We've received our first submission from an NCADP affiliate! The following comes from Glen Anderson, a member of the steering committee of the Washington Coalition to Abolish the Death Penalty.
Glen prepared the following document for use at a gay pride event in Seattle. It is important because the abolitionist community will never be large enough to eliminate the death penalty by ourselves. We simply must reach out to, and join in coalitions with, other social justice movements.
Here is Glen's message:
Do Your Friends Know You Oppose the Death Penalty?
"Coming Out" Against It Can Help Turn the Tide!
Social science has tipped us off on some powerful possibilities. It turns out that a modest number of individuals can create powerful social movements
by energetically spreading the word.
Epidemiologists know that epidemics of diseases can spread through a few virulent carriers, and sociologists know that the same is true of ambitious and well connected activists.
For many years the death penalty has been the status quo - a given - the accepted norm. Most people assume that other people accept the death penalty. If more people who quietly oppose it would come out of the closet
and tell their friends they oppose it, public erceptions will shift and the public will sense that public opinion is shifting against the death penalty. This will help move public opinion - and politicians and the media - toward abolition.
Coming out of the closet can be a powerful affirmation. Coming out against the death penalty will help make history!
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