Know yourself—then do something

After hearing a heartbreaking story on the car radio about hungry children in Nevada, the Rev. James Ford urges us to take action.

Several of the children spoke of going to bed without eating. They struggled for words to describe their experience. “My tummy growled.” My eyes began to water. And another said, saying how hard it was to sleep. “I waited until the next morning when I could go to school and eat.” I choked.

Another child waited. And then spoke very softly. It was hard to understand. The interviewer had to ask for sure what the child said. It was, “We ate a rat.”

I pulled over and wept. (Monkey Mind, February 15

The Rev. Amy Zucker Morgenstern is devouring Michelle Alexander’s recent book, The New Jim Crow, “even though every bite burns going down.”

What I thought before: Racism is present in the criminal justice system, the way it is present everywhere. It’s a problem that concerns me, but calling it the equivalent of Jim Crow is nothing more than a rhetorical flourish.

What I think now: The criminal justice system has been pressed into the service of an agenda that has changed form over the years but has not diminished: the social control of racial minorities, especially African-Americans. The means was once Jim Crow; now it is mass incarceration, which is truly, not just rhetorically, the new Jim Crow. (Sermons in Stones, February 15)

Strange Attractor, the mother of two girls, has had enough of “all the ugly misogyny in the news lately.”

My daughters’ bodies are not political footballs. . . . All of this, and more, is poison to the futures of young women. For every lesson their father and I teach them that they have as much value as any man, there are counter-lessons like these. They are being told that they need to be sexy, but not too sexy; independent, but not too independent; that they bring their problems on themselves; and that most of all, they are not to be trusted. These are not the family values I am trying to teach. (Strange Attractor, February 16)

Thinking about atheism

Shannon McMaster explains why he is not an atheist.

What atheism offers isn’t enough of an explanation of my subjective experience of the world. And, really, all I’ve got is my subjective experience of the world. . . . My subjective experience has included experience of the religious impulse and of the religious feeling. (This Is Worker, February 10)

A few of the Rev. Dr. Cynthia Landrum’s Christian colleagues define “practical atheists” as “people who might profess a belief in Christ, but live a Godless lifestyle.”

The use of the term “Practical Atheist” in this way assumes morality is from God, and so those who are living amorally are atheistic, at least in practice, even if not in belief. And it’s a slam on Atheists. But, as we’ve seen, people generally believe that Atheists don’t have morals, because Atheists don’t believe in God. For the record, then: living as if there is no God does NOT mean living immorally. (Rev. Cyn, February 15

‘Congregations and Beyond’

Conversation continues this week in various forms of social media about UUA President Peter Morales’s “Congregations and Beyond” essay and the brainstorming it launched.

The Rev. Tom Schade writes that the conversation is “a mess,” and offers a number of questions and suggestions.

I myself would like to see all of our ministers and laypeople be turned loose to create “no-logo liberal religious ministries” wherever they can. Let our congregations keep doing what they are trying to do. Out of all that ferment, something new will emerge. (The Lively Tradition, February 11)

Andie Arthur, drawing on her background in the arts, encourages UUs to focus on creating “good church,” rather than worrying about unhealthy congregations.

[Once] you find that bit of good church . . . keep growing it. Focus on what is profound and moving, on what makes you want to bring others to your congregation, and grow that. Put energy around that, market it well, and see how it grows. (Toward a Holy Theatre, February 16)

Tandi Rogers, who serves as a Growth Strategies Specialist for the UUA, shares part of the results of her recent survey of “Free Range UUs.”

[One] thing that stunned me was the number of Free Rangers who have been to our congregations and left, repelled by less than inspiring worship or an exhausting congregational conflict or our issues with power and authority. A significant portion of Free Rangers are former board members who left demoralized under the unrealistic pressures of their role.  A target for all sorts of ugliness.  This keeps me up at night. It makes my heart ache. (Growing Unitarian Universalism, February 13

President Morales shares his observations about the in-person Orlando consultation, as well as the wider conversation happening through social media.

Just as important as what we are doing (and maybe even more important) is how we are doing it. We are creating a new way of working together as an association. Our work on the Congregations and Beyond initiative is just one example. Stated briefly, we at the UUA are doing all of this in close collaboration with others. We are “crowdsourcing” our work—working in partnership with a wide variety of people and inviting input along the way. (Beyond Belief, February 14)

UUA Trustee Linda Laskowski provides her perspective on “Congregations and Beyond.”

The blogsphere flurry about President Morales’ “Congregations and Beyond” surprises me in that it is the extension of a conversation that started some time ago. A less restrictive definition of what a “congregation” is was passed by the delegates of GA2011. Peter brought an earlier version of this paper to the October board meeting, which dovetailed with a formal conversation the board was having about the scope of the Association. (UUA View from Berkeley, February 10)

Around the blogosphere

The Rev. Sam Trumbore’s mindfulness practice helps him cope with contagious anxiety.

So much of the religious project is learning how to manage our emotional brain more effectively so we can live together in peace.  May we all learn to deal with it better so we stop killing and hurting each other out of that primitive, reactive response to the daily challenges of existence. (Rev. Sam Trumbore, February 16)

The Rev. Adam Tierney-Eliot, who serves a congregation affiliated with both the UUA and the United Church of Christ, shares insights about the two denominations’ recent “intentional conversation.” (Burbania Posts, February 10)

The Rev. Amy Freedman redefines church, faith and religion. (Amy Freedman, February 10)

Rethinking Christianity

The Rev. G. Jude Geiger writes that “there is a war on Christianity in this country.”

It’s not about prayer in schools, or soccer trumping Sunday school. It’s about groups of pundits, politicians and “American”-centric groups redefining the teachings of Jesus to suit their economic, social or political agenda. (Rev. G. Jude Geiger, January 31)

The Rev. Sam Trumbore takes on another distortion of Christianity—the message of death instead of life, a gospel of suffering rather than of paradise.

The primary focus of the early church was not on the way Jesus died but their belief that he returned to life. His return sealed the promise for them they had nothing to fear in death. . . . This picture of Jesus in a worldly paradise has resonance with how we do religion here. The image of a bloody Jesus dying, nailed to a cross, does not. (Rev. Sam Trumbore, February 5)

Journeys of faith

Anna Snoeyenbos, who has found a new home in a United Church of Christ congregation, shares the baptismal testimony she delivered to her new faith community.

I’m keenly aware that we live in an age when more people claim to be spiritual but not religious—and I’m standing if front of you now to say that yes I have spirit, always have really, but what I crave is religion. . . . I believe that together we can root ourselves in this giant oak of Christianity—with all its many branches – we can root ourselves in this ancient faith together so that we may have the strength ourselves to grow. (Deep River, February 6)

A friend’s loss leads Christine Leigh Slocum to think about the transient nature of life.

[Forrest Church writes] about how death is the price one pays for this great opportunity to be alive. . . . that grief is the evidence you have loved. It may be accurate, though it is not consoling. I study social problems for a living, and every time I read or hear of some tragedy, all I can think of is that it was that person’s only chance on this earth. It always seems so brief. (Seattleite from Syracuse, February 7)

Pavarti Tyler introduces a series of guest posts about spiritual journeys, and begins by telling her own story of faith.

I think I was the first person to ever go through confirmation class and not be confirmed. . . . My mother cried and the pastor pulled me into her office for private discussions where she tried to dissuade me from my decision. But I knew, the God I believed in, the God who loved me, didn’t care if you were gay or Buddhist. I knew that was wrong. (Fighting Monkey Press, February 3)

Pluralist conversations

Reading about the Hindu festival of Thaipusam prompts Crystal St. Marie Lewis to think more deeply about interfaith commonalities.

[Religious] people in other cultures are not really “otherly” or “beyond our understanding.” We are all people who are responding to an inner urge for contact with God. . . . Whether Christian, Jew, Hindu, Muslim or otherwise, we are all reaching beyond the human condition in an effort to touch the Greater. I find those commonalities both humbling and beautiful. (Diary of a Christian Universagnosticostal, February 9)

Liz James considers the challenges of language among Unitarian Universalists, using the word “church” as an example.

For me, “Church” refers to community, connecting to what’s meaningful, living with intention, and caring for the world. For some people, not so much. So, I’m reluctant to use the term “Church” as an exclusive label for the stuff I do, because I want the people looking to be able to find me. (Sacred Lego, February 9)

John Beckett offers practical advice for dealing with Pagan-phobic UUs.

Go around them. Or go over them. Or go through them. Don’t let them be a roadblock on your search for truth and meaning and on your congregation’s path to growth and maturity. And if they’re too entrenched and too powerful and too dead-set on keeping things the way they’ve always been, take your time and your effort and your money some place that’s interested in being a religious community and not a social club. (Under the Ancient Oaks, February 9)

Politics, religion, and women’s health

Sarah MacLeod, a physician’s assistant, weighs in on the Susan G. Komen controversy.

Playing on sympathies to buy products that are of dubious health benefit to support an organization that’s mission is to eradicate breast cancer gives me a headache. . . . Pink isn’t the answer to ending breast cancer. If we truly care about breasts, breast cancer, women, and women’s health, we’ll think twice before we act. We’ll research carefully where we send our donations and to what we commit our time. (Finding My Ground, February 4)

The Rev. Debra Haffner can’t believe that contraception has become a political football.

[The] U.S. Catholic Bishops have called an all out attack on birth control coverage in health care reform—and each of the GOP contenders have joined them. Their anti-women, anti-sexuality positions are being cloaked in a “religious liberty” argument that doesn’t stand up to scrutiny. (Sexuality and Religion, February 8; see media coverage of Haffner’s response at this week’s UUs in the Media)

Around the blogosphere

The Rev. Amy Zucker Morgenstern provides the text of her presentation on race and liberal religion.

If we’re going to hold tight to it and say that we (white European-Americans) own it, liberal religion will dwindle. But if we allow it to change as it encounters other cultures, it can grow. . . . So yes, if Unitarian Universalism becomes more truly multiracial and multicultural here in the US, as it already is around the world, it will change. Let’s embrace this as good news! (Sermons in Stones, February 9)

The Rev. Dr. Terasa Cooley offers an overview of last week’s consultation about “Congregations and Beyond.” (Learn Out Loud, February 7)

The Rev. Naomi King asks, “How are you caring for your neighbor’s dreams?” (Digital City of Refuge, February 5)

Christian Schmidt plays tour guide for ministerial candidates planning to come to Boston to meet with the Ministerial Fellowship Committee. (A Free Faith, February 8)

Responding to ‘Congregations and Beyond’

UU social media continues to buzz this week with reactions to UUA President Peter Morales’ vision statement, “Congregations and Beyond.” In addition to a face-to-face, UUA-sponsored consultation in Orlando, many individual Unitarian Universalists are participating in vigorous online discussion in a Facebook group dedicated to this topic, and conversation on Twitter is gathering around the hashtag #congbeyond. UU bloggers also continue to engage with Morales’ vision statement.

Liz James shares the perspectives of the members of her Digital Literacy Class at Meadville Lombard.

When the price of membership is conformity to a structure that is culturally foreign or negative, people might say “I’m a UU but not a church person”. Unfortunately, “not a church person” currently translates into “nearly completely shut out of the movement.” (Hummingbird Homemaker, February 1)

The Rev. Tom Schade asks, “What’s a religious movement?”

When some people hear that President Morales wants us to think of ourselves as “a religious movement,” they get anxious. It sounds like the UUA will become even more boundary-less and intentionally less organized. As I understand it, the UUA will never be a “religious movement”. (The Lively Tradition, January 30)

According to the Rev. Christine Robinson, Unitarian Universalists do have a common theology, one that helps us define who we are.

Life is good, and so are you. Reason and Intellectual Faculties are good. You can trust them to understand life. However it’s a Very Big Universe out there, and many important things can’t be known through reason and intellect. For this we have intuition, heart, spirituality, and other faculties which are useful but don’t lead everyone to the same conclusions. Truth on these Very Big matters is best found in conversations, actual, virtual, literary, and internal. It is to be expected that there will be differences. They enrich us. (iMinister, February 1)

Strange Attractor compares the experience of her local congregation and beyond, in the UU blogosphere.

Peter Morales’s recent article and all the responses to it remind me that I often feel like I walk in two separate, but over-lapping Unitarian-Universalist worlds: my church, and the UU blogosphere. . . . I believe strongly in the power of the internet and social media as connecting and community-building tools. If we want to use these tools for evangelism to unchurched UUs, we have to spend less time with self-flagellation. (Strange Attractor, February 2)

Kim Hampton’s view of “Congregations and Beyond” is that the emperor has no clothes.

Maybe it’s because I’m exploring my options with the Disciples of Christ. Maybe it’s because this reads as four pages of words signifying nothing. . . . The longer that I’ve sat with “Congregations and Beyond” the more I get stuck on a question that I don’t think this document even remotely tries to answer–how do you measure success? (East of Midnight, February 1)

UU World editor Chris Walton has created a Storify summary, tracking the conversation about “Congregations and Beyond,” and additional blogging can be found at UUpdates.com.

Celebrating Black History Month

The Rev. Amy Zucker Morgenstern celebrates Black History Month with the first in a series of posts.

The state office building has a “Jim Crow voting obstacle course” in its atrium for Black History Month. Each station explains one of the obstacles, and the choice it poses. You could skip the obstacle; for example, if you skip the “literacy test,” the good news is you’re spared humiliation. The bad news is you don’t get to vote. (Sermons in Stones, February 1)

Plaidshoes, blogging at Everyday Unitarian, lives in an integrated neighborhood in St. Louis.

Due to the housing collapse, a lot of the flight has stopped and people are starting to get used to each other. The misunderstandings and assumptions are fading. . . . To my kids, the world is not segregated. Skin color is just a color. Their best friends are African American and that is completely normal. (Everyday Unitarian, February 2)

The Rev. Dan Harper posts the text of his presentation on race and liberal religion.

[All] too often when I bring up the topic of race or racism, all the white people find something better to do; either that, or they act overly outraged, to the point where I can’t actually have a serious discussion with them about the nuances and fine distinctions and uncertain implications of trying to better define race and racism. (Yet Another Unitarian Universalist, January 30)

Around the blogosphere

UUA President Peter Morales visits with undocumented students in Tucson who cannot go to college, despite their excellent academic records.

What madness! What human waste! I find myself wanting to scream. I find myself feeling as powerless as they are feeling. But I know that I am not powerless, that we are not powerless. (Beyond Belief, January 27)

The Rev. Erik Walker Wikstrom reports that the congregation he serves tried transforming their business meeting into a worship service.

[While] there are some who are still skeptical—and no doubt some who are displeased—most of the feedback I’ve received so far is extremely positive. Some are even declaring it “a success” and saying that we should plan on doing our May meeting in this same way. (A Minister’s Musings, February 2)

Taz the Belgian Tervuren tells us what dogs know about hospitality.

I say that you should open the door and get a good whiff of the person on the other side. If they’re the rare person who smells like they are up to no good, you can close it up again. Otherwise, why not open your heart to the leaping, tail-wagging joy of meeting someone new? (Quest for Meaning, February 1)