"Faith of the Free"

July 2008 "Global Chalice" now online...

uufreespirit — Wed, 20 Aug 2008 17:00:06 GMT

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-- Here's the link to the July 2008 ICUU newsletter (pdf file);

http://icuu.net/news/newsletter/Global_Chalice_0708.pdf

"Should We Kill People Over Gay Marriage?"

uufreespirit — Tue, 19 Aug 2008 04:53:38 GMT

Quote:

"...This same pathology was at work with the shooting, by a rabid right-winger, at the Knoxville Unitarian Universalist Church last month, and the very recent attack on the Arkansas Democratic Headquarters.

'But in the end, Card can´t really hide the fact. He writes: 'In my church and many other churches, people still cling fiercely to civilized values and struggle to raise civilized children despite the barbarians who now rule us through the courts'

"Pure democracy' is what Card is grasping at. Want to know what 'pure democracy is'? -- a lynch mob...."

-- Really solid op-ed article by Brian Trent at the American Chronicle website. Here's the link to the complete text;

http://www.americanchronicle.com/articles/71590

Rev. Eller (All Souls, DC) on Church Shooting

uufreespirit — Mon, 18 Aug 2008 17:46:29 GMT

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-- YouTube video excerpt from his August 3, 2008 sermon (runs 5:43);

Link

Rev. Chris Buice speaks to media

uufreespirit — Thu, 07 Aug 2008 18:25:27 GMT

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-- From the Knoxville News Sentinel, an article and four minute video as Rev. Buice reflects upon the tragedy at his Tennessee Valley UU congregation;

http://www.knoxnews.com/news/2008/aug/07/pastor-full-of-curiosity-doubt/

Yes, we DO have a faith!

uufreespirit — Sun, 03 Aug 2008 21:11:37 GMT

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-- Don't let anyone tell you otherwise! Here's yet another example of this rich and proud heritage which we share of liberative and reconciliatory religion;

Quote:

"The people in Tennessee didn't tear that man to pieces; they just held him so he couldn't do anything else to harm himself or anyone else." And that act, Reverend Jane Bechle says, describes the philosophy behind the Unitarian Universalist church. “It starts out with the inherent worth and dignity of every person,” explains Bechle. Even the one who killed two church goers and injured seven more in Knoxville over the weekend.

Despite tragedy, the reverend still calls this denomination her bastion of sanity. “I thought I'd have to quit ministry.” After twenty years as a Methodist minister Bechle says her beliefs took a sharp left turn while the church's veered right. “Then I found UU and it was like they saved my life, they gave me back my life by being this place you think, you don't hit a wall."

Because Unitarian Universalism is about opening doors to absolutely everything, “We read from the bible, the Qua’ran, the Jewish bible, Hindu texts,” and everyone. But members like Michelle Bradley say acceptance of all religions and all lifestyles- including homosexuality- make their church somewhat of a target for hate. Church members say they've had their rainbow flag stolen eight times just this year. In other words they don't always feel welcome in Springfield but they don't feel afraid either. The Reverend counters, “you ask me if I'm afraid, I'm not. It means we're doing what we're supposed to do, and you have to expect there will be consequences but it's sad." Sad, she says, not discouraging. The church is prepared for a peaceful retaliation. “You fight back with love if you call that fighting back..."

-- Rest of this story, from the Springfield, Missouri's KSPR-TV website--with video--is right here;

http://www.kspr.com/news/local/26164519.html

Muslims Show Support for Tennessee UU Church

uufreespirit — Sun, 03 Aug 2008 16:15:52 GMT

Muslim Community of Knoxville member Steve Johnson pauses for prayer Friday
at the Annoor Mosque in Fort Sanders during a memorial service for the victims of a Sunday
church shooting. The Muslim community and the Knoxville Interfaith Network
sponsored the service.

http://www.knoxnews.com/news/2008/aug/02/muslim-community-opens-arms-to-church/?partner=yahoo_headlines

RE: "Is It Safe to be a Liberal?"

uufreespirit — Sun, 03 Aug 2008 15:25:29 GMT

Quote:

"Becoming a Unitarian Universalist means becoming accountable to these people, none of them weak or purposeless souls. It means recognizing that it's not up to God to make the world a better place; it's up to you. Hardly a religion for the weak! ..."

-- Titled "Theology was target of Shooting," the Rev. Stephen H. Furrer, a UU minister, puts some perspective on our liberative theological inclinations and why they are considered by some to be so dangerous;

http://www.santafenewmexican.com/Opinion/My-View-2008-08-01T15-24-53

Quote:

"...But make no mistake about this: It is liberal theology, not liberal politics, at the heart of this whole incident...Unitarian Universalist support of liberal social policies grows out of a far deeper understanding and belief. It's not our support of gay and lesbian rights that threatens fanatical right-wingers, it's that we announce God's love for all souls and that we proclaim all individuals —no matter what their class or race or orientation — to be made in the image of God."

-- Any thoughts you'd like to share about this? (Just one minor correction: Francis David was not burned at the stake. He died in a dungeon for spreading his innovative ideas in religion.)

http://www.wacotrib.com/opin/content/news/opinion/stories/2008/08/03/08032008wacstone.html

http://www.stltoday.com/stltoday/news/stories.nsf/news/editorialcommentary/story/ca7397301d166e79862574980075450b?OpenDocument

"Is It Safe to be a Liberal?"

uufreespirit — Sat, 02 Aug 2008 14:46:57 GMT

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-- This is the title of a newspaper article in today's Knoxville (TN) News-Sentinel. No, you won't hear this discussion on the national news media: Apparently it isn't deemed important enough to rise above those Paris Hilton, Britany Spears "news" stories.) Here's a link to this thought-provoking article;

http://www.knoxnews.com/news/2008/aug/02/shooting-raises-question-it-safe-be-liberal/

-- I've gotta' admit that safety, security and comfort have never been among my top reasons for being a religious liberal, but I do believe in the value and potential of a world where dignity and respect can transcend individual differences, and that this way of thinking, when broadly adopted and followed, inevitably results in a greater measure of personal safety. Just my opinion. What do you think?

Link

A Denomination in Stagnation?

uufreespirit — Fri, 01 Aug 2008 22:57:07 GMT

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-- Six minute YouTube video on attracting and keeping visitors as active congregational members;

Link

--- And suggested solutions (8 minutes);

Link

RE: The World's Most Freedom-affirming Religion

uufreespirit — Fri, 01 Aug 2008 20:44:24 GMT

Quote:

"My family and I passed a Unitarian Universalist Church while we were vacationing in Western Pennsylvania last week. Displayed on the front of the building was a banner that read, "A Beacon of Liberal Religion." I've driven by a lot of churches over the years, but never one so proud of its liberalism."

-- Lee Webb

(Christian Broadcast Network news anchor)

-- Never too late to learn something new, right Mr. Webb? Wow, imagine all those folks whose faith your organization likes to "put down" on such a regular basis actually drawing truth, meaning, inspiration and solidarity from it!

-- Here's something else that I found online recently (--at the CLF website--) which I believe says a lot about our "quintessential liberal-religious" tradition...our movement...our general approach to, or attitude toward matters of religion and conscience--and why it's something in which a lot of people can be justifiably proud. Who knows: It may even be helpful to Mr. Webb, in overcoming his quandary as well;

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"Is This Your Religion?"

-- by A. Powell Davies, from Without Apology: Collected Meditations on Liberal Religion by A. Powell Davies, edited by Forrest Church and published by Skinner House Books in 1998. Originally written in 1944 for the 123rd anniversary of the founding of All Souls Church, Unitarian located in Washington, DC.

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Quote:

"We are the consummation of thousands of years of religious history. We are thousands of years that have stripped off superstition and battled with tyranny; thousands of years that struggled to take fear out of religion—to take it right out of human life; thousands of years that have marched, sometimes joyfully, sometimes in agony, toward spiritual emancipation. We are indeed the consummation of something.

Yet in this world of blood and sorrow it is scarcely important, hardly worth mentioning, unless in addition we are the beginning of something, unless our religion is new—the religion that has always been new in every prophet who died rather than forsake it; the religion that has been buried over and over again in creeds and rituals and sacred sepulchers and yet has always come to life; the religion that today is new all over the earth, stammering itself into utterance in every language known to humankind.

The religion that says freedom!—freedom from ignorance and false belief; freedom from spurious claims and bitter prejudices; freedom to seek the truth, both old and new, and freedom to follow it; freedom from the hates and greeds that divide humankind and spill the blood of every generation; freedom for honest thought, freedom for equal justice; freedom to seek the true, the good and the beautiful with minds unimpaired by cramping dogmas and spirits uncrippled by abject dependence. The religion that says humankind is not divided—except by ignorance and prejudice and hate; the religion that sees humankind naturally as one and waiting to be spiritually united; the religion that proclaims an end to all exclusions—and declares a brother and sisterhood unbounded! The religion that knows that we shall never find the fullness of the wonder and the glory of life until we are ready to share it, that we shall never have hearts big enough for the love of God until we have made them big enough for the worldwide love of one another.

As you have listened to me, have you thought perchance that this is your religion? If you have, do not congratulate yourself. Stop long enough to recollect the miseries of the world you live in: the fearful cruelties, the enmities, the hate, the bitter prejudices -- the need of such a world for such a faith. And if you still can say that this of which I have spoken is your religion, then ask yourself this question: What are you doing with it?"

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-- "Without Apology," by the way, is available from the UUA bookstore (www.uua.org/bookstore or 800-215-9076) or through the CLF Library (www.clfuu.org/library or 617-948-6150).