Your WebWeaver apologizes for the silence of this site, but we've been visiting family and doing all those other good holiday things, plus a few other odds and ends that have made it impossible to spend the time needed to add any good things here.

If you're tired of pulling letters from Witherspoon out of your mailbox every few days, we apologize! But you're getting these reminders from us because we're doing important things, and we want you to stay involved.

If you've been getting those little reminders that it's time to renew your membership and would like to do that chore on-line, just go to our membership page, and from there you can even jump to another page where you can pay with your credit card, using the secure PayPal service.

If you can make an extra contribution for our work (even without renewing), you can do that through PayPal, too. And we'll be grateful if you do!

"God rest you merry, Congressmen" is an updating of the old carol, reminding us that the children of Iraq don't have much to be merry about.

The Reverend Dr Giles Fraser, vicar of Putney and lecturer in philosophy at Wadham college, Oxford, has said in The Guardian that the real message of Christmas is that God affirms the material (the "profane") world by joining it in the birth of the Christ child.

So Christmas is much more than an offer of sweet spiritual peace. It's a call to "a stubborn engagement with the brute facts of oppression and violence."

Want a little variety in your Christmas messages?

Declare Your Town a Civil Liberties Safe Zone

In the face of the Bush administration's relentless drive to erode civil liberties under the banner of the war on terror, a novel form of protest is spreading across the country. Eighteen cities and towns have declared themselves "civil liberties safe zones," and at least 40 others in 24 states are considering doing the same, reports Nat Hentoff in a recent Village Voice column.

The movement was born last February, when 300 citizens in Northampton, Massachusetts formed the Bill of Rights Defense Committee. Angered by the hasty and secretive passage of the USA PATRIOT Act--a sweeping anti-terrorism bill that gave federal law enforcement broad new powers to snoop on citizens--the Northampton BORDC began lobbying the city council.

In May, the council passed a unanimous resolution affirming the town's support of the constitutional rights threatened by the Act, namely: the rights to freedom of speech, religion, assembly and privacy; the rights to counsel and due process; and protection from unreasonable searches and seizures. The declaration goes on to request that the local police not cooperate with federal officials in any action that infringes on these rights; that the Feds act according to local policies when in Northampton; and that local members of Congress work to repeal the USA PATRIOT Act.

We've received reports of events in Cleveland and Louisville. We'd be glad to have news of others! Just send a note.

In Cleveland on November 16 there was a march across Detroit-Superior bridge to a rally on Public Square, that attracted between 700 and 1,000 people. Representatives of a variety of groups spoke. Since then, peace activists have been singing Christmas carols with new words at the West Side Market. Another rally is scheduled for December 21 again for Public Square. An effort is being made to have Congressional representatives speak.

In Louisville, there have been three candlelight vigils on Bardstown Road. The largest one had about 600 people. Last Tuesday (Human Rights Day) was rainy and cold and still some 200 people took part. Plans are to continue the vigils, increase their frequency, and expand their location. The group is making signs for peace by gluing together old campaign posters and writing on the blank sides. At a recent holiday event again on Bardstown Road, many merchants displayed the signs. Outlines of bodies were also chalked on the sidewalk as a reminder of the cost of war.

Also, Jane Hanna reports on a recent peace rally in Santa Fe.  She shares the short talk she gave on three reasons not to go to war.

We have recently pointed to some good resources on peacemaking, including the World Council of Churches web site.

But don't forget the excellent web site of our own Presbyterian Peacemaking Program, which has a special page of resources on Iraq. www.pcusa.org/peacemaking/iraq

The Rev. W. Mark Koenig, Associate for Resources and Publications in the Presbyterian Peacemaking Program, notes that changes may soon be made on that page "in an effort to make it a more fully denominational page as opposed to just a Peacemaking Program page."

While the good old reliable AAA may probably rescued lots of us, it appears that this powerful national organization is using our dues money for extensive lobbying at national, state, and local levels -- mostly for more highways, less public transit, less regulation of motor vehicle emissions, and so on.

Four themes have been identified for study and reflection during the Decade. They are:

Former President Jimmy Carter recently accepted the Nobel Peace Prize in Stockholm. You knew that, right? But Robert Parham, the executive director of the Baptist Center for Ethics, notes that Carter's own church, the Southern Baptist Church, has maintained an almost total silence about the honor bestowed on "one of theirs."

Parham adds, "Carter exemplifies the best of what being a Baptist means. He studies the Bible. He shares his faith. He teaches Sunday School. He does missions -- building houses with the poor and working to end 'river blindness' in Africa. He values democracy enough to work tirelessly for fair elections. He works for peace, a practice that Jesus said guaranteed one the title 'sons of God.' "

Reflections from Peter Sawtell, Executive Director of Eco-Justice Ministries  

Peter Sawtell reminds us of the challenge of Advent to face our limitations and our bondage to the powers of the world. That can bring heavy burdens, unless those Advent meditations are completed with a genuine proclamation of good news.

So he challenges us with the question, "Do we have a message of liberation that can free people from their bondage to a global system which weaves economics, culture, technology and politics into a powerful web of seduction and control?"

We recently posted an exchange of correspondence between the Presbytery of Baltimore and the Presbyterian Layman, revolving around charges again the Rev. Donald Stroud. That posted invited comments from other congregations dealing with similar issues, and we have received an interesting response from Christ Church, Presbyterian, of Burlington, VT.

Since the passage of G-6.0106b, Christ Church, Burlington, VT, has been struggling to find a way to comply with the strictures imposed by that amendment, while remaining faithful to their conviction that they must "extend fully the grace and hospitality of Jesus Christ to our gay and lesbian brothers and sisters."

We recently offered pointers for those who want to order Fair Trade coffee for Christmas gifts. And we asked others to add their suggestions. Here's what we've received:

From Jane Hanna, former Witherspoon president:

I would point out to people that the Presbyterian Hunger Program is sponsoring Equal Exchange as a Presbyterian Coffee Project. Tea is also available. Our church now serves it during the coffee hour and twice a month some of us take turns selling it. Quite a few people are responding.

Laura Sugg adds:

Please highlight the PCUSA's own way to order fair trade coffee. See this PCUSA web site: http://www.pcusa.org/pcusa/wmd/hunger/coffee/

Another option is offered by Tom Liddle:

I'd suggest encouraging people to buy fair traded, organic coffee from East Timor - the world's newest nation and one struggling to find markets for its most common export. Find out how at www.etan-seattle.org.

The inns are empty, but they couldn't get into the town because Israel has closed it to all visitors. 

The Washington Times reports that the Synod of the Mid-Atlantic has begun a review of the decision of the Presbytery of Baltimore not to take action against the Rev. Donald Stroud, who has been accused the attorney Paul Jensen of violating provision G-6.0106b of the Book of Order.

The Rev. Barry Van Deventer, Synod executive, is quoted as saying, "We felt that a special review was in order, but not because we concluded they did anything wrong. ... This is a review of the process, not a judicial review."

We just received this query from a visitor:

I'm looking for an e-address for ordering fair trade coffee for Christmas presents. Thanks

Your WebWeaver's response:

I think if you go to http://store.yahoo.com/equalexchange/ you'll find more information, but they only accept wholesale orders.

With a little searching I've found a site where you can place retail orders: http://store.yahoo.com/eeretail/index.html

We hope that helps!!

You can check out our earlier reports on the Equal Exchange movement for fair trade.

If you can suggest other good Fair Trade sites for Christmas shopping, please send a note!

The Rev. Bruce Gillette has sent an interesting reflection on next Sunday's text on John the Baptist, and a contemporary call for repentance in the face of global warming - a call which the Bush administration is greeting with a call for more study.

We've just received a query from a woman in the Lutheran Church of Australia, where the ordination of women is still a closed topic. We invite you to send your comments, ideas, and resources in a note to her, that will also come to your WebWeaver, and may be shared here.

Her note:

In an effort to put the women's ordination debate in the Lutheran Church of Australia into an international context I would appreciate any information on Women's Ordination sites that you may know of. Our Women's Ministry Network site is http://www.picknowl.com.au/homepages/wmn/

Leigh Newton

Progressives need to say Yes, there are moral issues at stake!

Witherspoon Issues Analyst Gene TeSelle sends this thought:

After the November election, there has been much Monday-morning quarterbacking, trying to figure out why there was such a conservative sweep, whether it was a sweep after all, and whether the Democratic Party ought to move left or right.

Joel Bleifuss in an editorial in In These Times (December 23, 2002, p. 2) shifted the perspective in a helpful way:

Progressives would do better to stake out positions that are not about left and right, but about right and wrong. After all, universal health care, an end to poverty, a system of public schools that educate everyone, environmental policies that sustain life, the fair sharing of our nation's wealth, a world where war is not the only option, and the idea that human values should take precedence over marketplace values are notions that, if well communicated, could transcend ideological labels and at the same time capture and define a moral center.

Recent reports on the case against the Rev. Donald Stroud have included charges that Paul Jensen, the lawyer who first filed complaints against Stroud, was not properly informed of his opportunity to testify against Mr. Stroud.

Just wander through earlier headlines and links:

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PVJ's Facebook page

Mitch Trigger, PVJ's Secretary/Communicator, has created a Facebook page where Witherspoon members and others can gather to exchange news and views. Mitch and a few others have posted bits of news, both personal and organizational. But there’s room for more!

Voices of Sophia blog

Heather Reichgott, who has created this new blog for Voices of Sophia, introduces it:

John Harris’ Summit to Shore blogspot

John Shuck’s Shuck and Jive

Got more blogs to recommend?