Rev. Dr. Marilyn Sewell Kicks Pope Benedict XVI In The Balls And UUA Presidents Feel His Pain. . .
The only problem is that much of Rev. Dr. Marilyn Sewell's criticism of Pope Benedict XVI and the hierarchy of the Roman Catholic church *could* be applied to a bunch of UUA Presidents, possibly even including current UUA President Rev. Peter Morales.
A certain number of "less than perfect" U*U ministers accused of various forms of clergy sexual misconduct, to say nothing of non-sexual forms of clergy misconduct, have been allowed by the UUA to return to their "pastoral duties", or just plain continue being wolves in pastor's clothing without any interruption whatsoever of their "pastoral duties." Heck former UUA President Bill Sinkford was actually accused of clergy sexual misconduct himself prior to being elected as UUA President, and apparently did little or nothing to *effectively* address clergy misconduct of all kinds during his eight year tenure as President of the UUA. How many U*U ministers guilty of various forms of clergy misconduct, including some quite egregious clergy sexual misconduct, are ever "brought to justice" by the UUA and its very aptly named Ministerial *Fellowship* Committee, to say nothing of what former UUA President Rev. Dr. John A* Buehrens would refer to as "the secular authorities"?
Who was President of the UUA when the "serious mistake" of the clergy sexual misconduct that caused the First Unitarian Universalist Church of Nashville so much trouble in the early 1990's? Where in the U*U World is the unmentionable U*U minister of FUUCN in *question* today? How many other U*U ministers actually guilty of various forms of clergy sexual misconduct have been transferred to other U*U "parishes"? How many UUA subordinates have taken *any* responsibility for the "serious mistakes" of the UUA and its negligent Ministerial *Fellowship* Committee? Most U*Us can't even see the tip of the corpse-cold Unitarian clergy sexual misconduct iceberg because the UUA is even less transparent about clergy sexual misconduct than the Roman Catholic Church is. . . That's right U*Us, when was the last time you ever heard the UUA acknowledge that such and such unmentionable U*U minister had been accused of, or actually found guilty of, clergy sexual misconduct?
Now let me set U*Us straight. . .
The President of the UUA is the boss, although the Executive Vice President of the UUA is "responsible, under the supervision of the President, for the day-to-day management of the Association". . . Don't UUA Presidents and Executive Vice-Presidents like 'Kay Mongomery, to say nothing of "less than perfect" UUA subordinates like Rev. Diane Miller, Rev. Beth Miller, and Rev. Dr. Tracey Robinson-Harris know what they are approving? Have they no personal responsibility for the consequences of *their* decisions?
Apparently so. . .
The old, old story of "passing the buck" goes back as far as the merger of Unitarians with Universalists in 1961 from what I can see. . . When confronted by your's truly with what he had done, or (more to the point) had failed to do, the recently retired "Humanist" U*U minister of the Unitarian Church of Ottawa Rev. Brian Kopke sheepishly replied,
"Nobody did anything."
He was right. . .
The tiny, declining fringe religion known as Unitarian*Universalism claims to believe in justice, equity and compassion in human relations. In fact, forgiveness isn't even mentioned in the Seven Principles of The U*U Movement. What UUA President or U*U minister has ever truly taken responsibility for *any* act of clergy misconduct and repented? Doesn't the abject failure of the last several UUA Presidents to take responsibility for the UUA's ongoing failure to respond to clergy misconduct of all kinds in a manner that genuinely honors and upholds U*U principles and ideals effectively undermine *their* moral authority, as well as the moral authority of the Unitarian*Universalist religious community more generally?
Current UUA President Peter Morales' publicly stated central goal is to transform Unitarian*Universalism from the "tiny, declining, fringe religion" it became in the 20th century into "the religion for our time". When will the place that "reeks of privilege and hierarchy" learn that evasiveness and lies serve only to discredit its message? And where else should a free and responsible search for the truth and meaning of the UUA's own negligent and effectively complicit (non)responses to clergy sexual misconduct (to say nothing of non-sexual forms of clergy misconduct which gets even shorter shrift from the UUA and MFC) start but with the current President of the UUA?
Rev. Dr. John A* Buehrens passed the buck.
President Bill Sinkford passed the buck.
Will President Peter Morales pass the buck to whoever succeeds him as UUA President in the next three to seven years?
Time will tell. . .
No U*Us?
I must say however that it is quite refreshing to see a "less than perfect" Unitarian*Universalist minister publicly reminding people that God is the one thing U*Us can't hide from. . .
A certain number of "less than perfect" U*U ministers accused of various forms of clergy sexual misconduct, to say nothing of non-sexual forms of clergy misconduct, have been allowed by the UUA to return to their "pastoral duties", or just plain continue being wolves in pastor's clothing without any interruption whatsoever of their "pastoral duties." Heck former UUA President Bill Sinkford was actually accused of clergy sexual misconduct himself prior to being elected as UUA President, and apparently did little or nothing to *effectively* address clergy misconduct of all kinds during his eight year tenure as President of the UUA. How many U*U ministers guilty of various forms of clergy misconduct, including some quite egregious clergy sexual misconduct, are ever "brought to justice" by the UUA and its very aptly named Ministerial *Fellowship* Committee, to say nothing of what former UUA President Rev. Dr. John A* Buehrens would refer to as "the secular authorities"?
Who was President of the UUA when the "serious mistake" of the clergy sexual misconduct that caused the First Unitarian Universalist Church of Nashville so much trouble in the early 1990's? Where in the U*U World is the unmentionable U*U minister of FUUCN in *question* today? How many other U*U ministers actually guilty of various forms of clergy sexual misconduct have been transferred to other U*U "parishes"? How many UUA subordinates have taken *any* responsibility for the "serious mistakes" of the UUA and its negligent Ministerial *Fellowship* Committee? Most U*Us can't even see the tip of the corpse-cold Unitarian clergy sexual misconduct iceberg because the UUA is even less transparent about clergy sexual misconduct than the Roman Catholic Church is. . . That's right U*Us, when was the last time you ever heard the UUA acknowledge that such and such unmentionable U*U minister had been accused of, or actually found guilty of, clergy sexual misconduct?
Now let me set U*Us straight. . .
The President of the UUA is the boss, although the Executive Vice President of the UUA is "responsible, under the supervision of the President, for the day-to-day management of the Association". . . Don't UUA Presidents and Executive Vice-Presidents like 'Kay Mongomery, to say nothing of "less than perfect" UUA subordinates like Rev. Diane Miller, Rev. Beth Miller, and Rev. Dr. Tracey Robinson-Harris know what they are approving? Have they no personal responsibility for the consequences of *their* decisions?
Apparently so. . .
The old, old story of "passing the buck" goes back as far as the merger of Unitarians with Universalists in 1961 from what I can see. . . When confronted by your's truly with what he had done, or (more to the point) had failed to do, the recently retired "Humanist" U*U minister of the Unitarian Church of Ottawa Rev. Brian Kopke sheepishly replied,
"Nobody did anything."
He was right. . .
The tiny, declining fringe religion known as Unitarian*Universalism claims to believe in justice, equity and compassion in human relations. In fact, forgiveness isn't even mentioned in the Seven Principles of The U*U Movement. What UUA President or U*U minister has ever truly taken responsibility for *any* act of clergy misconduct and repented? Doesn't the abject failure of the last several UUA Presidents to take responsibility for the UUA's ongoing failure to respond to clergy misconduct of all kinds in a manner that genuinely honors and upholds U*U principles and ideals effectively undermine *their* moral authority, as well as the moral authority of the Unitarian*Universalist religious community more generally?
Current UUA President Peter Morales' publicly stated central goal is to transform Unitarian*Universalism from the "tiny, declining, fringe religion" it became in the 20th century into "the religion for our time". When will the place that "reeks of privilege and hierarchy" learn that evasiveness and lies serve only to discredit its message? And where else should a free and responsible search for the truth and meaning of the UUA's own negligent and effectively complicit (non)responses to clergy sexual misconduct (to say nothing of non-sexual forms of clergy misconduct which gets even shorter shrift from the UUA and MFC) start but with the current President of the UUA?
Rev. Dr. John A* Buehrens passed the buck.
President Bill Sinkford passed the buck.
Will President Peter Morales pass the buck to whoever succeeds him as UUA President in the next three to seven years?
Time will tell. . .
No U*Us?
I must say however that it is quite refreshing to see a "less than perfect" Unitarian*Universalist minister publicly reminding people that God is the one thing U*Us can't hide from. . .
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