MUUSJA Connection
Minnesota Unitarian Universalist Social Justice Alliance
March 16, 2011
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Greetings!
There has been plenty happening at the Minnesota Capitol. On February 23rd, Governor Dayton was the first Minnesota governor to speak at a ProChoice Lobby Day! And the February 10th People of Faith Rally for Marriage Equality turned out a lot of UUs, many were very visible in Standing on the Side of Love t-shirts. Check out MVUUF's Rev. David Breeden's passionate speech at the rally! A great group of RE youth from the UU Church of Minnetonka brought Valentines for Rep. Smith and UUCM youth  | the 22 legislators who represent the various members of UUCM. After the marriage rally, they met with Rep. Steve Smith (R-Mound) to hand-deliver his Valentines. There was a respectful dialog, though not agreement on the issue of marriage equality. The youth asked him about whether Mound could add a domestic partner registry, as they had just heard at the rally that one one million Minnesotans now live in cities that offer partner registries. Rep. Smith offered to help the youth contact the Mound mayor and City Council! Now we can build on the great energy of the faith rally: OutFront Minnesota's justFair Lobby Day is coming up on Thursday, April 14th. We expect a renewed push to ban same-sex marriage and civil unions. The bill to amend may not come till 2012, but we need to stand for love now and send a message that an amendment is divisive, won't help families, won't create jobs, and will pit neighbor against neighbor.
MUUSJA is co-sponsoring events coming soon: This Saturday afternoon, March 19, there is a screening of the new film Fish Out of Water. And on Wednesday, April 6th, CEI-MN and MUUSJA are presenting an evening on Challenging Corporate Personhood.
Check out these and our many partner events and actions below, stay in touch, and join us as we work for together to advance our UU values! Ralph Wyman Your gift helps! Thank you.  | MUUSJA Director/Organizer 612-998-6624 |
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Fish out of Water
Exploring the impassioned relationship between the Bible and homosexuality
Saturday, March 19
3 - 5 pm
First Universalist Church 3400 Dupont Ave S., Minneapolis
This great one hour film combines animation with personal accounts to
explain the relationship between discrimination, religion and the bible.
The film puts the Bible in its
historical context and helps to teach that we must be the change we want
to see in our own institutions. Screening will be followed by a panel discussion with local clergy and activists.
Cosponsored by MUUSJA, Join the Impact - Twin Cities, and First Universalist Church. Film trailer and more about the project is here.
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 Challenging Corporate Personhood
An evening with David Cobb
Wednesday, April 6th, 7:30PM
Smail Gallery, Olin Rice Science Center
Snelling Ave near St. Clair Ave (building 13 on campus map)
Macalester College, St. Paul
David Cobb, former Green Party presidential candidate and democracy
expert, will discuss what can be done to reverse the implications of
"Corporate Personhood," including last year's controversial Supreme
Court ruling in Citizens United v. Federal Elections Commission that
said corporations have a constitutionally-protected right to unlimited
campaign spending.
How can we establish that human beings, not
corporations, are entitled to constitutional rights?
David Cobb is an impassioned speaker and an organizer with
MovetoAmend.org, a coalition of over 100,000 people and organizations
whose goal is to amend the United States Constitution to restrict
corporate power.
Sponsored by Common Cause Minnesota, Citizens for Election Integrity Minnesota, MPIRG, the Legal Studies Program at Macalester College and MUUSJA.
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MUUSJA Working Groups
Voting Rights The MN legislature is moving a bill that would require registered
voters to present a photo ID to vote. We strongly oppose this legislation. It is unnecessary, as demonstrated in a report co-authored by MUUSJA and CEIMN.org showing there were no cases of
fraud that a photo ID could detect. The bill is very expensive, at up to
$58 million dollars in fiscal 2012 alone.
And it would do harm, by establishing a barrier to voting for as many as 10% of legitimate voters.
We urge you to oppose the Photo ID bill by 1) signing this petition, 2) calling Governor Mark Dayton at 651-201-3400 to tell him you oppose Voter ID laws, and then 3) telling your friends why you oppose Photo ID requirements for registered voters.
MUUSJA EcoMinds meets on Tuesday, April 12, 7-8:30 pm at First Universalist Church. At the March meeting, EcoMinds designed a brief survey on our work, and urges anyone interested in environmental issues to click and answer these nine questions. Thank you!
UUs Out for Marriage We need you to attend OutFront MN's Lobby Day and rally on Thursday, April
14th at the Minnesota Capitol. Rally is at noon! 100s of
UU voices joining with many others can carry our message to legislators that love makes a family. Come Stand on the Side of Love with UUO4M.
The MUUSJA board will meet on Thursday, April 14, 3:00 pm at First Unitarian Society. All are welcome to join our monthly conversation on our UU work for justice!
Sacred Choices had fantastic turnout for the February Planned Parenthood event making
condom "roses." Mark your calendars now for Good Friday, April 22nd. The third annual Multi-Faith Pro-Choice Prayer Service will be in St.
Paul. Details in the next Connection
E-mail Ralph to find out more about any of our campaigns or to get connected to our volunteer working group leaders. Everyone is welcome at all events.
Many more events that our working group partner organizations host each month are on our facebook page and a new home page calendar, too.
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Immediate Action Alert: Protect the EPA
UU Ministry for Earth has asked all UU State Networks to take immediate action to protect the Environmental Protection Agency's ability to make rules regulating green house gasses. UUMFE's Climate Coalition is recommending this Credo action alert that will send an e-mail to your two US Senators.
MUUSJA's EcoMinds urges you to also call Senators Klobuchar and Franken. A brief, simple message to their staffers, saying "I support full authority for the EPA to regulate climate change pollutants. I urge the Senator to work to stop the House-passed spending bill that slashes EPA funding. Thank you" can make a huge difference. Time is short as the funding bill is moving fast.
Senator Klobuchar - toll free (888) 224-9043
Senator Franken - (202) 224-5641
 PSD Annual Conference
It Matters What We Believe
Des Moines, Iowa
April 8-10, 2011
Early registration deadline is this Friday, March 18
The PSD Annual Conference is a weekend
of lectures, workshops, worship, networking, and fellowship. The
conference begins at 7:00 PM on Friday and concludes at 10:30 AM
Sunday.
The Conference theme comes from a favorite reading in our
hymnal, "It Matters What We Believe" (#657) by a beloved UU religious
educator, Sophia Lyon Fahs.
MUUSJA, the PSD Social Justice Network and the PSD GRACE team also invite you to come early to the Conference for a special Friday pre-conference training: Mirrors of Privilege: Making Whiteness Visible. Based on a film of the same name, this dynamic workshop will combine video presentations, time for personal reflection and small group conversations to gain insight into what it means to challenge notions of racism.
Discounted group hotel rates are available for the conference, including arrival Thursday if you choose to attend Friday's all-day training. PSD Conference registration remains open through April 1, and on-site, but rates go up (and the hotel group rates close) after March 18. We hope to see you there!
Neighborhood Sustainability Conference
Saturday, April 9, 8:30am to 4:30pm
Central Lutheran Church,333 12th St. S Minneapolis
FREE but please pre-register
Over 500 community volunteers leading green teams with neighborhoods, transition towns, block clubs, schools, congregations and garden clubs will gather to share fun project ideas and hands on resources. Join up! Lunch is available for $5 (when preregistering). Parking @ Central Lutheran is $9 so carpooling & transit are encouraged.
OutFront Minnesota LGBT Lobby Day 
Help Stop Minnesota's "Prop 8"
Thursday, April 14
Lobby Day all day
Rally at Noon!
Minnesota State Capitol grounds, St. Paul
Register to let OutFront know you're coming!
Opponents of LGBT equality in the legislature have long sought to pass a
constitutional amendment banning any and all recognition of same-sex
relationships. The 2010 elections emboldened and empowered anti-LGBT
forces in government; now they are only waiting for the right moment to
unleash a Proposition 8-like ballot measure in Minnesota. Governor
Dayton cannot veto this effort. The rights and equality of your
friends, loved ones and communities will be put on the ballot when they do.
OutFront has an excellent web page that explains the day, the issues, and the actions really well. MUUSJA encourages you to come to the morning institutes that are offered at 9, 10 and 11 am in the State Office Building. There will be two sessions on speaking from faith, plus other great organizing tools and actions.
= If you can just come for one hour, the Rally at Noon is critical - let the Legislature know that so many voices call for fairness and equality! =
Multi-Faith Pro-Choice Prayer Service
Save the date: Friday morning, April 22
Witnessed the power of many faiths standing on the side of love for women's right to all reproductive health choices. Details in the next MUUSJA Connection e-news.
Aid for Japan
The UU Service Committee and the UUA have partnered to raise funds for the people of Japan as they face the massive tasks of recovering from the earthquake, tsunami, and nuclear disasters. The UUA and UUSC have developed relationships with faith communities in Japan and will walk with them in the directions that are ultimately chosen for the funds.
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Watch for future issues of our e-news for plenty of UU justice news, calendar items, and links.
MUUSJA - Minnesota UU Social Justice Alliance  Donations to MUUSJA are tax deductible and support our work as the public voice for our UU values in Minnesota. You can find out about membership or renew online. Thank you.
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