Deacon Daniel Klawitter on Satyagraha Hunger Strike

As some of you may know, Gandhi coined the term Satyagraha to describe his philosophy of nonviolent resistance to the British Empire. The word itself translates from the Sanskrit as: “the firmness of truth.” Well, I want to offer up some firm truths for those of us here today.

Many people are shocked to discover that 27 million slaves exist in our world today, half of them children under the age of 18. You may be surprised to know that nearly 200,000 people live enslaved at this very moment in the United States, and an additional 17,500 new victims are trafficked across our borders each year. Far too often, “guest” workers in America become trapped into arrangements that are nothing more than indentured servitude. Too often, workers are held against their will in this country and forced to work in slave-like conditions as domestic maids, agricultural workers, cooks, dishwashers and garment workers in sweatshops.

In fact, the commerce in human beings today rivals drug trafficking and the illegal arms trade for the top criminal activity on the planet.

So no matter what your religion might be, I would hope that we can all agree on one of the firmest truths of all: that all human beings, regardless of their country of origin, have a right to dignity, respect, and just compensation for their labor. The British Empire that Gandhi fought against may be gone, but we still have a class of financial and business tyrants who seek to build their empires by exploiting the vulnerable. So I would invite all people of good will to stand firm against these predatory practices and to lend your voice to the new abolition movement which seeks to end slavery once and for all in the 21^st century.

Thank You,

Deacon Daniel Klawitter