Unitarian Universalism No Longer Takes Religion Seriously And Unitarian Universalists Kinda Suck At Practicing What They Preach. . .
But don't take *my* word for it U*Us.
Take the word of Rev. Dr. Marilyn Sewell, as published in the Winter 2011 edition of the UU World magazine in an article entitled -
'Our Big Fat U*U Shadow Side'. . .
Here are some choice quotes from that UU World article -
"The shadow side to our strong tradition of the word is our reveling in words for their own sake, and never getting around to action."
Translation - Unitarian Univeralists do a rather poor job of actually practicing what they so emptily and insincerely preach. . .
"The shadow side of our humanism, which is grounded in empiricism and the existential virtues of the human spirit, is a fear of the sacred."
Translation - There is still a fair bit of anti-religious intolerance (dare I say Theophobia U*Us?) practiced by Humanist UUs throughout the UU World. . .
"The shadow side to our tolerance is our acceptance of inappropriate behavior by immature or destructive individuals. In the name of being “open” or “democratic,” we have created a radical cult of the individual and a concomitant disregard for the health and welfare of the community."
I responded to this assertion in the comment that I posted to the UU World website, which is reproduced below. No doubt my critical comment will be "memory holed" by the UUA ASAP. . .
"The shadow side of our theology of love and acceptance is that we are reluctant to acknowledge and confront evil in ourselves, in others, and the systemic evil in our society."
Unitarian Universalists are indeed extremely reluctant to acknowledge and confront evil in themselves or within the UU community, as my situation, and that of other people who have been victimized by UU clergy and UUs more generally, abundantly proves. . . There are various forms of "systemic evil" within Unitarian Universalist society itself that UUA leaders are quite evidently very reluctant to acknowledge and confront and responsibly reform. Not the least of these systemic evils is the fact that there is no appeals process whatsoever for UU clergy misconduct complainants whereas UU clergy found guilty of misconduct can appeal UUA/MFC rulings. I shared my concerns about this particular "systemic evil" during the April 2010 UUA Board Of Trustees meeting but, needless to say. . . this serious flaw in the MFC Rules has yet to be responsibly corrected by the UUA &or MFC. And this is but one of too many other systemic evils in the UUA.
Here is the soon to be "memory holed"comment that I just posted to this article -
"The shadow side to our tolerance is our acceptance of inappropriate behavior by immature or destructive individuals. In the name of being “open” or “democratic,” we have created a radical cult of the individual and a concomitant disregard for the health and welfare of the community."
Sadly this holds particularly True when it comes to the acceptance (to say nothing of outright condoning and whitewashing) of inappropriate behavior by immature and/or destructive UU clergy by top level UUA leaders and the UUA's all too aptly named Ministerial *Fellowship* Committee. . .
Take the word of Rev. Dr. Marilyn Sewell, as published in the Winter 2011 edition of the UU World magazine in an article entitled -
'Our Big Fat U*U Shadow Side'. . .
Here are some choice quotes from that UU World article -
"The shadow side to our strong tradition of the word is our reveling in words for their own sake, and never getting around to action."
Translation - Unitarian Univeralists do a rather poor job of actually practicing what they so emptily and insincerely preach. . .
"The shadow side of our humanism, which is grounded in empiricism and the existential virtues of the human spirit, is a fear of the sacred."
Translation - There is still a fair bit of anti-religious intolerance (dare I say Theophobia U*Us?) practiced by Humanist UUs throughout the UU World. . .
"The shadow side to our tolerance is our acceptance of inappropriate behavior by immature or destructive individuals. In the name of being “open” or “democratic,” we have created a radical cult of the individual and a concomitant disregard for the health and welfare of the community."
I responded to this assertion in the comment that I posted to the UU World website, which is reproduced below. No doubt my critical comment will be "memory holed" by the UUA ASAP. . .
"The shadow side of our theology of love and acceptance is that we are reluctant to acknowledge and confront evil in ourselves, in others, and the systemic evil in our society."
Unitarian Universalists are indeed extremely reluctant to acknowledge and confront evil in themselves or within the UU community, as my situation, and that of other people who have been victimized by UU clergy and UUs more generally, abundantly proves. . . There are various forms of "systemic evil" within Unitarian Universalist society itself that UUA leaders are quite evidently very reluctant to acknowledge and confront and responsibly reform. Not the least of these systemic evils is the fact that there is no appeals process whatsoever for UU clergy misconduct complainants whereas UU clergy found guilty of misconduct can appeal UUA/MFC rulings. I shared my concerns about this particular "systemic evil" during the April 2010 UUA Board Of Trustees meeting but, needless to say. . . this serious flaw in the MFC Rules has yet to be responsibly corrected by the UUA &or MFC. And this is but one of too many other systemic evils in the UUA.
Here is the soon to be "memory holed"comment that I just posted to this article -
"The shadow side to our tolerance is our acceptance of inappropriate behavior by immature or destructive individuals. In the name of being “open” or “democratic,” we have created a radical cult of the individual and a concomitant disregard for the health and welfare of the community."
Sadly this holds particularly True when it comes to the acceptance (to say nothing of outright condoning and whitewashing) of inappropriate behavior by immature and/or destructive UU clergy by top level UUA leaders and the UUA's all too aptly named Ministerial *Fellowship* Committee. . .
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