The Dagger Of Sweet Reason Issues A FatUUa. . . Declaring Unitarian Church Marketing Sucks. . .

The Dagger of Sweet Reason thought that you just might find this latest fatwa in his Unitarian Jihad most enlightening and amusing! ;-)

Unitarians are walking billboards for the church, and too often it's a case of false advertising. Church marketing sucks, but so do we. We're a sinful and broken people, but half the time we can't admit it. We put on an air of perfection, forgetting that in our brokenness we are complete. The church is for the broken, not the perfect.

Yet rather than accept our imperfection and live lives transformed by grace, we pretend to be perfect and wallow in our sin. . .

Plagiarize Plagiarize
Let no one else's work evade your eyes
Remember why the good Lord made your eyes
So don't shade your eyes
But plagiarize, plagiarize, plagiarize
Only be sure always to call it please research

Oops I almost forgot to credit Tom Lehrer

Oh! I wouldn't want to forget. . . Kevin D. Hendricks Chief Blogger for CHURCH MARKETING SUCKS either. . .

I do hope that he doesn't mind me posting this to The Emerson Avenger blog.

Did I say that Google was on my side? ;-) ;-)

Comments

indrax said…
The church marketing sucks website is cool.

From here:
TEA:What about the victims of various kinds of injustices and abuses whose repeated requests for justice, equity and compassion are repeatedly rejected by the perpetrators and indeed the perpetuators of the injustices and abuses?

Indrax:We should heal those people.

TEA: Thanks for thev affirmation Indrax. I am not alone. . .

I'm not sure you should take this as an affirmation.
'We' includes you, and 'those people' includes them.
Robin Edgar said…
Hi Indrax,

And them and them and them and them and him and him and her and them etc. etc. ad nauseum

As a rule I am only abusive towards those people who are clearly and unequivocally abusive towards me first and I usually put up with quite a bit of abuse before retaliating. . .

Do you feel that I have been abusive towards you personally or towards other people who have not been particularly abusive towards me?

Allah prochaine,

The Dagger of Sweet Reason

PB2U*Us
indrax said…
My point was that you are not healing, yourself or others.
Robin Edgar said…
Hi Indrax

UUs are not healing me, and have abjectly failed and remarkably obstinately refused to do so for about a decade now. . . Until UUs responsibly start the process of healing for me, and indeed for others that they have wronged and even abused. . . I will be involved in a little war of words aka Unitarian Jihad aka U*U Jihad with outrageously hypocritical U*Us. . .

Regrettable there is always some "collateral damage" in any war. Even a war of words. If UUs want to continue waging this war of words with me I am very ready, very willing and more than able to verbally devastate and lay waste to UU injustices, abuses and outrageous hypocrisy.

Just call me Mac the Knife. . . ;-)

The Unitarian Jihad aka U*U Jihad® of The Dagger of Sweet Reason will not only continue but it will be considerably escalated until U*Us throw in the proverbial towel and seek peace with me by starting to redress my legitimate grievances (and not just those that directly affect me by the way) with genuine justice, genuine equity and genuine compassion.

BTW Don't take my sometimes somewhat rather outrageous and even egregious online persona to be too representative of the "real Robin Edgar" or even the real "Robin's Conscience". . . There is a certain amount fun loving role playing going on for this particular Transcendentalist Super Hero aka The Emerson Avenger. If you and other U*Us think of me as a U*U "Wizard of Awes" as it were, U*Us might get the picture. ;-)

Speaking of the Wizard of Awes. . . I am planning to brutally press-gang U.S. Secretary of Defense Donald H. Rumsfeld into service for my ongoing Unitarian Jihad aka U*U Jihad® in the very near future. . . I believe that U*Us are quite regettably due for a little "Shock and Awe" from The Dagger of Sweet Reason to get them to wake up and smell the Bridgehead coffee. . . I think the U*U motto for internal injustices, abuses and hypocrisy must be -

Coffee, coffee everywhere but not a drop to smell. . .

It is really quite unfortunate that U*Us choose to follow so slavishly (dare I say sheepishly?) in the footsteps of Saddam Hussein by never missing an opportunity to miss an opportunity. . .

Allah prochaine,

The Dagger of Sweet Reason

PB2U
indrax said…
My point was that YOU need to take an active role in your own healing AS WELL AS the healing of other injured parties. (Including Ray Drennan)

This should not be about laying waste to anything.
Robin Edgar said…
Please tell me all about Rev. Ray Drennan's injuries. . . Other than the one's he inflicts on others that is. . .

BTW This blog is and will remain an active, possibly even very active. . . part of my healing at least until such a time as UUs respond in genuine responsibly to my injuries and grievances and redress them with genuine justice, genuine equity and genuine compassion.

This should be, and most certainly is ALL about "laying waste" to UU hypocrisy. I have every right and even a responsibility to do so and it is one of the express purposes of this blog. If you can't stand the heat get out of the bitchin'. . . ;-)

(Oh well I was hoping that was an original aphorism but Google informs this trained ape that someone else thought of it first. . .)
Robin Edgar said…
BTW Indrax please don't take any bluntness on my part too personally I have nothing against you on a personal level. The reason this conflict continues is because the UUs that I am in conflict with never miss an opportunity to miss an opportunity to seek peace with me. . . Here is the most recent opportunity that they missed -

From: Robin Edgar
(514) XXX-3937

September 26, 2005


Dear Peter,

Your shunning behavior towards me during our chance encounter downtown last week does absolutely nothing to resolve the conflict that presently exists between me and the Unitarian Church of Montreal but, on the contrary, is rather detrimental to resolving this regrettable conflict in a genuinely just and equitable manner. On Sunday September 4th I informed you that you might soon be receiving a letter from me bringing you up to speed with the situation so you would know where things stand and what my current position is. You responded quite positively to that information by indicating to me that you looked forward to reading such a letter.

Unfortunately before I could get around to writing the intended letter I was subjected to a threat of physical violence against me by a church goer on Sunday September 11th as I was conducting my usual protest activities. I felt it necessary to report that threat to the police and they acted upon my call by arresting the individual who made the threat against me. I can only assume that your shunning behavior when I encountered you last week results directly from that police intervention during your second Sunday service as interim minister of the Unitarian Church of Montreal. I put it to you that your shunning behavior is misdirected and that, if you should be shunning anyone at all, it should be the person who made the threat against my safety and well-being and thus is ultimately responsible for the subsequent police intervention that presumably caused some disruption of your Sunday service. Your anger and/or disappointment would also be more appropriately directed towards those past and current leaders of the Unitarian Church of Montreal who have abjectly failed and obstinately refused to undertake the responsible measures that are required to resolve this drawn out conflict in a manner that is genuinely just and equitable and in accordance with other pertinent Unitarian Universalist principles.

Prior to your shunning of me last week my attitude towards you was on the positive side of neutral and I had some reason to believe that under your leadership as interim minister of the Unitarian Church of Montreal this conflict could potentially be resolved with genuine justice, equity, and compassion. I still believe that this may still be possible however it will certainly require an appropriate attitude adjustment on your part. When I indicated that I would like to talk with you briefly last week it was because I thought that it would be a good idea to informally discuss matters with you prior to writing the letter that I had indicated that I intended to send you. Having a prior chat with you about the conflict might have helped me to formulate my intended initial letter to you in a way that might facilitate a just and equitable resolution of the conflict.

The attached email was sent to all UCM Board members soon after I became aware of Rev. Ray Drennan's impending resignation. A fair number of printed copies were also distributed to members entering the church on Sundays as I protested. Until I discuss matters further with you it, along with this email, will have to serve as the letter that brings you up to date with current situation. You will see that UCM Board members and those other members who received copies of the letter were clearly warned that my protest activities would continue into the term of the interim minister and even the permanent replacement minister if they failed or refused to subject Rev. Ray Drennan to full accountability for his intolerant and abusive words and actions towards me.

I am asking you to rethink your currently unproductive and unwelcoming attitude towards me and to agree to meet with me in the near future to discuss the current situation in an effort to resolve this ongoing conflict. The only way to resolve this conflict in a genuinely just and equitable manner is through frank and open communication and meaningful dialogue with subsequent appropriate action on the part of the Board and congregation of the Unitarian Church of Montreal. You may reach me by phone at (514) 996-3937. If you are uncomfortable with meeting with me for a private personal discussion of the situation I have no objection to a few other people being present at an initial meeting with you. In fact, as always, I am more than willing to frankly and openly discuss this conflict with the Board of the Unitarian Church of Montreal, an appropriate sub-committee of the church, or an informal group of church members who are genuinely interested in attempting to finally resolve this drawn out conflict in a manner that actually lives up to the letter and the spirit of Unitarian Universalist principles rather than flagrantly disregarding them and outright flaunting them as has been the case so far.

If you take a genuinely just, equitable, and indeed compassionate leadership position in this conflict and make a sincere and hopefully successful effort to resolve it while you are interim minister you should come out of it looking very good indeed. If however, like so many other thoughtless UUs, you choose to continue to contemptuously shun me and deny me my right to genuine justice and equity by doing little or nothing to try to redress the injustices and abuses that I have been subjected to by Rev. Ray Drennan, other UCM leaders, and the Unitarian Church of Montreal as an institution, I can assure you that the conflict will escalate to levels as yet unseen and that neither you nor the Unitarian Church of Montreal will look very good to anyone.

Knowing what littke I do know about you I am still reasonably confident that after some thoughtful reflection you will agree that making a sincere effort to resolve this conflict so that the next permanent minister of the Unitarian Church of Montreal does not have to deal with it is the only right thing to do. With an appropriate change of attitude on your part I hereby stand ready to continue to communicate with you, to meet with you in person, and to try to collaborate with you in any sincere attempt that you undertake towards arriving at a genuinely just, genuinely equitable, and genuinely compassionate resolution of this conflict in the coming weeks and months. The sooner that you and indeed other leaders of the Unitarian Church of Montreal responsibly open lines of communication with me, rather than willfully ignoring me and outright shunning me, the sooner a just and equitable resolution of this long drawn out conflict may be attained.

Sincerely,

Robin Edgar

(514) XXX-3937
Robin Edgar said…
That email was, needless to say really. . . addressed to Rev. Peter Boulatta the current interim minister of the Unitarian Church of Montreal. I left a phone message or two asking him to contact me. He did not make any effort to enter into any kind of communication with me at all. Sunday after Sunday Montreal Unitarians walk past my picket signs and make not the slightest effort to try to resolve the conflict. If they are suffering any injury I see little evidence of it but in any case any injuries that UUs suffer in this conflict are due primarily to the fact that they are totally unready, pathalogically unwilling, and chronically unable to take the steps necessary to achieve justice and peace.

Allah prochaine,

Robin Edgar

P.S. I had intended to blank out the first three digits on my phone number because I don't want any crank calls from UUs but I missed the one that was in the text of the letter so feel free to call me if you want.

BTW I think that you are taking my deliberately over-the-top humorous posts just a bit too serriously. . .

Allah prochaine,

The Dagger of Sweet Reason

PB2U*Us
indrax said…
For example, perhaps.

So you think Ray Drennan is perfectly healthy? The epitome of spiritual balance? Like Ghandi or something?

No?

Somewhere, sometime, somebody pissed him off. Now maybe that's your fault and maybe it wasn't, blame is largely irrelevant to my point.

If people are in need of healing, you work to heal them.
Period.
indrax said…
And more to the point, you should.

Ultimately, you are responsible for what you do, or fail to do.
Robin Edgar said…
I have done plenty to try to get U*Us to begin the healing process but the either abjectly fail or obstinately refU*Use to enter into ANY process that could lead to genuine healing for all concerned. Those U*Us in positions of responsibility know perfectly well that I am ready to enter into dialogue whenever they responsibly choose to do so. . .

Ultimately, U*Us are responsible for what U*Us do, or fail to do.

U*Us have said and done things to me far worse than than I have ever said and done unto them. U*Us have repeatedly failed, indeed U*Us have most obstinately refU*Used to respond in genuine responsibility to my numerous letters of grievance and my ongoing "alternative spiritual practice" of protesting in front of the Unitarian Church of Montreal and various CUC and UUA GAs etc.
indrax said…
You have a responsibility to heal yourself.

You have a responsibility to heal others.

Do you deny this?

I'm not saying other people do not also have similar responsibilities, (and in fact further responsibilites, as clergy,) but shirking your responsibilites is not the answer.
Robin Edgar said…
Well speaking of clergy shirking their responsibilities what do you make of this recent communiqu-eh from The Dagger of Sweet Reason?

Date: Tue, 6 Dec 2005 15:50:12 -0500 (EST)
From: "Robin Edgar" robinedgar59@yahoo.ca Add to Address Book
Subject: An Important Update About My "Obviously Deep Concerns"
To: wsinkford@uua.org
CC: bsinkford@uua.org

From: Robin Edgar

Tuesday December 6, 2005


Dear President Sinkford,

The following letter (copied below) was distributed to people entering and leaving the Unitarian Church of Montreal on Sunday December 4th, 2005. It will continue to be distributed for several more Sundays during my "alternative spiritual practice" of protesting against Unitarian Universalist injustices, abuses and hypocrisy in front of the Unitarian Church of Montreal as I have been doing since the spring of 1998. The "annotated" version that you see copied below has been posted to various pertinent internet forums, including the UU Debate section of Beliefnet and it will be posted to others in the coming days and weeks. Although it is not directly addressed to you personally I expect you to clearly and unequivocally demonstrate and express your personal concern about the "obviously deep concerns" that I have expressed in this communication. These concerns are pretty much the same concerns that I brought to your attention soon after your election as President of the Unitarian Universalist Association. One additional concern that is not addressed in the letter is the culture of censorship that currently pervades and degrades the UU World and I expect you to address that issue as well in the near future.

Quite evidently and quite regrettably the UUA, its Ministerial Feelowship Committee and the Unitarian Church of Montreal failed or refused to live up to the second principle of UUism which calls for justice, equity, and compassion in human relations. It goes without saying that this failure, or indeed refusal, of the Unitarian Church of Montreal and the greater Unitarian Universalist religious community to provie genuine justice in this matter clearly disregarded, and indeed violated, the first principle of UUIism which affirms the inherent worth and dignity of every person, the third principle of UUism which calls for acceptance of one another and encouragement to spiritual growth in UU congregations, and the sixth principle of UUism which calls upon UUs to affirm and promote the goal of world community with peace, liberty, and justice for all. I would like to believe that "all" includes one Robin Edgar and I expect you to speak appropriate words and take responsible concrete actions to ensure that that goal is soon realized for me and indeed others, at least within the UU World.

You will be receiving one or two formal requests for your personal intervention in this long drawn out conflict soon however I want you to be aware of this recent more generally distributed communication before I send you any further letters.

I will ask you to acknowledge receipt of this communication in an email. I do not expect or require a detailed response. It is probably best if you wait until you receive my forthcoming communications before responding in any detail. If you should wish to speak to me personally you may call me at (514) 996-3937

Sincerely,

Robin Edgar



Here is the "annotated" internet version of my letter of December 4, 2005 -


From Robin Edgar

Sunday December 4, 2005

To whom it may concern,

Today marks the 5th anniversary of my false arrest in December 2000 on trumped up criminal charges brought against me by Montreal Unitarians. After a few of criminal court dates I was acquitted of these unwarranted criminal charges that were intended to completely censor and suppress my legitimate public protest. I am protesting against the failure and refusal of the Unitarian Universalist religious community to responsibly redress my own and other UUs' legitimate grievances about abusive clergy misconduct. I am also protesting against the antireligious prejudice and intolerance that deplorably pervades and degrades UUism. The abusive clergy misconduct that I was subjected to arose directly from the antireligious intolerance, indeed the outright bigotry and hostility, of a self-professed "Humanist" Unitarian Universalist minister. I have seen too much evidence of similar antireligious prejudice and hostility towards God believing people within contemporary UUism. Such antireligious prejudice and intolerance, even hostility and bigotry, betrays UUism's monotheistic heritage and makes some UU congregations far from "Welcoming" (and at times even less than "Safe") for God believing people in general and Christians in particular. These UU injustices and abuses make a complete mockery of the claimed principles and purposes of UUism, and other UU ideals and must be responsibly redressed by all UUs, including current UUA and CUC leadership.

My clergy misconduct complaints did not involve sexual misconduct however I am also concerned about the UUA's and MFC's past failure to responsibly redress complaints arising from sexual misconduct by UU ministers. The UUA's "official apology" to victims of clergy sexual misconduct admits that the UUA has "largely failed" the victims of clergy sexual misconduct. In May 2000 I protested the failure of both the UUA and its Ministerial Fellowship Committee to responsibly address clergy misconduct, sexual or otherwise, in front of the UUA's offices at 25 Beacon Street. I also protested at UUA and CUC AGMs. I am protesting on behalf of all the victims of abusive clergy misconduct committed by UU ministers and all other people who have suffered either insult or injury (or both) as a result of antireligious intolerance as well as other injustices and abuses committed by hypocritical UUs who willfully disregard and violate claimed UU principles and purposes. I have been protesting in front of the Unitarian Church of Montreal on most Sundays since May 1998 because these remarkably hypocritical UUs have rejected or willfully ignored all of my letters of grievance and my subsequent public protests. Montreal UUs have repeatedly unjustly punished me for refusing to ccept" their unjust, inequitable and uncompassionate rejection of my grievances arising from their well documented injustices and abuses. I have been repeatedly verbally attacked by Montreal UUs and I have been threatened and physically assaulted on occasion as well. Montreal Unitarians attempted to criminalize my public protest and have repeatedly called the police even though my protest is legal. In doing so Montreal UUs have made a total mockery of their purported principles and purposes, and other claimed ideals.

During a private meeting with him, the purpose of which was to try to explain a profound revelatory experience that I had undergone in early 1992, former UCM minister Rev. Ray Drennan sarcastically mocked and ridiculed my religious beliefs by labeling them as "silliness and fantasy" amongst other derisive and insulting comments. Rev. Ray Drennan contemptuous dismissed my revelatory experience as "your psychotic experience" and angrily insisted that I was in immediate need of "professional help." As if these words were not insulting and damaging enough Rev. Drennan went on to label 'Creation Day' (an inter-religious celebration of Creation that was inspired by my revelatory experience) as "your cult." When I immediately challenged him to qualify what he meant by this damaging slur (which is the 21st century equivalent of labeling someone as a "witch" or "heretic") he replied, "I mean a manipulative and secretive religious group." Ironically, less than a month earlier, Rev. Ray Drennan and the Board of the Unitarian Church of Montreal had banned reation Day' from being celebrated in the "sanctuary" of the UCM during an "in camera" segment of the October Board meeting that was totally secretive cynical manipulation of the democratic process; even though reation Day' had been unanimously approved as an adult RE activity by the UCM's Religious Education committee. Rev. Drennan never retracted these demeaning and damaging allegations about me, nor did he ever issue an acceptable apology that clearly and unequivocally acknowledged the wrongfulness of his words and actions. Rev. Ray Drennan was never held accountable by the Unitarian Church of Montreal or the UUA's Ministerial Fellowship Committee. I on the other hand have been repeatedly punished and attacked by UUs for refusing to ccept?these UU injustices and abuses. The Ministerial Fellowship Committee complicitly "whitewashed" Rev. Ray Drennan by asserting that his demeaning and abusive misconduct, as I described it in more detailed letters of grievance, "seemed to us to be within the appropriate guidelines of ministerial leadership." When I wrote a letter protesting this ludicrous decision, Rev. Diane Miller responded by vaunting the "wisdom" of the MFC's decision to "close the file."

My grievances arising from the abusive clergy misconduct of Rev. Ray Drennan, and the subsequent negligent and unjustly punitive responses of the Unitarian Church of Montreal must finally be responded to by Unitarian Universalists in a manner that clearly lives up to both the letter and the spirit of UUism's Seven Principles, other UU ideals, and policies such as the Safe Congregations program. I also expect the UUA, the CUC, and the Unitarian Church of Montreal to hold all those who are most directly responsible for the negligent, incompetent, and complicit response to my serious grievances fully accountable for their reprehensible actions and indeed their clearly negligent inaction. Rev. Diane Miller and other members of the MFC's Executive who unjustly, inequitably, and uncompassionately rejected my serious grievances, who complicitly "whitewashed" Rev. Ray Drennan clergy misconduct, and who have "largely failed" the various victims of sexual misconduct and abuse by UU ministers must face accountability for their own deplorable failures. Justice must finally be done for me and for others and I expect it to be seen to be done by the Unitarian Universalist community as a whole.

Sincerely,

Robin Edgar email ?robinedgar59@yahoo.ca

Google and Google Groups searches on pertinent names and key words such as - "abusive clergy misconduct" will find pertinent posts in various inter-net forums that provide considerable additional information about these UU injustices. See also the UU Debate section of http://www.beliefnet.com. My new blog that is dedicated to exposing UU injustices, abuses, and hypocrisy is found at - http://emersonavenger.blogspot.com
Robin Edgar said…
If you are wondering what that "obviously deep concerns" reference refers to here is the answer to your question. . .

From: William Sinkford BSinkford@uua.org
To: 'robinedgar1@netscape.net ' robinedgar1@netscape.net
Cc: David Hubner DHubner@uua.org
Sent: Thu, 9 May 2002 09:36:02 -0400
Subject:


Robin, thank you for writing and sharing your obviously deep concerns. The
appropriate person to review your complaints is Rev. David Hubner, head of
our Department of Ministry. I've asked him to review the file on this matter
and respond to you directly.

In faith,

Bill

-----Original Message-----
From: robinedgar1@netscape.net
To: wsinkford@uua.org
Sent: 5/2/02 6:03 PM

Robin Edgar
15 Lafleur apt. 11,
Verdun (Montreal) Quebec
Canada H4G 3C3

Rev. William Sinkford
President of the Unitarian Universalist Association
25 Beacon Street, Boston MA May 1, 2002

Dear Rev. Sinkford,

Today marks the second anniversary of my public protest in front of 25
Beacon Street in early May 2000. I was protesting against the failure of
the UUA's Ministerial Fellowship Committee to responsibly redress my own
and other UUs' legitimate grievances about abusive clergy misconduct. I
was also protesting against the anti-religious intolerance and even
outright bigotry that is quite pervasive within UUism since the clergy
misconduct that I was subjected to arose directly from the religious
intolerance, even anti-religious bigotry, of a UU minister. My case does
not involve sexual misconduct however I am concerned about the MFC's
past failure to responsibly redress other UUs' complaints about sexual
misconduct by UU clergy. In fact, my protest was approved by members of
UUs for Right Relations. Prior to picketing 25 Beacon Street I asked
representatives from UUs for Right Relations if they felt that my public
protest might be detrimental to their efforts and I was q!
uite prepared to refrain from picketing 25 Beacon Street if they felt
that this was the case. Their response, after discussion at a UUs for RR
meeting, was that they had no objections to my public protest and felt
that it might do some good . Some were already quite familiar with my
ongoing protest in front of the Unitarian Church of Montreal most
Sundays since late May 1998, and some even wished that I could stay in
Boston for a few days longer to publicly protest at a UUA Trustees
meeting that was being held later that week.

My protest was pointedly ignored and arbitrarily dismissed by most UUA
administrators. I did get a better response from some UUs visiting 25
Beacon Street but the fact remains that most UUA administrators
willfully ignored my protest and pretended that it had no legitimacy
whatsoever. Only one UUA administrator bothered to enter into dialogue
with me. I believe it was John Weston. We did have a civil conversation,
and he did seem genuinely concerned, however when I called him and
various other UUA staff after returning to Montreal, it became
abundantly clear that they had been instructed by top level UUA
officials not to speak to me.


I had intended to contact you after giving you a few months to settle in
as the new President of the UUA and to ask you to ensure that my serious
grievances, particularly my formal complaints about the abusive clergy
misconduct by Rev. Ray Drennan of the Unitarian Church of Montreal that
the UUA's Ministerial Fellowship Committee unjustly, inequitably, and
uncompassionately rejected in the spring of 1996, are finally responded
to by the UUA in a responsible manner that clearly lives up to both the
letter and the spirit of the Seven Principles and other UUA policies,
particularly the UUMA's Guidelines and Code of Professional Practice and
indeed the new Safe Congregations program that you were closely involved
with. Needless to say the tragic events of September 11th 2001 caused me
to hold off for a while and to give you and the new UUA administration
some more breathing space. In that I expect significant progress to be
made in this matter by the UUA GA in June I feel th!
at now is a good time to raise this matter, indeed it is rather overdue.
I regret that circumstances prevented me from contacting you earlier and
giving you and the new UUA administration more time to deal with this
matter before the UUA GA in June however you still have almost two
months to make the significant progress that I seek. In my opinion this
matter could be largely resolved within two months if the UUA, the MFC,
and indeed the Unitarian Church of Montreal made a sincere effort to
responsibly redress my serious grievances rather than willfully ignoring
them, unjustly rejecting them, and even quite severely punishing me for
refusing to accept the unjust, inequitable, and far from compassionate
rejection of my legitimate grievances. I am now an "excommunicated"
Unitarian as a result of this abuse.

Unless the Ministerial Fellowship Committee removed my original
correspondence from Rev. Ray Drennan's file these letters should be
available to you. You may not however have the significant amount of
additional documentation that arose from the serious escalation of this
situation due to the failure, indeed the willful refusal, of the MFC and
the Unitarian Church of Montreal to responsibly redress my serious
grievances which could have been largely redressed by a formal apology
and retraction within the first year or two of this dispute. Due to the
repeated punitive measures that I have been subjected to by UUs for
refusing to accept their injustices and abuses, I now insist that Rev.
Ray Drennan must be responsibly disciplined by both the UUA's
Ministerial Fellowship Committee and the Unitarian Church of Montreal
for his demeaning and abusive behavior towards me (to say nothing of
others) and the further harm that he has caused to me and to others by
obstinately refusi!
ng to accept any responsibility for his harmful words and actions. I
also expect the UUA and the Unitarian Church of Montreal to formally
acknowledge the additional injustices and abuses that I have been
subjected to as a result of their past refusals to responsibly redress
my serious grievances. I expect genuine restorative justice in this
matter.

I am formally asking you to ensure that my serious grievances are
finally responsibly investigated and redressed by the UUA according to
the latest UUA procedures. I expect to be provided with a UUA advocate.
I not only expect genuine restorative justice to be done I expect it to
be seen to be done by the UU religious community as a whole. In fact the
upcoming UUA GA in Quebec City presents an opportunity to do just that
if this dispute can be largely resolved by then. I believe that it can
be if the UUA responds in a timely manner that is entirely consistent
with UU principles and purposes. I am prepared to enter into dialogue
with you personally indeed I would like to do so. I am confident that
via civil dialogue you will soon discover that I have much to contribute
to UUism and not just in terms of exposing injustices, abuses, and
hypocrisy within the UU community although I will not abandon that role.
I am very concerned by the anti-religious intolerance that quite evide!
ntly pervades contemporary UUism thus making some, even many, UU
congregations far from Welcoming and even rather less than Safe for God
believing people in general and Christians in particular. Besides
sharing my concerns about serious problems within contemporary UUism, I
have plenty of other positive contributions to make, some being of
considerable significance and value to the religious community as a
whole.

Sincerely,

Robin Edgar
Robin Edgar said…
BTW TEA happens to be good for you and maybe in the long run. . . for UUs.

Allah prochaine,

The Dagger of Sweet Reason
indrax said…
See now, the joke I was going to go for was that TEA is what you drink when you're not drinking coffee. :-)
indrax said…
But you're still avoiding the issue.
Robin Edgar said…
Not really. . .

Not nearly as much as the apparently quite conscienceless U*Us of the Unitarian Church of Montreal who have slavishly trudged past my picket signs for over seven years now without ever making the slightest effort to responsible deal with the issues that they are quite pathologically avoiding. N'est-ce pas?

And how about the sincere ignorance and conscientious stupidity of the UUA's institutional stonewalling and the related evasion and shirking of responsibility and avoidance of the issues as demonstrated by former UUA President Rev. Dr. John Buehrens, former Ministerial Fellowship Committee Director Rev. Diane Miller, and indeed current UUA President Bill Sinkford who's own obstinate willful avoidance of the serious issues that he once correctly described as my "obviously deep concerns" is now very well documented and now available on the Emerson Avenger blog for any and all to scrutinize. . .