Proud, Proud Sister

(You can see my brother really blurry in the background behind the Star of David)

My brother, as I have posted before, has been working for People of Faith against the Death Penalty in Chapel Hill, NC. Through his work, I've learned a lot about the issue, and my opinions have dramatically changed. It's amazing how differently we feel about issues once they have a personal face to them. Through many of our conversations, Justin has taught me about the lives these men have lead. Real lives, real people, not just some monster rotting in prison. How easy it is for us to turn our heads, and ignore that the United States, one of the last remaining free democracies to use the death penalty, just executed the 1000th person since 1976. The 1000th execution was scheduled for Virginia, but Mark Warner granted clemency to that guy, so Justin and his group had their work cut out for him. You can read a little more about it over at my brothers blog:

http://www.xanga.com/home.aspx?user=wolfinthebend

Several people were arrested for protesting the event (either they were lacking permits or acted in civil disobedience). I spoke with my father about the arrests yesterday, and he was questioning the impact that it had. I said that I believed it did have a purpose, and that they did have an impact... the people arrested made National News (CNN). Thankfully, my brother wasn't arrested, but had he been, I would still have been proud of him for taking a stand. I am proud of him for taking a stand where I can only voice my opinion. I'm not sitting outside a prison until 2 am, quietly protesting another execution of a person who deserves to live... even if behind bars for life. As Ghandi once said, "An eye for an eye makes the whole world blind."