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The UU Congregation of Phoenix, Arizona, hosted an interfaith vigil to mourn this week’s shootings in Dayton, Ohio, and El Paso, Texas. One of the participants, Rabbi Shmuly Yanklowitz, said, “I paused for a few minutes after getting a kind invitation this morning to join. . . . What more is there to say. . . ? And then I realized that’s . . . . how hate wins—when it exhausts us. We come here together because we dare not accept that mass shootings are acceptable.” (Phoenix New Times, August 5)
Jan Phillips, a member of First UU Church of Columbus, Ohio, accompanies immigrants to court and to check-ins with ICE. Twice monthly, she and other members of her church set up a table outside the ICE facility, providing cookies, water, information, and support to immigrants arriving to meet with immigration officials. Phillips said, “We are a community of faith, and we are saying to people checking in, ‘There are those of us in this country who do not agree with what’s being done to you.’” (Columbus Dispatch, August 1)
The UU Congregation of Grand Traverse in Traverse City, Michigan, will offer the sexuality program Our Whole Lives to seventh- through ninth-grade students. The program provides comprehensive sexuality education in a state where public schools lean heavily toward abstinence-based programs. Katie Tomczyk, the congregation’s lead OWL educator, said, “All people are sexual. . . . This program teaches that sexuality is a good part of the human experience. It assumes that human beings are sexual from the time they are born until they die.” (Record-Eagle, August 4)
Note: The Media Roundup will be on vacation for the next two weeks. We'll return to our usual publiucation schedule on August 27.