Occupy Wall Street Protests in SLC

There are planning meetings every night until oct. 6th behind the Main SLC library at 8pm. on Oct 6th we start occupying at Pioneer Park in solidarity with nationwide occupations.

More info to come

How Socialism Helped Save the Mormon Church

By William Van Wagenen

When many people think of Mormons, wealthy advocates of capitalism like Mitt Romney and Glenn Beck often come to mind. Because of this, many people are very surprised to learn that Mormons have a long and proud socialist heritage.

The early Mormon settlers in Utah implemented a socialist economic system under the direction of Brigham Young. They never used the word “socialism,” but socialist is the only way it can really be described.

What is even more surprising is that this socialist system helped to save the members of the Church from widespread starvation in 1855. Were it not for a socialist economic system, the Church may not have survived as we know it today.

When a group of new Mormon immigrants arrived in the Salt Lake Valley in the early 1850s, Mormon Church President Brigham Young made it clear what kind of society they were entering:

“Again, with regard to labour – don’t imagine unto your selves that you are going to get rich, at once, by it. As for the poor, there are none here, neither are there any who may be called rich, but all obtain the essential comforts of life.”

Read the rest of this article here.

LDS leader’s arrest puts spotlight on immigration stand

An LDS Branch President in Draper and his family were arrested two weeks ago and will be deported. He fled El Salvador to come to the US years ago. Of course we know how the US-led dirty war in El Salvador decimated the country in the 1980′s. Many Salvadorans fled during that time and came to the US, both with documents and with out. They deserve our compassion and support, especially since our governments action in that country let to so many having to flee the country, not to mention the thousands who were tortured and killed by the US-backed Salvadoran military. See the Salt Lake Tribune article below:

LDS leader’s arrest puts spotlight on immigration stand

By David Montero
The Salt Lake Tribune

A local Mormon leader is being held in a Utah County jail awaiting deportation after federal authorities arrested him and his family nearly two weeks ago for being in the country illegally.

Felix Callejas, an LDS branch president in Draper, oversaw a congregation of about 100 and was picked up by U.S. Customs and Immigration Enforcement (ICE) agents April 19 after a failed attempt to obtain legal asylum from his native country of El Salvador.

The arrest, made public Friday, thrust The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints into the spotlight on an issue that has become controversial for the 14-million member faith headquartered in Salt Lake City.

Church officials would not directly answer questions about Callejas on Friday, with spokesman Scott Trotter saying, “This case reminds us all of the need to address immigration reform.” Read the rest of the article here.

March For Immigrants’ and Workers’ Rights Tomorrow May 1 In Down Town SLC

This event is being organized by United For Social Justice. Members of the Mormon Worker are active in this group. Here is the link the Facebook event page for more details. The rally portion starts at 1 and the march to the capital starts at 2 pm. There is a picnic with free food afterward.

Salt Lake City and County Building March to Capital Building at 1 pm followed by picnic in Memory Grove
400 South State St. Salt Lake City, UT

Fighting for the Rights of Immigrants

Thanks to Forest for translating the last post from Spanish. See below:

Fighting for the Rights of Immigrants

FRANCIA BENSON, EL OBSERVADOR de utah
Published: Tuesday 19 April 2011

United For Social Justice is a non-profit organization that seeks for the legalization of undocumented residents in Utah, defends respect for human rights, workers rights, and equity in pay, work, education, and health regardless of race, immigration status, or social status.

William Van Wagenen, current president of the organization gives his opinion concerning the immigration debate.

Question: Should the undocumented be legalized?

Answer: Yes, that is the position of United for Social Justice. There are many problems that need to be resolved; much exploitation on the part of employers, families that are being separated, and much deportation. The solution is to legalize all of these people so that they can work legally, pay taxes, and organize unions. We think that is a better solution than trying to deport so many millions of undocumented people who are in reality productive, hard workers.

Would more immigrants come here after such a legalization?

They’ll come if there’s work but not if there is no work. The economy is the determining factor; if it goes sour, they won’t come, even if legalized, because they would not be able to work. Furthermore, not everybody wants to come.

Should the LDS Church step in?

I believe that in this case it should, because it is the right thing. If the laws under consideration pass, they would negatively affect undocumented church members. It is the responsibility of the Church to defend the rights of its members. People need to understand that not just Mormons are affected, but also Catholics and people of other religions. For that reason the churches should get together to protect their members from racism and unjust laws.

Could these laws incite hate crimes?

It’s hard to say how much of a connection exists between what a politician says and hate crimes committed by someone else. But when a politician tells the public that it is necessary to approve laws because undocumented workers are robbing their work, which is untrue, or that they bring with them all kinds of crime, which is not true either, it makes people think that undocumented immigrants are ruining our country, and this could incite somebody to violence.

The organization is preparing to march in the May Day March on Saturday the 1st of May at 1:00 p.m. beginning at 400 South and State Street in support of legalization of the undocumented.

Luchando por los Derechos de los Inmigrantes

For those who speak Spanish, here is an interview I did for El Observador, a local newspaper in Salt Lake City:

Luchando por los Derechos de los Inmigrantes

By FRANCIA BENSON, EL OBSERVADOR de utah

United For Social Justice, es una organización sin fines de lucro, que busca la legalización de los indocumentados residentes en Utah,defiende el respeto a los derechos humanos, los derechos de los trabajadores y la igualdad de salarios, trabajos, educación y salud, sin importar raza o estatus migratorio o social.

William Van Wagenen, actual presidente de la organización. da su opinión, acerca del debate migratorio.

¿Deberian los indocumentados ser legalizados?

Sí, esa es la posición de United For Social Justice. Hay muchos problemas que se deben resolver, hay mucha explotación de parte de los empleadores, familias que están siendo separadas y mucha deportación, la solución es legalizar a todas estas personas, para que puedan trabajar legalmente, pagar impuestos y organizar sindicatos. Pensamos que es una mejor solución, en vez de tratar de deportar tantos millones de indocumentados, que son realmente productivos y trabajan duro.

For the rest of the article, click HERE.

ISM confirms the death of Vittorio Arrigoni in Gaza

“The International Solidarity Movement is shocked and deeply saddened by the killing of our friend and colleague Vittorio Arrigoni. Vik was an inspiring activist and generous soul. Please keep his family and friends in your thoughts.”

Vitorio was pro-Palestinian activist who was kidnapped and murdered by a Salafi group in Gaza. He has been honored by Palestinians as a martyr along side Rachel Corrie and Tom Hurndall who were also martyred in Gaza in 2003.

To learn more about him and his work, visit the ISM web site here.

Mormon Worker blog in new languages.

A special thanks is in order for Robert Poort who started new Mormon Worker blogs in Dutch, German, French, and Afrikaans. Tabs to each of these are found at the top of this blog, as well as to the Spanish blog which was started recently also.

If you were a missionary anywhere in which these languages were spoken, please spread the word about these blogs. We will need additional bloggers and translators for each of these as well to make sure they have great content posted regularly. If you want to help out in that regard, please send an email to themormonworker@gmail.com

Thanks! Will

Go to Palestine this summer, help rebuild demolished Palestinian homes

Annually since 2003, the Israeli Committee Against Home Demolitions (ICAHD) has made it possible for internationals and Israelis to join together with Palestinians in Anata, East Jerusalem, to resist the Occupation and rebuild the demolished home of a Palestinian family. In the summer of 2011, ICAHD will once again rebuild a Palestinian home during our two-week Summer Rebuilding Experience. We invite you to participate in the incredible opportunity to learn first-hand about life under Occupation. ICAHD’s 2011 Summer Rebuilding Experience will take place July 10-July 25, 2011. In addition to construction, there is a full program including field trips, cultural events, films and much more.

For more details, visit the ACAHD Web site here.

Palestinian Author/Professor Mazin Qumsiyeh to speak in Utah on April 6th and 7th, 2011.

Professor Mazin Qumsiyeh is a Palestinian American who teaches and does research at Bethlehem and Birzeit Universities in occupied Palestine. He previously served on the faculties of the University of Tennessee, Duke and Yale Universities in molecular and cyto-genetics. He currently serves as chairman of the board of the Palestinian Center for Rapprochement Between People and coordinator of the Popular Committee Against the Wall and Settlements in Beit Sahour, (the Shepherds Field ). He is author of “Sharing the Land of Canaan: Human rights and the Israeli/Palestinian Struggle” and just published “Popular Resistance in Palestine: A history of Hope and Empowerment.”

Professor Mazin Qumsiyeh will be speaking in Utah at the following locations:

April 6th— 1:00 pm in Salt Lake at the University of Utah, Hinckley Institute of Politics, Orson Spencer Hall, Room 255.
April 6th—-7:00 pm in Salt Lake at St. Joseph the Worker Catholic Parish, 7405 South Redwood Road. Refreshments will be served.
April 7th—11:00 am in Provo at BYU, Herald R Clark Building, Room 238.

Public is welcome at all venues. Professor Qumsiyeh’s recent book, Popular Resistance in Palestine, will be available at his talks.