Recap: Clean Energy March, July 24 By Christiane Graham, Cedar Lane UU Church, Bethesda, MD UUs were well represented in Philadelphia at the Climate March prior to the Democratic Party Convention. We made our voices heard asking for real Climate protection legislation. It was heart-warming to see so many UUs courageously walking under the boiling … Continue reading UUs at the Clean Energy March, July 24, Philadelphia
Gun violence is a serious problem in the United States. And it is not just mass shootings. On average 92 Americans die from gunshot wounds each day in gun suicides (57), gun homicides (33), and unintentional shootings (2). The number of Americans killed each day by firearms is greater than the number of victims (49) … Continue reading The Right to be Free From Guns By John Johnson, Mount Vernon Unitarian Church, Alexandria, VA
The Unitarian Universalists for Social Justice in the National Capital Region is pleased to announce that (Pablo) Pavel DeJesús has joined our organization as our new Executive Director. DeJesús holds a Masters in Social Policy from the University of Maryland, School of Public Policy, and a B.A. from Oberlin College. He is also a Public … Continue reading UUSJ Has a New Executive Director
One of UUSJ’s priority issues is the environment and climate change. Man-made climate change may have added to the disaster in West Virginia. USA Today reported that “The part of the USA that includes West Virginia has seen a 71% increase in extreme precipitation since 1958, according to the National Climate Assessment.” Flooding is exacerbated … Continue reading Faith in Action to Support our West Virginia Neighbors
Rev. Janelle Bruce, youth minister at St. John Baptist Church and Lisa Kehle, youth director at the Unitarian Universalist Congregation of Columbia, joined forces with a host of wonderful volunteers to host the Interfaith Youth Summit on Racial Justice at St. John Baptist Church in Columbia, Maryland. Featuring artist and activist Bree Newsome, renowned African … Continue reading Highlight: Interfaith Youth Summit on Racial Justice – April 30, Columbia, Maryland
Much of the impetus for the Trump and Sanders campaigns is said to stem from voters who are angry about their declining economic circumstances. Income and wealth inequality are growing in our country. What should be done about it? French economist Thomas Piketty writes that the tendency for wealth to accumulate in fewer and fewer … Continue reading Economic Inequality and UU Principles By Gene Mulligan, UU Church of Arlington
For UU congregations interested in the Syrian refugee crisis, UUCA and UU Church of Rockville have compiled important information and the best ways for UU congregations to respond. More Information Refugee Settlement Process: Refugees from Syria (or any other country) come into the US under the auspices of organizations which have contracts with the State Department, and … Continue reading Syrian Refugee Crisis Updates & Action Steps
The path that led me to become the 2015 UUSJ Environmental Award recipient began many decades ago. While in high school, I read Rachel Carson’s Silent Spring. It had a profound effect on me. I was awakened to the negative impact man can have on nature. I felt it was so wrong and I wanted … Continue reading Becoming an Environmental Activist By Natalie Pien, UU Church of Loudoun, VA
Walter Ellis received a 2015 UUSJ Emerging Leader Award at the UUSJ Social Justice Awards Gala last fall. His full remarks are below: Since I only have a few minutes, I figured I’d share an image with you I’ve cribbed from the internet. It’s a sketch that I’ve grown quite fond of. It shows two houses, one … Continue reading All Houses Matter By Walter Ellis, Cedar Lane UU Church of Bethesda, MD
It was a blessedly sunny Saturday afternoon in early December, and there in Falls Church, Virginia, more than a hundred of us–Muslims and Catholics and Protestants and Jews and UUs–had converged on the Dar al Hijrah Islamic Center to help pack the thousands of blankets and coats the mosque’s members had been collecting for months … Continue reading An Interfaith Effort With Our Muslim Neighbors By Marc DeFrancis, UU Church of Arlington, VA
