Calendar @ 1st UU
in Columbus
and Beyond
National Freedom to Marry Day,
Sunday February 12
date: 02/09/06
HECKER TO DISCUSS CHANGING NUCLEAR THREAT
date: 02/08/06
KONEN TO CONDUCT SUSTAINABILIY SEMINAR AT OARDC
date: 02/08/06
OHIO FAMILIES SEEK EQUALITY UNDER THE LAW
date: 02/01/06
Marriage Equality
date: 01/29/06
Mineral, OH Project
date: 01/29/06
YWCA Family Center
date: 01/27/06
Intelligent Design in Ohio Schools
date: 01/07/06
Intelligent Design in Ohio Schools
date: 01/07/06
In late December, Third District (Pennsylvania) Judge James Jones III rendered his opinion in the trial of Kitzmiller vs. Dover Area School District. This is the most recent ruling in the culture war of religious conservatives against rationalism and Constitutional protections against government intrusion into the religious lives of Americans.
The Dover School Board had required that all high school biology students be read a disclaimer questioning the validity of evolutionary science and recommending "intelligent design" as a scientific alternative. The Judge's ruling found the disclaimer to be religiously motivated and without secular purpose, and thus an unconstitutional endorsement of religion by a government unit. Further, the judge found that "intelligent design" is a religious philosophy, not a scientific theory; he noted that ID is just the latest "evolution" of creationism.
The arguments that Judge Jones found compelling in Dover also have direct applicability to the Ohio Board of Education's actions over the past 3 years as some Board members sought to disparage the teaching of evolution and to insert arguments from the "intelligent design" movement into the State's science standards and model curricula.
In the end, creationists on the Board were able to get compromises that were touted nationwide by conservative religious groups as a successful redefinition of science to allow supernatural causation, and approval to "teach the controversy."
Over a year ago Americans United for Separation of Church and State and other groups requested documents from the State Department of Education related to the development of the science standards and of a particular model lesson which shows strong creationist ties. These records document a incredible effort on the part of cons! ervative religious groups from both outside and inside the state (and on the Board) to pressure and coerce Department staff and the expert writing teams who were working on the science standards and lesson plans.
On Sunday, January 8th, the Dispatch will release an investigative report that looks at just a part of this record. In conjunction, the Ohio Citizens for Science will host a presentation on the current efforts of the "intelligent design movement" and on the history of the creationist lesson plan that was approved by the Board of Education. This presentation, followed by an interactive panel discussion (including our own Tom Baillieul) will take place at First UU from 7:00 - 9:00 PM.
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YWCA Family Center
date: 01/27/06
Many thanks to Alice Rathburn and Debi Mahler who worked very hard for our first official "4th Friday Taco Bar." Alice shopped, cooked, served and rounded up volunteers to help in the kitchen and with family activities. She was assisted in the kitchen by Sherry Huston, Beth Jewell, Deb McGuire, Julie and Marc Pinsonneault with friend Audrey Papp, Meg Spernoga, and Karen and Ross Torvik. Debi coordinated the games and activities...and her creativity and love of children is a marvel to behold! She was assisted by Wendy and Julia Boortz, Sherry Huston, Ethan Shillington, and Kati McGuire. Activities included Bingo, Twister, chess, storytelling and songs, as well as stickers, candy prizes, and general fun for all.
Thanks to all who helped. -- Karen Lewis
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Marriage Equality
date: 01/29/06
"FAMILIES WARM THE HEART"
Rally at the Courthouse at 2:00 p.m. on February 14
This event will highlight how civil marriage rights for same-sex couples help strengthen and support the loving bonds of couples and families. Participants will apply for a civil marriage license and then, in coordination with the organizational sponsors, share with local media "why" equal marriage rights help strengthen families.
contact: lynne@equalityohio.org or Pat Bentz
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Mineral, OH Project
date: 01/29/06
At a recent visit to the "Feed My Sheep" food pantry in Mineral, I was told that the day before, between 1:00 and 3:00 p.m., the pantry had given out 41 food boxes to feed 132 adults and children. Rev. Ray Ogburn thanked us again for our help.
The pantry's service area includes Logan (23 miles away) and Athens (a 12 mile drive).The pantry's address is: "Feed My Sheep Food Pantry, 8137 S.R. 356, New Marshfield, OH 45766. The ministers are Rev. Ray Ogburn and Sister Anita Ogburn.
They love company! Twenty -four First UUers have been to visit; five of our R.E. children now have pen pals in Athens County. Please contact me if you wish a ride to Mineral sometime.
Big needs at the pantry include peanut butter, tuna fish, stew, chunky soups, spaghetti and sauce. Also warm clothing and small appliances, VCRs and TVs are useful. (Educational tapes will be used.) Our children's library is also now able to receive more books.
We're happy to deliver your donations of non-perishable food. Bring them to the Social Justice Table for our Athens/Appalachian Outreach project!
Your empty aluminum cans (flattened if you like) will be recycled for money to support our food pantry project as well.
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OHIO FAMILIES SEEK EQUALITY UNDER THE LAW
date: 02/01/06
Civil Marriage Is Aim for Ohio Couples and Organizations
Participating in “Families Warm the Heart”
COLUMBUS – As couples across Ohio celebrate the love they share on Valentine’s Day, gay and lesbian couples are going to the Clerk of Courts in their hometowns seeking a civil marriage license so that their families can have the same protection that other families take for granted on this day.
The event, “Families Warm the Heart,” is an effort coordinated by Equality Ohio and Stonewall Columbus’s Ohio Freedom to Marry Coalition, along with local organizations across Ohio, to highlight the very real consequences of Ohio’s marriage ban on families, children, and couples throughout the state.
“Without the basic protections that a civil marriage license provides, families headed by lesbian or gay couples in Ohio live each day in uncertainty,” said Nick Staup Chair of Ohio Freedom to Marry. “No matter what these families do, the private decisions they make to take care of their children or each other hinge on the whims of hospital administrators, school officials or whomever else they encounter in their daily lives.”
Due to the statutory and constitutional marriage prohibitions currently in place in Ohio, it is extremely unlikely that any county Clerk would grant a marriage license to a lesbian or gay couple. These families hope that by sharing their stories with people across the state on this day that Ohioans will begin to think about how the state can become more welcoming to and protective of all families.
“Ohio is a great state, and Ohioans are fair people,” Lynne Bowman, Equality Ohio executive director, said. “By listening to the stories of these families, people will begin to understand that what we seek is the very same thing they have: a safe home that values their family.”
Families will be requesting marriage licenses in Dayton, Toledo, Cleveland, Akron, Columbus and Wooster on the afternoon of Feb. 14, and they also will be available to talk with media at that time. For specific times or more information, please contact Lynne Bowman at lynne@equalityohio.org
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HECKER TO DISCUSS CHANGING NUCLEAR THREAT
date: 02/08/06
Siegfried S. Hecker, visiting professor, Stanford University and Director Emeritus, Los Alamos National Laboratory, will deliver "A Personal Perspective of the Changing Nuclear Threat," at 4 p.m. Tuesday (2/14) at Ohio State University's Blackwell Center. The campus community is invited to attend the presentation. Hecker's talk will address the challenges we face in avoiding a nuclear 9/11.
CONTACT: schumaker.22@osu.edu
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KONEN TO CONDUCT SUSTAINABILIY SEMINAR AT OARDC
date: 02/08/06
Joe Konen, associate professor and extension specialist in Urban Programs at the OSU Extension Center at Wooster, will present "Collaboration for Sustainability in Northeast Ohio," from 1-2 p.m.
Friday (2/10) in 121 Fisher Auditorium, on the OARDC campus in Wooster. A telecast of the seminar may be viewed in 244 Kottman Hall. The seminar is part of the university's Urban Landscape Ecology
Program series. Konen's work for OSU centers on Public Issues Education about Regional Sustainability with a particular focus on urban redevelopment.
CONTACT: (330) 263-3641 or power.1@osu.edu
SEE: http://www.oardc.ohio-state.edu/ulep/
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National Freedom to Marry Day,
Sunday, February 12
date: 02/09/06
National Freedom to Marry Day, a project of the organization Freedom to Marry (http://www.freedomtomarry.org/), is this Sunday, February 12.
Look for stories about UU activities on www.uua.org in the next few days.