Posts Tagged ‘Rhetoric’

Day 2: Our Nation Needs Our Message

1 Comment | Share On Facebook| Day 2: Our Nation Needs Our Message Share/Save/Bookmark Jan 20, 2013

Today is Day 2 of the Thirty Days of Love. Today’s action is to ask your members of Congress to commit to civil and respectful discourse in the new legislative session. Click here for resources, family actions, and more! Click here to sign up for the daily Thirty Days of Love emails.

Like you, I am frustrated by the current state of our national political discourse.

After a contentious election year culminating in the nail-biting fiscal cliff negotiations and in the face of upcoming debates on several big issues like preventing gun violence, comprehensive immigration reform, and the debt ceiling, we all find ourselves in search of a more compassionate national dialogue. None of us has all of the answers. What we do have is our hearts. When we stand on the side of love, we allow our hearts to be our guide, and we ask others to do the same.

In honor of Inauguration Day tomorrow, ask your members of Congress to stand on the side of love by denouncing vitriolic language in the public discourse and committing to a more respectful, bipartisan climate. Click here to send your message to your national lawmakers.

When I first moved to Washington, DC as a college freshman, I was enamored with politics and government. I loved The West Wing and dreamed that one day I would help bring a vision of social justice to our nation’s capital. But after I saw our political system up close (sans Martin Sheen), I lost hope that justice-making could ever survive amid the pervasive vitriol.

Now, working with the Standing on the Side of Love campaign, I’ve seen firsthand the way our message of love can change a conversation, bring people together, and carry us a step closer to the Beloved Community. Imagine what a difference it would make if that message were to permeate the halls of Congress?

Take this opportunity to ask our leaders to work with us for something better. Click here to take action.

In faith,

Meredith Lukow
Program Assistant
Standing on the Side of Love

PS: Do you have ideas for the future of the Standing on the Side of Love campaign? Join our Facebook chat with Campaign Manager Jennifer Toth on Friday! You can find details here.

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Tell Rep. Joe Walsh: End the Vitriolic Rhetoric

2 Comments | Share On Facebook| Tell Rep. Joe Walsh: End the Vitriolic Rhetoric Share/Save/Bookmark Aug 17, 2012

Congressman Child SupportWe lament the recent rash of violence across the nation and decry the kind of language that makes excuses for, encourages, and even incites such violence. The fear-promoting words of Rep. Joe Walsh are a recent example of the sort of accusatory, bigoted rhetoric that betrays the cherished ideals of religious freedom and tolerance.

At a recent town hall meeting, Congressman Joe Walsh of Illinois’ 8th District made a number of insensitive and inflammatory comments about the American Muslim community. These kinds of comments are not helpful to our national conversation and perpetuate a culture of violence against American Muslims.

The following weekend, two different Muslim houses of worship were subject to violent, hateful attacks and a number of Muslim graves were vandalized in nearby Chicago suburbs. Violent rhetoric, like the language so often employed by Rep. Walsh, normalizes and enables this kind of violence.

Please join us in speaking out against this kind of hateful rhetoric and sign our petition to Rep. Joe Walsh today.

As Chicagoland Unitarian Universalist ministers, we choose to Stand on the Side of Love and ask all people to follow the path of peace, justice, and goodness called for by their own faiths. We ask that every leader, civic or religious, speak the language of common good and understanding rather than hostility and ignorance. We hope that Rep. Joe Walsh will step back from his angry and hateful remarks, apologize to the thousands of peace-loving, moral, and devoted Muslims, and, even more importantly, recognize that he has the power to help build bridges and defuse violence.

Let us reclaim a more peaceful society where religious freedom is protected and our beautiful diversity is celebrated. Leaders like Rep. Joe Walsh must change the language they use and participate in civil discourse rather than make accusations.

Click here to sign our petition to Rep. Joe Walsh, and ask him to end his use of inflammatory, hateful language.

We write this, not to condemn Rep. Walsh, but to ask everyone, particularly our leaders, to take stock of our language and to question whether our actions promote the ideals for which we, as a nation, stand. We can all speak and do better.

In faith,

Rev. Hilary Krivchenia
Countryside Unitarian Universalist Church
Palatine, Illinois

Rev. Connie Grant
Unitarian Church of Evanston
Evanston, Illinois

Rev. Emmy Lou Belcher
DuPage Unitarian Universalist Church
Naperville, Illinois

The message above went out on Friday, August 17, 2012 to Standing on the Side of Love supporters. You can sign-up for these emails here.

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The Common Read for Our Collective Dreams: Sharing Stories as an Act of Faith

1 Comment | Share On Facebook| The Common Read for Our Collective Dreams: Sharing Stories as an Act of Faith Share/Save/Bookmark Oct 12, 2011

niccableNicolas Cable is a Unitarian Universalist student at Chicago Theological Seminary pursuing a career in UU ministry. He has been actively involved in his church and district over the past several years, serving on several committees and work forces. Please follow him on Twitter or check out his blog to keep up with his writing and commitment to service, justice, and Unitarian Unviersalism.

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The concept of a UUA Common Read should be viewed as a wonderful resource for Unitarian Universalists in this country. Our chosen faith tradition advocates an unequivocal commitment to our individual freedom in spiritual and ethical discernment in life. As we progress along our personal life journeys, it is intriguing to consider what a shared text could mean for our collective spiritual movement. I believe it can and will be a powerful experience for those who choose to participate in the Common Read because after we read it we can come together and share our thoughts and feelings about the book in relation to our unfolding lives and our progressive faith tradition.

This year’s Common Read is Eboo Patel’s book, Acts of Faith: The Story of an American Muslim, the Struggle for the Soul of a Generation. Eboo Patel is a young man who is the President and Founder of the Interfaith Youth Core, one of the most successful interfaith organizations in the country dedicated to training young leaders to help foster interfaith cooperation. I have worked with Patel and the IFYC, and what is more powerful than the work they do today is the amazing journey the visionary took to arrive where he leads today.

Patel’s book is an embodiment of the universal struggle we face of coming of age, reconciling our diverse understandings of identity, and living a life of union between our beliefs and our actions. Dr. Patel shares his story of not fitting in growing up, his self-hatred of his “otherness”, and reconnection to his origins of faith, culture, and family. The issues raised in this book are not just relevant to the teenager or young adult. While they are a large target audience for the book, people of all ages can understand our common longing for understanding and learning to love our diverse identities. Unitarian Universalism promotes a freedom and responsibility in our search for truth and meaning, which includes self-understanding and locating one’s “place” in the web of life.

Acts of Faith, however, is not just about coming of age as a minority in a diverse country. Patel also seeks to find a way to leverage the diversity of religious and culture demographics to be a means of social cohesion and change. He longs, as many Unitarian Universalists do, for a world where we can view religious and spiritual traditions as a part of the solution rather than the problem. Countless people, especially young people, are eager to respond to the pressing concerns facing our world. Patel believes, as I do, that if we can come together, uniting around our shared beliefs in service, stewardship, hospitality, and peace, we can truly make a powerful impact in the world. The fact is that we do this everyday in the workplace, the PTA, our neighborhood organizations, etc.

But, it is time for greater intentionality in the social justice work we do in society. We must ask: In the midst of rapid social change and globalization, how can we live our Unitarian Universalist call for greater justice and peace in the world most effectively and extensively? Sharing stories is a powerful way of processing life’s greatest mysteries. My hope is that Acts of Faith invites all of us to enter into a time of reflection and introspection, as individuals and as a religious movement, in order that we might stand ever more squarely on the side of love, united in diversity and driven by our shared acts of faith.

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What Are Your Plans to Meaningfully Observe the 10th Anniversary of 9-11?

3 Comments | Share On Facebook| What Are Your Plans to Meaningfully Observe the 10th Anniversary of 9-11? Share/Save/Bookmark Jul 18, 2011

Foundation statement and request to offer additional resources for planning observances of the 10th anniversary of the events of 9/11/01

In anticipation of the tenth anniversary of the events of 9/11/01, a cluster of Unitarian Universalist peace leaders, ministers, UUA staff, and leaders of UU related non-profits have mobilized around the hope that this anniversary will honor a dream of peace for all humanity. On September 11, 2010, voices of peacemaking were all but drowned out by the hate-filled rhetoric condemning the building of a Sufi community center near Ground Zero. This high decibel Islamaphobia, coupled with a bullying nationalism, intensified nationwide, sadly co-opting an opportunity to remember that individuals from close to 90 nations perished that day. Our hope is to transform that remembrance into interfaith actions of peacemaking and compassionate justice.
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Over the past months, we have sought to prepare a roster of resources for our larger UU world to tap in planning interfaith observances of this tenth anniversary, resources that will enable us all to plan mindfully and compassionately for this tenth anniversary. You will find resources that span liturgy, public witness/social justice events, interfaith partnerships, and ongoing activities catalyzed by what we do on this milestone day.

We invite you to help expand these resources into a rich repertoire of possibilities by sending your responses to the following questions to Rev. Alex Holt at revalexholt@earthlink.net by August 11.

Specifically, for the tenth anniversary of the events of September 11, 2001:

• What are your plans for liturgy?
• What are your plans for public witness and social justice events?
• What are your plans for interfaith partnerships?
• What are your hopes for ongoing activities inspired by what we all do on 9/11/11?

You will find the resources at http://911peacecircles.wordpress.com/resources/, growing day by day. Within and beyond Unitarian Universalism, we can stand on the side of love by doing the work that love calls us to do.

Dr. Sharon Welch
Rev. Dr. Susan Suchocki-Brown
John Schaibly
Rev. Dr. Sarah Lammert
Rev. Alex Holt
Rev. Dr. Galen Guengerich
Dan Furmansky
Rev. Dr. Frank Carpenter
Rev. Dr. Jan Carlsson-Bull
Dr. Hal Bertilson

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Stop the Spread of Intolerance in North Carolina

No Comments | Share On Facebook| Stop the Spread of Intolerance in North Carolina Share/Save/Bookmark May 20, 2011

The message below went out to Standing on the Side of Love supporters on Friday, May 20, 2011. You can sign-up for these emails here.

In a few weeks, thousands of Unitarian Universalists from across the country will descend on Charlotte, North Carolina for General Assembly. Unfortunately, this year’s GA coincides with a state of heightened anti-LGBT rhetoric in the so-called “Tar Heel State.” Just this week, thousands of religious conservatives rallied at the state capitol in Raleigh in support of a discriminatory, anti-LGBT constitutional amendment. The next few weeks will make all the difference. Local UU congregations and ministers are already actively working with other faith leaders to oppose the amendment. And on the afternoon of Friday, June 24th, during General Assembly, Equality North Carolina will partner with the UUA to hold a Faith Community Rally Against Homophobia & Transphobia.

But there is something you can do right now to make a difference in North Carolina. It’s well documented that anti-LGBT legislation creates a climate that is bad for business. Yet, businesses in North Carolina that claim a commitment to equality and diversity have yet to speak out against the amendment. In Minnesota, a similar, Prop. 8-style amendment has already passed the State Senate, and Target, a major business force in the state that helped elect individuals who supported the amendment, has done nothing to stop it.

Let’s hold North Carolina businesses to a higher standard.

Click here to sign a petition urging CEOs of North Carolina-based companies to oppose discrimination in the North Carolina constitution.

Marriage discrimination is already the law of the land in North Carolina, but some lawmakers want to further enshrine this marginalization, and even go so far as to place domestic partner benefits in peril. If the amendment passes the legislature by a 3/5 majority, then the question of amending the constitution goes to the voters — preceded, of course, by a drawn-out campaign chock full of anti-LGBT rhetoric.

Earlier this week, the Rev. Dr. T Anthony Spearman, pastor of Clinton Tabernacle AME Zion Church in Hickory, said it best when he offered passionate, eloquent remarks against the amendment at an Equality North Carolina-sponsored press conference. “What the amendment does do is put the basic rights of the LGBT minority up for a vote of the majority, which causes real trauma,” he said.

Let’s do everything we can to stop the spread of intolerance and discrimination.

Click here to sign a petition urging North Carolina business leaders to oppose discrimination in the North Carolina constitution.

In partnership and equality,

Ian Palmquist
Executive Director
Equality North Carolina

Dan Furmansky
Campaign Manager
Standing on the Side of Love

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