way fundees, as directed by the USA PATRIOT act. Edward Ericson Jr. reports that a soup kitchen, which has been run since 1968 by Catholic Workers Brendan Walsh and Willa Bickham, will no longer receive the small “write-in candidate” checks it received from the United Way as a result of not signing an “Anti-Terrorism Compliance Measures” form. Walsh and Bickham drafted a letter in reply saying that “We continue to ‘do the works of mercy and resist the works of war,” and “Loyalty oaths don’t bring about unity or good health. Instead, they break us apart as a people.” They then urged United Way to “abandon its USA PATRIOT Act compliance effort.” Check out the letters to the editor and comments on this one! Continue Reading →