Faith In Action News Archive
Peace. This is obviously something we don’t have. If I went around theroom, I’m sure that everyone could come within an ambush or two of thenumber of Americans who have died in Iraq — just as I am equally certainthat no one in this room could tell me how many Iraqis have died in Iraq. Thisis, of course, a trick question. No one could. We’ve made it a deliberatepolicy not to count Iraqi dead or wounded. Take, for example, the friendly firekilling of eight Iraqi police officers at a roadblock in Fallouja. Initiallythe Pentagon acknowledged the death of only one officer. Presumably, the manyfunerals were burying the living.
This has, in the past year, become our everyday reality, or rather, non-reality.Has there been any situation this side of “we had to destroy the villagein order to save it” that cried out more clearly for opposition by peopleof good will?
If this were not enough, the same government that perpetuates this grosslyexpensive fraud at the expense of health care, education, and the environment,all the while cutting taxes for the richest Americans — this same you’vetaken from the Santa Monica Library or bought through Amazon.com, and who maynow imprison you without the right of habeas corpus or keep you from seeingan attorney or judge merely by the declaration that you are an enemy combatant.
This is the twin charge of the Peace Committee: to oppose this intolerableoccupation of a foreign nation and to preserve those liberties that make usAmericans. If you have ideas or energy to commit to these goals, then pleasejoin our committee. Yes, your assistance will be greatly appreciated for ourongoing lecture series, and the many vigils and protests in which we’vetaken part.
But if you have new ideas, if you’ve ever said to yourself that stillseems good to you, then perhaps you should join our committee, share that idea,and lead others to its fruition.
The Peace Committee meets in the 17th Street building at 7 p.m. on the firstWednesday of each month
— S.J. Guidotti
FIA Audience Gets Firsthand Glimpses of Life in Baghdad Before and After War
Kelly Hayes-Raitt was the 10th speaker in the Faith in Action series. Her talkon August 29 was sponsored by the Peace Committee. Hayes-Raitt had just returnedfrom her second trip to Iraq. Her first was weeks before the cruise missileshit Baghdad and her most recent was in July, where the absence of electricity,continuing gunfire, and 120-degree heat definitelymade it the off-season for tourism.
Hayes-Raitt, whose Iraqi experiences have appeared recently in the Santa Monicapress, reported on her many conversations with civilians who suffered throughthe Bush administration’s bombings, bombings supposedly conducted to protectU.S. civilians from yet-to-be-found weapons of mass destruction. She pointedout that this occurred despite opposition by every major religious group inthe world, making this the first time in history that such unanimity of opinionoccurred prior to war.
She exhorted the crowd to join her three-pronged personal response to our currentsituation. First, to examine how we can conserve energy to end our addictionto the Middle-Eastern oil; second, to prepare to Iraq for the political onslaughtof the Bush candidacy in 2004, which will doubtlessly center on waving the flagat ground zero; and lastly, to reclaim our stake in the world rather than lettingthe administration invoke “God”on their side to continue their aggression.
An ominous ending note settled over the Friday evening crowd when Hayes-Raittrelated the story of a Bechtel representative hiring local contractors for thelucrative task of rebuilding Iraq. When the interviewer turned down a candidate,he told him to be optimistic and stay in touch because “we might havesomething for you later, in Iran.”
— Melinda Ewen
Our third annual issues election is Sept. 14
Do you feel passionately about feeding the hungry, housing the poor, payingworkers a living wage, reining in the Patriot Act, or reinvigorating the UnitedNations? Do you want our church to become involved in prison reform? Would youlike us to work for universal access to health care? Is there some other socialjustice issue or concern that you feel we should tackle?
The Faith in Action (FIA) Commission is responsible for coordinating the witnessand advocacy program of our church for issues such as these. Each SeptemberFIA holds an all-church, town hall meeting to review FIA programs and to prioritizesocial action activities for the coming year. This year’s annual issueselection will be held after church on September 14. It is the third such electionsince FIA was created in September 2000 and the first since FIA was formallyestablished by congregational vote in May 2003.
The meeting will be in two parts. First, we will review current FIA activitiesrelated to peace, civil liberties, hunger, economic justice, and our newly recognizedstatus as a UU Welcoming Congregation. Members of the congregation attendingthe issues election will have an opportunity to ask questions about these programsand make recommendations about whether or not these programs should be continued.
The second part of the meeting will consist of small group discussions aboutideas for new social action programs and topics. These ideas for the futurewill be pooled and prioritized by group vote. New FIA programs, if any, willbe based on this process.
FIA is committed to focusing our witness and advocacy activities on thoseissues of greatest interest to the congregation. Please come to the annual issueselection on September 14 so we can determine your priorities and be responsiveto your most pressing concerns.
Charles M. Haskell
Chair, FIA Commission
Personal Opinion Letters and Essays are Invited for the FIA Bulletin
A major theme of the first issue of the FIA Bulletinwas our church’s statement of conscience opposing unilateral preventivewar in Iraq. Because of this statement, Faith in Action was able to speak forthe church on this issue and we worked hard to make our congregational voteknown to the press and our congressional representatives.
Shortly after the first issue of the FIA Bulletin was published in mid-March,our country attacked Iraq without seeking final approval from the United Nations.By the time the second issue was published in June, President Bush had declaredvictory in Iraq and our country was in the throes of trying to “win thepeace.” Consequently, the theme of the second issue was speaking to (notfor) the congregation on issues of peace, civil liberties and social justice.
As we approach publication of the third issue of the FIA Bulletin in September,the goal is to expand congregational participation in discussing these issues.It is important for us to understand each other’s diverse views. To helpus do this, I would like to invite the members of our congregation to submitmaterial for possible publication in future issues. Essays, letters, poems,photographs, and other original documents expressing the personal opinions ofchurch members on issues of peace, civil liberty and social justice will beconsidered on a space available basis. Letters and essays may be edited forpurposes of space or clarity. Further details about submitting material forpossible publication may be found in the most recent version of the FIA Bulletin,which can be found at http://archive.uusm.org/fia0603.pdf.
The deadline for submission of original material for the next issue of theFIA Bulletin is September 1. Material may be sent to me bye-mail at chaskell@ucla.edu or placedin the Faith in Action box in the church office. Won’t you join our growinglist of authors?
Won’t you share your views, so we can learn from each other?
Charles M. Haskell
Chair, Faith in Action Commission
Speakers Past and Future are Part of FIA Program
Our congregational statement of conscience against unilateral preventive warin Iraq was part of a global battle to avert war in that troubled region andto derail the Bush doctrine of American imperialism. Nevertheless, preventivewar was launched without the full support of the United Nations Security Council.
We now find ourselves in a new battle — the battle for peace in theMiddle East. Nobody knows just how long this will take and how much it willcost. Personally, I believe our country is morally bound to help repair whatwe have destroyed. That means a full commitment to the process of nation buildingin the region. But what does nation building require? Can our country do itby ourselves? Who should be our partners? Should our country punish those whoopposed the war?
As a dedicated peace site, our church has a responsibility to its members andto the community to explore the meaning of these events. The FIA speaker seriesis one way of educating ourselves about such matters.
We have had three Faith in Action speakers since war was declared in March2003. On April 25 G. Wayne Glass, Ph.D., spoke about the Bushdoctrine. During his talk he offered to return to our church to conduct a workshopon how to be an effective advocate for a cause. We plan to offer his workshopon “Lobbying 101” in the near future. 
OnMay 30 Olivier Plancon, the deputy consul general in the FrenchConsulate of Los Angeles, discussed the role of the United Nations in timesof crisis. He concluded that France and the United States will and must remainpartners in foreign affairs, especially in Iraq and the Middle East. On June13 Ambassador A. Engin Ansay of the Turkish Consulate of LosAngeles discussed the question, “Can the United States impose democracyon the Middle East?” His conclusion was simple: democracy cannot be imposed,but the Republic of Turkey proves that democracy is feasible in a largely Muslimcountry as long as the government is secular and there is a clear separationof church and state.
FIA is planning monthly speakers starting in the Fall. Feedback about priorspeakers and suggestions for the future are welcome.
-- Charles M. Haskell
Chair, Faith in Action
The Westside Shelter and Hunger Coalition
Survival can be a daunting task for hungry and homeless people. They needhelp, whether the root cause of their plight is intrinsic (e.g., mental illness,drug addiction) or extrinsic (e.g., joblessness with no savings and investmentslimited to Enron stock). What can we do? How can we network with community organizationsdedicated to helping them? To answer, look to the Westside Shelter and HungerCoalition (WSHC).
The WSHC coordinates a wide variety of community resources for the homelessand hungry, including faith-based organizations like our own. Based on the resultsof our congregational issues elections, faith in action has been working closelywith three member organizations of the WSHC: the WestsideFood Bank, TurningPoint, and StepUp on Second. Cathie Gentile, chair of the hunger taskforce, has coordinated our involvement.
Our involvement with the Westside Food Bank and Turning Point has been exemplary.For Step Up on Second, however, we have a problem. We are committed to providingthem a major meal at 3:30 p.m. the fourth Saturday of each month. So far, wehave only barely met this commitment. We need to expand the number of peopleinvolved with this program for it to survive. Please contact Lyn Armondoif you are willing and able to help.
In addition, we support the WSHC through donations and committee participation.Marge Zifferblatt and I have been working with two committees— community outreach and annual service breakfast. The first is workingon ways to more fully engage the faith-based community in the work of the WSHC.The second involves planning the annual celebration of people who have successfullynavigated the difficult path from homelessness to self sufficiency.
I am proud we value community service. Donating time and effort is a form ofgenerosity we can all afford, irrespective of economic circumstance. However,we can do more. As a matter of faith, I think we can and should be even moregenerous with our community. In that spirit, I invite you to donate time andeffort providing food for the mentally ill people cared for at Step Up on Secondand to continue your support of our hunger task force.
-- Charles M. Haskell
Chair, Faith in Action
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Hotel Workers Win Election for Union Representation
Housekeepers at the Marriott Santa Monica Le Merigot hotel voted 27 to 19 November 15 to be represented by UNITE-HERE Local 11, despite two weeks of anti-union efforts by management, ownership, and an anti-union consulting firm. Our minister and members of our congregation, working with Clergy and Laity United for Economic Justice (CLUE), were at the workers’ side throughout. (For the beginning of this campaign, see our November newsletter .)
Management scheduled a series of “captive-audience meetings,” as labor unions call them, to start November 8. Seven workers were told to come to the first meeting, at 8:30 am. Instead, the entire shift of about 20 housekeepers showed up, along with five community supporters. The workers insisted that they all go into the meeting together. The general manager at first refused, but when the workers proved adamant, he backed down. The workers, along with their supporters, poured into the conference room.
Standing room only! The consultants, two lawyers from Kentucky, had their laptops and mouths open, but it was the workers who dominated the meeting. Much back and forth, in English and Spanish. Frequent efforts by management to get the supporters to leave. We stayed.
After about 30 minutes, the voice of one of the housekeepers pierced the hubbub: “Can we go back to work?” Others echoed her cry. The manager said the meeting was not compulsory (this was news to the invited seven). Seventeen of the workers walked out; three remained.
The following day, management and their consultants started a new tactic. They’d go into a room that a housekeeper was cleaning and hold a captive-audience meeting of one captive worker. The owner of the hotel arrived from his corporate office in Kentucky and informed the workers that if only they’d put off union organizing for a few months, he’d take care of their problems, such as low wages, overwork, not getting legally required breaks and lunch periods, and disrespectful and abusive treatment by managers.
Most of the workers replied, in essence, “Where have you been for the past 15 years,” and continued organizing. One of the housekeepers told me, “The owner thinks we are a bunch of stupid Latinas, but he’s the stupid one if he thinks we can’t see through his lies.” Another added, “They tell us we’ll make less money because the union will take dues from our checks. But if they were not going to have to pay us more, why would they care? Besides, we’ve seen the paystubs of the housekeepers next door, at the Viceroy [a unionized hotel]. They make $4 an hour more than we do.”
The workers’ next battle is to negotiate a contract with management. We are likely to have many opportunities to continue to support these brave workers as they fight for higher pay and better working conditions. Our Peace & Social Justice Committee has sponsored marches on Oceanfront Walk against three killings in Venice, two by police and one by a hotel owner and his security guard. Supporting the housekeepers at Le Merigot, just up the beach from Venice, is another front in the anti-racist (and anti-sexist) struggle.
— Rick Rhoads