Brought to you by Rev. Jack Ditch
"Now and then we had a hope
that if we lived and were good,
God would permit us to be pirates."
--Mark Twain
This Happens In Every Church
Over at Philocrites there's an excellent quote decrying the fight over homosexuality in the Anglican church, and the ugly side of religion that it reveals. Below is my response, copied in whole here to foster discussion here as well there (not because I fear it will be deleted. ;-) )
I definitely recommend reading the quote at the link for context.
-><-
It's interesting how much his feelings towards the Anglicans reflect my own feelings towards the UUA, as much of what I've seen in Unitarian Universalism over the past four years has undermined my belief in the essential benignity of too many UUs.
There are a lot of angry people in our religion, intent on punishing the people they veiw as offending justice instead of learning to love people despite their flaws. Mess with them, and they can be as hostile as any conservative is towards gays. And since we believe in democracy, all it takes for them to control the resources of the church is quantity.
Yet I'm trying to make this moment of disillusionment a moment of acceptance that no religious institution is essentially benign, rather than yet another flight from religion. What am I supposed to do, leave the UUA in the hands of the angry judges and abandon religion institutions altogether?
It's really made me look back at the Roman Catholic church I grew up in and realize that sure, they believed I was born inherently sinful, but at least they also believed I was forgiven for it! And while I still shudder at the idea of submitting to the authority of a bishop, I definitely understand why a bishop would not submit to the authority of democracy, given the frequently angry and judgmental views of the masses.
I'm also starting to understand how those awesome, loving and very liberal priests and nuns I knew growing up Roman Catholic stomached working for a hierarchy that was so obviously corrupted by politics and greed. I used to think it was because they didn't have the guts to stand up to their superiors; now I think it may have been because they had the guts to forgive their superiors!
Instead of running away from religions that embody all the petty, hypocritical judgment of humanity, maybe it's time we think about forgiving them and serving them. I say this about myself and my relationship to the Unitarian Universalist Association, but I also say this about the UUA's relationship to other religions, and to the world.
Maybe "Unitarian Universalism" should be less about building a church where everyone's accepted, and more about accepting every church?
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"...they had the guts to forgive their superiors!"
And that's hard to do. Very hard. It's probably the single most difficult spiritual discipline there is. If it was easy, more people would be doing it.
"Instead of running away from religions that embody all the petty, hypocritical judgment of humanity, maybe it's time we think about forgiving them and serving them. I say this about myself and my relationship to the Unitarian Universalist Association, but I also say this about the UUA's relationship to other religions, and to the world."
Amen to that, brother. The difficulty for me with that is, which church do I start going to? I love the Anglican liturgy and don't really care for the UU liturgy. Just not my "style." It's a silly quandary, but a quandary nonetheless! I'm the kind of person who'd go to every church if I could!
(Also posted on Philocrites:)
I think in any community bound by a certain set of principles -- including our UU community -- we can often find those who seem to "talk the talk, but not walk the walk." And not just among conservatives, but also among radicals seeking change.
Too often, when presented with a difficult question such as inclusion of sexual minorities, extremists on either side will present the answer as a black-and-white "either-or" proposition: Either we hold fast to the traditions which define us, or we throw all of it away; either we live up to the spirit of love and justice right now, or we cling to the old ways. The middle path of dialogue and discernment, done in a spirit of respect and humility, is much harder and takes much longer -- but the rewards are much greater.
Currently I am at the beginning of such a process in my own congregation. I am grateful both for the guidance of my minister and friends there, and for the openness with which many are willing to listen and ask question (even tough ones) in a spirit of respect. And I would have it no other way. It is the way we grow as individuals, and truly live out our faith.
The last time I checked, Unitarian*UNiversalist U*Us were doing a pretty good job of embodying all the petty, hypocritical judgment of humanity themselves. . .
The last time I checked, Unitarian*UNiversalist U*Us were doing a pretty good job of embodying all the petty, hypocritical judgment of humanity themselves...
Exactly. And as we hate others for their flaws, so shall we be hated for our flaws. Recognizing that we're all one universal church, we might recognize that, as we do to them, so do we do to ourselves. So let's, as they say, love other churches as we love ourselves.
(((The last time I checked, Unitarian*UNiversalist U*Us were doing a pretty good job of embodying all the petty, hypocritical judgment of humanity themselves.)))
Umm...
We're humans.
We have lots of qualities, both bad and good, that are attributable to humanity as a whole.
I'm not sure why that's so interesting to you. Seems obvious to me. We're imperfect, and we're working on our imperfections. We may not be working on the ones you would like us to, Robin, but as the Rev. Jack is fond of saying "Who are you to judge?"
Let he who has never made a petty or hypocritical judgment cast the first stone.
CC
"Let he who has never made a petty or hypocritical judgment cast the first stone."
I don't think Jesus is allowed to post comments here. ;)