Social Justice Committee
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Recognizing that Baptism calls each of us to work for social justice and following the guide of Catholic Social Teaching, our mission is twofold: to empower our fellow parishioners through
education and to engage them in works of advocacy, with the goal of changing policies, structures, and institutions so that ultimately they work on behalf of the common good. The Social Justice Committee meets monthly to identify and implement projects reflecting this mission statement. Ideas for projects that are consistent with our mission are welcome. Parishioners who are interested in education and advocacy related to social justice are encouraged to consider this opportunity.Sally Burns 507-287-0133
Mission Statement:
Recognizing that baptism calls each of us to work for social justice and following the guide of Catholic Social Teaching, our mission is twofold: to empower our fellow parishioners through education and to engage them in works of advocacy, with the goal of changing policies, structures, and institutions so that ultimately they work on behalf of the common good.
The Social Justice Committee meets monthly to identify and implement projects reflecting this mission statement. On-going activities include Catholic Social Teaching bulletin articles, and fair trade coffee sales and education. Ideas for future projects that are consistent with our mission are welcome. Parishioners who are interested in education and advocacy related to social justice are encouraged to consider this opportunity.
For more information, contact Mike or Sally Burns (507-287-0133, smburns@charter.net)
Current and Planned Activities
There is really no longer any doubt that the global climate change is occurring, and that the actions of people are adding to the problem. The issue, however, continues to be contentious and as much political and economic as scientifically verifiable. To help you to be understand global climate change, follows is a list of WEB sites, books, and movies on the topic.
Books
What We Know about Climate Change by Kerry Emmanuel
An easy-on-the-eyes read for the layman. It's neither technical nor muddled with scientific jargon; it simply compiles everything we know about climate change in a book that can be read in a day.
Emmanuel says,"Certain findings are not in dispute, not even among those skeptical of climate risk:"
· "Carbon dioxide has increased from its pre-industrial level of about 280 parts per million to about 396 parts per million today, an increase of about 40 percent. For ice-core records, it's evident that present levels of CO2 are higher than they have been in at least the last 650,000 years."
· "The earth's average surface temperature has risen 1.2°F in the past century, with most of the increase occurring from about 1920 to 1950, and again beginning around 1975. The year 2005 was the warmest on the instrumental record, followed closely by 2010 and 1998."
· "The acidity of ocean water has increased by about 30 percent since the beginning of the industrial era."
Requiem for a Species: Why We Resist the Truth About Climate Changeby Clive Hamilton
This book does not set out once more to raise the alarm to encourage us to take radical measures to head off climate chaos. There have been any number of books and reports in recent years explaining just how dire the future looks and how little time we have left to act. This book is about why we have ignored those warnings, and why it is now too late. It is a book about the frailties of the human species as expressed in both the institutions we built and the psychological dispositions that have led us on the path of self-destruction. It is about our strange obsessions, our hubris, and our penchant for avoiding the facts. It is the story of a battle within us between the forces that should have caused us to protect the Earth - our capacity to reason and our connection to Nature - and those that, in the end, have won out - our greed, materialism and alienation from Nature. And it is about the 21st century consequences of these failures. Clive Hamilton is author of the bestselling Affluenza and Growth Fetish, of Scorcher, and most recently Freedom Paradox.
Above text from Amazon.com
WEB Sites
http://climatesight.org/2011/01/19/the-unofficial-climate-change-book-awards/
http://www.nybooks.com/articles/archives/2012/mar/22/why-global-warming-skeptics-are-wrong/
http://www.britannica.com/blogs/2011/10/literature-climate-change/
http://www.britannica.com/blogs/2011/10/literature-climate-changeMovies
The Most Terrifying Video You’ll Ever See
YouTube ( http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=zORv8wwiadQ) . A “risk analysis” or betting man’s approach to the global climate change issue. Length: 10 minutes
The Most Terrifying Video You'll Ever See 2
YouTube (http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=AE6Kdo1AQmY). An updated version of the above. Length: 10 minutes
An Inconvenient Truth ( Al Gore)
Former Vice President Al Gore wages a passionate campaign -- not for the White House, but for the environment -- in this Oscar-winning documentary. Laying out the facts of global warming, Gore urges audiences to act before it's too late.
Available from: Rochester Public Library, Netflix
Length: 96 minutes
Climate Change 101 With Bill Nye The Science Guy
A somewhat simplistic explanation of the science behind Global Climate Change. Produced by the Smithsonian.
Length: 4 Minutes 33 Seconds
Extreme Ice (NOVA)
Both breathtaking and unsettling, this fascinating array of extreme images gathered by photojournalist James Balog paints a startling portrait of climate change using time-lapse photography shot over the course of two years. Thanks to cameras that recorded pictures once an hour during daylight, you'll see glaciers rapidly melt and shrink and sea levels rise ominously higher right before your eyes.
Available from: Rochester Public Library, Netflix
Length: 56 minutes
Gasland
In this Oscar-nominated documentary, director Josh Fox journeys across America to examine the negative effects of natural-gas drilling, from poisoned water sources to kitchen sinks that burst into flames to unhealthy animals and people.
Available from: Rochester Public Library, Netflix
Length: 107 minutes
Earth From Space (NOVA)
Earth From Space is a groundbreaking two-hour special that reveals a spectacular new space-based vision of our planet. Produced in extensive consultation with NASA scientists, NOVA takes data from earth-observing satellites and transforms it into dazzling visual sequences, each one exposing the intricate and surprising web of forces that sustains life on earth. Witness how dust blown from the Sahara fertilizes the Amazon; how a vast submarine "waterfall" off Antarctica helps drive ocean currents around the world; and how the sun's heating up of the southern Atlantic gives birth to a colossally powerful hurricane. From the microscopic world of water molecules vaporizing over the ocean to the magnetic field that is bigger than Earth itself, Earth From Space reveals the astonishing beauty and complexity of our dynamic planet.
Length: 120 minutes
Available from: Rochester Public Library
Streaming http://www.pbs.org/wgbh/nova/earth/earth-from-space.html
Six Degrees Could Change The World (National Geographic)
This sobering documentary examines the incremental effects of climate change across the globe. Each degree of temperature change means devastating new consequences, and some scientists believe mankind is just six degrees away from utter disaster. Heat waves, drought, rising ocean levels and armed conflict over resources are just some of the grim predictions. Is there anything that can be done to reverse this alarming trend? Length: 90 minutes
Available from: Netflix
Length: 90 minutes
Carbon Nation
Bypassing politics and finger pointing, this forward-thinking documentary zeroes in on enterprising individuals -- from a wind farmer to a solar-panel retrofitter -- who are devising business-minded ways to avert the looming climate crisis. The cross-country expedition yields encounters with Virgin Group CEO Richard Branson, Earth Day founder Denis Hayes and former CIA director James Woolsey, along with everyday pioneers in low-carbon living.
Available From: Rochester Public Library, Netflix
Length: 84 minutes
Text from Amazon.com
The Seven Principles of Catholic Social Teaching
Catholic Social Teaching is a rich treasure of wisdom about building a just society and living lives of holiness amidst the challenges of modern society.
- Life and Dignity of the Human Person
- Call to Family, Community, and Participation
- Rights and Responsibilities
- Option for the Poor and Vulnerable
- The Dignity of Work and the Rights of Workers
- Solidarity
- Care for God’s Creation
From Sharing Catholic Social Teaching: Challenges and Directions, more information is available at the United States Council of Catholic Bishops' website (USCCB).
JustFaith / JustMatters
Just Faith Mission Statement
"JustFaith Ministries strives to provide faith formation processes and resources that emphasize the Gospel message of peace and justice, Catholic social teaching and the intersection of spirituality and action. The aim of JustFaith Ministries is to enable people of faith to develop a passion for justice and to express this passion in concrete acts of social ministry."
The intention of JustFaith is to help participants recognize God’s presence in fresh and accurate ways and to see the world with eyes wide open. To accomplish this, the foundational insights of the Bible and Catholic social teaching are constantly resourced. While many issues are discussed in JustFaith, the primary focus is on domestic and international poverty.
Just Faith is a 30 week program. Source material includes prayer, reading, videos, speakers, dialog, community building and an immersion component. Classes meet once a week starting in the fall.
JustMattersJustMatters is a new and expanding series of formation materials that allow participants to spend six to eight weekly or bi-weekly sessions focusing on a particular social justice topic. Formatted like JustFaith, JustMatters allows a group of eight to twelve people to give sustained attention to a specific area of social concern or social ministry, culminating in a call to engaged action.
Some of the currently available topics include:In the Spirit of St Francis and the Sultan: Muslims and Christians Working Together for the Common Good
Living Solidarity: Government, the Federal Budget and the Common Good
Just Peacemaking Initiative: The Challenge and Promise of Nonviolence for Our Time
Global Climate Change: Faith Encounters the Ecological Crisis
Crossing Borders: Migration, Theology, and the Human Journey
Prison Reform: The Church of the Second Chance
God’s Creation Cries for Justice - Climate Change: Impact and Response
Engaging Our Conflicts: An Exploration of Nonviolent Peacemaking
More information of the JustMatters programs can be obtained from the JustFaith WEB site, http://www.justfaith.org/programs/justmatters/index.html.
Members of the Social Justice Committee will be more than happy to arrange for the presentation of a JustFaith or JustMatters program, if enough people are interested. If you are interested in either the JustFaith program or any of the JustMatters programs, please contact Mike Burns (287-0133, smburns@charter.net) or Jennie Vinski (281-4731).
Information on Catholic Social Teaching
* Office of Social Justice of the Archdiocese of St. Paul/Minneapolis
* USCCB (United States Council of Catholic Bishops)
Faith and Political Responsibility
Become Involved! The following are a few of many web sites that discuss legislative action related to social justice issues
* JRLC (Joint Religious Legislative Coalition - http://www.jrlc.org/ )
* Network (A National Social Justice Lobby)
* Bread for the World (http://www.bread.org/)
* Faithful Citizenship (USCCB)
* National Catholic Rural Life Conference
Peace and Nonviolence
The following web sites are focused on peace and nonviolence issues
* Pax Christi USA (http://paxchristiusa.org/)