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Justice Jottings
July 2005
An Email Update from the Marianist Social Justice Collaborative (MSJC)
New on our website!!
The Adele Social Justice Project is planning a social justice immersion
weekend for young adults - Oct. 7-9. Click here for more info.
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. Once you've got a password, click here to check out the interesting comments on the relationship
between justice and charity. 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 over the following items:
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Issue Team Updates
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Be an Advocate for Justice - on fighting global poverty and CAFTA
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Events - Live 8 concerts, Pax Christi & Voice of the Faithful national gatherings
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Resources
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A Thought to Ponder
Issue Teams Update - see the website for more details
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Anti-Racism
Click here to read a summary of the work of our sub-group, the Cultural Audit team, in promoting awareness and appreciation of differences that too often divide us.
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Ecology & Environment
Do you know where your food comes from? This is a great time of year for people who love good food - and who doesn't? Farm markets and roadside stands are popping up all over, with offerings that are tastier and more fresh than their out of season counterparts. But superior produce is only one of many benefits to buying local. You'll also keep food dollars in the local economy longer, support small-scale family farmers and protect the environment. The Environment and Ecology team has made it easy for you to find out what is in season in your area, locate a farm market or u-pick stand and learn more about the globalization of our food supply and the benefits of buying local. So go ahead and put your money where your mouth is - click here.
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Anti-death penalty activists are converging on Washington, D.C. for the 12th Annual Fast & Vigil to Abolish the Death Penalty. "Starvin' for Justice" runs from 12am Wednesday, June 29 through midnight Saturday, July 2 - four days of activities commemorating the historic 1972 and 1976 Supreme Court rulings that suspended the death penalty in the United States and later allowed executions to resume. More information and a link to the daily schedule are posted on the Team's web page. And remember -- participation at a distance - through prayer, fasting, and local vigils and events in your own community - can also be a very meaningful way to support the cause.
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Article 3 of the Universal Declaration of Human Rights states that "Everyone has the right to life, liberty and security of person." It also inspired the name of the newsletter published by Murder Victims' Families for Human Rights. MVFHR hopes ARTICLE 3 will become an important new resource for their effort to change the public discourse about the death penalty from one that takes place in a criminal justice context to a discussion about Human Rights. More information about -- and a link to -- the first issue are on the Team's web page.
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Sweatshop Labor
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Watch the Dateline program, "Human Costs Behind Bargain Shopping," online - www.msnbc.msn.com/id/8243331/ - describing sweatshops in Bangladesh that make Wal-Mart products. The program features one of the garment workers MSJC helped bring to the US for the sweatshop tour last fall. Then join the National Labor Committee's efforts to change the situation there. Visit www.nlcnet.org/news to find out how.
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Click here to read the article in the recent U. of Dayton Quarterly that detailed the meeting between UD students and Lee Scott, CEO of Wal-Mart, including extensive comments by Al Prendergast, chair of the Sweatshop Team.
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War and Peace
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"National Week of Faith & Action on Darfur" (Fri. July 8 - Sun., July 17). Click here to download a faith action packet from the Save Darfur Coalition. Resources available from Sojourners on how to organize public events and vigils to call attention to the Darfur crisis. Click here for more info.
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4 college students joined chair Laola Hironaka FMI and team member Floyd Contreras to do lobbying in Washington DC. Among others, they had meetings with Senators Akaka (HA) and Clinton (NY). Click here to get the details about their experience.
Be an Advocate for Justice
- Join the ONE Campaign to Make Poverty History. Click here to send a message to President Bush about the need to focus on global poverty at the G8 summit in Scotland on July 6th.
- Since President Bush has voiced his desire for passage of the Central American Free Trade Agreement (CAFTA) by July 4, the next few days are crucial for lobbying our Senators and Representatives. Click here to take action.
Resources - know any good ones? Share them with us
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"The New Ownership Society," a recent article in The Nation magazine, describes (very much in the spirit of Fr. Ferree) a "community-benefiting ownership society" that stands as a critique of the administration's elitist & individualist version of "ownership". Click here to read it.
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Events
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Live 8 Concerts - On Sat. July 2, many international stars are giving free concerts around the world to raise awareness about issues of poverty. Gatherings and marches will also take place in these locations. Please make sure that youth and young adults at your family, parish, school, or organization, are aware and involved. For more information visit www.live8live.com.
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Pax Christi national conference - "Many Stories, One Vision for a Nuclear-Free World." Aug. 4-7, Las Vegas and the Nevada nuclear test site. Click here for more info.
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Voice of the Faithful national meeting - "The Laity Speak: Accountability Now." July 8-10, Indianapolis. Click here for more info.
A Thought to Ponder
"Never place a period where God has placed a comma,"
- Gracie Allen | |
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