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Melissa Mummert’s “Forum” article, “Tragic Consequences of the War on Drugs,” elicited two responses from incarcerated UUs. “Mummert deserves accolades for her work exposing the folly of mandatory sentencing,” wrote Mark L. Brown of LaGrange, Kentucky, “but changing the state and/or federal schemes may be too lofty a goal especially as legislators continue to be re-elected by appearing to be ‘tough on crime.’” Michael (last name withheld at writer’s request) in Safford, Arizona, praised the article as “a clear voice of reform and justice seldom heard in any media.” He urged UUs to help prisoners by participating in the Church of the Larger Fellowship’s prison letter-writing ministry.
James Q. Burgess of Englewood, Florida, wrote to say how much he appreciated Donald E. Skinner’s “Congregational Life” article, “Congregations Welcome Transgender People.” “Transgender phenomena have occupied a major part of my life,” he wrote. “The lay UUs I have met, and their propensity to question everything, have been exceptionally helpful in understanding why I enjoy the symbolic connection with the feminine through clothing.”
In the “other” file were missives on global warming, the need for greater recognition for Native Americans, a complaint about the UUA logo, and a call to “redefine the sinful benefits of chocolate.”