Materials for Activity Sign-in sheet and pen or pencil Name tags for participants (durable or single-use), and bold markers Copies of Workshop 1, Handout 1, Schedule Optional: Refreshments Preparation for Activity Have copies of Workshop 1, Handout 1, Schedule on hand for those who need one....

From an article, "Prophetic Nonviolence," by Paul Rasor, which appeared in the Spring 2008 issue of UU World. Used with the author's permission. I believe we can move beyond this old divide by adopting an integrated model I call prophetic nonviolence....

This statement was passed on June 25, 2010 by the delegates to the 2010 General Assembly in Minneapolis, Minnesota. Unitarian Universalist theologians Dr. Sharon Welch, Dr. Dan McKanon, and Rev. Dr. Paul Rasor were consultants in the crafting of the statement, and all three spoke in support of it...

You will present a mock debate between two great Unitarian figures from the 20th century, William Howard Taft and John Haynes Holmes. Both men were passionate orators and spoke eloquently for their positions. Review their arguments, read the online materials on Taft and Holmes, and get ready to...

The 2006-2010 Study/Action Issue for the Unitarian Universalist Association asks the question: "Should the Unitarian Universalist Association reject the use of any and all kinds of violence and war to resolve disputes between peoples and nations and adopt a principle of seeking just peace through...

The exact meaning of the term "pacifism" can be difficult to pin down. It is used to refer to perspectives ranging from absolute rejection of violence of any kind to a principled refusal to engage in military activity and a belief that conflict among nations should never be resolved through war.

This summary is based on information from God's War by Christopher Tyerman (Cambridge: Harvard University Press, 2006). In the 4th century BCE, the Greek philosopher Aristotle outlined what he considered to be acceptable categories of warfare....

The United States entered World War I in April 1917. Shortly afterward, Congress passed the 1917 Espionage Act. The act made it a crime for people to speak out against the country's involvement in the war or to encourage draft resistance or conscientious objection. As a result of the act, several...

Activity time: 15 minutes Materials for Activity Handout 1, Just War Theory Handout 2, Pacifism Handout 3, Peacemaking Newsprint, markers, and tape Preparation for Activity Choose a conflict in the world about which people in your congregation are currently concerned. Briefly familiarize yourself...

Activity time: 15 minutes Materials for Activity Handout 4, Taft and Holmes Preparation for Activity Copy Handout 4 for all participants. Assign roles for the debate. Co-facilitators may want to play Taft and Holmes, or especially enthusiastic group members may be invited to take on this challenge.

Activity time: 20 minutes Materials for Activity Handout 3, Peacemaking Leader Resource 3, Beyond Just War and Pacifism Preparation for Activity Read Leader Resource 3 and discuss with your co-facilitator questions and responses you might have about Rasor's ideas or peacemaking....

Activity time: 25 minutes Materials for Activity Newsprint, markers, and tape A copy of the story "The Taft-Holmes Debate" Workshop 2, Handout 1, Prophetic, Parallel, and Institutional Voices Leader Resource 2, John Haynes Holmes and William Howard Taft, Photographs Optional: Computer and digital...

Activity time: 15 minutes Materials for Activity Handout 2, Pacifism Preparation for Activity Read Handout 2 and discuss with your co-facilitator any questions you might have about pacifism. Copy the handout for all participants. Optional: Prearrange for a volunteer to read the handout aloud.

Activity time: 15 minutes Materials for Activity Handout 1, Just War Theory Participant journals Pens, pencils, and extra paper Preparation for Activity Read Handout 1 and discuss with your co-facilitator any questions you have about just war theory. Copy the handout for participants. Optional:...

Activity time: 10 minutes Materials for Activity Worship or centering table and chalice Participant journals Writing materials, including paper, pens, pencils, color pencils, and markers Taking It Home handout Preparation for Activity Customize the Taking It Home section of this workshop and copy...

Materials for Activity Computer with Internet connection Leader Resource 1, Statement of Conscience - Creating Peace Preparation for Activity Online, access recent social justice statements and resolutions regarding wars, conflicts, and peacemaking passed by the General Assembly of the Unitarian...

Activity time: 5 minutes Materials for Activity Worship or centering table Chalice, candle, and lighter or LED battery-operated candle Timepiece (minutes) Chime or bell Copies of Singing the Living Tradition, the UUA hymnbook, for all participants Leader Resource 1, Statement of Conscience -...

Materials for Activity Sign-in sheet and pen or pencil Name tags for participants (durable or single-use), and bold markers Workshop 1, Handout 1, Schedule Optional: Refreshments Preparation for Activity Have copies of Workshop 1, Handout 1, Schedule on hand for those who need one. Using the...

Frances Dana Barker Gage (1808-1884) There came a time when Universalists refused to go with me as an abolitionist, an advocate for the rights of women, for earnest temperance pleaders... Then it came to me that Christ's death as an atonement for sinners was not truth, but he had died for what he...

From the Library of Congress.