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UU Reflections on Civil Liberties
Rev.
John Cummins introduces Senator Margaret Chase Smith to Marion
Bunny, President of the Maine Universalist Convention, immediately
after Senator Smith gave her Declaration of Conscience against
the practices of Senator Joseph McCarthy, who had defamed a number
of public figures without evidence. Cummins had invited Senator
Smith to explain her stand in the First Universalist Church, Brunswick,
Maine. So large was the audience that the Senator's speech had
to be moved to Bowdoin College. Senator Smith was the first person
in government, inluding President Eisenhower, to publicly decry
the character defamation taking place in the name of the "Unamerican
Affairs Committee," Circa 1954
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Let
America Be America Again
by Langston Hughes
Let it be the dream it used to be.
Let it be the pioneer on the plain
Seeking a home where he himself is free.
(America never was America to me.)
Let America be the dream the dreamers dreamed--
Let it be that great strong land of love
Where never kings connive nor tyrants scheme
That any man be crushed by one above.
Read
the full text here
The UUA 2002 General Assembly selected a two-year study-action issue
for congregational reflection, "Civil Liberties." Read
more about this issue and how your congregation can get involved in the
process!
In October, 2001, the USA Patriot Act was passed by the US Congress,
defined as actions focused toward "Uniting and Strengthening America
by Providing Appropriate Tools Required to Intercept and Obstruct Terrorism."
Read
about the Patriot Act.
The
Electronic Freedom Forum, the Center
for Constitutional Rights, and the American
Civil Liberties Union have all offered analysis of the Patriot Act.
Books from Beacon Press
 Free
for All: Defending Liberty in America Today
Wendy Kaminer
Read the book introduction
(9 pgs, 49KB, in PDF
format)
Purchase
now in the UUA Bookstore!
Read the companion Leader's
Guide
by Lindsay Nelson
Sermons & Writings:
- Civil Liberties, Rev. Vern Barnet
- The Civil Disobedience Imperative Reflections,
Nick Cardell
- Freedom at Risk, Rev. Kendyl Gibbons
- The Thin Line of Liberty, Rev.
Jan Carlsson-Bull
- The Present State of Chaos,
The Rev. Michael R. Leduc
- But, He Has Nothing On, The Rev.
Michael R. Leduc
- Crown Thy Good, Rev. Diane Teichert
- The Pledge of Allegiance and God,
Arthur S. Vaeni
- Justice, Equity, Compassion, and Federal
Judges Rev. Anthony P. Johnson
Rob Cavenaugh, Director of the UUA
Washington Office for Advocacy, chairs an interfaith group committed
to promoting civil liberties. Read about their work in the National Council
of Churches Press Release: Faith
Groups Say Protection of America Must Include Defense of Fundamental Rights
of Its People
Curriculum: Vision
and Values in a Post-9/11 World (in PDF
format), by Pamela Sparr for the UUA Washington Office
for Legislative Action. The following sections of Vision and Values in
a Post-9/11 World are avaible as web pages: openings,
closings, readings to support the use of the curriculum; resources
for curriculum session #3; resources
for curriculum session #4
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