FAITHFUL JOURNEYS
A Tapestry of Faith Program for Children
SESSION 11: GET INVOLVED
BY BY ALICE ANACHEKA-NASEMANN AND LYNN UNGAR SUSAN DANA LAWRENCE, DEVELOPMENTAL EDITOR JUDITH A. FREDIANI, DIRECTOR OF LIFESPAN FAITH DEVELOPMENT
© Copyright 2009 Unitarian Universalist Association.
Published to the Web on 11/7/2014 4:22:08 PM PST.
This program and additional resources are available on the UUA.org web site at
www.uua.org/religiouseducation/curricula/tapestryfaith.
SESSION OVERVIEW
INTRODUCTION
We are learning that a standard of social ethics is not attained by traveling a sequestered byway, but by mixing on the thronged and common road where all must turn out for one another, and at least see the size of one another's burden. — Jane Addams, in Democracy and Social Ethics
This session demonstrates how children can affirm and promote our fifth Unitarian Universalist Principle, the right of conscience and the use of democratic process. Participants will learn about our Association's leadership role in contemporary justice issues and the impact Unitarian Universalist children and adults had when they sent thousands of handmade valentines to California governor Arnold Schwarzenegger to promote marriage equality. The group will choose an issue they are concerned about and give voice to their convictions in postcards or a petition to congregational leaders or government lawmakers. We will add the signpost "Get Involved" to our Faithful Journeys Path.
Activity 5 assumes the group formed a Faithful Journeys Action Club in Session 4 and began a project. If you have not formed a club, or need to choose an issue to address, use Alternate Activity 1 to lead a democratic process for the group to choose an issue or project. Research potential issues to offer the children specific choices. Consider recruiting additional co-leaders from your congregation's social action committee to help lead these activities. Or, reach out to youth and adults who may be interested in the issue(s) you may select.
To model your action on the valentines story and send valentines for marriage equality, use Alternate Activity 2.
GOALS
This session will:
LEARNING OBJECTIVES
Participants will:
SESSION-AT-A-GLANCE
Activity | Minutes |
Opening | 2 |
Activity 1: Faithful Footprints | 5 |
Activity 2: Move It! If You Want Justice and You Know It, Clap Your Hands | 8 |
Activity 3: Story Basket and Centering | 5 |
Activity 4: Story — Valentines for the Governor | 10 |
Activity 5: Get Involved Action Campaign | 23 |
Faith in Action: Congregational Action Campaign | 30 |
Closing | 7 |
Alternate Activity 1: Selecting a Cause for Get Involved Action Campaign | 10 |
Alternate Activity 2: Valentines for Marriage Equality | 20 |
Alternate Activity 3: Teach and Lead a Justice Song during Worship Service | |
SPIRITUAL PREPARATION
If it would be helpful in creating sacred space, light a candle or chalice. Reflect on your own feelings relative to social change, your faith, and the democratic process. What does the fifth Principle, the right of conscience and the use of the democratic process, mean to you? How does it inform your living?
Ask yourself:
SESSION PLAN
OPENING (2 MINUTES)
Materials for Activity
Preparation for Activity
Description of Activity
Gather the children in a circle. Light the chalice. Point out the chalice-lighting words on the newsprint and invite the group to read together:
We light this flame for the light of truth, the warmth of love, and the energy of action.
Indicate the poster(s) of the Unitarian Universalist Principles. Or, give each child a copy of the handout. Ask a volunteer to read the fifth Principle in the adult language. Ask a second volunteer to read the children's version of the fifth Principle. Then, say:
Today we will learn about this Unitarian Universalist Principle — what it means, and what kinds of actions show it. Let's get started.
Collect handouts for reuse.
Including All Participants
If not all participants are fluent readers, take the time to teach the group to say the opening words from memory.
If the group has children who are sensitive to perfumes or other chemicals, use unscented candles or an electric or battery-operated flame. An electric flame is also recommended if you may not use open flames or if any participants are afraid of fire.
ACTIVITY 1: FAITHFUL FOOTPRINTS (5 MINUTES)
Materials for Activity
Preparation for Activity
Description of Activity
This activity reinforces children's learning as they model translating faith into action for one another. To strengthen children's Unitarian Universalist identity, help participants see how their own behavior demonstrates specific Principles.
Gather in a circle. Point to the Faithful Journeys Path and say:
Together we are taking a journey to learn what it means to live as Unitarian Universalists. Each time we meet, we talk about ways our actions show our beliefs about what is right and good. This is called "putting our faith into action."
When you share about something you have done that shows what you believe, you can choose a footprint or wheelchair to add to our Faithful Journeys Path.
Hold up the footprint you made of your own faithful action. Tell what you did and how it represents your Unitarian Universalist beliefs. If you can connect your action to a Principle, briefly explain. For example:
Ask the children to think of an act they have done, since you met last, that reflects Unitarian Universalism. You may wish to prompt:
As participants name their actions, write a word or phrase describing the action on a footprint or wheelchair cutout. Invite children to write their names on their cutouts and post them on the Faithful Journeys Path. Have them progress along the path over the course of the program.
To stay within the time frame for this activity, use these guidelines:
It is very important to avoid judging participants, either with criticism or praise. Avoid phrases like "Great job!" or "You're fantastic!" which might suggest that acts of faith vary in their value or encourage children to compete to share the "best" act.
You should, however, respond to each child's contribution. Listen carefully to what a child tells you. After each child shares, say something like, "Thank you for sharing," followed by a summarizing sentence, such as:
Identify the Unitarian Universalist Principles each act represents; refer to the Principles poster if the room has one or indicate a relevant signpost on the Faithful Journeys Path. By responding specifically to each child's faithful actions, you will help them feel pride, a sense of accomplishment and their own empowerment as agents whose actions and choices reflect Unitarian Universalist beliefs and values.
Including All Participants
Along with cut-out footprints (Session 1, Handout 3, Faithful Footprints), provide wheelchairs (Session 1, Handout 4, Making Tracks for Faith) in the same colors of paper. Encourage all the children — not just those who use wheelchairs for mobility — to sometimes use a wheelchair instead of footprints to represent their faithful actions.
ACTIVITY 2: MOVE IT! IF YOU WANT JUSTICE AND YOU KNOW IT, CLAP YOUR HANDS (8 MINUTES)
Materials for Activity
Preparation for Activity
Description of Activity
Gather in a standing circle. Introduce the song "If You Want Justice and You Know it, Clap Your Hands," sung to the tune of "If You're Happy and You Know It, Clap Your Hands." Say the group will create and sing their own justice version of the song.
Ask participants to name ways they might feel when something is unfair. To help the discussion, suggest frustrated, angry, discouraged, hopeful, scared or disgusted. Ask the group what motions they might make to represent each feeling — for example, stamp your feet, wave your arms, punch a fist in the air, jump up and down, say a prayer (palms pressed together), make a snarl or give a hoot. Write the feeling words with the motions on the newsprint. Phrase them to fit in the song: If you want justice and [you're disgusted], [stomp your feet].
When you have at least five ideas listed, sing the song together, using the phrases to make verses and acting out the motions for each verse. Make sure children are standing with enough room so they will not knock into one another. Begin and end with "If You Want Justice and You Know It, Clap Your Hands."
Including All Participants
If the group includes children with limited mobility, encourage participants to name actions that everyone can do.
ACTIVITY 3: STORY BASKET AND CENTERING (5 MINUTES)
Materials for Activity
Preparation for Activity
Description of Activity
Gather the children in a circle in your storytelling area. Show them the storytelling basket. Say something like, "Let's see what's in our story basket today."
Tell the group the items in the story basket will be placed on the altar or table after the children have passed them around the circle. Take the story-related items from the basket, one at a time.
Briefly name each item and pass it around. Objects that are fragile or should not be passed around for any reason can be held up for all to see and then placed directly on the altar. As items come back to you, display them on the altar for children to look at as they listen to the story.
Ask the children, "Who knows what marriage is? What does it mean when people get married?" Affirm that marriage is a way two people affirm that they love each other and proclaim that their relationship is a special one where they agree to take care of each other, to live together as partners in life, and possibly to be parents together. Affirm that marriage is something adults can do and that some participants may want to marry someone when they are grown up.
Then say:
Some places have laws about which adults can get married and which adults cannot. In some places, two women who love each other, or two men who love each other, are not allowed to marry each other, even if they already have a home and a family together.
Many people think this is unfair. In our faith, we believe that all love matters, and nobody's love is better or worse or more or less important than anyone else's love. In our Unitarian Universalist congregations, many people have gotten involved to ask governments to change those marriage laws so every couple who wants to can marry.
Now remove the sound instrument from the story basket. Tell the children that every time you tell a story in Faithful Journeys, you will first use the instrument to help them get their ears, minds, and bodies ready to listen. Invite them to sit comfortably and close their eyes (if they are comfortable doing so). You may tell them that closing their eyes can help them focus on just listening.
In a calm voice, say, in your own words:
As you breathe in, feel your body opening up with air. As you breathe out, feel yourself relaxing.
Repeat this once or twice and then say:
Now you are ready to listen. When I hit the chime (turn the rain stick over), listen as carefully as you can. See how long you can hear its sound. When you can no longer hear it, open your eyes and you will know it is time for the story to begin.
Sound the chime or other instrument. When the sound has gone, begin telling the story.
Including All Participants
Make sure no participants have allergies to any items you wish to include in the story basket, such as Valentine's Day candy or snacks. A severely allergic participant may react even to an empty box of chocolates.
Make sure you or a child in the group offers a chance to see and touch each object, as needed, to anyone who is unable to hold or pass items or cannot see the items.
Some people do not feel safe closing their eyes in a group. If any children resist, respect their resistance and suggest that they find a single point of focus to look at instead.
If you have a basket of fidget objects for children who may listen and learn more effectively with something in their hands, make the fidget object basket available during this activity. Remind children where it is before you begin the "centering" part of this activity. For a full description of fidget objects and guidance on using them, see Session 2, Leader Resource 2.
ACTIVITY 4: STORY — VALENTINES FOR THE GOVERNOR (10 MINUTES)
Materials for Activity
Preparation for Activity
Description of Activity
The story "Valentines for the Governor" introduces marriage equality as a contemporary justice issue and presents Unitarian Universalists organizing to act on our fifth Unitarian Universalist Principle, the right of conscience and the use of the democratic process within our congregations and in society at large.
Before you begin, look around the room and make eye contact with each person. Read or tell the story.
Ring the chime (or other sound instrument) to indicate that the story is over.
When you have finished the story, guide a brief discussion with these questions:
ACTIVITY 5: GET INVOLVED ACTION CAMPAIGN (23 MINUTES)
Materials for Activity
Preparation for Activity
Description of Activity
This activity will help children discover and implement ways they can use the democratic process to lobby government officials for a change their conscience tells them is needed. Say, in your own words:
Unitarian Universalists believe in the democratic process. For the democratic process to work, people have to get involved.
Ask the children for ideas of how to get involved in a democracy. Affirm voting for a president, a mayor, or another official; campaigning for the election of a leader you believe will make good decisions; or working to make changes in our laws or make new laws.
Say:
When you are older, you will be able to vote for leaders who, in turn, can work for change by improving our laws. But people of any age can get involved in a democracy by telling our leaders and decision-makers what we want and what we think.
Ask the children for examples of leaders and decision-makers — people who have power to change or make laws. Affirm the U.S. president; your state's governor; a mayor, selectman/woman or city council member; a senator or representative. Affirm that your congregation uses democratic process and has leaders (e.g., minister, director of religious education, music director, board president and lay leaders).
NOTE: In a child's experience, school and family also have "laws" and leaders (principals, teachers, parents) who make them. Be ready to clarify that there are situations where adults have power and responsibility to make decisions for children. However, because we live in a democracy, most schools, communities and families have rules that promote both safety and fairness. These groups provide, or could provide, ways for children to contribute their ideas about good, safe and fair rules. You might say:
As Unitarian Universalists, we believe children have both a right and responsibility to contribute their ideas about matters that concern them, especially when their conscience tells them something isn't right or fair.
Tell the group about the action campaign you have chosen. Brainstorm to generate a list of leaders who have power to make change; record ideas on newsprint. Then, brainstorm actions the group can take to communicate to those leaders about the issue. Discuss messages or pictures they might want to send. For example, to promote protection of polar bears from global warming, the group could send postcards with artwork about polar bears, telling state and federal legislators why an icy environment is necessary for polar bears to survive. Write key words or phrases on newsprint for children to copy.
Gather participants at work tables and invite them to create messages that express their thoughts and feelings about the campaign issue. Actively circulate to help children organize materials and articulate their ideas.
Collect finished products and prepare for mailing or delivery.
Including All Participants
Children this age show a wide range in writing ability. Give children the option of dictating their thoughts for an adult or another child to write.
CLOSING (7 MINUTES)
Materials for Activity
Preparation for Activity
Description of Activity
This activity helps children get used to practicing a closing ritual as a way of affirming their belonging in the faith community.
Gather the group in a circle. Thank the children for participating and sharing their stories and ideas in this session. Tell them something you liked about the way they worked together as a community.
Point out the Faithful Journeys Path. Say, in your own words:
Our Faithful Journeys Path shows our journey to live our lives and act in ways that reflect our Unitarian Universalist beliefs and faith. The signposts direct us by reminding us about our Principles.
Today's signpost is "Get Involved." It is for our fifth Unitarian Universalist Principle, the right of conscience and the use of the democratic process. It means that we should participate in our government and take action when we think things need to change.
Attach the signpost to the Faithful Journeys Path.
Remind the children that the next time they meet they will have a chance to add Faithful Footprints to the Faithful Journeys Path. Encourage them get involved in something during the week. Brainstorm together what sorts of action might reflect getting involved. You might suggest sending a postcard or picture to a senator, mayor, or other government leader; making and displaying a poster about an issue you are concerned about; talking with your teacher or a religious education leader about a rule you think is unfair; or writing a letter to the owner of a business who has something in their store or company that you think is not fair.
Point out the words to the UU Principles Song. Tell the children it is sung to the tune of "Old McDonald Had a Farm." Lead the children in singing the verse about the fifth Principle. Then, sing the entire song together. Explain that you will learn about all of the Principles during the Faithful Journeys program.
Distribute the Taking It Home handout. Thank the children, tell them you look forward to seeing them next time, and dismiss the group.
FAITH IN ACTION: CONGREGATIONAL ACTION CAMPAIGN (30 MINUTES)
Materials for Activity
Preparation for Activity
Description of Activity
Invite the entire congregation to participate in the campaign the Faithful Journeys group has initiated by writing postcards or letters, signing petitions or contributing artwork. Have children and leaders staff the campaign table. You may wish to assign volunteers particular roles, such as keeping track of multiple copies of a petition, collecting finished postcards or dispensing postage stamps.
Including All Participants
It is possible you will have selected an issue that lacks unanimous appeal or agreement in your congregation. Be careful to use language in your materials, (including in your announcements to the congregation) that leaves room for diversity of opinion.
LEADER REFLECTION AND PLANNING
Take a few minutes to evaluate the session with your co-leader immediately afterward, while it is fresh. Share your thoughts with any other team co-leaders and your director of religious education. You might find it helpful to consider these questions:
TAKING IT HOME
We are learning that a standard of social ethics is not attained by traveling a sequestered byway, but by mixing on the thronged and common road where all must turn out for one another, and at least see the size of one another's burden. – Jane Addams, in Democracy and Social Ethics
IN TODAY'S SESSION... We learned about a contemporary action by California UU congregations to promote marriage equality in the story "Valentines for the Governor." We learned about the fifth Unitarian Universalist Principle, that we affirm and promote the right of conscience and the use of the democratic process within our congregations and in society at large. We discussed ways children too young to vote can participate in democratic process and government decision making, and we began an action project. Our signpost to help guide us in faithful action was "Get Involved."
EXPLORE THE TOPIC TOGETHER. Talk about... Ask your child to tell you about their action campaign and the message or artwork they created today. Tell your child about a time when you got involved in a campaign for change. Whether or not your cause succeeded at the time, talk about the short- and long-term impact of your action. Avoid expressing cynical or discouraging thoughts. It is important that children feel empowered to make a difference in the world.
EXTEND THE TOPIC TOGETHER. Try... Pay extra attention to times when your child acts from their conscience and/or gets involved in a democratic process to promote justice. Point out instances of your child getting involved by communicating their opinion on an issue to a legislator, speaking up in an unfair situation, or taking action to make a game more fair or stop a bully. Your child will have the opportunity to share such actions in the next session.
FAMILY ADVENTURE
Go to a vigil, demonstration or other public gathering to support an issue that is important to your family. Talk ahead of time about why this issue matters and create posters together with a constructive message for change. Afterward, ask your child to tell you their observations or questions about the experience. Affirm our faithful responsibility to get involved and express our opinions in ways that are constructive, respectful and honest.
A FAMILY RITUAL
Every year at Valentine's Day, send valentines for change to local legislators or other community leaders. Advocate for marriage equality, civil rights, reproductive freedom or another justice issue.
A FAMILY GAME
Geotoys' (at www.geotoystore.com/)Red State/Blue State puzzle is a political map of the U.S. with two puzzle pieces for each state--one red and one blue--allowing you to physically demonstrate the results of every national election since 1789. Find election results, 1789 to the present (at www.historycentral.com/elections/index.html), on the History Central website.
FAMILY DISCOVERY
Legislative Process. Read together the picture book My Senator and Me: A Dog's Eye View of Washington , D.C. Written by Massachusetts Senator Edward Kennedy, it describes the political process through the eyes of Splash, his Portuguese water dog. This book is available from Amazon (at ../../../../../../Application%20Data/Microsoft/Local%20Settings/Temporary%20Internet%20Files/OLK59/www.amazon.com) and may be at a local library, as well.
"I'm Just a Bill," a song by Dave Frishberg, explains the federal legislative process in a fun way young children can understand. Read the Schoolhouse Rock script (at www.schoolhouserock.tv/Bill.html) that accompanied the song when first broadcast in 1975.
Courting Equality: A Documentary History of America's First Legal Same-Sex Marriage (at www.beacon.org/productdetails.cfm?PC=1850), by Patricia A. Gozemba and Karen Kahn, photographs by Marilyn Humphries (Boston: Beacon Press, 2007).
ALTERNATE ACTIVITY 1: SELECTING A CAUSE FOR GET INVOLVED ACTION CAMPAIGN (10 MINUTES)
Materials for Activity
Preparation for Activity
Description of Activity
Tell participants you are going to have an action campaign, like the valentines that California Unitarian Universalists sent to Governor Schwarzenegger to promote marriage equality. Show the children the list of possible campaign issues and action ideas you have prepared and describe them briefly. Remind participants that Unitarian Universalists believe in using the democratic process within our congregations, and explain that the group will use a democratic process now to choose an action campaign. Invite any children to speak briefly in favor of a particular project. Ask if any children strongly dislike any of the campaign possibilities, and remove those from the list. When this is done, vote for the favorite action campaign.
Follow this activity with Activity 5, the Get Involved Action Campaign.
ALTERNATE ACTIVITY 2: VALENTINES FOR MARRIAGE EQUALITY (20 MINUTES)
Materials for Activity
Preparation for Activity
Description of Activity
Use this activity instead of Activity 5, Get Involved Action Campaign, if a state or local marriage equality campaign is timely and the session occurs near Valentine's Day. By sending valentines to elected officials, children experience our fifth Principle, using the democratic process to promote an issue of conscience. Say, in your own words:
Unitarian Universalists believe in the democratic process. For the democratic process to work, people have to get involved.
Ask the children for ideas of how people get involved in a democracy. Affirm voting for president, mayor, or another official; campaigning for a leader to win an election; and working for change to make our laws more fair. Say:
When you are older, you will be able to vote for leaders who, in turn, can work for change by improving our laws. But people of any age can get involved in a democracy by telling our leaders and decision-makers what we want and what we think. That's what the congregations in California did. Through their valentines, they told the governor that all love is equal and that California 's laws about marriage should be more fair.
Ask the children for examples of leaders and decision-makers — people who have power to change or make laws. Affirm the U.S. president and your state's governor. Mention the names of elected officials to whom the children will send valentines today.
Affirm that your congregation makes decisions using a democratic process. Mention congregational leaders by name (minister, director of religious education, music director, board president, board members). Explain they are chosen by the congregation's members.
NOTE: In a child's experience, school and family also have "laws" and leaders (principals, teachers, parents) who make them. Be ready to clarify that there are situations where adults have power and responsibility to make decisions for children. However, because we live in a democracy, most schools, communities and families use rules to promote both safety and fairness. These groups provide, or could provide, ways for children to contribute their ideas about good, safe and fair rules. You might say:
As Unitarian Universalists, we believe children have both a right and responsibility to contribute their ideas about matters that concern them, especially when their conscience tells them something isn't right or fair.
Tell the group about the state or local marriage equality campaign. Explain that, like the children in California , you will send a message about love to leaders who have power to make laws about marriage. Brainstorm messages children might use in their valentines and add suggested words or phrases to the newsprint you have posted. Refer to the story "Valentines for the Governor" to spark children's ideas.
Invite participants to create valentines with messages about marriage equality. Actively circulate to help them organize materials and articulate their ideas.
Collect finished valentines and prepare for mailing or delivery.
Be sure to follow up on this campaign with the children in a future session of Faithful Journeys. Even if you receive no response, be ready to update the children on your local marriage equality campaign and help them reflect on the experience.
Including All Participants
Children this age show a wide range in writing ability. Give children the option of dictating their thoughts for an adult or another child to write.
ALTERNATE ACTIVITY 3: TEACH AND LEAD A JUSTICE SONG DURING WORSHIP SERVICE
Preparation for Activity
Description of Activity
This activity is an extension of Activity 2. Participants will teach the congregation the justice song they created to the tune of "If You're Happy and You Know It, Clap Your Hands."
Gather participants 20 minutes before the start of the service. Sing the song once through together. Ask for volunteers to lead the various verses. Volunteers will sing the first line of a verse alone and model its action to teach the congregation, while the entire group and congregation join in for the rest of the verse. Practice the song with volunteer leaders doing their parts.
Teach and lead the song during the worship service, as arranged.
FAITHFUL JOURNEYS: SESSION 11:
STORY: VALENTINES FOR THE GOVERNOR
By Joanna Solins.
Have you ever stopped to think about all the different people you love, and all the different people who love you? There are many kinds of love, and many ways to show you love someone.
Valentine's Day is a holiday that celebrates love. People often give each other cards on Valentine's Day to show they care. Receiving a valentine can make someone feel special and appreciated, especially when it's a homemade valentine. Think about the people you would give a valentine to. Would you make one for your parents or grandparents? What about your cousins, your friends, or your neighbors? What about ... your state governor?
On Valentine's Day in 2005, thousands of Unitarian Universalists in California sent valentines to their governor, Arnold Schwarzenegger. Do you think they sent him valentines because they loved him? No. They sent him valentines because they wanted to teach him something about love.
You see, California had a law about who was allowed to get married, and who was not. The law said if a man and a woman loved each other, they were allowed to show their love and become a family by getting married. But if two men loved each other, or two women loved each other, the law said they could not get married.
We are Unitarian Universalists. We value all love. When a law says some people's love is better, or more important, than other people's love, we believe that is hurtful and unfair. Telling two women, or two men, who love each other, they cannot get married also means the laws won't protect them as a family. The law says their community does not have to help them share their life plans, their money, or even their children the same way other couples can.
That's why UU congregations in California decided to get involved and speak out about the law. They wanted to tell the governor how important marriage equality was to them. If he understood that, they thought he would support marriage equality, too.
The California congregations could have made lots of phone calls to the governor's office or written emails to the governor. But that was not enough. They wanted to do something big, something colorful — something that would grab the governor's attention.
In the days leading up to Valentine's Day, people in almost every UU congregation in California made valentines for Governor Schwarzenegger. Children and adults alike cut out paper hearts in red, pink, and all colors of the rainbow. They glued on ribbons and lace, sequins and feathers. They wrote messages of love, acceptance, and justice, because that's what marriage equality is all about.
"Dear Governor," wrote one woman from the Unitarian Universalist Church of Berkeley, "Roses are red, violets are blue; all people deserve the same rights as you!"
Reverend Nada Velimirovic, from Oakland, California , made a giant valentine the governor could not miss — it was almost as tall as you are! "Please stand on the side of love!" it requested, in capital letters inside a huge pink heart.
At the Unitarian Society of Santa Barbara, people set up tables to make valentines during coffee hour. Members of all ages showed each other how to cut hearts out of folded paper. They made each other's cards fancy with curly ribbons and other decorations. The young people and older people working together felt joyful and hopeful as they decorated their valentines. They talked about different kinds of love and how important it is for communities to support all kinds of families, to help love hold them together. They hoped their valentine message would convince the governor.
The Santa Barbara congregation mailed their valentines to the UU Legislative Ministry in Sacramento, the capital of California . So did dozens of other congregations — 3,800 valentines in all! The valentines were collected in huge, bags made of see-through gauze — the same material that is used to make a bride's wedding veil. Everyone could see all the special cards Governor Schwarzenegger was getting. The bags stuffed with valentines were brought directly to the governor's office. Imagine thousands of valentines, all going through the metal detector at the State Capitol Building ! It was a bold, beautiful statement for love.
Later that year, when Governor Schwarzenegger had the chance to support marriage equality, he did not. But don't let that make you think the valentines weren't important. Sometimes it takes a while to change someone's mind. The governor did not forget the valentines. A couple of years later, he decided he agreed with many Californians that the marriage laws were not fair. Maybe next time, he will be ready stand on the side of love.
The Valentine's Day action also helped Unitarian Universalists become leaders in the campaign for marriage equality in California . The children and adults who made valentines for the governor showed everyone how our congregations work together for justice. Even though UUs' numbers are small in California , compared to other religions, some of us were invited to a meeting where the governor explained his point of view about equal marriage. Then, we led a group of people from different religions to take the marriage equality campaign into California 's courts.
It was all because of our valentines. After that, Governor Schwarzenegger, his advisors and everyone working for marriage equality in California knew how Unitarian Universalists can unite in faithful action and use the democratic process to push for fairness.
Unitarian Universalists have not given up the fight for marriage equality. The journey may be long and difficult, but we must keep acting for love and justice. We hope we can persuade leaders like Governor Schwarzenegger to make our laws more fair. We know we have to keep trying.
FAITHFUL JOURNEYS: SESSION 11:
LEADER RESOURCE 1: SIGNPOST FOR SESSION 11
Cut out the signpost to attach to the Faithful Journeys Path.
FAITHFUL JOURNEYS: SESSION 11:
LEADER RESOURCE 2: ACTION CAMPAIGN IDEAS
Possible Justice Issues
Possible Actions
Target Audiences
FIND OUT MORE
Unitarian Universalism and BGLT Issues
The UUA website (at www.uua.org/lgbt/index.shtml) documents Unitarian Universalist involvement in and support of bisexual, gay, lesbian, and transgender issues.
The UUA Welcoming Congregations (at www.uua.org/lgbt/welcoming/program/index.shtml) program supports Unitarian Universalist congregations to actively include BGLT members in our faith communities.
Unitarian Universalist Legislative Ministry of California
Rev. Lindi Ramsden of the UULMC provided information for this session's story, "Valentines for the Governor." She told us more about the impact of the 2005 action:
What the valentines really did was to give UUs practice working together on this issue, so that when we had to work together to sign up on the court case, where we did win, we were ready. When we had to set up phone banking on this recent ballot measure, and do other activities such as letter-writing and public witness, we were ready, as well. We lost the recent election (to defeat Proposition 8, in 2008), but every single county gained enormous numbers of supporters for marriage equality.
When you lose, if you can "lose forward" you have really made some strong gains, building a movement of people, hope, and practice working together. Each time, you get closer to your goal.
The UULMC (at www.uulmca.org/programs/marriage/photo_album_valentine.html)website reports on continuing efforts on behalf of marriage equality, as well as other justice issues. Learn more about the February 2005 valentine project and see photos of this and other UULMC actions.
Marriage Equality
For information about same-sex marriage laws in various states see a May 2008 article (at www.stateline.org/live/details/story?contentId=310206)on Stateline.org.
Books about contemporary same sex partner relationships and marriage include Gay Marriage, Real Life: Ten Stories of Love and Family by Michelle Bates Deakin (Boston: Skinner House Books); Confessions of the Other Mother: Non-Biological Lesbian Moms Tell All by Harlyn Aizley (Boston: Beacon Press); Courting Equality: A Documentary History of America's First Legal Same-Sex Marriages, by Patricia A. Gozemba and (at www.beacon.org/contributorinfo.cfm?ContribID=1656)Karen Kahn, photographs by Marilyn Humphries (Boston: Beacon Press, 2007); and What Is Marriage For by E. J. Graff (Boston: Beacon Press).