Morningside
Monthly Meeting
Minute
Opposing Curtailment of Civil Liberties
Approved at the Meeting for
Worship with a Concern for Business on February 1, 2004 and subsequently posted
on the website of the Friends Committee on National Legislation (fcnl.org).
Morningside
Meeting of the Religious Society of Friends (Quakers) wishes to express our
continuing concern about the curtailment of civil liberties in our country
(especially since September 11, 2001), which reflects a spirit of fear and
mistrust that is the antithesis of the spirit of love to which we are called.
In
view of this concern, we hereby minute our opposition to the provisions of the
“USA Patriot Act” and to all legislation that would further curtail civil
liberties and rights in the name of “national security.” We minute our
opposition to the use of “war powers”
to allow the indefinite detention without due process of persons (both U.S.
citizens and non-citizens) declared to be “enemy combatants.” We minute our
opposition to the unjust treatment of immigrants, asylum seekers, and
travelers, which has apparently involved discrimination on the basis of race
and religion and has included detention and deportation after secret
proceedings.
As
Friends and concerned citizens, we believe that our true security comes from
building a just society. We look forward to a time when our democracy will live
up to its ideals as a model and as a light to the world.