Philocrites

Round up, week three.

by Philocrites

I've been following news stories about Unitarian Universalist churches' responses to war with Iraq. Here's this week's round-up: Student minister Brent Was (profiled on this site earlier) was jailed for refusing to show his ID to a police officer during a March 27 antiwar rally in Portland, Oregon. "As required, Was appeared at court the following Monday, only to find that the district attorney had declined to file a complaint." (Willamette Week) . . . At a weekly protest outside the Exeter, N.H., town hall, Kendra Ford, minister of the Unitarian Universalist Church, said, "To live out the true democratic ideals of this nation, we better disagree with each other." (Hampton Union) . . . Antiwar activists in Norwich, Conn., who had marched from the Unitarian Universalist church to the office of the congressman, got a seven-page response from Rep. Rob Simmons, but they say he still didn't explain his vote authorizing military action (Norwich Bulletin) . . . "[T]his thing could have been done without bloodshed," said Joy Wood, chairwoman of the Peace Action Task Force for the Unitarian Universalist Church in Cherry Hill [N.J.] (Courier-Post) . . .

"Since 1994, [Dr. Syed Arshad] Husain and his trauma team have made 23 trips to Bosnia, training mental health professionals and teachers in helping children deal with war. He will share his knowledge at 2 p.m. Sunday at Unity Church-Unitarian" in St. Paul, Minn. (Star-Tribune) . . . "More than 40 people from around the state attended a session that offered tips on how to prepare both practically and philosophically for nonviolent civil disobedience" at the Unitarian Universalist Church of Bangor, Me. (Concord Monitor) . . . "A drum circle from Countryside Church Unitarian Universalist in Palatine" planned to join a protest sponsored by "Northwest Suburban SUSTAIN (Stop U.S. Tax-Funded Aid to Israel)" in suburban Chicago (Daily Herald) . . . Laura McLean "is part of a Unitarian Universalist social action committee that helped organize weekly peace vigils in Thousand Oaks [Cal.]. While she said a church leader has to follow his or her conscience, she has trouble digesting decisions not to take a stance on the war." (Ventura County Star) . . . "About 15 people attended Poetry of Ultimate Concern, a peace-themed reading where several bards recited their verse" at the Unitarian Universalist Society in Stamford, Conn. (Advocate)

In unrelated news, a followup story about the tragic shooting of a man in the West Brattleboro, Vt., church last year: Police won't be charged in church shooting (Rutland Herald)

Copyright © 2003 by Philocrites | Posted 12 April 2003 at 10:38 PM

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