[JTWNews] Summer for Peace
Susan Leslie
SLeslie at uua.org
Thu Jul 21 18:33:59 EDT 2005
Dear JTW-News Readers:
This year marks the sixtieth anniversary of the dropping of the first
atomic bombs on the cities of Hiroshima (August 6) and Nagasaki (August
9), Japan. This summer, as war in Iraq continues, offers us an
opportunity to increase our public witness for peace and prepare for the
fall when Congress will debate the The Homeward Bound Act (bipartisan
legislation for a phased withdrawal of US troops from Iraq). Several
other bills headed for hearings this fall will address nuclear
proliferation. The UUA has joined a grassroots advocacy campaign
launched by Win Without War in support of the Homeward Bound Act. And a
major mobilization for peace is planned for September 24-26th in
Washington, DC.
See our Summer of Peace webpages at http://www.uua.org/ for more
information and resources. There are many intergenerational activities
our congregations can participate in that will send a message of hope
and peace. From participating in the International Shadow Project
www.shadowprojecthome.org , to building churchyard Iraq war memorials
http://www.uua.org/president/050525_iraq.html , to engaging in advocacy
with elected representatives http://www.winwithoutwarus.org/, to getting
ready for the September Mobilization
http://unitedforpeace.org/article.php?list=type&type=91. Churches will
toll their bells on August 6 at 8:15 a.m: a somber tolling, 60 times in
6 minutes.
Please let us know how your congregation is participating in this Summer
for Peace.
In faith, Susan
*****************
Also in this issue:
(1) UUA Social Justice Calendar 2005-2006 - Get Ready for the New Church
Year
(2) UUA Joins Gallo Boycott
(3) UUA Board Apologizes to UUs of Color for Racist Behavior at GA
(4) An Opportune Time to Repeal Mandatory Minimum Sentences
(5) Moral Approach Sunday - Screenings of New Greenwald Film -- Walmart:
The High Cost of Low Price
(6) GA Highlights
(7) Susan on Sabbatical
*************************
(1) UUA SOCIAL JUSTICE CALENDAR 2005-2006
We've put together an annotated calendar of social justice initiatives
that the UUA is supporting in the coming year. Now you can have advance
notice of what is coming up and plan accordingly. There are some
excellent resources included from Robert Greenwald's new upcoming film
on Wal-Mart to the virutal march web page on global warming. See
http://www.uua.org/programs/justice/calendar05.pdf.
***********************
(2) UUA JOINS GALLO BOYCOTT
Washington DC - July 19, 2005) Coinciding with "Boycott Gallo" events
around the country, UUA Washington Office Director Rob Keithan sent a
letter informing the company of the 2005 UUA General Assembly's decision
to support the National Farm Worker Ministry and United Farm Workers'
Boycott of Gallo. See http://www.uua.org/news/2005/050719_gallo.html.
********************
(3) UUA BOARD APOLOGIZES TO UUs OF COLOR FOR RACIST BEHAVIORS AT GA
An Open Letter to UU Youth of Color and UU People of Color who attended
Fort Worth General Assembly and the Broader UU community, July 6, 2005
At General Assembly in Fort Worth , there were several incidents that
reminded us that we have much work to do in our journey to becoming an
anti-racist, anti-oppressive, and multicultural association. We, the UUA
Board of Trustees, want to express deep sadness and regret that these
incidents took place.
Some of these incidents involved apparently disrespectful and racist
treatment of our youth by Fort Worth officials. We will respond
appropriately to these incidents. When we visit a city, we expect that
all members of our Unitarian Universalist community should be treated
with respect and hospitality. For this and future General Assemblies,
our presence might provide a "teachable moment" for us to work with our
host cities on issues involving race and youth. See
http://www.uua.org/TRUS/050706_letter.html for the entire letter.
ANTI-RACISM TRAINING AND CONSULTATION
These incidents highlight the need for continued anti-racism and
anti-oppression education, training, and practices. New elected and
appointed committee members received anti-racism training following
General Assembly as part of an ongoing UUA effort to provide training
for UU leaders. This year new members of the UUA Board, GA Planning
Committee, Nominating Committee, Commission on Appraisal, District
Presidents, Commission on Social Witness, Board of Review, one Regional
Subcommittee on candidacy and one interim minister as well as the
co-moderator of the Young Adult Caucus attended the training. The UUA
Board has passed a recommendation that all members of committees elected
by the GA engage in anti-racism and anti-oppression training and
consultation. (passed June 2002)
Resources for Congregations
JUUST Change
http://www.uua.org/programs/justice/antiracism/consultancy.html offers
anti-oppression and anti-racism consultation to congregations.
See http://www.uua.org/programs/justice/congresources.html for other
anti-oppression resources.
*************************************
(4) FROM UUs FOR DRUG POLICY REFORM - OUR SOC ON CRIMINAL JUSTICE REFORM
& MANDATORY MINIMUM SENTENCING
After two years of extensive study by UU congregations nationwide, the
UUA General Assembly passed a Statement of Conscience on Criminal
Justice and Prison Reform just a few weeks ago in Ft. Worth, TX.
You can read the full statement at
http://www.uua.org/csw/SOCCriminalJustice%20Final%20Statement.pdf.
Since so much of our criminal justice problems are fueled by the Drug
War, this resolution puts a lot of emphasis on changing drug laws. Most
relevantly, it calls for the repeal of mandatory minimum drug sentencing
- the main culprit responsible for the exploding prison population.
STUDYING IS OVER. NOW IT'S TIME TO ACT.
UUs for Drug Policy Reform (UUDPR), an official UUA affiliate, and the
Interfaith Drug Policy Initiative (IDPI) are leading a faith-based
effort to repeal mandatory minimum sentencing.
Now is the perfect time for you and your congregation to begin giving
public witness to this position. The Bush administration recently
announced plans to massively expand the use of federal mandatory minimum
sentences. The existing ones have made us the largest incarcerator in
the world. More would be disastrous. We need your help.
Please visit http://www.mandatorymadness.org today to send a letter to
your member of Congress urging him/her to oppose new mandatory minimum
drug sentences.
We have good reason to believe that we can stop this legislation. Most
of the largest religious denominations oppose mandatory sentencing and
are lobbying on behalf of their positions. They are persuading
legislators.
The next step is to activate your congregation. UUDPR exists to make it
as easy and as effective as possible for you to mobilize others.
I recommend showing "A Question of Justice," a heart-wrenching ten
minute documentary made by a UU minister about a mother of three serving
27 years in prison for a minor role in a drug offense. This is great to
incorporate into a sermon on the topic or to include in a church forum
or other public event. You can get a VHS copy for a minimum $10
donation by visiting http://www.idpi.us/books_products/books_main.htm.
It's important to note that watching a video, having a discussion, or
giving a sermon does NOT change laws. These activities are only useful
if they lead to actions such as writing letters to legislators. Be sure
that whatever you do has a component that can actually change laws.
There are lots of other ways to help. Check out
http://www.idpi.us/resources/resources_other.htm for more information
and/or call IDPI/UUDPR associate director, Troy Dayton at 301-933-7681.
He can help you find something that fits your needs and also helps to
change these horrible laws.
**************************
(5) UUA & UUJEC ENDORSE MORAL APPROACH SUNDAY - NOV. 13TH - SCREENINGS
OF WAL-MART: THE HIGH COST OF LOW PRICE
July, 2005
Hi UU Friends of Justice,
UUs for a Just Economic Community (UUJEC), a UUA grassroots affiliate,
is happy to announce the UUJEC 2005-2006 Economic Justice Campaign:
Unmasking Wal-Mart and other Big Box Retailers. With this campaign, we
join a very powerful and growing national movement to hold Wal-Mart
accountable for unjust practices that impoverish workers and threaten
communities. The campaign also continues UUJEC's long time goal to
create economic structures that serve the common good.
One of our first actions is to organize 100s of congregations around the
county to host a screening of the new film Wal-Mart: The High Cost of
Low Price from director Robert Greenwald of "Outfoxed" and "Uncovered.
Its week-long film launch starts the weekend of November 11th with
screenings and discussions organized by people of faith.
UUJEC is sponsoring film screenings on Sunday, November 13th, which
allows UUs to buy the DVD of the film at a very low cost (about $5).
Showings can be at your congregation, in homes, public places, wherever
it makes sense. Just sign up at
http://www.walmartmovie.com/sunday.php?track=uujec
<http://www.walmartmovie.com/sunday.php?track=uujec> by filling in your
personal email, your UU congregation or fellowship (organization), zip
code, and country. Details will follow in the fall about ordering the
DVD and other items. Please do this soon as we'd like UUs to be out
front and visible in sponsoring the film showings across the country. If
you have questions about sponsoring a showing, please feel free to
contact me.
Meanwhile, please go to www.uujec.org <outbind://185/www.uujec.org> to
learn more about our BBR Campaign goals and to check out our amazing
Campaign Tool Box.
We look forward to hearing from you and working together on this
important campaign.
In peace,
Betsy Allis (erallis at aol.com),
UUJEC Campaign Chair
********************
(6) GA HIGHLIGHTS
Here is a listing of key presentations that you can view and listen to
and/or read about on our website that will be helpful to you in your
work for justice.
Go to the UUA.ORG home page at www.uua.org for highlights. (Note you
may be prompted to install Real Player -- it's free -- on your computer.
You will need speakers.)
There you will see:
* George Lakoff, author of MORAL POLITICS, drew hundreds to his
workshops. His research about how conservatives and liberals think and
how to reframe is changing how liberals and progressives are framing our
messages.
To view his presentation on Sharing Our Progressive Family Values with
the World, go to: http://www.uua.org/ga/ga05/4024.html. You can also
see his plenary presentation at Plenary V http://www.uua.org/ga/ga05/
and scroll to about 3:30 p.m.
*Rev. Dr. Patrick O'Neil delivered a rousing social justice sermon at
the Service of the Living Tradition. To view "Out from Walden" go to
http://www.uua.org/ga/ga05/2124.html.
*Elaine Pagels illustrated the resonance between UUism and the Gnostic
Gospels of Thomas in her inspiring Ware Lecture. Go to
http://www.uua.org/ga/ga05/4073.html.
*Sister Pearle Caesar of Dallas Area Intefaith, Dr. Fred Seidl, UUA CBCO
(Congregation-Based Community Organizing) Consultant, and me gave a 30
min. presentation of faith-based community organizing. See Plenary V
http://www.uua.org/ga/ga05/ at just a bit before 3 p.m. (2:58)
*500 UUs attended the Public Witness to End the Death Penalty in Texas
and nationally. To see the photo gallery and read a report, see
http://www.uua.org/ga/ga05/3051A.html.
*See the Prom You Never Had that welcomed the local bglt community to
celebrate with our UU community at http://www.uua.org/ga/ga05/3110.html
*********************
(7) SUSAN ON SABBATICAL
I will be on sabbatical this summer and will return to the office on
September 12th. (Hence, the length of this issue of JTW-News). I will be
attending organizing training, doing some reading and writing, and
hopefully some rest and renewal as well. While I'm away you can contact
my associate Audra Friend at afriend at uua.org. Audra will post to
JTW-News in my absense.
One way to stay in touch with other congregations is use our Share Your
Actions feature at
http://www.uua.org/programs/forums/index.php?action=vtopic&forum=1.
Enjoy our summer for peace. I'm looking forward to our work for justice
together in the fall.
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 <outbind://185/www.uua.org/justice>
Subscribe to SAC-News, Advocacy-News, JTW-News & SRI-News at
www.uua.org/mailman/listinfo
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
Subscribe to SAC-News, Advocacy-News & SRI-News at
www.uua.org/mailman/listinfo
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