By Becca Weintraub

Today we had a jam-packed day filled with four meetings and Friday nights services. Our first meeting was with the International Justice Mission. This Christian-based non-profit organization takes it upon themselves to not just talk about a problem but to solve it. They use the Bible to call themselves to action. Their focus is on global issues such as women and young girls being sold into the sex trade, hate crimes, and unfair trials and treatment.

Next we went to NORML, the National Organization for the Reform of Marijuana Laws. Their office staff was open about their views and even their personal actions. Many of us were surprised to learn that the main view of this organization is that the fight is not really over marijuana, but over what say the government has in what a person does in private. They also believe that marijuana, if used responsibly, is a harmless drug, as we deem cigarettes and alcohol, and, therefore should be legal. What surprised me was that NORML wanted a minimum smoking age just like with tobacco and alcohol. They also believed there should be laws against public usage and driving while high. This meeting served as a good discussion as it was one topic our group was split on.

After lunch we went to meet with NARAL Pro-Choice America. They spoke mostly about how the main argument was whether or not the government should interfere with a woman’s life. No matter what your personal views are, if you believe the government should stay out of making decisions for individuals, then you are pro choice. For me, it was refreshing, after hearing exactly one month ago from Operation Rescue, to hear someone who spoke about the issue in the way I believe. While I agreed with everything they said, this meeting was not my favorite for that exact reason. There was not much debate or discussion over the issue as almost all of us agreed with NARAL.

Our final meeting of the day was with Amnesty International. The main goal of Amnesty is to uphold the Declaration of Human Rights. This includes the right to free speech, religion, and to live. To make sure countries uphold these rights, Amnesty International protests, writes letters and creates reports against these wrongdoings. Our meeting ended with a debate over their views concerning Israel and the Palestinians.

To end our day we went to dinner in Georgetown and then to Friday night services at a Modern Orthodox Synagogue in Georgetown called Kesher Israel. We went to the Carlebach Service, which was filled with new tunes and young people. Although some of the service was unfamiliar to me, I still felt at home.