Saturday, April 24, 2010

Arizona's Unjust Law

Now, what is the difference between the two? How does one determine whether a law is just or unjust?

A just law is a man made code that squares with the moral law or the law of God. An unjust law is a code that is out of harmony with the moral law. To put it in the terms of St. Thomas Aquinas: An unjust law is a human law that is not rooted in eternal law and natural law. Any law that uplifts human personality is just. Any law that degrades human personality is unjust.


Rev. Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr
Letter From A Birmingham Jail, 16 April 1963.

I guess Arizona Gov. Jan Brewer wasn't paying attention when Arizona suffered the boycott during the 80's and 90's for being a state vehemently opposed to a King holiday.

Brewer signed that abomination of an anti-immigration law Friday that was denounced as 'misguided' by President Obama.

Despite your long winded speech Friday trying to defend it, while I was watching it you morphed in my mind into anti civil rights governors such as Orville Faubus, George Wallace, and Ross Barnett.

I don't want to hear any more of that 'there's no difference between Democrats and Republicans' from people on the left. The previous Democratic governor, Janet Napolitano vetoed similar legislation.

And if any liberal-progressive is considering sitting out the election November 2, I'm questioning your sanity and your dedication to the advancement of progressive civil rights in this country.

And if you thought the Latino/a community was pissed after last summer's confirmation hearing of Supreme Court Justice Sonia Sotomayor...



You ain't seen nothing yet. You may have just jumped off a shift of Latino/a's to the Democratic party column for at least a decade.

Not good when your share of the Klan hood wearing vote is shrinking and 2050 will be here before you know it.

Arizona, say goodbye to your chances of landing:

The Super Bowl
Any future NCAA men's or women's Final Four or NCAA regional
Major conventions or conferences
Relocations of corporate HQ's with international divisions
International sporting events.
Concerts from major music artists opposed to this unjust law
Tourists for your centennial celebration in 2012 and in general.


There's a cost for passing unjust laws.

If you think I'm kidding, Cincinnati lost an estimated $600 million dollars, two corporate headquarters relocations, numerous conventions and the opportunity to become the US bid city for the 2012 Summer Games because of the anti gay measure they passed in the early 90's that they didn't repeal until 2004.

So how long, Arizona will you keep an unjust law on the books?

How much are you willing to lose to do so?