Oct 2 - UpperRoom - Anti-Poverty

The upper room project meets the first Monday of each month (6:-8:30pm) to engage with spirituality and justice as struggled with and fought for by the Prophets and Jesus. We meet upstairs in the Shine Café/Bar (74 Kingsway Glen Waverley) with gallery space, discussion corners, opportunity for practical response and pondering space.

We hope the upper room will be

• Space to rest/relax with your tribe
• Be challenged by the prophetic call of compassion
• Connect with heartbeats for living

There will be food, wine and friends plus

• a gallery space for photos and other art.
• activist space - activities, information and people deeply into that topic to meet
• conversational space - multimedia and communally led (an interview, music, texts, a place to chat)

Please bring your friends - all are welcome

Age

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CPT - Iraq Reflection: What’s in a name?

CPTnet - 14 September 2006 - by Jan Benvie

I think words are important. Maybe it’s because of my background as a teacher. Or maybe it’s because for the past year and a half I have been working with children who experience communication difficulties, children who can’t find the words to express themselves.

The words and names we use for people and objects often have deeper meanings. This use of language is something I have become more aware of over the past few weeks. Coming to a foreign land can involve more than learning a new language; sometimes it also involves changing some of your existing language.

For example, where am I living at present? Am I in Iraqi Kurdistan, the Kurdish area of Iraq, or Southern Kurdistan? (Northern, western and eastern Kurdistan being the Kurdish areas of Turkey, Syria and Iran respectively) Should one call the people Kurds, Kurdish Iraqis or Iraqi Kurds? People can be offended if you use the “wrong” term, even though there does not appear to be a “right” term. The answer lies in your perception of the situation here in Iraq–or should that be Kurdistan?

I have also been thinking about the names that the media use to describe individuals and groups. The terminology used often expresses an opinion.

The Middle East has been a top news story over the past two months. Israeli soldiers have been “kidnapped or seized” by Hezbollah and Hamas, who are terrorist organizations. The Israeli Defence Force “arrests and holds” prisoners. Thousands of Palestinians and Lebanese are in Israeli jails without who have not been charged with any crime and not offered due process under the law.

I wonder how many people have noticed that countries have defense forces, never offense forces! Those denied statehood–like the Kurds, Palestinians, or the black South Africans– are terrorists. Of course, names such as “terrorist” can be temporary. I wonder if Nelson Mandela, during his long years of imprisonment for terrorism, dreamed he would one day be feted by world leaders?

Governments, eager to shape public opinion, (generally) have chosen their words carefully. No more so than when naming military operations. The invasion of Panama in 1989 was called “Just Cause”; Afghanistan was “Enduring Freedom” and Iraq “Iraqi Freedom.” The recent Israeli invasion of Lebanon was called “Operation Just Reward.” The Israeli military called its military action in Gaza “Operation Summer Rain.”

This question of names is not limited to the political arena. A few weeks ago we met an Iraqi Christian leader who told us that we were not “loyal Christians” because we told him we did not agree with his anti-Muslim statements (said in front of our Muslim translator.) People in Iraq have sometimes suggested that we change our name, omitting the word “Christian” because it would “put people off.”

What, indeed, is in a name?

Uniting Justice Update

Dear Friends,

Two new submissions prepared by UnitingJustice are now available to be viewed from the front page of our website, at http://nat.uca.org.au/unitingjustice. These are:

- UnitingJustice’s submission to the Labor Party’s Caucus Social Policy Review of its Immigration Policy;and

- UnitingJustice’s submission to the Human Rights and Equal Opportunity Commission’s Same Sex: Same Entitlements Inquiry.

Also available from the website is a copy of President Gregor Henderson’s recent media work on peacemaking, for the International Day of Prayer for Peace. This day was held in conjunction with the UN International Day of Peace, 21st September.

In addition, you can now view our *new* UnitingJustice brochures electronically. If your congregation would like multiple hard copies of these brochures, or you are having trouble downloading any of the materials on our website, please get in contact with us via phone at (02) 8267 4236 or email unitingjustice@nat.uca.org.au Kind regards,

UnitingJustice Australia

Can a church ‘ban unions?’

The AGE newspaper reports that the Exclusive Brethren (a small Christian denomination) appears to have won special dispensation from the Commonwealth Government to exclude union officials from its members’ businesses without consulting their staff.

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Walk for Peace - Thurs 21

International Day of Peace - Walk for Peace
Thursday 21 September, 1pm:
@ State Library of Victoria, corner Swanston and Latrobe Sts.

We will have our 110-metre rainbow peace flag, which is the world’s largest. We will also have 50 large peace cranes for walkers to carry. The walk will conclude at Alexandra Gardens and is a celebration of peace and a demonstration of support for a 24-hour global ceasefire. More info at www.poa.org.au Flyer at www.poa.org.au/PeaceDayFlyer.pdf

Followed by multi-faith tree planting at Alexandra Gardens. Representatives from various faiths will deliver messages of peace and plant a peace tree.

(From our friendly neighbourhood Victorian Peace Network - Age)

The Alternative Futures Quilt Project

The G20 gathering of trade ministers and advisors from wealthy and emerging nations will be in Melbourne this November 18-20. According to www.stopg20.org Commonwealth Treasurer Peter Costello describes the G20 gathering as the “premiere forum for discussion of global economic issues”. The Alternative Futures Quilt Project has invited faith and broader community groups to contribute to making a large quilt by providing a panel illustrating their preferred vision of the future. The project team is interested in promoting a positive vision rather than highlighting problems with current global trade arrangements. Any queries about this project can be directed to Michael (0432025911), Kate (0405278188) - who are both based at the Victorian College of the Arts Student Union Inc. (9682 1123 / email quilt@vcasu.org.au).

Pirate Bubble

It be Talk like a pirate day today!!!! 19th Sept.

Talk ye talk at ye work, onboard and off. arhhhh

To prepare yeself, this here reel be most informative!

So, me salty sea dogs… what say ye?

Have at a ye… bubble

Appreciate what you have…

If the worlds population was reduced to 100, this is what it would look like.
http://www.miniature-earth.com

Jesus appears on MySpace

Jesus in beer schooner seeks net friends
Cath News
A British religious thinktank says it has become the very first “friend” of Jesus on the News Corp-owned social networking website, MySpace.

Jesus appeared in cyberspace yesterday as part of an advertising campaign that features an image of his face in beer froth on the side of a glass, the British Christian online journal reports.

The ads direct readers to www.myspace.com/isthisjesus - a page on the popular site, which has become a global internet club with 108 million members.

Jesus, whose profile describes him as male, 33 years old, from Nazareth, Middle East Israel, is said “to be appearing everywhere these days”.

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Getup Action - Australia Calling Washington

Next week the US President will attempt to push new legislation through the US Congress for trying Guantanamo detainees - including David Hicks. Unfortunately, the new system is actually worse than the old unfair one the US Supreme Court threw out.

America sees Australia as the closest of allies. Every handcrafted, personal email American leaders receive from Australians will get noticed; and importantly help reinforce resolve in Congress to stand up to the President and insist on a real system of justice.

This will make news in the United States – so act now and tell Washington to make the system fair.

Key points:

• Defendants have the basic right to confront the evidence and witnesses against them.Brigadier Gen. James C. Walker, staff judge advocate to the Marine Corps commandant, told Congress: “I am not aware of any situation in the world where there is a system of jurisprudence that is recognised by civilised people where an individual can be tried and convicted without seeing the evidence against him.”

• Defendants must be able to make claims of torture or abuse in the Courts and challenge the legality of their detention.The United States cannot attempt to uphold justice across the world whilst denying these basic rights.

• Military commissions should not be expanded to anyone, anywhere. The President’s Bill allows him to arrest and detain citizens from any country in the world without charge indefinitely; and try them under this system even when they can and should be tried in a civilian court.

The system is so rigged that even US Republicans and career military lawyers are protesting, so here is your chance to send your message not only to President Bush, but to key Republicans: Senators John McCain (leading Presidential hopeful and former Vietnam War prisoner) and John Warner (Chairman of the Senate Armed Services Committee).

Please address your message to all of them.
www.getup.org.au/campaign/AustraliaCallingWashington

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