One of the folky type hymns from the 1970s that I loved singing in my #Catholic culture included the chorus:
He sent me to give good news to the poor
Tell prisoners that they are prisoners no more
Tell blind people that they can see,
And set the downtrodden free
And go tell everyone
The news that the kingdom of God has come
Tell prisoners that they are prisoners no more
Tell blind people that they can see,
And set the downtrodden free
And go tell everyone
The news that the kingdom of God has come
Yes,,"tell prisoners that they are prisoners no more". Can't imagine the "Law and Order" brigade of certain political world views singing that with ease. Funny thing is it's a line straight out of Hebrew (Isaiah 61:1) and Christian (Luke 4:18) Scriptures. it's a pro-life call that is rarely heard from the pulpits or proclaimed from the Cathedra.
Debbie Kilroy is one of my local heroes and a women who speaks truth to justice in a way that challenges structures and individual prejudice.
To whet your appetite for this article: "Abolition pushes us to envision ways of addressing violence and creating safer communities without using forms of harm to do so. In her keynote, Angela Davis said it takes courage to imagine this different future as we inevitably feel most comfortable in what we know. To build a world without prisons is to disrupt a society built on inequity, patriarchal violence and colonisation.
Feminism that sees prison as the answer is no friend to our most marginalised women.
This means addressing the roots of poverty and trauma".
Read it and then send it to your State and Federal politicians and tell them you want to sit down with them and discuss this as a political action.
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