2/26: Religious Imperative to Stop State Murder with Robert Bryan

BFUU WEEKY ANNOUNCEMENTS


THIS WEEK'S SERVICE AT BFUU

February 26
Religious Imperative to Stop State Murder
Robert R. Bryan, Esq.
Coordinators: Hal Carlstad & Cynthia Johnson
Our UU principles uphold “the inherent worth and dignity of every
person” and “the use of the democratic process in society at large.”
“Equal Justice Under Law,” carved into the marble façade of the
Supreme Court of the United States, is supposed to be the guiding
principle of our Justice System. Yet we have always had two systems
of justice in America, one for the wealthy and one for the poor. And
the gravest injustices occur when a person is wrongfully charged with
a capital offense and sentenced to death.

The Religious Imperative to Stop State Murder, which came out of this
sacred house, is against all killing and the culture of death that
allow this nation to continue to destroy individuals and nations like
with impunity. Today, with the lead attorney for Mumia Abu Jamal, we
will examine “the structures of evil with justice, compassion and the
transforming power of love.” Attorney Robert Bryan will address his
own journey that “opened him to the forces which create and uphold
life.”

San Francisco attorney Robert R. Bryan has specialized in death
penalty litigation for three decades. He is lead counsel in various
murder cases pending at the federal and state level. Past Chair of
the National Coalition to Abolish the Death Penalty, he has been
Mumia’s attorney since 2003, and Mumia’s case is moving forward. He
has debated and lectured on the death penalty at Harvard, Stanford,
and around the world, and has defended countless innocent victims of
our system.

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UPCOMING SERVICES AT BFUU


March 5th
“This I Believe”
Gordon Wright and Sylvia Scherzer
Coordinator: Cynthia Johnson
One of the ways to shift power from hierarchy to a “level playing
field” is listening to each other’s life stories so that we can be
seen and heard, thus appreciating the choices we have made, and how
we have come through the process. In today’s “This I Believe,” Gordon
Wright and Sylvia Scherzer speak about how they have shaped and
reshaped their lives.


March 12
Not “The Other,” but Ourselves
Francisco Herrera
Coordinator: Marianne Robinson
Migrant and working class people create and strengthen our society.
We have worked the fields, made the roads, built the bridges and
towers, created the machines. We are co-creators of wealth with the
mysterious grace of our Creator. The unequal power of a few who use
their wealth to rule over the rest has caused great havoc and suffering.

Through story and song we will explore our history as working and
migrant people, and our struggle to share the wealth we have created
in the hope that the migrant/working class is not “the other,” but
ourselves.

Francisco Javier Herrera will bless us with his special blend of
activist sermon and song. His immigrant rights work began in 1981
with support for Central American refugees and Mexican immigrants. He
is the Northern California organizer for the Interfaith Coalition for
Immigrant Rights and founder of Caminante Cultural Work in San
Francisco’s Mission District.


March 19
There Is Peace Upon the Ridge
Rev. Kurt Kuhwald
Coordinator: Frances Hillyard
The Vernal Equinox is upon us. The great time when the Sun, on its
journey to the heights of summer (in the Northern Hemisphere) reaches
the halfway point. Resting on that ridge, we can find a great peace,
a peace that passionately powers our work for justice, truth and
inner liberation. Let us go there together.
Rev. Kurt A. Kuhwald will be the Presenter. He is serving BFUU as
Half-Time Consulting Minister this year and has spent his years
pursuing the peaceful places of power upon the ridge path of life. So
far . . . okay.


March 26
Savage Breast: One Man's Search for the Goddess
Tim Ward
Coordinator: Lauren Renée Hotchkiss
Tim Ward set out on a three-year journey to reconnect with the lost
goddesses of his European ancestors. He explored the Mediterranean's
ruined temples and shrines of the sacred feminine, and encountered
the goddess in her myriad forms: white marble statues of Aphrodite on
Cyprus, rotund stone giantesses on Malta, and the multi-breasted
Artemis of Ephesus. What he found changed him forever. Tim talks
about his experiences with these powerful divinities, and how
connecting with the feminine divine helped heal his relationships
with women. He discusses what his encounters revealed to him about
modern men's unconscious need for and fear of women.

Tim is the author of four non-fiction books, including the best-
seller, What the Buddha Never Taught. A former member of Baptist
Church and of a Buddhist monastery, Ward now believes that in
worshipping the Goddess he has found a spiritual path that grounds
him in this world, rather than the next. Ward has a degree in
philosophy and is a consultant for international development
organizations.

Tim will lead a follow-up workshop on this topic at 1pm in Fellowship
Hall. Please see description on page 13.

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BERKELEY FELLOWSHIP SOCIAL JUSTICE PROGRAMS SPONSORED BY THE SOCIAL
JUSTICE COMMITTEE
at the Berkeley Fellowship Hall, 1924 Cedar at Bonita.
W/C accessible. All welcome


Friday February 24, 7:00 PM
PETER CAMEJO with Jennifer Kidder
How'd You Become an Activist, and What Now?
$10 donation suggested


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http://www.bfuu.org