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Justice Jottings
January 2006
An Email Update from the Marianist Social Justice Collaborative (MSJC)
New on our website!!
We stopped the cuts – for now. Click here for an update on the Federal budget battle.
An Epiphany Prayer with a social justice flavor. Click here.
Take the Poverty Quiz. Click here.
Visit us at: www.msjc.net
Remember - Our website is interactive. We’d like to hear from you! Just get a password and you can enter into current discussions with other MSJC members or start a new discussion. NOTE – if you are using the AOL browser, you can view the website but may not be able to enter any of the discussions with that browser.
Scroll down to read the following items:
Issue Team Updates – visit our website for more details
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Anti-Racism
- The Marishka Lay Marianist Community in Cincinnati is the latest to sign the Pledge to Eliminate Racism. Each member will work on personal racism issues and hold one another accountable by sharing their individual efforts at regular meetings. They took this approach because so many members are in different works and stretched very thin. They began the process with help from Bros. Bob Wiethorn and Bill Grundish who shared from what they had learned at a Recovery from Racism workshop. Click here to read how other Marianist communities and individuals are responding.
- Why not use the Pledge to Eliminate Racism (click here) as part of your Martin Luther King Day observance on Jan. 16? It’s a fitting way to remember King.
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Environment & Ecology
- Make a New Year's resolution to support local farmers - click here to find out how.
- Death Penalty
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The Death Penalty Information Center's 2005 Report reveals record low death sentences, encouraging legislative action, and increased Supreme Court restrictions. “The year 2005 may be remembered as the year that life without parole became an acceptable alternative to the death penalty in the U.S.,” said Richard Dieter, the DPIC's Executive Director. More information, plus a copy of the Report and of a Washington Post year-end editorial about the current status of the death penalty, is available at http://www.msjc.net/DeathPenalty/default.aspx.
- Looking for useful tools for discussing the death penalty with teen-agers? Click here to find out about a resource for high school teachers and students that includes flexible lesson plans, teacher overviews, and objectives meeting national educational standards
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Sweatshop Labor
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Contact Wal-Mart about worker rights. Click here for details.
- NEEDED – a $1 million loan. We are continuing to pursue start-up financing for the worker owned garment factory in Bangladesh. Any ideas? Contact Al Prendergast at alprendergast@sbcglobal.net.
Steering Committee News
ACT NOW! Be an Advocate for Justice
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Ten ways to take action to stop genocide in Darfur. Click here.
- The Campaign for American Leadership in the Middle East (CALME) is a new effort to promote more active American involvement in finding a peaceful solution to the Israeli/Palestinian conflict. Click here to sign their petition to the president.
Resources – know any good ones? Share them with us.
- Dying to Live - New video is a profound look at the human face of the immigrant. It explores who these people are, why they leave their homes and what they face in their journey. Available at www.nd.edu/~latino/units/dying_video.htm
- The End of Poverty: Economic Possibilities for our Times by Jeffrey Sachs. A book that shatters the myths about why poor countries don’t progress.
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Poverty in America – fact sheet. Click here.
- Marianist NGO at the UN – click here to read the Jan. report
Websites Worth Visiting
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www.povertyusa.org – provides the facts about poverty in America and what you can do to make a difference.
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www.ourvoicestogether.org – an organization started by U. of Dayton grad Gene Steuerle whose wife Norma, also a UD grad, died in the 9/11 attack. Their aim is to provide ways for people to respond positively to the reality of terrorism.
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www.global-mindshift.org – promotes new ways of thinking and new models of behavior to help change the world for the better.
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www.thegreenlife.org – aims to help consumers “to navigate the onslaught of eco-friendly rhetoric, show you legitimate ways that your choices can make a difference, and expose companies that exaggerate or lie about their environmental commitment.”
Events
Catholic Social Ministry Gathering. Feb. 10-15, 2006 in Washington DC. Brings together social justice ministry leadership from national Catholic organizations, offices, dioceses and parishes throughout the country. Click here for details.
A Thought to Ponder
Although we didn’t get all the victories I would like to have had, it was the journey itself that meant everything – it was the people I met on the way, it was the causes, the hope; it was the courage I’ve seen displayed in so many human hearts, that made me know that I was always on the right track.
Paul Robeson
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