Should laypersons develop a shared UU theology?
Steve Caldwell asks
What responsibility do laypersons living in local UU congregations and other UU religious communities have in developing a shared UU theology?
In his commentary, he notes several discussions on UU theology that have gone on or are currently going on.
Personally, this strikes me as infinitely more difficult than re-writing a congregation's bylaws (having had 2 experiences with such an attempt). Speaking only for myself, I think participating meaningfully in such a discussion requires a lot more theological background than I have. Or, I suspect, more than a number of other UUs have. Shouldn't people who discuss such an important topic be qualified to discuss it (other than "life experience" or "what's in our hearts")? I could probably weasel my way into a discussion of current trends in heart surgery, but I'd certainly hope no one would listen to any comments I might make.
Sure, each congregation could all gather 'round and talk about what UU theology means or should be, but at the end of the day, what would that realistically accomplish? If it were a big enough discussion, we'd probably combine it with a potluck dinner, which might be most satisfying and meaningful part of the day.
What to call the season past
I am so, so tired of the ugly, nasty comments people are making about what to call the time of year that preceeds December 25.
Some bloggers and others are jumping down the throats of cashiers and others for not saying "Merry Christmas". Others are complaining because "Merry Christmas" is too Christian and we need to call it "Happy Holidays".
For the sake of (insert word here), GET A LIFE! Is this really the most important problem we've got? How about everyone who's complained or had a bad thought about such things contribute $25 to their favorite charity and SHUT UP!
Senator Kennedy at UU Quincy Church on MLK Day
WHO:US Senator Edward Kennedy
WHAT:Speaking for a Just Minimum Wage
WHEN: Martin Luther King, Jr.Day, Monday, January 16th at 2:30 p.m.
WHERE: United First Parish Unitarian, Quincy MA (the historic "Church of the Presidents')
1306 Hancock St., Quincy, MA.
The church is located in Quincy Center opposite Quincy City Hall and at the Quincy Center T Station stop(Red Line, Braintree branch). Street parking will be available on the MLK holiday as well as at nearby public garages.For directions see http://www.ufpc.orgor call (617) 773-1290 x3.
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United First Parish Unitarian in Quincy MA is hosting a LET JUSTICE ROLL Living Wage event on Martin Luther King, Jr.Day, Monday, January 16th at 2:30 p.m.
The event will feature US Senator Edward Kennedy of Massachusetts, who will speak on the moral obligation and urgent necessity for increasing the minimum wage at the federal level as one step toward achieving a living wage. The national minimum wage has not been raised for eight years. To have the purchasing power it had in 1968 the minimum wage would have to be $9.05/hour today, $3.90 more than the current minimum wage of $5.15/hour.
Senator Kennedy has been working with the national non-partisan interfaith and community LET JUSTICE ROLL Living Wage campaign to introduce federal legislation to raise the national minimum wage. The campaign is also working in several states to raise the state minimum wage through ballot initiatives and legislation. See www.LetJusticeRoll.org for MLK Living Wage Worship Service and Event Resources and for a comprehensive report released in November: A Just Minimum Wage: Good for Workers, Business and Our Future.
The UUA and UUSC are both active members in the LET JUSTICE ROLL Living Wage Campaign. Hundreds of worship services and events will be held across the country on Martin Luther King, Jr. weekend by the coalition members that include over 50 faith and community organizations.
The United First Parish Unitarian Church of Quincy, and their minister Rev. Sheldon Bennett,have been staunch advocates for economic justice through their active participation in the Greater Boston Interfaith Organization, which has led the Justice for Janitors campaign, the establishment of the MA Affordable Housing Trust, and is currently engaged in the Health Care for All initiative.
"There is nothing but a lack of social vision to prevent us from paying an adequate wage to every American [worker] whether he is a hospital worker, laundry worker, maid, or day laborer." --The Rev. Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr.
"Engaging Our Theological Diversity" now online
The Unitarian Universalist Association has posted a .pdf version of
Engaging Our Theological Diversity (all 195 pages of it), written by the
Commission on Appraisal.
A tip of the hat to Boy In the Bands.
Want to meet some nice FBI agents?
According to Dan Harper, it doesn't take much. Just travel a bit and
ask your library for a copy of the official Peking version of Mao Tse-Tung’s tome on Communism called "The Little Red Book."
I bought one of those in the late 60s. So did pretty much everyone else who was even slightly on the left side of middle politically. Bought it at Barbara's Bookstore in the Old Town section of Chicago. I appear to have survived without major philosophical trauma.
Now you get government visits for wanting to see it. And you don't even get the book!
Gym Mass
This past Sunday my wife and I went to a Roman Catholic "gym Mass" in Wilmette, IL, a suburb of Chicago. I'm a former Catholic. It was called a gym Mass because it was held in a gym (one of the 4 Sunday services).
The service was really warm, and the music was great - similar to a megachurch with a few less instruments and no complicated AV equipment. The homily (= sermon) was about the Annunciation, and the priest's point was that when the angel appeared to Mary, at first she questioned, but ultimately she accepted. We were wondering if the priest knew UUs were in the audience.
If I didn't have to believe that Jesus was God, and didn't have to believe that the priest actually turned bread and wine into the body and blood of Christ and didn't have to believe a lot of the other things that Catholics have to accept through faith, it would be a really nice service to go to. If we didn't live in the Boston area.
UUA opposes confirmation of Samuel Alito to U.S. Supreme Court
According to a
posting on the Unitarian Universalist Association website,
(December 12, 2005 – Washington, DC) The Unitarian Universalist Association today announced its opposition to the confirmation of Samuel Alito to the U.S. Supreme Court. The UUA's opposition is based on concerns over civil liberties, including religious liberty, the right to privacy, and due process.
The UUA has never before opposed the confirmation of a nominee to the Supreme Court. In a statement issued to over 1000 congregations (in PDF format Acrobat Reader Required) that make up the Association, the UUA's Washington Office for Advocacy Director Rob Keithan said:
The decision to take a position on a judicial nominee is not one the UUA takes up lightly. The nomination of Judge Samuel Alito Jr. is significantly different from that of Chief Justice John Roberts or Harriet Miers, in that he has an extensive judicial record that clearly reveals his judicial philosophy on a wide range of issues. After extensive research, Unitarian Universalist Association staff agreed that Judge Alito's rulings revealed a pattern of views that were outside the mainstream and hostile to established precedent favoring civil liberties.
Frankly, proclamations like that bother me. It's not clear to the world outside of UUs exactly who's speaking here. My guess is that people would interpret the statement as "our church" making that statement when, in fact, it's the bureaucracy of an organization to which all Unitarian Universalist churches belong that's speaking. It would be good if they added "We do not speak for all Unitarian Universalists, nor do we speak for all Unitarian Universalist congregations". Of course, if they added that, the release would be kind of pointless.
UUAudioSermons.com
I'm pleased to announce my newest website -
UUAudioSermons.com. Please check it out when you have a chance and, if you find it interesting and useful, let others know about it.
It will always be a work in progress.
Peacebang: UUs are as fallen as anyone else
Peacebang comments on Unitarian Universalists' need for tolerance and acceptance, especially since we hold our self to such a high standard in those areas:
... We're just as fallen as any religious movement. We billed ourselves as the saviors, the reformers, the ones who would purify the church, and we failed. We just don't see it, because the ways we have tunnel vision are so in sync with so much of liberal, secular culture, we have no idea how deeply and regularly we violate our first principle. Watch the faces close at coffee hour when the hapless newcomer talks with warm enthusiasm about the War On Terror and you'll know what I mean. Hear the young mother get berated for bringing in bags of Wal-Mart goods to the Christmas cookie decorating party, and watch her quietly go away. Likewise the woman who asks the pastor to start a healing prayer group and is told "We don't do that sort of thing here," or the man who merely questions the placement of the rainbow flag on the front of the building. Watch them all quietly go away, or maybe not so quietly. They know first-hand that we're not really committed to tolerance and acceptance, but that we just think it's really cool to publicly question and dissect commonly held, traditional Christian beliefs. ...
Since we're probably not gonna lower our standards, we need to reflect on our need to raise our actions up to those standards.
Bradley Whitford: Get The IRS Out of My Church
Bradley Whitford writes ...
I have been a member of the All Saints Church in Pasadena for over ten years. The recent revelations of an IRS investigation into its non-profit status as the result of a sermon given a week before the last presidential election by Rector Emeritus George Regas has outraged and galvanized our congregation.
The support we have received from across the spectrum of faith communities, including traditionally conservative evangelical leaders, has solidified our resolve—the United States government has no place in our houses of worship, and the selective targeting of churches who speak out on the issues of the day sets a dangerous precedent that threatens the religious freedom of every citizen.
The sermon in question explicitly refused to endorse a particular candidate. It did, however, hold George Bush and John Kerry up to the high standard of Christian values. Both were found wanting. ...
Ford caves to homophobia
Writer Gene Stone presents the case that
Ford Fumbles with Phobias.
According to a recent article in the Advocate, Ford Motor company, failing in its efforts to increase plummeting sales, has apparently decided that the best way to regain the hearts of Americans is to embrace homophobia.
The virulently anti-gay American Family Association (AFA) recently approached the foundering automobile company and informed them that, because Ford was advertising its Jaguar and Land Rover brands in gay publications, the AFA would launch a boycott of the company.
Apparently, Ford immediately caved. On December 2nd, Ford spokesman Mike Moran told the Advocate.com that indeed, the company will stop advertising its Jaguar and Land Rover brands in all gay publications. ...
Fortune: Will Success Spoil Rick Warren?
I have to admit not being able to keep up on some of my reading. But I wanted to point out this article in Fortune Magazine entitled
Will Success Spoil Rick Warren?. As you probably now, Warren built Saddleback Valley Community Church in Lake Forest, Calif. which now has over 20,000 congregants.
... Most of all, Warren gets attention because he is, as he likes to say, a "spiritual entrepreneur." Using techniques that he learned from Drucker, among others, Warren built Saddleback Valley Community Church in Lake Forest, Calif., into one of America's biggest religious institutions. "Forget any opinions you have about religion and just look at the guy as a CEO, and you've got to be impressed," says Joe Ritchie, a Chicago businessman and Warren ally who once ran the world's largest options-trading company. Today Saddleback has an annual budget of $30 million, 300 employees, a 120-acre campus, and around 22,000 worshippers each weekend. Warren also founded Purpose-Driven Ministries, a nonprofit network of about 150,000 pastors, which has its own staff of about 180 people, a $39 million budget, and a thriving website called pastors.com. Its members may be Baptist or Methodist or Episcopalian, but they use his system. Call it open-source evangelism. "We're kind of the Linux of Christianity," Warren says. ...
UU at the UN
UU World reports ...
Many Unitarian Universalists are surprised to find out that Unitarian Universalism has a place at the United Nations. But Jim Nelson, the new executive director of the Unitarian Universalist United Nations Office, continues a long tradition of UU engagement at the UN that dates back to its founding. He hopes to let more UUs know that they do indeed have a place at the UN. ...
They're right ... I had no idea.
