The International Unofficial Unitarian Jihad

From earlier

2009-07-10T21:48:57Z

as a reply to post earlier than today is this:

I try my best to help an LJ friend of mine [info]dougri, run his charity site that he started on here, http://community.livejournal.com/charityclickers/ , and I am not keeping up with it as well as I could be. This is due to some health crisis I am currently under.

Would you be interested in helping out to see that these sites get posted there on the days I "flake out" ( but not on purpose)?

Save The World - One Click At A Time!

On each of these websites, you can click a button to support the cause -- each click creates funding, and costs you nothing! and click once a day!

Let me know if you'd like to help and I can send you the HTML links to post in here.

This one looks good to me

2009-07-10T21:38:09Z

I post this in hopes of making a positive difference; it's the Habitat for Humanity action requested today to legislators http://secure.habitat.org/c.fpIQK4OyFkG/b.5287815/k.BD8/Ask_Congress_Support_Neighborhood_Revitalization/siteapps/advocacy/ActionItem.aspx that I can no longer access but you should be able to. (Sorry this link is not better.)

The Jihad seems *very* sluggish.

NorWesCon brunch

2009-04-07T14:51:51Z

Hey, all -- I've not heard anyone calling a poly munch at NorWesCon yet, so I'm doing it. This isn't a specifically poly group, but y'all are a lovely bunch of nuts and I'd like to share a meal with y'all anyway. Anyone for brunch on Sunday? In deference to those who keep more normal 'con hours than I do, let's set the time for 10:30am. I'm a stranger to the area, so I'll hunt for the nearest good breakfast spot as soon as I'm up there on Friday

A daily click to help Animal Shelters

2008-12-09T15:22:30Z

It has been a while since I've seen one of these posted here: http://www.theanimalrescuesite.com/clickToGive/home.faces?siteId=3&ThirdPartyClicks=ERA_100108_100KChallenge

Happy Holidays! Keep the jihad going! =D

A New(?) Petition to Impeach

2008-11-11T18:30:46Z

Howdy everyone. I don't know if you'd be interested in this which I just got via email, though I'm posting because I think you might. Months ago I signed the petition that Representative Dennis Kucinich (D-OH) was circulating. Perhaps it's still here: http://impeachment.kucinich.us/
In any event, here's another one (below). Please feel free to disregard or forward, etc. as you please. Thanks! :-)

John Robey
"We must be the change we wish to see in the world." -- Mahatma Ghandi

The Question Must Be Asked

2008-11-06T08:08:37Z

Remembering http://www.sfgate.com/cgi-bin/article.cgi?file=/chronicle/archive/2005/04/08/DDG27BCFLG1.DTL and given the election of Barack Obama, will there will be coffee and cookies in the Gandhi Room?

If nothing else this election has taught me We the People must be much more proactively involved as citizens in our government at all levels. I imagine I'm preaching to the choir by including this link http://www.pbs.org/moyers/journal/10312008/profile.html to an interview with the president of Public Citizen and CEO/president of Common Cause.

A terror regime of hugging might be too much... Too late, love & hugs to you all.

New Unitarian Universalist Podcasts blog

2008-10-04T19:54:17Z

I've created a new syndicated feed for the Unitarian Universalist Podcast Directory, which I'm in the process of converting from a standard Web page to a blog.

uupodcasts is the feed for the blog, which is not yet complete but is more up-to-date than the old directory. Each state will have its own entry, as well as an entry for the District of Columbia and foreign UU podcasts, plus entries for similar religions such as Ethical Culture and radio programming that isn't UU-specific but may be of interest.

Contact CBS

2008-09-30T20:47:10Z

For those interested in electronic activism: http://healthcareforamericanow.org/page/speakout/debate

Here's what I wrote:

Dear Steve Chaggaris:
Please ask the candidates about their respective healthcare plans. Public access to affordable, quality health care is diminishing. Is health care a fundamental right of all Americans? Are all sectors of society stengthened when eveyone has health care? Is it more in-line with our values as a society to provide health care to all children, elderly, disabled, or any citizen rather than providing profits for 5%-0.5% of our population? Even as education is vital to our nation's future, isn't health care equally fundamental?

"THIS IS YOUR NATION ON WHITE PRIVILEGE"

2008-09-16T16:14:14Z

By Tim Wise

For those who still can’t grasp the concept of white privilege, or who are constantly looking for some easy-to-understand examples of it, perhaps this list will help.

White privilege is when you can get pregnant at seventeen like Bristol Palin and everyone is quick to insist that your life and that of your family is a personal matter, and that no one has a right to judge you or your parents, because “every family has challenges,” even as black and Latino families with similar “challenges” are regularly typified as irresponsible, pathological and arbiters of social decay.

White privilege is when you can call yourself a “fuckin’ redneck,” like Bristol Palin’s boyfriend does, and talk about how if anyone messes with you, you'll “kick their fuckin' ass,” and talk about how you like to “shoot shit” for fun, and still be viewed as a responsible, all-American boy (and a great son-in-law to be) rather than a thug....

White privilege is when you can claim that being mayor of a town smaller than most medium-sized colleges, and then Governor of a state with about the same number of people as the lower fifth of the island of Manhattan, makes you ready to potentially be president, and people don’t all piss on themselves with laughter, while being a black U.S. Senator, two-term state Senator, and constitutional law scholar, means you’re “untested.”  More here

Follow-up on the use of the word "church" for our congregations

2008-08-21T00:23:02Z

Just in case anyone's interested ... here's my follow-up to the post from a few days ago about the use of the term "church" to describe our congregations and the way it rankles some conservative Christians.

It basically states that other people's reactions to our use of the term isn't the first thing on our minds; it's not like the religious right takes the feelings of the left to heart.

Also, here's an update on the Knoxville shootings: the suspect was in court today, hit with a 10-count indictment that includes two counts of first-degree (premeditated) murder and six counts of attempted first-degree murder.

On a lighter note...

2008-08-03T23:47:56Z

This video has had over 800 viewers in one week. If you click here, you can go to their site and see it annotated in case you don't understand the lyrics - the "UUs" part is at the end:

Please pass it on!

My newspaper column on the Knoxville tragedy

2008-08-02T12:24:22Z

On the UU church shootings from last weekend -- giving people unfamiliar with Unitarian Universalism a quick primer on who we are, about the climate that led us to this point (and why in my opinion this was sad, but not surprising), why it's a mistake to think our gentle nature means we're weak, and where the hope is in such a situation.

I was particularly proud of the last paragraph, which came to me after I thought I was finished and was getting ready to e-mail the piece to the op-ed guys:

And when he gets a fair trial instead of a lynch mob, possibly with a public defender provided for him at no cost, then serves his time under humane conditions, he can get back to us on all the ways liberals have made his life more difficult.

That could have been a column of its own, in fact. And it might be, down the road.

Funny video!

2008-07-17T00:55:52Z

Maybe you already saw it - 140,000+ did, but I saw it for the first time today & had a good laugh. The best laugh is toward the end.

Walk for Change for Obama in Washington, DC - Sept. 13

2008-07-04T18:13:15Z

Sponsored by Diversity4Obama

Please help spread the word - see below.

More information here including links to PDF flier & poster and a t-shirt transfer.

Sign up here.

PLEASE SPREAD THE WORD!

Impeaching Bush & Cheney petitions

2008-06-25T23:30:36Z

I signed two of these today. This is (if memory serves) from PBS.org:

Thank you for signing our "Impeach George Bush and Dick Cheney" petition at:
http://www.democrats.com/peoplesemailnetwork/65

You can help make this petition a success by sharing this petition with your friends and family. Petitions will succeed only by word of mouth, and every signature makes a difference! Forward our sample email below, or simply send your friends this link:

Thank you again for making a difference!

Oh, but this is good!

2008-06-15T01:19:39Z

A friend pointed me to this piece on Deviant Art after a particularly grueling day of Liberally-Religious Managerial Support and Consciousness Raising. Blech. But this made it worth it!

http://ursulav.deviantart.com/art/St-Dodus-the-Intolerant-88641620

Support needed for Walk for Change in DC Sept. 13

2008-06-13T03:25:47Z

As a religious organization, we can't support a presidential candidate, but as individuals we can support a Walk for Change, organized by Diversity4Change.

I'm willing to provide home hospitality if needed. I've suggested singing during the walk and of course, I've picked songs from our hymnals. There are also songs written for Obama that we can sing. We'll also have speakers after the walk and people are starting to sign up to speak.

Sign up to join us: http://my.barackobama.com/page/event/detail/wrbz

And please help spread the word.

x-post to chalice_circle

Are irony & sarcasm similar?

2008-06-04T18:43:30Z

The Science of Sarcasm (Not That You Care) was sent to me because I've been diagnosed with frontal brain atrophe. When I was being forced to go to the hospital recently, I yelled out "I'm going to write a book!" in my poor attempt to keep from going. I thought I'd write about all the irony there. A hospital is no place for sick people. I wonder if Jon Carroll will stop being funny to me.

- Sister Broadsword of Reasoned Discussion
co-moderator unitarian_jihad

Are irony & sarcasm similar?

2008-06-04T18:41:36Z

The Science of Sarcasm (Not That You Care) was sent to me because I've been diagnosed with frontal brain atrophe. When I being forced to go to the hospital recently, I yelled out "I'm going to write a book!" in my poor attempt to keep from going. I thought I'd write about all the irony there. A hospital is no place for sick people. I wonder if Jon Carroll will stop being funny to me.

UTAH PHILIPS--Farewell Fellow Worker

2008-05-26T23:52:33Z

I know most folks will be suprized that I have not posted one of Utah Philips labor songs as here. But I trust you will find them. There are links in the text below.Instead, I picked a hauntinly beautiful song from his first album back in 1973. Going Away strikes me as the perfect song for for an old hobo. Good bye, Fellow Worker.

I was just leaving church yesterday after the Memorial Sunday service when my cell phone went off. It was my old Fellow Worker Penny Pixler from Chicago. No offense to Penny, but it usually isn’t good news to get a phone call from her. It almost always means that one of Wobblies has died. This time it was Bruce Philips, better known to the world as U. Utah Philips, Golden Voice of the Great Southwest.

Utah belongs to that small, select club of those who have been affiliated over their lives with both Unitarian Universalism and the Industrial Workers of the World (IWW.) I’m another. Although legendary for his association with the IWW and his seemingly bottomless bag of labor folklore collected from the lips of hobos, agitators, organizers, and home guard heroes and heroines alike, most UU’s were not aware of his long connections. That despite the fact that he must, like any touring folk musician, have performed at scores of UU churches and events over the years and even recorded a live album at a Unitarian Universalists for a Just Ecconomic Community (UUJEC)—Making Speech Free event.

He told me once that some of the first songs he ever wrote were intended for a Unitarian hymnal at the Salt Lake congregation in the 1950’s. He was always good for a hilarious string of Unitarian jokes poking fun at our sometimes wishy-washy liberalism. For the last 14 years he was an active member of the UU Community of the Mountains near his beloved Nevada City, California.

I first met Fellow Worker Philips just about the time he first album came out, the absolutely wonderful Good Though. He came through Chicago on tour and we set up a IWW benefit performance at the old Quite Knight when it was still on Wells Street. I was a wet-behind-the-ears 23 year old General Secretary Treasurer of the One Big Union. I had him over for a stroganoff dinner and we spent hour trading stories—his were more interesting and numerous and songs. I heard him perform many times since then. The last time was at the 100th anniversary concert for the IWW held, fittingly, at People’s Church in 2005.

Penny pointed out that Utah, like the late Carlos Cortez and a handful of others he was one of the few of the generation in between the Old Timer veterans of the union’s tumultuous early days and punks like me emerging from the New Left and the Vietnam protest movement. He was the transmitter of the wisdom from the Old Timers like Herb Edwards, Art Nurse, Frank Cederval and many others first two us and then subsequent generations. I was privileged to have known some of the surviving old timers myself and know what a treasure they were.

A few years ago punk folk artist Ani DiFranco introduced Utah to my daughter Maureen’s generation on the albums The Past Didn't Go Anywhere and Fellow Workers. Utah’s songs and stories have been responcible for influencing generations of rebels, rabble rousers and radicals. He was in the direct tradition of Joe Hill, Woody Guthrie, and Pete Seger. Seger was one of many folk musicians organizing benefits for Utah’s medical expences when Bruce died..

Utah’s family posted his official obituary

To sample Utah’s songs and stories check out his clips on You Tube.

--Brother Broadsword of Enlightenment

The colour Orange - for Tibet

2008-05-09T23:32:07Z

I just learnt about this project, which I think would be of great interest to the Unitarian Jihad:

http://www.thecolororange.net/uk/
http://www.colourlovers.com/blog/2008/05/09/colors-of-a-cause-the-color-orange-project/

What a great excuse to wear such a festive colour.

My turn

2008-05-09T12:46:51Z

I'm linking to this fascinating article about the forgotten Jewish sex slaves in Auschwitz:

http://liz-marcs.livejournal.com/328621.html

And to counterbalance that story just a little, this is most heart-warming story I saw this week: injured softballer carried around by the opposing team for her home run

http://nbcsports.msnbc.com/id/24392612/

"In the Last Gilded Age..."

2008-05-07T17:16:32Z

Here's a link to an article some in the IUUJ may find of interest: http://www.alternet.org/workplace/83668/?page=entire Best wishes to us all in making a positive difference.

Emporer Norton I

2008-05-02T15:31:42Z

I am a regular participant in the UUHistory Chat list serve. Today we received the following post, I thought might be of interest here.

In doing research for my sermon this Sunday I have discovered that

Joshua Abraham Norton, otherwise known as Norton I, the Emperor of

The United States, frequently attended the First Unitarian Society in

San Francisco. Apparently he was very fond of Dr. Horatio Stebbins.

Two of the Emperor's decrees deal with religious subjects and both

call for religious unity and/or the establishment of a Universal

Religion. Just out of curiosity, has anyone ever written about

Norton's Unitarian connection? I realize that he is not much of

subject for serious scholarship but he is one of the better loved

eccentrics in U.S. history and a patron saint of the Discordians.

love,

Colin

The Emperor Norton is one of those eccentric figures who cannot help but bring a smile to the lips. An absurd figure, he became beloved by his adopted San Francisco which honored his eccentricities, and even honored is self-produced script. After his death in 1880 one observer noted that his story would only be possible in San Francisco, "the most sentimental city in the world." In the '60's he was resurrected as a popular counter cultural hero. He was incorporated as saint in the faux religion, The Discordian Society propounded by Robert Anton Wilson and in their cult classic Illuminatus Trilogy. I believe Robert ShayWilson (an old acquaintance from my days as a Chicago Wobbly and anarchist), who died last year, had some UU connections.

Sounds like a Unitarian Jihad kind of guy

--Brother Broadsword of Enlightenment

Site Pimping

2008-05-02T02:49:43Z

Two websites that we've been using a lot lately:

1. Goodsearch.com

I found this on one of my lj comms (I'm pretty sure it wasn't here) back in March. One penny of the ad revenue from the site will be sent to the charity of your choice (out of a list of more than 58,000) for every search.

2. Freerice.com

A relatively new site from John Breen (started October 2007), creator of thehungersite.com, freerice.com is a vocabulary game that gives 20 grains of rice to the UN's World Food Programme for every correct answer. We use the site as a sporadic part of my son's required reading for school. The site passed the 30 billion grain mark yesterday.