This link takes you to our Washington DC office, and has the UUA response to important issues of our time, and will include sample letters to send to representatives.

Check this page periodically for announcements of interest, related to local social action efforts.

Social Action Committee Meeting: Sunday, December 14, 12:00 Noon
You're invited to explore the possibilities of social justice where we can live out our UU faith that is based on deeds not creeds. Social Action Chair, Sue Schuster, always welcomes questions or suggestions (as well as willing hearts and hands). Contact her as listed in the directory or sioux_sue84@hotmail.com

Here's a way to get a message across to those who could learn to expand their message of love @ Christmas to include more fellow humans.  Share it on to others, if you have time.  Peace.

http://www.pflaggcflint.org/advocacy/protest1.html

An update on the refugee family that the Social Action Committee is co-sponsoring, we are looking for people who are available during the day, to babysit a 3 year old for a couple hours,
so the mother can go to standard American English classses and other subjects.

We are seeking a re-evaluation of the curre 30 year old NYS Rockefeller drug laws, along with other local churches.

"A person who maintains a self-definition with no social support is mad; with minimum support, a pioneer; with broad support, a lemming.  Most of us are lemmings.  We accept or change our ideas of our own rights and duties only when we perceive social support for doing so."
                                                                                                        Joan Huber, 1950's

Sunday, November 30, 2003 10:30 AM
10:30 AM:  Cynthia Banas, a native of central New York and a peace activist returning from Iraq mid-November, will be our guest speaker. She has been in Iraq as a part of the Voices in the Wildnerness campaign. Cynthia is active with the United Nations Association as well as UNICEF.

Previously Published:

Unitarian Universalist Service Committee (uusc.org)
A powerful voice for human rights In order to help Unitarian Universalists and peace advocates educate, act, and organize around this issue, we have assembled resources that you and your community can use to advocate peace and alternatives to violent conflict in Iraq. Below are links that provide important information about current events, the history of the conflict with Iraq, as well as resources for action:
American Friends Service Committee (http://www.afsc.org/iraq/Default.htm) Provides alternatives to war, reasons to oppose the war, history of the conflict, and resources for action.Ê Friends Committee on National Legislation (http://www.fcnl.org/) United for Peace (http://www.unitedforpeace.org/)
Unitarian Universalist Association (http://www.uua.org/news/2002/021105.html)
Churches for Middle East Peace (http://www.cmep.org/)
National Council of Churches (http://www.ncccusa.org/)
National Network to End the War (http://www.endthewar.org/default-new.htm)
New York Times Iraq Page (http://www.nytimes.com/pages/world/worldspecial/index.html)
St. Lawrence District Opportunities (See Bulletin Board for moor info)

T -Shirts:
The logo on the T -shirts being sold is "War is not the Answer". Very versatile, being sold at cost to raise consciousness. Posters are also available. Contact Kate Oser, as listed in our Directory.

 Its mission. . .
 To challenge violent conflict in all its forms by
 1) increasing awareness of the consequences of and alternatives to war
 2) promoting an understanding of motivation for war and
 3) offering education on creative alternatives for conflict resolution.

To get involved contact Doreen Markson as listed in our Directory.

From the UUA Site
Complete Story athttp://www.uua.org/news/2003/030116.html

Boston, Jan. 16, 2003 A thirteen-member interfaith delegation which included two Unitarian Universalists returned on January 3 from a compelling trip to Iraq as the United States edges closer to war with that country. The delegation, sponsored by the National Council of Churches of Christ in the U.S. (NCC) and hosted by the NCC's counterpart in the Middle East, was led by the Rev. Dr. Bob Edgar, General Secretary of the NCC and a United Methodist minister, along with representatives of the United Methodist Church, United Church of Christ, Presbyterian Church (U.S.A.), the Episcopal Church and the Unitarian Universalist Association along with an Iraq expert from Georgetown University.

The Rev. Dr. John Buehrens, former president of the UUA and currently minister of the First Parish in Needham, MA, represented UUA President Bill Sinkford on the trip and was joined by Ms. Robin Hoecker, an intern in the UUA's Washington, D.C. Office for Advocacy and Witness. Ms. Hoecker, a photojournalist, documented the trip with the images you see on this page.

Dr. Buehrens, former President of the UUA, said, "I wish people could have seen us on New Year's Eve at a potluck supper in an evangelical church in Bagdhad. If Americans in conservative communities thought they would be dropping bombs on children singing praise songs to Jesus, they might think more about the human face of the Iraqi conflict, and not just about their leader (Saddam Hussein)..."

Buehrens continued, "The indifference of so many Americans to foreign policy in general is the biggest thing that we are up against...the default position of Americans with regard to foreign policy, is isolationist...we don't tend to think about the wider world and our relations in it. It's the biggest flaw in our policy making. So I encourage us to talk to Middle America, and to argue about consequences, and then to recognize that such a war is immoral: there is no justification for this war policy -- religiously, theologically, ethically -- but first, we need to talk about the consequences. And it's the responsibility of religious leaders to help people engage in civil discourse on these matters."

UUSC info on pending war with Iraq: http://www.uusc.org/news/iraq011503.html

UUSC action alert center: http://capwiz.com/uusc/home/
 
 

Information on Drug Policy Reform

UUs for Drug Policy Reform, a national independent affiliate of the UUA, invites you to get involved. Find the resources to help you with the UUA's drug war Study/Action Issue and other useful information at http://www.uudpr.org or contact Charles Thomas, President, UUs for Drug Policy Reform, at 301-938-1577, e-mail charlesthomas@uudpr.org