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://old.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