(AFP) – At the base of the Capitol in Washington, dozens of Mormon women gathered Tuesday for a unique type of protest: meticulously sewing together giant quilts to call on legislators to protect the US Constitution as Donald Trump gets closer and closer to ignoring it. The assembly involves thousands of quilt squares submitted by women across the country, all of whom are concerned about the political situation in the United States as Trump cracks down harshly on illegal migration, fires tens of thousands of civil servants, challenges institutions like the news media and universities, and seemingly tramples the rule of law.
Organized by members of Mormon Women for Ethical Government, a nonpartisan faith-based political advocacy group, the patchwork included messages like “No one is illegal,” “We are all immigrants,” and “A government of laws and not of men.” Although Mormons — formally called the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints — generally align with the US religious right, the women who came to Washington felt compelled to defend the Constitution, regardless of their party affiliation.
“I think as Latter-day Saints, participating in the process is kind of an extension of our faith,” said Chelsea Robarge Fife, a 49-year-old woman from Salt Lake City, Utah. “We believe in shared principles of kindness, of respect, of doing our part, and so engaging with our elected officials is kind of an extension of the principles we try to live anyway,” she continued.
Robarge Fife said “many of us have very different politics” about the women quilting in protest, “but the one thing we all agree upon is that the Constitution keeps us strong.” – Speaking through fabric – “The Constitution is our common thread, and so preserving the checks and balances that are outlined there is the surest way to ensure a healthy democracy.”
Since his return to office in January, Trump has sought to expand executive power to an extraordinary extent, undermining the checks and balances inherent in America’s co-equal branches of government. Among other things he has repeatedly questioned the legitimacy of judges who rule against him and ignored some of their rulings. On Sunday, when asked whether he would respect the Constitution, Trump replied: “I don’t know.”
The group will deliver 68 quilts to a variety of elected legislators, asking each of them to take action. One quilt destined for the Speaker of the House of Representatives, Republican Mike Johnson from Louisiana, addressed the Trump administration’s anti-migrant policies: “You cannot take dignity from others because you have none.”
“Let’s revive this tradition of speaking through fabric,” said Jessica Preece, 44, from Utah. “I think that part of the reason it works so well is because so many women are very comfortable with fabric. They’re comfortable with this, with this craft and so it feels very safe and normal and authentic to do this,” she continued.
Jennifer Thomas, another Mormon woman standing next to Preece, nodded in agreement. She said the best way to be heard politically is to remind lawmakers “that the best way to defend that is together, not alone.” “We’ve become so polarized, and this has just been, I think, an experience for people to depolarize and say, what do we actually share in common?” – Paul NOLP
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