Jan 20, 2025
gendersauce on Instagram 1/18/25
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gendersauce on Instagram 1/18/25
Rally for Medicaid expansion in Jefferson City, Missouri. The people posted a ballot initiative that amended the state constitution to require the expansion, it should have taken effect today. The Governor and legislature refuse to fund it even though 90% of the money comes from the federal government…
Being “arrested” at a contemporary “protest” in the United States has far less to do with genuine activism than it does with photo opportunities and social media coverage. Color me wholly unimpressed with profile-photo-garnering “justice work.” It is nothing more than a superficial analgesic for bored upper-middle-class people who want to feel like they’re making a difference in a world that they are otherwise affirmative of (to complacent within), without actually making any personal changes, especially of the variety that might go unnoticed by fellow members of a given socio-economic stratum.
Sunyananda
Review: The Integration Journey
The Integration Journey: A Student’s Guide to Faith, Culture, and Psychology. William B. Whitney and Carissa Dwiwardani. IVP Academic (ISBN: 9781514000564) 2024. Summary: An approach to integrating faith and psychology focused on lived experience, one’s culture, and pursuing justice. I’ve had a fifty-year interest in the integration of faith and psychology, from the days of my undergraduate…
Review: When We Stand
Review: When We Stand
When We Stand, Terence Lester (Foreword Father Gregory Boyle). Downers Grove: InterVarsity Press, 2021. Summary: Makes a motivational case for mobilizing with other to pursue follow Christ in the pursuit of justice. We see so many things that are not “the way it’s meant to be.” The problems seem so big. We seem so small. Until we find others to walk together with us, where we are part of a…
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Review: Slow Kingdom Coming
Review: Slow Kingdom Coming
Slow Kingdom Coming, Kent Annan. Downers Grove: InterVarsity Press, 2016.
Summary: From years of experience in justice work, Kent Annan commends five practices that both better enable us to serve and to sustain our efforts for the long haul.
One of the delights of working with collegians is that every generation has a fresh passion to change the world. The challenge is that real change is not…
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Only Love Can Do That
Only Love Can Do That
Today is Martin Luther King, Jr. Day. It’s a day we celebrate the legacy of a man who was instrumental in the movement to getting black citizens the right to vote in this country and abolish many segregation laws. Granted, so much good has happened, but we have so much further to go. And I foresee it getting harder before it gets better, especially under the Trump regime, which honestly threatens…
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UUs in the News: Connections Deep and Wide
By Susan Christie, Chair, Climate Justice Committee
Some events of recent weeks have made me even more proud to be a UU than I was already. Our beloved community at UUFC, in itself, seems like a miracle in my life, but our Fellowship, here in our corner of Oregon, is not all there is. Unitarian Universalism is a small denomination, and we need each other, to be strong in our faith as we face the challenges of this century, which seem to come from all directions at once. But there is great hope in our united power and love.
Commit2Respond
About three weeks ago, some of us active in climate justice work received an impassioned letter from UUA President Peter Morales announcing the formation of Commit2Respond, a UU response to the climate crisis. We will surely hear more about Commit2Respond over the next few months. You can read President Morales’ letter at this link: http://www.commit2respond.org/
UUs Ruffle ALEC’s Feathers!
With attention to another aspect of UUA activism on the climate crisis, President Morales sent an email a few days ago. Here is an excerpt: “Last Friday, October 17, the American Legislative Exchange Council (ALEC) sent out an email asking their supporter for funds to fight the “smear campaign” waged against them by the Unitarian Universalist Church. ALEC claims that we UUs wish to "silence competing ideas and speech" because we have shone a light on their secretive activities to undercut voter registration, pass anti-immigrant legislation, harm the environment, and block movements for fair wages. We couldn't be prouder.”
UUs at Work for Social Justice
The UU Facebook groups and the UUA Yahoo email lists have been telling story after story the past few weeks about how UU congregations are responding to the social injustices of our time.
UUs around the country are “Standing on the Side of Love” as they conduct vigils in response to the shooting of an unarmed black teenager in Ferguson, Missouri.
UUs from Standing on the Side of Love and the UU College of Social Justice are speaking out against cruel and excessive deportations and advocating for immigration reform.
The turning toward marriage equality for same sex couples is joyful and heartwarming, and UU ministers are performing ceremony after ceremony, almost non-stop, when bans in their states are declared unconstitutional.
It’s wonderful to read about how UUs are making a difference in the face of injustice. We are all connected. And here at UUFC, we are finding many ways to add our voices to those of UUs everywhere. These challenging times call us to be bold, and I don’t doubt that we will!