Economic Justice is Added to Our Social Justice Priorities

Economic justice is added to our social justice priorities Forty people participatedin the third annual
Faith in Action issues election on September 14.The goal of the meeting wasto review our church’s social action program and set priorities for socialaction for the coming year.

First, we reviewed the work of the Hunger Task Force (HTF). Cathie Gentile,the founding chair, explained that the HTF now has three main components thatfunction independently: (1) Paula Bernstein coordinates food sorts at the WestsideFood Bank; (2) Janet Goodwin coordinates the preparation of dinners at TurningPoint; and (3) Lyn Armondo coordinatesmonthly meal preparation for Step Up on Second. Continuation of this programunder this leadership was endorsed unanimously. Cathie was warmly thanked forher wonderful work on the task force since its creation in 2001.

Next, we reviewed the work of the Peace Committee. S.J. Guidotti, the committee’schair, briefly described the committee’s charge and his vision for thefuture, including an expanded emphasis on civil liberties. His proposed planswere unanimously endorsed.

Nominations for additional social action issues were considered. Five programareas were nominated, four of which were included in the final vote. The issuesand their votes are as follows: a proposal for economic justice for low wageworkers in the hotel industry (20 votes); a proposal for at-risk youth involvingthe development of urban gardens (6 votes); a proposalto promote universal health care (2 votes); and, a proposal to expand and deepenour congregational involvement in the United Nations (2 votes).

The congregation has spoken. Economic justice for low wage workers will beadded to our congregational list of high priority social action programs. CathieGentile will lead this effort, assisted by the Rev. Judith Meyer and the Rev.Alexia Salvatierra of Clergy and Laity United for Economic Justice (CLUE).

— Charles Haskell
Chair, Faith in Action Commission

The Peace Committee Chair Reports at September 14 Town Hall Meeting

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