Justice Sunday- UUSC

This Sunday is Justice Sunday, and Unitarian Universalist Congregations nationwide will celebrate and support the work of the Unitarian Universalist Service Committee. One current issue is chosen each year as the focus of our attention; this year it is the Genocide in Darfur.

As my congregation's UUSC representative I am going to talk about this organization during our service, so I thought I would post what I am going to say here and urge everyone to go to the UUSC website and their Hot Wire Human Rights Weblog to learn more about this organization and the important work it does.

I am probably the least likely person to be your UUSC representative. It was fall of 2001 when I started coming to this congregation. At one of the first services I attended, a few of the young people dressed up as people from different parts of the world and told about their need for help. Guest at Your Table boxes were passed out and there was an insert in the order of service about UUSC. Not being very good about reading everything thoroughly, I just concluded that UUSC must be the Unitarian Universalist mission organization. Growing up Christian, I was used to missions where schools, hospitals and churches were built and supported to help people and to spread the word. The thought that UU’s did not have a doctrine that they were trying to spread, did not cross my mind, even though I knew that my new congregation did not believe in proselytizing.

After joining this congregation and getting involved with the Social Action Committee, I began to learn more about the UUSC. There were no missions, hospitals and churches that my contributions supported. Instead, the UUSC worked with grassroots organizations in our own country and around the world to deliver aid in time of crisis, support needed projects for relief, but more importantly to advocate for political and economic changes that would empower people to take control of their lives.

Through advocacy, education and partnerships with grassroots organizations, UUSC supports programs and policies that empower women, defend the rights of children and support the struggles of indigenous people and oppressed racial and ethnic groups

Some of the current initiatives are:

Fighting for workers rights and a living wage

Stopping torture

Promoting environmental justice-especially the right to clean water

Protecting human rights and giving aid during humanitarian crises, especially for groups often left behind or excluded by government aid or mainstream NGOs.

Each year, Unitarian Universalists celebrate justice Sunday to recognize and promote the efforts of the UUSC. Emphasis is placed on an issue that demands our attention, and this year it is the crisis in Darfur.

Unlike the missions I supported in my Christian churches, the UUSC is not a function of the denomination, it is an associate member of the Unitarian Universalist Association. It receives no general financial support from the UUA. Funding for UUSC comes from its members and donations.

The organization began in response to Hitler’s persecution of Jews and other minorities before WWII. One of the most interesting things I found about the UUSC is that they were responsible for our UUA symbol, the flaming chalice. This symbol was created in 1941 by Austrian artist, Hans Deutsch. Deutsch had fled France as the Nazis invaded because he had drawn critical cartoons of Hitler. The symbol was created for Unitarian Service Committee papers to make their papers look official when rescuing refugees from Nazi occupied countries.

The symbol that we use in worship and the UUSC came to us through our response to the horror of genocide. Sadly, the need for the UU’s to speak out against human rights violations and genocide is still there. Over 300,000 men, women and children have been killed in Darfur, and many more have been horribly injured, raped and tortured. 2.5 million have fled their country stressing the resources of neighboring nations especially Chad. The ribbons we are wearing remind us that we cannot be silent as people suffer; we must be the voice of those unable to speak for themselves.

Please continue to support this organization with your advocacy, your donations and your prayers.