St. Thomas Aquinas Human Concerns Committee Meeting Minutes, October 28, 2008

Attendance:
Paul Chestnut, Laura Chiu, Terry McCaffrey, Terry Atkinson, Daniel Marshall, Mary Beth Chu

1. Welcome to new members
We welcomed three new members: Terry Atkinson, Daniel Marshall, Mary Beth Chu. The old members summarized how they participate in HCC, and the new members indicated how they would like to help.

2. Faith-Sharing/Question of the Week - Terry
Terry led a discussion about "illegal aliens." Many serve a useful purpose in our society, such as meat processors, farm workers, and landscapers. Yet they are often treated poorly by the government. They are hounded by the ICE, arrested, and deported. Society should be able to follow the law while treating people with dignity.

3. The September minutes were approved.

OLD BUSINESS

4. Time & Talent Drive results - Laura
The Time & Talent drive took place at three churches on October 12, 19, and 26. Thirteen individuals expressed some interest, and an email message was sent to each of these to invite them to tonight's meeting. Three individuals joined us, and a fourth, Mary Washburn, said that she could not make the meeting, but would come to the next meeting.

5. Burning Bush event for social justice activities - Terry
and 6. Death penalty - Terry Terry met with Fr. George regarding a Burning Bush event. Fr. George said that we had a Burning Bush event a year or so ago on the death penalty, so he encouraged Terry to consider another type of forum. Terry suggested that we build a forum on the death penalty around one of two videos:
1) "I lived on Death Row" - a story about a man who killed his wife, was tried, convicted, and sent to death row. His daughters visited him and eventually forgave him.
2) "The Empty Chair" - This video consists of four stories about family members who lost a loved one through violence. It was viewed at Weekend of Faith in Action. It garners a powerful response. We discussed which of these two videos would be best as the central event of a forum. The first is rather long (one hour); the second is about a half hour. We discussed the particulars: when and where. Terry volunteered to be the moderator. Mary Beth emphasized that we should strive to get the youth to come. It was agreed that we should work to get people from both sides of this issue to attend. We should plan to place an ad in newspapers, including the Valley Catholic. Terry will attend the first video cited above on Thursday, and will report back. We plan to come to a decision on all of these issues at the next meeting. The Weekend of Faith in Action on the Death Penalty will be held November 7-9. It is sponsored by California People of Faith Working Against the Death Penalty (CPF). There will be a homily on the death penalty presented at the 8:45 Mass on November 16 at St. Thomas Aquinas. There will be an interfaith prayer service at Lytton Plaza on November 9 at 3 pm; Diana Gibson will lead a discussion.

8. National Religious Campaign Against Torture - Chris
Chris Lundin reported that he placed "Banners Across America" posters in the church vestibules. He decided not to make arrangements for a re-hanging of the banner "Torture Is Wrong."

9. Forum on the prospects for ridding the world of nuclear weapons:
Tuesday, November 18th, 7 PM to 9 PM at the Hillview Community Center, 97 Hillview Avenue, Los Altos. Should we co-sponsor this event? This event is co-sponsored by: Los Altos Voices for Peace, Action Council of the Unitarian Universalist Church of Palo Alto, Peninsula Peace and Justice Center, and Board of Directors of the Humanist Community in Silicon Valley. We agreed that we should co-sponsor this event.

10. Proposition 8
We discussed Proposition 8 on the November 4 ballot. The Catholic Church has come out in favor of this proposition, but some of us disagree with the Church's position. Laura, a member of the Parish Stewardship Council, is opposed and wanted to know whether the HCC as a whole would have a position, and if so, she would communicate that position to the Council. The group present was not of one mind about the proposition.

NEW BUSINESS

11. What's On Your Mind?
Laura suggested that we collect unused gift cards as a way to raise money for the poor. Gift cards are often purchased from department stores and given out as Christmas presents. The recipients of such gift cards often forget about them or just don't shop at those particular department stores. We can collect these "unredeemed" or only "partially redeemed" gift cards from our parishioners and use them for stuffing Christmas stockings for East Palo Alto. Ruth and George Chippendale said people are always donating toys suitable for younger children but when it comes to teenagers, we have little to give out for Christmas. Gifts cards from Sears, Macy's, Target etc will be perfect. Mary Beth volunteered to help with this project. Last year, Consumer Reports did a survey and found that nearly $8 Billion in gift cards went unredeemed. For the 2006 holiday season, 56% of the survey's respondents received gift cards and nearly a year later, 27% of gift card recipients have not used one or more of these cards.

12. Volunteer for Faith-sharing/Question of the Week
Laura volunteered.

Next meeting - November 25