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Justice Jottings #5
September 2004
An Email Update from the Marianist Social Justice Collaborative (MSJC)


New on our website!!

Sweatshop Workers Tour begins Sept. 26 - Information/itinerary of the nationwide tour of 3 garment workers from Bangladesh.
New Justice Reflection - on the resurgence of nuclear weapons
Looking Backward, Looking Forward - an essay on Marianists doing social justice within the American culture

Visit us at:  www.msjc.net

The website is now interactive.  All you have to do is get a password and you can enter into discussions with other MSJC members about social justice issues. 
NOTE - if you are using the AOL browser, you can view the website but cannot enter any of the discussions with that browser.


Scroll down to read over the following items:

  •    Issue Team Updates
  •    MSJC Steering Committee Update
  •    Resources
  •    Election Statement - consider signing this
  •    A Thought to Ponder

Issue Team Updates

  • Ecology & Environment
    • Looking for cloth shopping bags so you don't have to use so many plastic ones?  We will have some ready in just a few months.  Click here for more information.
    • TAKE ACTION - International trade issues have huge implications for the environment and many other justice issues.  We're concerned especially about negotiations on CAFTA, the proposed Central America free trade agreement similar to NAFTA.  Click here to learn more about what you can do..
  •  Anti-Racism
    • Team members Ted Cassidy, Jesse Hernandez and Paul Marshall are writing a corporate Statement on Racism that will be submitted to the Marianist Family Council.  All Marianist Communities and institutions will be asked to pledge to this statement. 
    • Rudy Vela, Franklin Pao and Ted Cassidy, in collaboration with Sister Caroljean Willie SC, are preparing a method to offer the Cultural Audit process to Marianists. The Cultural Audit is a tool to grasp the influence of culture. The Center for the Study of Religious Life www.ctu.edu/GetToKnowUs/study.htm developed the Audit.
    • Villanova U. in Philadelphia is offering a workshop on racism November 18-19, . For further information contact  www3.villanova.edu/mission/journal/racism/program.htm 
  • Sweatshop Labor
    • The nationwide tour of garment workers from Bangladesh is about to begin.  The workers will be talking at Marianist schools in Cincinnati, Dayton and St. Louis. Try to take in one of the presentations if they come to your area.  Click here to see the entire itinerary.
  • Death Penalty
    • Bro. Frank O'Donnell, SM will be attending the Second World Congress to Abolish the Death Penalty October 6-9 in Montréal, Canada. To find out more about the World Congress visit: http://www.montreal2004.org/indexb.php 
    • October 22-24 - Amnesty International's Weekend of Faith and Action on the Death Penalty.  AI invites individuals of all faiths to devote that weekend to the death penalty issue. Reach out and initiate a dialogue with members of your faith communities. To read more about this initiative or to attend or host an event in your area visit: http://www.amnestyusa.org/faithinaction. 
    • Plans are underway for Bill Pelke, co-founder of "Journey of Hope...From Violence to Healing" and a murder victim family member, to speak at Marianist institutions in Hawaii the week of January 3-7, 2005. More details soon. If you have questions about Bill's visit to Hawaii or you would like to have Bill or a similar speaker for an event in your area, please contact, Bro. Brian Halderman, SM at brianhalderman@yahoo.com. 

      

MSJC Steering Committee

  • Met recently with the Marianist Province USA Retreat Planning Committee to discuss ways to integrate a justice focus within the 2005 retreats.
  • Had several discussions to work out an effective and mutually beneficial relationship between MSJC and the SM Peace and Justice Office and its new director, Myles McCabe.

Election Statement
       Sr. Joan Chittister and Martin Sheen, through Pax Christi USA, are inviting Catholics throughout the country to join them in a statement titled "Life Does
       Not End at Birth - Catholics Called to Vote for the Common Good." It reminds politicians, church leaders and the media that we are called to vote for  candidates based on the full range of issues that impact the common good.  To sign on to this statement, go to www.paxchristiusa.org.


Resources - know any good ones?  Share them with us

  • "Whose Birthday Is It, Anyway?" is a 31 page booklet that offers many ideas for avoiding the commercialization of Christmas and promoting a Christ centered holiday.  Available from Alternatives for Simple Living - www.SimpleLiving.org
  • "Eyes Wide Open" is a multimedia journey through the words, images, and sounds of the Iraq War.  Developed by the American Friends Service Committee, the exhibit aims to put a human face on the Iraq War, to spotlight the deaths of both US soldiers and Iraqi civilians, and to urge US government accountability in Iraq.  MSJC is supporting the display in Dayton on Sept. 24-27.For more information and dates and places the exhibit will appear - www.eyes.afsc.org. 

A Thought to Ponder
       "If everyone in the world says they want peace, how can we still have nuclear bombs?  Somebody in the world must be lying." 
                                                         Joan G. (age 10) in Please Save My World