Articles
Advocacy with Others - the Church
<p>Besides advocating for your position with elected officials, become an advocate with others, including <a href="/post/advocacy-family">family members, friends, and associates</a>; <a href="/post/advocacy-corporations">corporations</a>; and the Church.</p> <h3>The Church</h3> <p>Sometimes our Church is at the vanguard of education and advocacy campaigns, and other times it needs to be encouraged to do more. Often we have great resources to draw on from Scripture, Catholic Social Teaching (CST), and statements from the Pope and U.S. Conference of Catholic Bishops (USCCB); but the information and urgency for action may not have filtered down to the diocesan and parish levels.</p> <p>Accor...</p>
Read MoreAdvocacy with Others - Corporations
<p>Besides advocating for your position with elected officials, become an advocate with others, including <a href="/post/advocacy-family">family members, friends, and associates</a>; corporations; and <a href="/post/advocacy-church">the Church</a>.</p> <h3>Corporations</h3> <p>Many of the advocacy tools used to communicate with elected officials (see links on the <a href="https://paxchristimdcb.org/post/what-we-do-advocate">main Advocacy page</a>) can work with corporations as well, particularly as part of a coordinated campaign involving many other advocates. These tools include well-focused petitions, social media messaging (Twitter, Facebook, etc.), letters, emails, and letters to the editor. Phone calls and visits to the corporation’s of...</p>
Read MoreAdvocacy with Others - Family, Friends, and Associates
<p>Besides advocating for your position with elected officials, become an advocate with others, including family members, friends, and associates; <a href="/post/advocacy-corporations">corporations</a>; and <a href="/post/advocacy-church">the Church</a>.</p> <h3>Family Members, Friends, and Associates</h3> <p>Talk with family members, friends, neighbors, coworkers, members of other groups you’re involved in, etc. about issues of concern to you. Help educate them and encourage them to get involved in addressing the issues. Use in-person conversations, phone calls, emails, and social media messaging to provide relevant information, point them to reliable sources, invite them to meetings or ...</p>
Read MoreAdvocacy - Letters to the Editor
<p>Letters to the editor of a local newspaper can be another effective way of influencing your MOCs, as well as other citizens. As <a href="http://www.ucsusa.org/action/writing-an-lte.html#.WKDa2_Jc-2A" rel="noopener noreferrer" target="_blank">this post</a> from the Union of Concerned Scientists (UCS) says,</p> <p>Writing a letter to the editor (LTE) of your local or regional newspaper is an effective and easy way to reach a large audience with your message. LTEs are printed on the editorial page, which is one of the most read pages in the paper. Congressional staffers also tell us that members of congress keep a close eye on media coverage, including LTEs, in their local papers so they can keep a “pulse” on issues of...</p>
Read MoreAdvocacy - Attendance at an MOC’s Town Hall Meeting or Other Public Event
<p>Attendance at an MOC’s town hall meeting or a public event where the MOC is present can be a very effective way of interacting with your MOC. Not all of our area MOCs conduct traditional town hall meetings; some may hold telephone town hall meetings, and others (U.S. Senators especially) may not do either. (State legislators are more likely to hold in-person town hall meetings.)</p> <p>The <strong>town hall meeting</strong> format allows participants to ask questions of the MOC. If called on, you may introduce your question with a very brief statement of the issue and why you care about it; but you won’t be able to ...</p>
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