Faith McDonnell October 12, 2012
Through our affiliation with Act for Sudan, an alliance of advocacy organizations and individual activists of which IRD is a member, IRD is working to have Sudan become an issue in the remaining Presidential debates at Hofstra University in Hempstead, NY and Lynn University in Boca Raton, FL. Both debates include foreign policy issues, and we believe that Sudan should be one of them.
As President Obama and Governor Romney prepare for these debates, Act for Sudan’s “What about Sudan?” campaign urges concerned citizens to send them emails asking how they would act to stop ongoing mass atrocities against civilians by the government of Sudan. We urge the next President of the United States to:
These requests are a response to U.S. Sudan policy failures. The Sudanese government plays both the U.S. government and the world community with empty promises and lies. The dithering of the U.N. Security Council and U.S. reluctance to act unilaterally resulted in the starvation of thousands by Khartoum. Rather than supporting the movement within Sudan for democratic transformation, and the armed resistance movement that is the only defense for Nuba and Blue Nile State women and children, the U.S. government and U.N. have enabled the jihadist regime in Sudan that drops bombs on civilians while signing peace agreements.
We want to use the Presidential debates as a time to challenge both President Obama and Governor Romney that U.S. Sudan policy must be changed. It is a moral imperative, but it is also necessary for the fostering of true, secular democracy and religious freedom in Sudan, which will, in turn, aid regional and global security.
If you would like to contact President Obama and Governor Romney before the October 16 debate at Hofstra, please visit “Dear Governor Romney and President Obama: What about Sudan?” You can also find ways to contact the debate moderators, how to be at the debate and wear a shirt that says, “What about Sudan?” and how to Thunderclap the message so that the social reach of our small group is multiplied a hundred-fold.
Recently Prism, the magazine of Evangelicals for Social Action, ran my article about the Nuba Mountains as their cover story. If you are interested in a copy of the story, please contact me. You may wish to share it with your pastor, youth group or missions committee leader, or Sunday School teacher. It is not just political leaders that need to be challenged, “What about Sudan?” Our churches in America must also answer that question.