NEWSLETTERS

ESWoW Newsletter - July 19, 2008

Sat, 19 Jul 2008 17:12:33 CDT

by Susan Rose.

Leader's Message
Ethical Action - National Call in Day
Community Call - July 20, 2008

Leader's Message:
"Winter Soldiers in Summer" - the war in Iraq continues. Soldiers who served in Iraq are building their activism and joining with other peace organizations to build awareness of the horrors of this military occupation.

Ethical Action
National Call in Day: No War on Iran. On July 21, members of Peace Action and others will be in D.C. in the halls of Congress, lobbying to prevent a war on Iran, and more. Please add your voices on this day by calling your Congresspeople at 202-224-3121 and demanding 'Diplomacy, not War'.

Community Call
This month we'll be having our community call on Sunday, July 20, 2008. This call gives us a chance to have a more personal connection. We hope you'll join us - more details next week. The call is a 3pm ET, 2pm CT, 1pm MT and 12m PT. Please contact susan.rose (at) eswow.org for information about the call.

Tell a Friend
Who do you know who is interested in examining ideas and might appreciate exploring living more ethical lives? Let them know about ESWoW. Please consider forwarding this to them.

Yours in Ethical Community,
Susan Rose

ESWoW Newsletter - July 12, 2008

Sat, 12 Jul 2008 13:11:08 CDT

by Susan Rose.

Leader's Message
Ethical Action - From the Ethical Action Reports
From Two Leaders - a story for Children and Adults
Community Call - July 20, 2008
Randy Best Update

Leader's Message:
Science and Fairness: Evolution and Education in Louisiana

Ethical Action - Human Rights: Stand up for the Rule of Law
We need to maintain our nation's basic right of habeas corpus -- the right to challenge one's imprisonment. Urge your Members of Congress to support the Supreme Court's decision in Boumedine v. Bush that upholds this right by not passing any new legislation that would undermine this essential freedom.

BACKGROUND
In Boumediene v. Bush, the Supreme Court ruled in a landmark decision that detainees at Guantanamo have the Constitutional right of habeas corpus - the right to challenge one's imprisonment. Without it, innocent individuals could be detained indefinitely without a trial and with no legal recourse.

The Ethical Action Report does not represent the views of the American Ethical Union or the American Humanist Association. The American Ethical Union takes ethical positions on public affairs only through resolutions adopted by its Assembly or Board. Past AEU resolutions are available, searchable by date or topic.

Last time the Supreme Court affirmed this essential right, Congress undercut it with the Military Commissions Act. Don't let them do it again - call on your members of Congress to respect the Court's decision and honor our Constitutional rule of law.

From Two Leaders
Bart Worden, Leader, Ethical Culture Society of Westchester reads a story by Arthur Dobrin, Leader Emeritus, Long Island Ethical Humanist Society. (Video)

Do you like beets? Do you remember to ask others for help when you need it?

Community Call
This month we'll be having our community call on Sunday, July 20, 2008. This call gives us a chance to have a more personal connection. We hope you'll join us - more details next week.

Randy Best
I spoke to Randy briefly last week. His recovery is taking a bit longer than he'd like, but he is coming along and appreciates people's kind words for him. You can leave your messages for Randy online.

Tell a Friend
Who do you know who is interested in examining ideas and might appreciate exploring living more ethical lives? Let them know about ESWoW. Please consider forwarding this to them.

Yours in Ethical Community,
Susan Rose

ESWoW Newsletter - July 6, 2008

Sun, 06 Jul 2008 11:33:55 CDT

by Susan Rose.

Leader's Message Ethical Perspective - Column from Judith Eckerson, retired Leader

Ethical Action - From the Ethical Action Reports

Community Call - July 20, 2008

Leader's Message - Ethical Choices - I was inspired in going through some files to find some writings from Judith Eckerson who was the Leader of the Philadelphia Ethical Society for many years and a Consulting Leader to the Northern Virginia Ethical Society, and is now retired. I'll share Judith's thoughts with you and next week the thoughts she inspired for me.

Ethical Action - Gender Equity: Support Equal Pay for Men and Women (H.R. 1338, S. 766)

We need to improve upon the ideals of the Equal Pay Act. Contact your senators and encourage them to join the House in closing the Ledbetter loophole: ask all your members of Congress to support the Paycheck Fairness Act (H.R. 1338, S. 766)

BACKGROUND

Forty-five years after the Equal Pay Act was signed into law--requiring that women be paid "equal pay for work of comparable value requiring comparable skills"--women earn only 77 cents for each dollar earned by their male counterparts. And now, due to a Supreme Court decision with wide-ranging consequences, women who have proven they have been victims of gender discrimination in the workforce have little to no legal recourse.

In Ledbetter v. Goodyear Tires the Court ruled that employers cannot be sued for instituting discriminatory pay unless a lawsuit is brought within 180 days of the first discriminatory paycheck. If employees do not find out that they have been discriminated against within that 180 day period, they are unable to legally hold the companies accountable. The House has already passed a bill to fix these problems, but it has become clear that there are holes in the Equal Pay Act. While the Senate makes progress on its own version of the Ledbetter bill, the House is working on a more extensive bill that will close more loopholes and further the cause of pay equity. Stand up for equal pay for men and women and urge your members of Congress to do the same. Contact Senators , Congressional Representatives.

Community Call - This month we'll be having our community call on Sunday, July 20, 2008. This call gives us a chance to have a more personal connection. We hope you'll join us - more details next week.

Tell a Friend
Who do you know who is interested in examining ideas and might appreciate exploring living more ethical lives? Let them know about ESWoW. Please consider forwarding this to them.

Yours in Ethical Community,
Susan Rose

ESWoW Newsletter - June 28, 2008

Sat, 28 Jun 2008 12:02:50 CDT

by Susan Rose.

Leader's Message - Most Important Values
Update on Randy
AEU Dialogue
IHEU Congress Summary

Leader's Message:
Most Important Values
I was recently asked about what are my most important values. The short answer is simple - I believe in the worth and dignity of all human beings and our interconnectedness to each other and the world around us. Being an Ethical Culturist, and a Leader, I couldn't stop there. Read the long answer....

Randy Best Update
Knowing I was going to be writing this newsletter, I gave Randy Best's home a call. What a pleasant surprise to find that he came home from the hospital yesterday. It was an even more pleasant surprise to be able to talk with him for a few minutes. Considering everything, it sounds like he is doing well. But everything includes dealing with many broken ribs and other physical injuries. Randy told me he appreciates having people post comments on the ESWoW site and looks forward to reading more comments which you can post.

AEU Dialogue
The quarterly newsletter of the American Ethical Union is now available online. It's a great way to get a sense of others in the Ethical Movement. There are reports on the AEU Assembly, articles by members and Leaders, and some great pictures too. I think especially for ESWoW folks, the opportunity to see pictures of some of people around the Movement is great.

IHEU Congress Summary
The International Humanist and Ethical Union is the world union of over 100 Humanist, rationalist, secular, ethical culture, atheist and free thought organizations in more than 40 countries. Our mission is to represent and support the global Humanist movement. The IHEU Congress was recently held in Washington D.C.

Katharine Archibald, Executive Director of the American Ethical Union, attended the Congress. She sent the following report:

At this meeting [ESWoW and] AEU Board member, Ron Solomon was elected as a Vice President of the IHEU. Ron as been a Delegate to the IHEU on behalf of AEU for a number of years.

We had a number attendees from AEU at this year's IHEU General Assembly. In addition to Ron and Carol Solomon, Arnold and Temma Fishman, Margaretha Jones, Ellen McBride, Nick Saunders, Anne Klaeysen, Boe Meyerson, Hugh Taft Morales, Bob Bhaerman and myself also attended the meetings. Apologies to those I may have overlooked.

Special thanks to Chris Center, Hank Gassner and Betty Chia-Karro, Andy Stanton, and Judy Oppenheim for manning the AEU Exhibit.

You can find more information about the IHEU Congress -- www.iheu.org/whc2008 and more information about the important work of the IHEU at www.iheu.org.

Tell a Friend
Who do you know who is interested in examining ideas and might appreciate exploring living more ethical lives? Let them know about ESWoW. Please consider forwarding this to them.

Yours in Ethical Community,
Susan Rose

ESWoW Newsletter - June 21, 2008

Sat, 21 Jun 2008 10:20:33 CDT

by Susan Rose.

Blog
Randy Best in Bicycle Accident
Summer Solstice
Ecological Living
Ethical Action

Blog
How does Ethical Culture inform your life? I recently had an experience that helped me appreciate my religion more than ever.

Randy Best in Bicycle Accident - I just received an email with the news that Randy Best was in a serious accident yesterday -- he was riding his bicycle and a motorcycle crashed into him sending his bike one way and Randy the other. The prognosis for a full recovery is good, but I think it will probably be a long process. Please leave your good wishes for Randy here. This is a good place to share your wishes for Randy - he can read them when he's feeling better. I know he'll be happy to have the thoughts of people in his Ethical Community.

Summer Solstice
In the northern hemisphere, summer is officially upon us. Recognizing the changing of seasons is a good way to be aware of our place in the natural world, to connect with the natural world. For many people, life changes significantly in the summer ñ there is more time to relax, to read, to swim, to dream. What does summer bring for you? Do you have a favorite summer activity? Does your life change? Do you have special plans for this summer?

Ecological Living
Summer is also a good time to focus on how we can live in the most ecologically sound manner. There are lots of good ideas at the Center for the New American Dream.
And of course, we'd like to know what your ideas are.

Ethical Action
Is the mayor of your city or town a Peace Mayor? The US Conference of Mayors is meeting from June 20-24 and Code Pink, to quote from their website "has been creating -- city by city -- a groundswell of support for peace. Thanks to our initiative, the U.S. Conference of Mayors, which is holding its annual meeting from June 20-24 in Miami, Florida, will vote on a critical and timely resolution urging the Bush Administration to pursue diplomatic engagement with Iran. The resolution (see below) also asks Congress to prohibit the use of funds to carry out military action against Iran without explicit Congressional authorization."
This Code Pink Alert has more information.

Tell a Friend
Who do you know who is interested in examining ideas and might appreciate exploring living more ethical lives? Let them know about ESWoW. Please consider forwarding this to them.

Yours in Ethical Community,
Susan Rose