Take a few moments right after the workshop to ask each other: What went well? What did not? Why? What do you think was the best moment of the workshop? Why? Did anything surprise you? Review the next workshop. Are there any questions to research or logistics to arrange between workshops? Make a...

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...

Preparation for Activity Find out what "political" issues your congregation has become involved with in recent years. Description of Activity Most Unitarian Universalist communities have at least one issue, large or small, that brings into question the role of the congregation in public witness.

Activity time: 10 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 Optional: Cloth for worship/centering table...

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....

The Vietnam War era was a dynamic, emotional, and contentious time in our nation's history. If you participated in events during this time, take a moment to revisit your involvement. Whether or not you were politically active at the time, you probably have opinions about the United States'...

Activity Minutes Welcoming and Entering 0 Opening 10 Activity 1: Turn-in and Burn-in 25 Activity 2: Supporting Draft Resistance 25 Activity 3: Dissenting Voices 20 Faith in Action: Public Witness Closing 10 Alternate Activity 1: Turn-in and Burn-in — Sermon 30 Alternate Activity 2: Conscientious...

Our religious teachers, ministers and lay-men alike—from Thomas Jefferson to William Ellery Channing to Adlai Stevenson—have urged us to honor always the primacy of conscience over any external authority which we believe to be immoral... Thus it is natural that some of our young men must regard...

In 1950, Harold Levering, a California assemblyman from Bel Air, proposed an amendment to the state constitution that would require all religious institutions to sign a loyalty oath or lose their tax-exempt status (see Handout 2, The California Loyalty Oath for exact wording). The demand for a...

Edited excerpt from a letter by the Bishop G. Bromley Oxnam of the United Methodist Church, who testified before the committee on July 21, 1953. My dear, dear friends, ... I thought you might be interested in just what happened at the hearing of the House Committee on Un-American Activities......

Excerpted from more than 10 hours of testimony given by Bishop G. Bromley Oxnam of the Methodist Church. Transcript published in U.S. News and World Report. August 7, 1953 and … in full on the Internet Archive website. Rep. Velde of Illinois (chairman of the Committee) Mr. Kunzig (prosecutor for...

Paragraph 32. DECLARATION OF LOYALTY UPON CLAIMING EXEMPTION: EFFECT OF FAILURE TO DECLARE LOYALTY Any statement, return, or other document in which is claimed any exemption, other than the householder's exemption, any property tax imposed by this State, or and county, city, or county, city,...

The House Committee on Un-American Activities (HUAC) was established in 1938 as a special investigating committee of the House of Representatives, and after World War II became a standing committee of the House....

Activity time: 15 minutes Materials for Activity Timepiece (minutes) Bell or chime Preparation for Activity Write on newsprint, and post: Have there been times in your life when you felt pressured to support something you did not agree with? When? Where did this pressure come from (work, family,...

Activity time: 15 minutes Materials for Activity Handout 4, Testimony before HUAC Preparation for Activity Pre-arrange with four volunteers to read the four roles in the transcript. Give them copies of Handout 4 with their assignments. Arrange furniture to effectively present the story. In the...

Activity time: 20 minutes Materials for Activity Newsprint, markers, and tape Preparation for Activity Read the short b… of Donald Harrington on the Harvard Square Library website. Description of Activity Introduce the activity with these or similar words: Many Unitarians disagreed with Rev.

Activity time: 30 minutes Materials for Activity Handout 2, The California Loyalty Oath Handout 3, This Could Happen Here Leader Resource 2, The Levering Act Newsprint, markers, and tape Preparation for Activity Copy Handouts 2 and 3 for all participants. Read the short b… of Rev. Stephen...

Activity time: 25 minutes Materials for Activity Handout 1, Rev. Stephen Fritchman and the House Un-American Activities Committee Leader Resource 1, What Was It Like? A First-hand Account of HUAC Timepiece Bell or chime Preparation for Activity Read Handout 1 and copy for all participants. Read...

Online, you can request information from the FBI under the Freedom of Information Act. Learn about the Freedom of Information Act on the American Civil Liberties Union website. Find biographical information on the website of the Harvard Square Library, under Notable American Unitarians: R….

Take a few moments right after the workshop to ask each other: What went well? What did not? Why? What do you think was the best moment of the workshop? Why? Did anything surprise you? Review the next workshop. Are there any questions to research or logistics to arrange between workshops? Make a...