Muusja Mailing List: MUUSJA E-EVENT UPDATE FOR DECEMBER 7, 2006

[Lauren Culbert (lculbert]

MUUSJA E-EVENT UPDATE DECEMBER 7, 2006
 
Minnesota UU Social  Justice Alliance--Bringing  together UUs to work
collectively for social change.
 
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This  update includes announcements about: 

A. Local Social Justice News
B. National UU Advocacy
C. Social Justice Links

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A. LOCAL SOCIAL JUSTICE NEWS

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1.
SAT, DEC 9TH
11 AM
KNOLLWOOD MALL
HWY 7 AND AQUILA, ST. LOUIS PARK

COOKIES, COCOA AND THE CONSTITUTION--HELP US EAT, DRINK AND DEFEND
The Army has opened a "career center" in Knollwood Mall. We object to our
kids being recruited for an illegal, immoral war. We're planning a protest
in front of the mall (in front of the big Knollwood sign)The management of
the mall would prefer that we stand in a "safer" (out of the way) place.
We're determined to stand up for our rights. Please join us on Saturday
morning.

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B. NATIONAL UU ADVOCACY

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1.
ACKNOWLEDGE HUMAN RIGHTS DAY DECEMBER 10

The National Council of Churches (NCC) and other coalition partners to Save
Darfur have asked us to participate in the Weekend of Prayer for Darfur,
December 8th -10th. All faith communities are being asked to include a
prayer for Darfur in their weekly services, and to hang a "Call to Your
Conscience" banner outside their house of worship. NCC will deliver the
banner to all interested houses of worship for display during the weekend
and beyond. Hundreds of churches, synagogues and mosques around the country
are currently helping to raise awareness and inspire people to take action
by displaying banners. Sample prayers, bulletin inserts, and other resources
are available at
http://www.savedarfur.org/pages/weekend_of_prayer.://www.bordc.org/involved/
talkpoints11-13.php 

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2.
UNITARIAN UNIVERSALISTS WIN THREE STATEWIDE RACES
Pam Hemmingsen, a Unitarian Universalist from South Dakota, didn't like what
her state legislature was doing last spring. So she did something about it.
She ran for office. So did five other members of her congregation, the UU
Fellowship of the Black Hills, in Rapid City. They all ran for seats in the
State House of Representatives. That's more than 10 percent of the 44-member
congregation. Although none of them won November 7, UUs in other parts of
the country did succeed. 
   
Two Unitarian Universalists were elected secretaries of state Tuesday. Debra
Bowen, a member of the UU Community Church of Santa Monica, is the newly
elected California Secretary of State. She's been a state legislator since
1992. Mark Ritchie, a member of First Universalist Church of Minneapolis was
elected as Minnesota's new Secretary of State. For 20 years Ritchie has been
president of the Minneapolis-based Institute for Agriculture and Trade
Policy, a nonprofit organization working to foster long-term sustainability
for Minnesota's rural communities. Two years ago he took a leave of absence
to lead National Voice, a new national coalition of more than 1,000
non-partisan organizations that registered and turned out more than 5
million new voters nationwide-one of the largest non-partisan voter
mobilizations in history.
   
Of the three UUs in Congress, two were reelected. Republican U.S. Rep.Nancy
Johnson, a member of the UU Society of New Britain, Conn., was defeated
after 12 terms in the House, the longest anyone from Connecticut has served
in the House. U.S. Sen. Kent Conrad, the senior senator from North Dakota,
was easily reelected to his fifth term. U.S. Rep. Pete Stark, who has
represented part of California's Bay Area since 1973, was also reelected.
Both are Democrats.
   
Jack Urban, a member of People's Church in Kalamazoo, Mich., won a seat on
the Kalamazoo County Commission in his first race for elected office. Asked
if being UU had prepared him for this, he credited "being a longtime
participant in a very nurturing church environment for over 30 years" plus
"the liberating Universalist idea that permits me to search for and use
wisdom from wherever I can find it." Most helpful, he said, was a reminder
from his Buddhist meditation practice "not to take myself too seriously." 
   
In Austin, Tex., Democrat Donna Howard was reelected to her first full term
in the Texas House of Representatives. In 2005 she was elected to fill the
remainder of the term of a member who resigned. She is a member of the First
UU Church of Austin. 
   
Rich Madaleno, a member of Cedar Lane UU Church in Bethesda, Md., was
elected to the State Senate after serving in the State House of Delegates.
Doyle Niemann, a member of Paint Branch UU Church in Adelphi, Md., was
reelected to the House of Delegates. Guy Guzzone, a member of the UU
Congregation of Columbia, Md., won a seat in the Maryland House of Delegates
and a friend of the congregation, Elizabeth Bobo, was reelected to that
body. All are Democrats. State Rep. Beth Low, a member of All Souls UU
Church in Kansas City, Mo., was reelected to a second term in the Missouri
House as a Democrat. 
   
Back in South Dakota, Hemmingsen said she decided to run when the state
legislature began cranking out a number of socially repressive bills. One
would have banned abortion outright. (Voters rejected that ban on November
7.) Another proposed measure would have required professors to declare their
political affiliation. 
   
Hemmingsen organized a group of women called Democracy in Action to fight
back. But when they went to Pierre, the state capital, for a lobby day, she
said legislators avoided them. "That just told me that people who are
moderate have to step forward." So she did. And so did fellow Unitarian
Universalists Justin Lena, Suzan Nolan, Laurie Wudtke, John Buxcel, and
Dinah Paris.
   
"We didn't just get up and say a bunch of us ought to run," she said.
"Each of us just decided that it was time to put our beliefs into action.
There were bills that almost got passed that would have been horrible.
And in the meantime there were 90,000 South Dakotans without health
insurance. There was all this common ground we could be working on, but no
one was."

One that was missed in the article was Jackie Groves Twilegar(formerly FUS
Madison--now in Boise Idaho--ran a strong race for Controller (a statewide
race) but unfortunately lost.  This was Jackie's first venture into
electoral politics and she ran because the Controller's office sits on a
board that has impact on public land use.  Jackie had been an active member
of FUS Madison--finance council chair among others--before she returned to
Idaho where she and her husband had lived for several years before coming to
Madison.
   
Hemmingsen said the presence of UUs in legislative races helped change the
tenor of those campaigns. "In a terribly divisive time, our collective
Unitarian voices provided a reasoned, thoughtful presence that shifted
rhetoric away from hate and division and toward common-ground issues," she
said. "We stepped forward to serve and we did so with dignity and grace. I
am proud of all of us." 

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C. SOCIAL JUSTICE LINKS

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To find out about other local and national social justice events, check out
these websites.  

UU SOCIAL JUSTICE AND OTHER UU LINKS:
Unitarian Universalist Association:  http://www.uua.org/

Unitarian Universalist Service Committee:  http://www.uusc.org/

UUA Washington Office for Advocacy http://www.uua.org/uuawo/new/

UUA Congregational Advocacy and Witness:
http://www.uua.org/programs/justice/

Minnesota UU Social Justice Alliance (MUUSJA):  http://www.muusja.org/

Prairie Star  District: http://www.psduua.org/

FOR UU SOCIAL ACTON CHAIRS, sign up for regular e-news from the UUA, called
Sac-news www.uua.org/mailman/listinfo
 
UU Ministry for Earth http://uuministryforearth.org/index.shtml

UUs for a Just Economic Community http://www.uujec.net/

UU Committee for Socially Responsible Investing
http://www.uua.org/finance/sri/ 

UU Gulf Coast Advocacy http://www.uua.org/news/gulfcoastrelief/advocacy.html

OTHER SOCIAL JUSTICE LINKS: 
*note: if you are  member of a group who would like us to list your web
site, send it to muusja-editor [at] muusja.org

Alliance for Sustainability www.afors.org
 
Minnesota  Alliance of Peacemakers  http://www.mapm.org/
 
Women Against Military Madness at  www.worldwidewamm.org
 
Progressive Calendar subscribe by emailing  shove001 [at] tc.umn.edu.
  
Planned Parenthood of Minnesota:   www.ppmns.org
 
NARAL Pro-Choice Minnesota:   www.prochoiceminnesota.org

Metropolitan Interfaith Council on Affordable Housing (MICAH):
http://www.micah.org/
 
Code Pink: www.codepink4peace.org

Center for Victims of Torture: http://www.cvt.org/main.php

Network of Spiritual Progressives: http://www.spiritualprogressives.org/

Network of Spiritual Progressives, local chapter http://www.nspmn.org/