Social Justice Committee
Contents:
- Our Mission Statement
- 2006-7 Action Groups!
- New Hampshire Faithful Democracy
- Granite State Organizing Project
- UUA General Assembly Resolutions- Statements of Conscience and Actions of Immediate Witness
- Recommended Web Sites
The Social Justice Committee has been an active participant in UU Nashua Church affairs since 1987, organizing educational events, initiating/supporting outreach programs, and helping to serve as our congregation's social justice advocates.
We have a table most Sundays during coffee hour, and we invite you to stop by for conversation and exploration about how you can get involved. Come see us!
Upcoming Events: Health Care Forum- "Sicko"
Thursday, January 3rd 7:00 pm
"Sicko", the movie by Michael Moore, will be shown at the Unitarian Universalist Church of Nashua on January 3, 2008 at 7pm. The Church is located at 58 Lowell Street in Nashua.
The presentation is sponsored by the Unitarian Universalist Church of Nashua and New Hampshire for Health Care. After the presentation, Dr. David Golden will present the proposal of the Physicians for a National Health Program, a national organization, dedicated to passing US House Resolution HR676 designed to place all Americans on Medicare. This would eliminate private health insurance from a primary role in health care and remove employer-based health care, replacing it with a national program covering all Americans.
Cornell Woolridge, of New Hampshire for Health Care will present his group's effort to engage residents of New Hampshire in advocating health care issues to the presidential candidates. There will be discussion after these presentations. All are welcome and there is no charge.
Please join us!
Green Sanctuary Web Page!
The Green Sanctuary Committee has launched a brand new web page. It's just getting started, but please keep checking back for many expected updates. Here's the link:
Our Mission Statement
The Social Justice committee of the Unitarian Universalist Church of Nashua, grounded in our UU principles, is committed to making our church a force for positive social change in our community and in society at large.
We advocate for peace, justice, compassion and caring. We encourage all church members to be engaged, through their deeds and generosity, in issues of local, national and global concern, and to develop action plans in areas of particular interest to them.
We provide a forum for a wide range of ideas on issues of concern. We ask church members and friends to actively participate in educational programs on important social issues.
We work with UU churches, other religious congregations, civic, labor and social service organizations and all groups that are seeking to build a more peaceful, just and caring society.
2007-8 Action Groups!
In 2006 we organized our social justice work into separate "action groups" around some timely issues and community concerns. These groups plan events, coordinate with other groups working on the same issues, and strategize about ways to meet achievable goals. Action groups also look for ways to deepen congregational involvement. Our action groups for this church year are:
| Action Group | Brief Description |
| Community Action | Organize Nashua Soup Kitchen meal preparation, manage Sunday outreach collections, and work with other groups, including the Greater Nashua Continuum of Care toward goal of ending homelessness in Nashua. |
| UU Ministry for the Earth | Continue with "Green Sanctuary" program for church and organize around RGGI (Regional Greenhouse Gas Initiative). |
| Iraq War/Road to Peace | Work with Nashua Peace, NH Peace Action and other groups to organize vigils, marches, and other activities toward peace in Iraq/return home of US troops. |
| Healthcare | A new action group this year with goals still to be finalized. |
Please visit our Social Justice Table in coffee hour for more information.
UU Action Network of New Hampshire (formerly New Hampshire Faithful Democracy)
The UU Action Network of New Hampshire (UUAN)is an education and advocacy network of Unitarian Universalists in the state of New Hampshire. UUAN is working to strengthen the network and to help coordinate focused action on targeted issues, so that NH UU's can have a stronger voice on the issues that matter to us.
Last spring, UUAN presented a number of issues to congregations, and asked us to vote. As a result UUAN has the following issues targeted as 2006-7 priorities:
State:
- State Tax Equality
- Fair Share Health Care
- Alternative Energy/Global Warming
Federal:
- Federal Budget Priorities
For Study:
- Water and Trade Policy
For more information, please check the NHFD web site (http://www.nhfaithfuldemocracy.org/), visit the Social Justice table during coffee hour, and stay tuned for information coming to you through church (services, newsletters, etc.).
Granite State Organizing Project
The Granite State Organizing Project (GSOP) is an organization in New Hampshire's Merrimack Valley (including Concord, Manchester, Nashua, and adjoining towns). It is made up of representatives from religious, labor, and community groups that work together to address local issues of vital concern and improve life in our region. The issues that GSOP have identified as most critical to our area are housing, healthcare, jobs, and education, and work is going on in each of those areas to research the underlying issues, consider the strategies that we might take, and initiate courses of action.
Our church is a sponsoring member of GSOP, and church members can get involved in various ways. Please stop by the Social Justice Committee table for more information.
UUA General Assembly Resolutions
Every June, the GA passes a number of resolutions, classified either a "Statement of Conscience" or "Action of Immediate Witness," on issues of social justice:
- A Statement of Conscience (SOC) starts out as a "Study Action Issue" (SAI) initiated somewhere in a member congregation and then submitted to the Commission on Social Witness (CSW). SAIs that are approved by the CSW are voted on at the General Assembly Annual Meeting. If it gets selected (only one Study Action Issue is selected every two years), study action guides are prepared and go out to member congregations the following year. Congregations are encouraged to follow the guide and conduct various study/action activities. At the end of the 2nd year of study/action, a final vote at GA determines whether it gets accepted as a Statement of Conscience. Go to www.uua.org/csw/speakout.html for more details on this process.
- Actions of Immediate witness deal with issues that are particularly time sensitive. Since they are not subject to congregational review, they are not considered policy of the Association - just the viewpoint of the General Assembly itself. They must be passed by a two-thirds vote.
You can investigate, by year, all the GA resolutions that have been adopted since 1961 by going to www.uua.org/actions/chronological.html.
Recommended Web Sites
Some web sites particularly recommended by the Social Justice Committee:
- www.commondreams.org This is a great site that includes a tremendous number of links - to newspapers, journals, news agencies and more. It is the single most valuable entry to information and opinion about peace and justice issues.
- www.truthout.org Each day this web site offers a few especially interesting and important articles, speeches or editorials from the US and other countries, which otherwise we would probably not see.
- www.moveon.org This site is focused on suggesting and even facilitating citizen expression against a rush to war. They have been very successful in enabling hundreds of thousands of Americans in as little as a day or two, through the Internet, to join together in anti-war efforts.
- www.nhpeaceaction.org This site acts as an umbrella to encourage, organize, or publicize anti-war activities in New Hampshire.
Some legislative/congressional oriented sites:
| Senate Official Web Site | www.senate.gov |
| House Official Web Site | www.house.gov |
| THOMAS (the most comprehensive legislative search engine) | thomas.loc.gov |
| Your link to Congress | www.congress.org |
| Webster (New Hampshire legislative search engine) | www.state.nh.us |
| State by state analysis of major political agendas | www.stateline.org |
Some other recommended sites:
| Unitarian Universalist Service Committee | www.uusc.org |
| UUA Faith in Action | www.uua.org/faithinaction |
| United for a Fair Economy | www.ufenet.org |
| American Friends Service Committee | www.afsc.org |
| Interfaith Alliance | www.tialliance.org |
| National Labor Council | www.nlcnet.org |
| National Coalition against Legalized Gambling | www.ncalg.org |
| Planned Parenthood Federation of America | www.plannedparenthood.org |
| Center for Reproductive Law and Policy | www.crlp.org |
| Death Penalty Resource Center | www.essential.org/dpic |
| Campaign to End the Death Penalty | www.nodeathpenalty.org |
