The Ministerial *Fellowship* Committee and the UUA Refuse To Provide Restorative Justice For All Victims Of Clergy Misconduct
What began as a comparatively brief comment intended to be submitted to the 'Ministerial Authority' post of Rev. Christine Robinson's iminister blog evolved into the following "diatribe". It was submitted as a comment but may not be posted. I may add a few extra (im)pertinent links to this version of the comment -
It would be nice if the UUA, its Ministerial Fellowship Committee, and implicated U*U congregations would learn to respond appropriately to complaints about the "less than calm" *presence* of some U*U ministers. Quite regrettably, the last time I checked. . . Unitarian*Universalist ministers and the UUA are not very good at taking back their "less than good" answers of various kinds and freely and responsibly revising them so that they are brought into alignment with Truth and genuinely "honor and uphold" the Seven Principles of U*Uism and other clearly stated guidelines, policies, and bylaws of the UUA and U*U congregations, rather than flagrantly disregarding them and even making a total mockery of them. . . I look forward to the day when the UUA and Ministerial *Fellowship* Committee finally get around to taking back and revising the "less than good" answers that they have provided to me and other people who have been affected by the "less than calm" unbecoming conduct of U*U ministers and/or even worse forms of clergy misconduct, including clergy sexual misconduct.
I am not holding my breath however since UUA President Bill Sinkford, UUA Moderator Gini Coulter, and the rest of the UUA Board of Trustees have totally ignored my most recent appeal aka request aka demand for the UUA to provide some genuine and tangible restorative justice to any and all victims of any and all forms of clergy misconduct. After all, they did say Restorative Justice For *All* didn't they? To date I have seen no evidence of any real and tangible restorative justice provided to *any* victim of U*U clergy misconduct, this does not mean there has not been any at all but the fact remains that what little restorative justice may have been provided to victims remains "less than visible" and the UUA still has a long way to go towards providing restorative justice to *all* victims of clergy misconduct. I see very little evidence of the UUA doing anything to live up to that *promise* and I have recently heard from what I consider to be knowledgeable and reliable sources that virtually no restorative justice of any kind has been provided to victims of U*U clergy misconduct. In fact I am being "liberal" in using the phrase "virtually no restorative justice" because the word one of my sources used was "none" aka zero aka "love". Yes, if I am to believe my sources, and I have little reason to doubt these well informed people, providing little or no tangible restorative justice to any victims of clergy misconduct is how the UUA chooses love and is "standing on the side of love" for victims of clergy misconduct, this in spite have having pledged to bend towards justice and to work towards providing restorative justice for *all* the better part of a decade ago. . .
It would be nice if the UUA, its Ministerial Fellowship Committee, and implicated U*U congregations would learn to respond appropriately to complaints about the "less than calm" *presence* of some U*U ministers. Quite regrettably, the last time I checked. . . Unitarian*Universalist ministers and the UUA are not very good at taking back their "less than good" answers of various kinds and freely and responsibly revising them so that they are brought into alignment with Truth and genuinely "honor and uphold" the Seven Principles of U*Uism and other clearly stated guidelines, policies, and bylaws of the UUA and U*U congregations, rather than flagrantly disregarding them and even making a total mockery of them. . . I look forward to the day when the UUA and Ministerial *Fellowship* Committee finally get around to taking back and revising the "less than good" answers that they have provided to me and other people who have been affected by the "less than calm" unbecoming conduct of U*U ministers and/or even worse forms of clergy misconduct, including clergy sexual misconduct.
I am not holding my breath however since UUA President Bill Sinkford, UUA Moderator Gini Coulter, and the rest of the UUA Board of Trustees have totally ignored my most recent appeal aka request aka demand for the UUA to provide some genuine and tangible restorative justice to any and all victims of any and all forms of clergy misconduct. After all, they did say Restorative Justice For *All* didn't they? To date I have seen no evidence of any real and tangible restorative justice provided to *any* victim of U*U clergy misconduct, this does not mean there has not been any at all but the fact remains that what little restorative justice may have been provided to victims remains "less than visible" and the UUA still has a long way to go towards providing restorative justice to *all* victims of clergy misconduct. I see very little evidence of the UUA doing anything to live up to that *promise* and I have recently heard from what I consider to be knowledgeable and reliable sources that virtually no restorative justice of any kind has been provided to victims of U*U clergy misconduct. In fact I am being "liberal" in using the phrase "virtually no restorative justice" because the word one of my sources used was "none" aka zero aka "love". Yes, if I am to believe my sources, and I have little reason to doubt these well informed people, providing little or no tangible restorative justice to any victims of clergy misconduct is how the UUA chooses love and is "standing on the side of love" for victims of clergy misconduct, this in spite have having pledged to bend towards justice and to work towards providing restorative justice for *all* the better part of a decade ago. . .
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