Depleted Uranium

This is a 6-minute teaching presentation on the issue of Depleted Uranium and the Stop-DU campaign of Christian Peacemaker Teams. For more information, see http://stop-du.org/, and see http://www.cpt.org/.

(I am sorry that the resolution is so fuzzy -- email me at Phil.Rhoads@gmail.com and I will be glad to present a high-resolution version for your group.)

Idea for Children’s Story

Peace&Justice Sunday
September 30, 2007

Characters: Choir director — Jan Buerge
Men in Choir — Mike Peters, Bob Carlson, Jim Martin
Inmate in Choir — Victor Torreros (wearing mask)
Sunday School Teacher — Phyllis Carlson
Kids in Class — Emma Campbell, Joel Campbell, Hannah Schrag, Jason Leuenberg, Marina Kaufman, Andrew Moore, Jacob Kaufman, etc.
Police Officer — Phil Rhoads

Preparation: Children to make wadded-up paper balls, put equally into 2 buckets. One bucket will be for the Police Officer and one for the Inmate in the Choir.

Introduction: Phil will ask the Children if they know any of the sayings of Jesus. If no one can think of any, Phil will give examples, like “I was hungry and you gave me (food), I thirsty and you gave me (something to drink), I was a stranger and you (welcomed me), I was naked and gave me (clothing), I was sick and you (took care of me), I was in prison and you (visited me).” Phil will ask the Children if they know who Paul was and if they know any of Paul’s sayings. Phil will suggest, “if your enemies are hungry, (feed them), if they are thirsty, give them (something to drink).” Phil will explain to Children that today we are going to try to imagine what Jesus meant when he said to “Love Your Neighbor” and “You have heard that it was said, ‘You shall love your neighbor and hate your enemy,’ but I say to you, love your enemies and pray for those who persecute you.”

Scene 1: Children sit on floor of sanctuary facing the altar. Choir lines up on the podium facing the congregation. Choir director and choir pantomime directing and singing. Recorded music from East Hill Singers (“Holy, Holy, Holy”) plays from sound system.

Scene 2: Children sit on podium around their Sunday School Teacher who is on a chair. Inmate enters from off-stage with his bucket of paper balls. He throws paper balls at children and the teacher. Anyone hit with a paper ball pretends to be wounded. Choir director enters from off-stage and observes with horror what is happening and runs for help. Police Officer enteres from off-stage with his bucket of paper balls. He holds up one ball and yells menacingly (in pantomime). Choir director and choir members enter from off-stage. Director and one member calmly surround the Police Officer to block him from Inmate. The other two choir members surround the Inmate and block him from the Police Officer and from the Sunday School Class. The Inmate kicks over his bucket and throws down his remaining paper balls on the floor. Everyone stares at the Police Officer and after a pause, he quietly lays down his bucket and his remaining paper balls on the floor. Then everyone except the Police Officer and the Inmate kneel and pray. The Police Officer motions to the Inmate, and they walk together slowly off-stage.

Ending: Jan gives each child and each adult in the skit a set of Peace Stickers to pass among all the members of the Congregation. The Police Officer and Inmate (with mask removed) join in passing out the Peace Stickers.

Issues Poll for Rainbow Peace & Justice

Peace & Justice Sunday
September 30, 2007

A. Please look over the following list of issue areas (the list is from the MCC web site: http://mcc.org/us/washington/issues/

B. Think of an imaginary budget of time and/or money. Your unit of measure may be hours or dollars.

C. Allocate your budget units among the various choices listed or fill in the blanks with headings you prefer. (Don't worry if the individual budgeted units don't add up to the total indicated in step B.)

D. Add any comments you may like and turn in your completed form to a member of the Rainbow Peace & Justice Committee AS SOON AS POSSIBLE.

Thank you!

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Imaginary Budget: ____________ (hours or dollars), allotted as follows:

1 * Civil Rights & Civil Liberties __________
Reforming the USA Patriot Act __________
Hospitality __________
Accompaniment __________
____________________________________________________ __________

2 * Criminal Justice __________
Restorative Justice __________
Victim-Offender Reconciliation __________
Death Penalty __________
Gun Violence Prevention __________
Juvenile Justice __________
Prison reform __________
____________________________________________________ __________

3 * Environment __________
Climate Change __________
Renewable Energy __________
Air & Water Pollution __________
Eco-Justice __________
Water Privatization __________
____________________________________________________ __________

4 * Global Economic Justice __________
Economic Globalization __________
____________________________________________________ __________

5 * HIV/AIDS __________
Global AIDS __________
____________________________________________________ __________

6 * Immigration __________
New Sanctuary Movement __________
____________________________________________________ __________

7 * Militarism __________
Nuclear Weapons Control __________
Depleted Uranium Weapons __________
National Missile Shield __________
Military Recruitment __________
Veterans Affairs __________
____________________________________________________ __________

8 * Peace Issues __________
Iraq War __________
Threats Against Iran __________
____________________________________________________ __________

9 * U.S. Economic Justice __________
Nutrition/Hunger Relief __________
Housing __________
Accesss to Healthcare __________
____________________________________________________ __________

10 * Africa __________
HIV/AIDS __________
Uganda __________
Congo __________
Sudan __________
____________________________________________________ __________

11 * Asia __________
HIV/AIDS __________
Land Mines __________
North Korea __________
Vietnam __________
Laos __________
Burma __________
____________________________________________________ __________

12 * Latin America __________
Colombia __________
Haiti __________
____________________________________________________ __________

13 * Middle East __________
Israeli-Palestinian Conflict __________
Iraq War __________
Threats Against Syria __________
Lebanon __________
Jordan __________
Egypt __________
Sabeel __________
____________________________________________________ __________

14 * Rainbow High School Essay Contest __________
Similar rules to the MCC H.S. Essay Contest (see attached)

15 * Other ______________________________________________ __________
____________________________________________________ __________
____________________________________________________ __________

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Comments______________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________
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