Responding: The Institute Justice Team (IJT)
July 8, 2014
The Institute Justice Team (IJT) is made up of three people who work out of the Institute’s offices in Silver Spring, MD, just outside Washington, D.C. We are charged with responding to what are called the “critical concerns,” five areas that the Institute has identified for focus. Earth is one of those critical concerns, along with immigration, nonviolence, anti-racism and women.
Given our location near the nation’s capital, we engage in legislative advocacy, activate the Mercy network (sisters, associates, co-workers, volunteers and students) to do such advocacy with their legislators, and educate the network about timely and critical issues related to these concerns. The issues we are most engaged in related to Earth are:
- Climate change – partnering with other faith groups to try to get our U.S. legislators to acknowledge the urgency of taking action; bringing pressure to bear on US negotiators in the UN climate change process
- Fracking (mostly advocacy at the state and local levels, where decisions are made, but national education and coordination of efforts through Global Frackdown)
- Mining in many forms and places throughout North, Central and South America and the Philippines – most recently, opposing the Keystone XL pipeline (which would carry tar sands oil from Canada to the Gulf of Mexico), joining with Mercy Global Action at the UN to speak out against oppression against mining protesters in Peru, supporting a sister in Panama in her work with indigenous peoples trying to prevent a hydroelectric dam that would flood some of their land
We heavily promoted Awakening the Dreamer, the symposium from the Pachamama Alliance that is designed to get participants to think about how to create a more environmental sustainable, spiritually fulfilling and socially just human presence on Earth. And from there, we launched Mercy Taking Action, to foster policy changes at Mercy ministries and institutions. The main focus to date has been on environmental sustainability.
Since we are so focused on actions, I have valued MIA’s cosmology/environment group for bringing forth the much deeper spiritual foundations for this work and providing resources (such as the beautiful prayer for Global Frackdown) that we can share with our networks.
- Marianne Comfort
