A Sad Report on Fidelity Investment Proxy Vote

Also please note: Fidelity is not alone. Investors Against Genocide has a whole list of companies that embrace this practice, and I urge you to go to their website and take any conscientious course of action that you will in your means of investing and in your proxy votes. Click here for Investors Against Genocide's list of suggestions regarding how you can help fight this evil.

'For wicked men are found among My people,
They watch like fowlers lying in wait;
They set a trap,
They catch men.
Like a cage full of birds,
So their houses are full of deceit;
Therefore they have become great and rich.
They are fat, they are sleek,
They also excel in deeds of wickedness;
They do not plead the cause,
The cause of the orphan, that they may prosper;
And they do not defend the rights of the poor.
Shall I not punish these people?' declares the LORD,
'On a nation such as this
Shall I not avenge Myself?'
Jeremiah 5:26-29

Well, I'm sorry to give this update to my previous blog entry regarding Fidelity's shareholder proposal concerning "oversight procedures to screen out investments in companies that, in the judgment of the board, substantially contribute to genocide, patterns of extraordinary and egregious violations of human rights, or crimes against humanity." They recommended a vote that would allow them to continue to invest in these companies, and they won. I assume that the only reason that they won was because most people failed to open or read the mailing, and by failing to do so, failed to express what would most likely have been their response. They wasted their vote and Fidelity won, and genocide victims will continue to lose with their lives.
Maybe Fidelity will lose in the long run, by losing investors who realize what their money would be funding, and financial pressure will, after all, win the battle for what is right. We can always pray that this will be the case, that God will open the eyes of the people who can respond such--God is bigger and more powerful and cares about the defenseless and the orphan.

O LORD, You have heard the desire of the humble;
You will strengthen their heart,
You will incline Your ear
To vindicate the orphan and the oppressed,
So that man who is of the earth will no longer cause terror.
Psalm 10:17-18

For my original post regarding this, click here.

For the website of Investers Against Genocide, the organization that caused Fidelity to bring this to a vote, click here.

A Proxy Vote that Betrays the Heart of Evil

Without realizing it in composing this article, I found that this post would gather attention from various google searches, and as a result I located a website that probably is behind this campaign to end investment in companies that support genocide. I applaud their existence! Now my title links to Investors Against Genocide's website.
Click here also to find a Reuters article on how this vote came to be offered.
Click here to find the sad update regarding this vote.
Click here for Investors Against Genocide's list of suggestions regarding how you can help fight genocide.
I wonder how many things slip by me to which I should pay more attention. Today that matter was made clearer than ever before. We seem to get an awful lot of mail that is just too much for me to fully process on an everyday basis. Junk mail, things requesting or requiring a response, stuff I want to refer back to later...there's just an abundance of seemingly trivial stuff to sort through.
We have a regretfully small amount in a retirement fund for which we get regular mailings. It's through Fidelity. This name would make it seem like it was a company faithful to humanity, with great and honorable goals in mind. Today I sadly and clearly learned that this is hardly the case.
We got a little booklet today and a little form on which we were to vote on a couple of issues regarding the fund in which we have this trivial amount of money. Normally I don't even look at the details on these things; I figure they have us voting for people I don't know anything about and for financial details that are beyond my understanding. Some unusual urge prompted me to open the envelope and read the contents, with a group of names of people they recommended that recipients vote for, and then a matter for which they recommended voting against. The matter was not vague and technical; no, it was clear and concise and to the point. It was a shareholder proposal concerning "oversight procedures to screen out investments in companies that, in the judgment of the board, substantially contribute to genocide, patterns of extraordinary and egregious violations of human rights, or crimes against humanity." (This is the heading in the booklet--I already sealed the envelope so I don't remember the shorter phrasing there.) They recommended a vote against it, and in reading the small print in the book, it was clear that the vote was phrased accurately and a vote for screening was really a vote for screening, so the board lacked any conscience to the point that they didn't mind stating their desire to retain the right to invest in companies that don't mind supporting genocide and other crimes against humanity. They will be accountable at Judgment for every soul that they have had a hand in killing--may God be merciful and save them out of this darkness. (This is one of those prayers that I pray against my own inclinations.)
As a result, we ended up voting for the things Fidelity recommended against, and against the people they recommended voting for. There are a few sad aspects to this whole scenario: The likelihood that others also will have the tendency to throw the proxy material away and not read it to vote according to conscience; the probability that even if a screening against genocide investments should pass, that the "judgment of the board" will remain as tainted and evil as it is currently, rendering it ineffective; the fact that we've had a single cent invested in this company up to this point; the influence that these evil people have in their hands, using the money of other people; and the lost, evil and heinous nature of the hearts of the existing board. Still, God is in control, righteous, and just, and will not let this go unnoticed.
Now Cain said to his brother Abel, "Let's go out to the field." And while they were in the field, Cain attacked his brother Abel and killed him.
Then the LORD said to Cain, "Where is your brother Abel?" "I don't know," he replied. "Am I my brother's keeper?" The LORD said, "What have you done? Listen! Your brother's blood cries out to me from the ground. Now you are under a curse and driven from the ground, which opened its mouth to receive your brother's blood from your hand." (Genesis 4:8-11)