[JTWNews] UUs Standing Against Oppression!

Thu Dec 15 20:47:51 EST 2005

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JOURNEY TOWARD WHOLENESS (JTW) NEWS

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Dear JTW-News Readers:

Unitarian Universalists have been at the forefront of some important
political issues involving oppression this past week that require that
people of faith speak out.

On Dec. 12th the UUA opposed a Supreme Court nomination for the first
time in our history based on a thorough review of Judge Alito's judicial
record and his insensitivities to civil rights and civil liberties. 

On Dec. 14th UU clergy were arrested for "kneeling in" against the
immoral budget.  UU clergy and leaders gathered with 200 other leaders
of faith, and 115 people including three UU ministers, were arrested in
an act of civil disobedience for a moral budget.

Congregations are signing up to host Living Wage Sunday Services and
events on Martin Luther King, Jr. Weekend (Jan. 14-16)as part of the LET
JUSTICE ROLL Living Wage Campaign and UU Justice Sunday (March 26) to
raise the minimum wage (which has not been raised in eight years!).

UUA President Bill Sinkford is featured (along with Al Gore and others!)
on the Stop Global Warming Home Page. 

Read more below for uua.org news about these events.

Keep on witnessing, speaking truth, taking risks, staying strong. (And
send us your nominations for outstanding congregational and individual
work for anti-oppressive social justice.)

In faith and love, Susan

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(1) Unitarian Universalist Association Opposes Alito Confirmation as
Threat to Civil Liberties 

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(December 12, 2005 - Washington, DC) The Unitarian Universalist
Association today announced its opposition to the confirmation of Samuel
Alito to the U.S. Supreme Court. The UUA's opposition is based on
concerns over civil liberties, including religious liberty, the right to
privacy, and due process. 

The UUA has never before opposed the confirmation of a nominee to the
Supreme Court. In a statement issued to over 1000 congregations that
make up the Association, the UUA's Washington Office for Advocacy
Director Rob Keithan said: 

"The decision to take a position on a judicial nominee is not one the
UUA takes up lightly. The nomination of Judge Samuel Alito Jr. is
significantly different from that of Chief Justice John Roberts or
Harriet Miers, in that he has an extensive judicial record that clearly
reveals his judicial philosophy on a wide range of issues. After
extensive research, Unitarian Universalist Association staff agreed that
Judge Alito's rulings revealed a pattern of views that were outside the
mainstream and hostile to established precedent favoring civil
liberties." http://www.uua.org/news/2005/051212_alito/index.html
<http://www.uua.org/news/2005/051212_alito/index.html> .

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(2) Unitarian Univeralist Ministers Arrested for Civil Disobedience in
support of "A Moral Budget"

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(December 14, 2005 - Washington, DC) Nearly two hundred religious
leaders and people of faith, including a contingent of Unitarian
Universalists, gathered in front of the Cannon House Office building in
frigid temperatures this morning to bear witness in the struggle for
economic justice with the message that "budgets are moral documents."
The gathering, which resulted in the arrest of 115 people, was prompted
as Congress prepares to take up the White House's current budget draft
for 2006, offering tax cuts primarily to those earning $200,000 per year
or more, and which will be financed by slashing services for the poor.
In addition to the acts of civil disobedience, leaders of the gathering
urged participants to make 'surprise' visits to Congress. Seventy
similar vigils held in thirty-four states.
http://www.uua.org/news/2005/051214_budget/index.html
<http://www.uua.org/news/2005/051214_budget/index.html> 

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(3) LET JUSTICE ROLL Martin Luther King, Jr. Living Wage Sunday Services
and Weekend Events for Raising the Minimum Wage

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Join with other Unitarian-Universalists and the interfaith community in
support of economic justice! Hold a Living Wage Sunday service or
community event on MLK Weekend (January 14-16, 2006) or on Justice
Sunday (March 26, 2006) and inspire, educate, and mobilize your
congregation and communities to support and act on behalf of low-wage
working people and their families. 

Everything you need to organize a service is included in this FREE
packet at www.letjusticeroll.org <outbind://113/www.letjusticeroll.org>
.

* A fact sheet on race and poverty in America and the need for a living
wage.

* A Sample Order of Service, readings, hymns/songs.

* Interfaith resources including quotes from Dr. King on economic and
racial justice.

* Contact information and suggestions for testimonials from low-income
workers and families.

* A Foreword by the Rev. Dr. James A. Forbes, Jr., Senior Minister of
The Riverside Church in New York, examining poverty in America and the
aftermath of Hurricane Katrina.

* Advocacy information for federal and state efforts to raise the
minimum wage and more!

* Plus a comprehensive report A Just Minimum Wage: Good for Workers,
Business & Our Future.

The UUA and the UUSC have joined with over 50 faith and community
organizations in the non-partisan LET JUSTICE ROLL Living Wage Campaign
to raise the minimum wage at the federal and state level. 

See www.uua.org/justice <outbind://113/www.uua.org/justice>  for more
information and to download flyer (Please check again if the flyer is
not posted at the top of the page when you click there). 

AND look for our flyer in the January congregational mailing.

Please register at www.LetJusticeRoll.org
<outbind://113/www.LetJusticeRoll.org>  so that we can count UU
participation!

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(4) UUA President William Sinkford Featured on Stop Global Warming Home
Page

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See http://www.stopglobalwarming.org/default.asp
<http://www.stopglobalwarming.org/default.asp>  and to learn more about
and sign up for the virtual march on Washington.

Watch for information in the January congregation mailing on the
Ministry for Earth (formerly known as the Seventh Principle Project)
materials on Earth Day Sunday 2006.

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(5) Nominate Your Congregation, A UU, Someone from Your Community, A
Leader, An Outstanding Organization for a UUA Social Justice Award.
Deadlines are MARCH 1st.

See http://www.uua.org/programs/justice/awards.html
<http://www.uua.org/programs/justice/awards.html>  for information and
easy nominations process for the:

* Bennett Award for UU Congregational Action on Human Justice and Social
Action http://www.uua.org/awards/bennett.html
<http://www.uua.org/awards/bennett.html> 

* Holmes-Weatherly Award to an Individual or Organization (not
necessarily UU) http://www.uua.org/awards/holmes.html
<http://www.uua.org/awards/holmes.html> 

* Wilton Peace Prize to an Individual or Organization (not necessarily
UU) http://www.uua.org/awards/wilton.html
<http://www.uua.org/awards/wilton.html> .

For Sermon Awards see:

Skinner Sermon Award http://www.uua.org/awards/skinner.html
<http://www.uua.org/awards/skinner.html> 

Social Witness Sermon Award
http://www.uua.org/csw/sermon_contest_2006.htm
<http://www.uua.org/csw/sermon_contest_2006.htm> 

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Susan Leslie
Director for Congregational Advocacy and Witness
Unitarian Universalist Association
25 Beacon Street, Boston MA  02108
(617) 948-4607; sleslie at uua.org
www.uua.org/justice
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