>From: "Taylor, Professor Mark" <mark.taylor@ptsem.edu>
> _____________________________________________________________________
>
> Updated: OCT/26/99
> A CALL TO PEOPLE OF FAITH
>
> FOR
>
> MUMIA ABU-JAMAL
>
> This is a letter inviting you, as a religious leader and person of
> faith, to step forward publicly to oppose the execution of Mumia
> Abu-Jamal.
>
> We think you already know about Mumia's case, and his own
> life-and-death struggle to resist Pennsylvania authorities' plans to
> execute him for the 1981 shooting death of a Philadelphia policeman. All
> of his State appeals have been exhausted, and his case heads into the
> Federal courts this October. Even before his federal petition could be
> filed, Gov. Tom Ridge has signed a death warrant, scheduling a December 2
> execution date. Even though Mumia will certainly receive a stay for this
> date, this is the crucial year for him.
>
> It is a crucial case for all of us. The struggle for Mumia's life
> as become an epicenter of many movements trying to shake free from the
> pervasive human rights violations that Amnesty International now documents
> as plaguing the entire United States (police brutality, runaway
> prison-building, 3000+ on death row, harassment of asylum seekers, and
> U.S. marketing of weaponry throughout the world).
>
> It is time for people of faith, as one body, to step forward and say
> No to this execution. We appeal to you from our different faith
> traditions, but unified around our shared struggle for justice and a
> truly comprehensive peace.
>
> Join with the growing number of us who are saying a public No to
> the execution of Mumia Abu-Jamal. You may join with us based on any one
> or more of the following reasons.
>
> __ You've researched the case and believe him innocent.
> __ You don't know about his innocence, but believe the original
> trial so inadequate that he needs a new trial.
> __ You believe Mumia was framed in the adversarial context of
> racist politics during Mayor Frank Rizzo's regime in
> Philadelphia..
> __ You are against execution because of a general opposition to
> the death penalty.
> __ You cannot tolerate losing Mumia, this
> internationally-acclaimed author and faithful "voice of the voiceless."
>
> Even if you can check only one, please join us. Make your opposition
> known. Fill out the enclosed coupon and send it back, so that we can
> quickly build a broad coalition of people of faith and spirit who will not
> let this execution go down on our watch.
> __________________________________________________________________________
>
> Signers* (as of today) -
>
> Desmund M. Tutu
> Archbishop Emeritus of Capetown
> Anglican Church, South Africa
>
> Bishop Thomas Gumbleton
> Roman Catholic Church
> Detroit, Michigan
>
> Professor Cornel West
> Harvard University
> Afro-American Studies
>
> Professor James Cone
> African Methodist Episocopal
> Union Theological Seminary
>
> Rabbi Rebecca Alpert
> Jewish Reconstructionist Federation
> Philadelphia, PA
>
> Rev. Benjamin Green
> Abiding Truth Ministries
> Philadelphia, PA
>
> Rev. Dr. Calvin O. Butts, III
> The Abyssinian Baptist Church, Pastor
> NewYork, NY
>
> Dr. Kathleen Kenney
> Associate Director
> Office of Justice and Peace
> Catholic Diocese of Richmond, VA
>
> Rabbi Rolando Matalon
> Congregation B'nai Jeshurun
> New York City
>
> Rev. John Collins
> United Methodist Church
> New York City
>
> Rev. Dr. Mark L. Taylor
> Presbyterian Church, USA
> Professor, Princeton Theological Seminary
>
> Rev. S. Michael Yasutake, Executive Director
> Interfaith Prisoners of Conscience Project
> Racial Justice Working Group,
> National Council of Churches
>
> Dr. Suzanne Ross
> Congregation B'nai Jeshurun
> New York City
>
> Rev. Dr. Paul H. Sherry
> President, The United Church of Christ
> Cleveland, OH
>
> Bishop. George W. Bashore
> The United Methodist Church
> Cranberry Township, PA
>
> Sister Patricia Kelly, OCD
> Carmelite Monastery
> Reno, Nevada
>
> Pat Clark, CDP
> American Friends Service Committee
> Philadelphia, PA
>
> William R. Herzog II
> Dean of the Faculty and
> Professor of New Testament Interpretation
> Colgate Rochester Divinity School
>
> Rev. Dr. Warren D. Williams
> Atonement Church
> Racine, WI
>
> Sister Elizabeth Gnam, Chaplain
> New Jersey State Prison
> Trenton, NJ
>
> Professor Ada Maria Isazi-Diaz
> Professor of Christian Ethics and Theology
> Drew University
>
> Ramona Africa and Pam Africa
> The MOVE Organization
>
> Rev. Jeffrey S. Spener
> United Church of Christ
> Carnation, WA
>
> Professor Carter Heyward
> Episcopal Church
> Episcopal Divinity School
>
> The Most Rev. Frank Tracy Griswold, III
> Presiding Bishop of the Episcopal Church
> New York, NY
>
> Rev. Jeane Audrey Powers
> The United Methodist Church
> Minneapolis, MN
>
> Rev. Rebecca J. Jimenez
> Campus Minister
> Indiana University
> Bloomington, IN
>
> Theodore "Lolo" Beaubrun
> Boukman Eksperyans,
> Port au Prince, Haiti
>
> Rev. Christopher P. Ney
> United Church of Christ
> War Resisters League
> New York, NY
>
> Father Paul Washington
> Church of the Advocate, Emeritus
> Philadelphia, PA
>
> The Rev. Eddie Lopez, Jr.
> La Resurreccion United Methodist Church
> Bronx, New York
>
> Johann Christoph Arnold
> The Bruderhof Community
>
> Rev. Angela L. Ying
> Associate Director, Seattle Presbytery
> Presbyterian Church (USA)
> Seattle, WA
>
> Dr. Otto Maduro
> Roman Catholic
> Professor of World Christianity
> Drew University
>
> Professor Dwight N. Hopkins
> Baptist
> The University of Chicago
>
> Mary Jo Heman, O.P.
> Dominican Sisters
> Center for Women in Transition
> St. Louis, MO
>
> Sister Louise Thayer McEachern SFCC
> Jacksonville, FL
>
> Tamara Kohns
> Jewish activist
> Princeton, New Jersey
>
> Sister Doris Moore, D.C.
> Daughers of Charity Services
> San Antonio, TX
>
> Rev. Dr. Richard L. Hamm
> Christian Church (Disciples of Christ)
> in the U.S. and Canada
> General Minister and President
>
> Steve Wiser
> The Bruderhof Community
>
> Professor Anthony Pinn
> Religion Department
> Macalester College
>
> Prof. Darryl M. Trimiew
> Ordained Minister, Disciples of Christ
> Dean of Black Church Studies
> Colgate Rochester Divinity School
>
> Bernice Powell Jackson
> United Church of Christ
> Exec. Director, Commission for Racial Justice
>
> L. Rex Ehling
> Chair, Social Justice Committee
> St. Mary Magdalene Parish, Berkeley, CA
>
> Kevin Reilly
> Roman Catholic
> Princeton Theological Seminary
>
> Newland F. Smith, 3rd
> Episcopal Church
> Evanston, IL
>
> * Institutions and affiliations for identification purposes only.
>
>
>_________________________________________________________
> COUPON
>
> Name ___________________________________________________________
> Religious Affiliation _______________________________________________
> and/or Religious Position *___________________________________________
> Mailing Address __________________________________________________
> _________________________________________________________________
> Phone __________________________ Fax _____________________________
> Email ____________________________________________________________
>
> * Religious Affiliation and Position are given for identification purposes
> only.
>
>
> Return to Mark Taylor, c/o Princeton Theological Seminary, or mail to 64
> Mercer Street, Princeton, NJ 08540. Phone: (609) 497-7918. Fax: (609)
> 497-7728.