An online magazine of faith based on a free and responsible search for truth and meaning. The mission of Unitarian Universalism: A Way Of Life ministries is to provide information, teach skills, and clarify values to facilitate the evolutionary development of increasingly higher levels of spiritual development for human beings around the world.
Saturday, September 17, 2022
Has the UUA created a circular firing squad?
Sunday, August 28, 2022
Saturday, August 27, 2022
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The only truth is that there is no truth.
…described how progressive movements sow the seeds of their own destruction when they become censorious. It’s impossible, Willis wrote, ‘to censor the speech of the dominant without stifling debate among all social groups and reinforcing orthodoxy within left movements.’ Under such conditions, a movement can neither integrate new ideas nor build support based on genuine transformations of consciousness rather than guilt or fear of ostracism.” (Goldberg 2021) Goldberg also writes, “Cowing people is not the same as converting them.”
Cycleback, David. Against Illiberalism: A critique of illiberal trends in liberal institutions, with a focus on Unitarian Universalism (p. 63). Center for Artifact Studies. Kindle Edition.
The postmodern worldview is based on the idea that what we call “truth” is merely a social construction. Unitarian Universalism is the only postmodern religious denomination in the world whose message is “we need not think alike to love alike.” UU teaches that beliefs no longer matter as long as you believe what they tell you to believe about social justice topics.
When it comes to social justice issues and its own governance the UUA has become very censorious which is contributing to its downfall and dissolution.
Friday, August 26, 2022
What is Unitarian Universalism’s primary message to the world?
Society and the world are in grave trouble when logic, reason, and the scientific method are disregarded. Rejection of science and lack of critical thinking exists in both the right and left. Anti-science in the far right is commonly associated with creationism and climate change denial. Areas of anti-science in the far left include being anti-GMO or anti-nuclear and rejecting scientific knowledge that conflicts with postmodernist social justice ideologies. (Salzberg 2016) (Pearce 2012) (Shermer 2013)
Cycleback, David. Against Illiberalism: A critique of illiberal trends in liberal institutions, with a focus on Unitarian Universalism (pp. 42-43). Center for Artifact Studies. Kindle Edition.
Some of us have moved on to what is being called “post postmodernism” recognizing that there is Truth beyond social construction. The bumper sticker is “Reality doesn’t care anything about your beliefs.”
Unitarian Universalists covenant together to affirm and promote the free and responsible search for truth and meaning. The emphasis can be on “responsible” instead of “free.” Most UUs agree that not just anything goes. If a religion teaches that you can believe everything you’ll fall for anything.
The UUA has not articulated any clear vision or mission for the denomination. What is UUs message to our contemporary world? It seems to be about social justice which is not unique and too limiting for a religion. While social justice can be an application of a religion’s values it doesn’t answer the question of why those applications were chosen as a manifestation of the values.
The first principle is the affirmation and promotion of the inherent worth and dignity of every person and this principle springs from a belief in the unconditional love of Life’s creations by the Transcendent Source. Not everyone believes this and certainly don’t act on this belief. There is a lot of work to be done if UU wants to share this message with the world.
Tuesday, August 23, 2022
White people are not ipso facto racists in spite of what the UUA administration is teaching.
UU minister Rev. Thandeka said there is “the errant assumption that white America works for white Americans. Anyone who cares to look will quickly discover that it doesn’t—at least, not for the vast majority of them. The privilege that, according to the anti-racists, comes with membership in white America, actually belongs to a tiny elite.” (Thandeka 2009)
Cycleback, David. Against Illiberalism: A critique of illiberal trends in liberal institutions, with a focus on Unitarian Universalism (p. 42). Center for Artifact Studies. Kindle Edition.
The second principle of Unitarian Universalism is that some UUs join together to affirm and promote justice, equity, and compassion in human relations. Cycleback makes the point in his book Against Illiberalism that the current administration of the UUA doesn’t apply this principle to white people because they teach that white people are oppressors and privileged and don’t deserve to be treated with justice, equity, and compassion. They are to be squelched, canceled, marginalized, and excommunicated not because of what they think, say, and do but because of who they are: white.
This position of the UUA administration is, of course, untenable because it is unjust, inequitable, and non compassionate. The most disturbing observation is that the UUA administration doesn’t appear to be aware of the irony of their position.
The current UUA administration who holds these positions on Critical Race Theory and white supremacy are best ignored, encapsulated, as UUs with a higher state of consciousness rise above this dysfunctional thought system and work to enhance and share the fundamentals UU faith.
Monday, August 22, 2022
What is currently making the UUA tick?
Stanford law professor Randall Ralph Richard Banks says that many things are going on in society and that “focusing only on race is a mistake. Once you start to divide society into the oppressor and the oppressed and the black people are always on the downside and the white people are always the possessors of privilege, I think that’s a mistake. It’s a mistake to fixate on the idea of white privilege because most white people in American society are not and don’t feel themselves to be privileged. Most white people in American society are actually struggling. They’re struggling to raise their children. They worry about whether their children’s lives will be better than their own. They confront all manner of illness and distress and economic anxiety. So it’s both analytically wrong and politically misguided to promote an ideology that suggests that all white people have it good and all black people have it bad.” (Manhattan Institute 2021)
Cycleback, David. Against Illiberalism: A critique of illiberal trends in liberal institutions, with a focus on Unitarian Universalism (pp. 41-42). Center for Artifact Studies. Kindle Edition.
Some Unitarian Universalists covenant together to affirm and promote the inherent worth and dignity of every person, and justice, equity, and compassion in human relations. In light of these two principles it would seem that accusing whites of privilege automatically making them racist undercuts these two principles.
Spiritual intelligence can be thought of as being manifested in twenty one skills according to Cindy Wigglesworth in her book, Twenty-One Skills Of Spiritual Intelligence. The first skill of spiritual intelligence is the ability to observe and monitor one’s own worldview. To what extent does an individual know what makes them tick? The idea of the ability to observe and monitor one’s own worldview can be extended to families, organizations, and cultures.
The skill of observing one’s own worldview can be pursued by answering these questions “What makes you tick? What makes your family tick? What makes your organization tick? What makes your culture tick?”
David Cycleback’s book, Against Illiberalism takes a look at what makes the UUA and some congregations tick as they shut down the free and responsible search for truth and meaning in the face of the imposition of Critical Race Theory as the current dogma of the UUA being imposed on its member congregations.
Cycleback and others have argued that the current policies and programs of the UUA regarding governance with the imposition of CRT are antithetical to UUs principles. This is a major problem interfering with the good functioning and growth of the denomination.
What is to be done?
The first step is to name the problem why Cycleback does very well. Be able to state it in your own words in one sentence.
The second step is to work with others to diminish the UUA’s policy of shutting down the free and responsible search for truth and meaning by shaming, marginalizing and excommunicating UU members.
The third step is to support and lift up all ideas and observations for consideration in the articulation of our faith.
The fourth step is to continue to practice the UU principles in one’s daily life, in one’s family, organizations, community, and culture.
Twenty-one Skills Of Spiritual Intelligence by Cindy Wigglesworth will be the UUAWOL book of the month for September, 2022
Sunday, August 21, 2022
Saturday, August 20, 2022
The end does not justify the means.
Once you start to divide society into the oppressor and the oppressed and the black people are always on the downside and the white people are always the possessors of privilege, I think that’s a mistake. It’s a mistake to fixate on the idea of white privilege because most white people in American society are not and don’t feel themselves to be privileged. Most white people in American society are actually struggling. They’re struggling to raise their children. They worry about whether their children’s lives will be better than their own. They confront all manner of illness and distress and economic anxiety. So it’s both analytically wrong and politically misguided to promote an ideology that suggests that all white people have it good and all black people have it bad.” (Manhattan Institute 2021)
Cycleback, David. Against Illiberalism: A critique of illiberal trends in liberal institutions, with a focus on Unitarian Universalism (pp. 41-42). Center for Artifact Studies. Kindle Edition.
Well yeah, white people, like all people, have things tough. But in the United States social policies have been rigged to favor white people from 1619 to the present day. To deny the evidence when one looks at the social inequities of multiple indicators is to be biased.
Unitarian Universalists covenant together to affirm and promote justice, equity, and compassion because they also affirm and promote the inherent worth and dignity of all people, a principle which has been contradicted throughout American history by the ruling classes which enslaved and interred and discriminated against the Native American, the kidnapped and enslaved, and the immigrant populations.
To deny that oppressors have not gained privilege from their oppression and subjugation is to deny reality. Problems cannot be ameliorated if they cannot be identified.
Most of the privilege is unconscious, shadow phenomena and so to blame the beneficiaries of the rigged system is met with denial, minimization, guilt, and fears of retribution if the privilege is recognized and acknowledged.
It is not healthy to keep the privilege granted by social policies and practices submerged in the unconscious shadow and it is not appropriate to blame the beneficiaries for their benefits especially when the benefits are not recognized or enjoyed.
The key to moving forward as a society is honesty, awareness, and the development of constructive intention and action. How well does the Unitarian Universalist denomination facilitate this forward movement? Some might say not good because their attempts to undo oppression are oppressive in and of themselves. Others might say their intent is good but their methods leave a lot to be desired and the end does not justify the means.
Friday, August 19, 2022
The oppressor/victim model is antithetical to UU values
A counter to CRT’s binary oppressor versus victim model are the minority groups that have succeeded under the system and whites who have not.
Cycleback, David. Against Illiberalism: A critique of illiberal trends in liberal institutions, with a focus on Unitarian Universalism (p. 40). Center for Artifact Studies. Kindle Edition.
Human nature perceives contrasts and comparisons, the yin and yang of things. For every quality there is an opposite. This dichotomous thinking is “either/or” instead of “both/and.” Instead of viewing the world in a reductionistic and linear way we can view it systemically and holistically. CRT focuses primarily on an oppressor/victim model which is itself oppressive.
Unitarian Universalists covenant together to affirm the inherent worth and dignity of every person and justice, equity and compassion in human relations. The oppressor/victim model of CRT is antithetical to Unitarian Universalist principles.
What’s a good UU to do? They must rise above the frame of reference which has created this situation and move outside the box. This allows a systemic perspective which might lead to a redefinition of the problem which a return to the seven principles provides. All people have inherent worth and dignity and the work to affirm and promote justice, equity, and compassion in human relations involves accentuating the positive and minimizing the negative in all components of the system.
Thursday, August 18, 2022
Postmodernism opines that the only truth is that there is no truth.
As a philosopher and cognitive scientist I know that there is no known objective truth, and that humans can only view the world from their personal perspectives. Though not practically workable in the real world, the postmodernist philosophy of knowledge is technically true.
Cycleback, David. Against Illiberalism: A critique of illiberal trends in liberal institutions, with a focus on Unitarian Universalism (p. 37). Center for Artifact Studies. Kindle Edition.
Is there no truth?
The postmodern view is that truth is a social construction and asserts that this truth is the only truth. However, there is a post postmodern view that observes that beyond social constructionism there is a truth and reality doesn’t care anything about your beliefs.
A utilitarian might say that truth is what works. Truth is what has consequences. Gravity has consequences if you fall off the cliff in spite of a desire and belief that one can fly.
Evolutionary spirituality teaches that organisms have potential and truth is the actualization of the potential. What form that actualization takes is a manifestation of the potential and while the actualization may look different, it does not change or negate the potential.
In the religious sphere there is the idea of the perennial philosophy which all religions have in common. The facilitation of the development of spiritual potential is the function of religion. This facilitation often fails for a variety of reasons and major one being the post modern idea that there is no truth..
Tuesday, August 16, 2022
If an organization doesn’t stand for something, its members will fall for anything.
Some racial minorities have said they are drawn to UU’s beliefs but have difficulty fitting in with the dominant culture. One congregant wrote, “I don’t think segregation is intentional. It’s a matter of music, demographics, age, culture, worship style, etc.”
Cycleback, David. Against Illiberalism: A critique of illiberal trends in liberal institutions, with a focus on Unitarian Universalism (p. 16). Center for Artifact Studies. Kindle Edition.
UU worship services for the most part are boring and appeal to WASPs. Even the gospel songs are sung at a plodding pace. There are exceptions and some of the larger UU churches such as All Souls in Tulsa Oklahoma offer different types of worship formats.
With people who have migrated to UU from other denominations or none there often are multiple preferences and not everyone can be pleased. In one congregation there was an ongoing conflict over whether applause was appropriate during the services. The minister was caught in the middle and there was a power struggle among the members of the worship committee which seeped into the congregation.
It is interesting how these minor disagreements can poison a congregation leading to schism and estrangement. Without a strong minister willing to take a stand the wrangling continues with negative consequences.
There is little to no guidance from the UUA on such matters and so there is little uniformity or coherence in UU worship which is detrimental to a more universal identification with the denomination.
The decentralized governance structure of UU in which every congregation is self governing, liturgical coherence and denominational identification is compromised. If an organization doesn’t stand for something, then its members will fall for anything.
Monday, August 15, 2022
Unitarian Universalism in a downward spiral.
UU is small, eccentric, and shrinking. Its pluralism, including the inclusion of atheists and agnostics, lack of central theology, and increasingly left politics make it the perfect church for a small minority of people, but too fringe and politically narrow for most Americans.
Cycleback, David. Against Illiberalism: A critique of illiberal trends in liberal institutions, with a focus on Unitarian Universalism (p. 14). Center for Artifact Studies. Kindle Edition.
Unitarian Universalism is a religion without a mission. It has turned to social justice as its major preoccupation without grounding in any coherent theology.
The function of the church in our contemporary society is to enhance the level of spiritual intelligence in its members and the community in which they live.
Unitarian Universalism which could be a conduit for the perennial philosophy has been hijacked by social justice issues of special interest groups and thereby failed in its mission. As these special interest groups have taken over the leadership of the Unitarian Universalist Association it has engaged in policies that are even more detrimental to its function and therefore the denomination has continued to lose members and become even more marginalized in Western Civilization.
Continuing on its downward spiral Unitarian Universalism will eventually disappear. It remains to be seen what will take its place.
Sunday, August 14, 2022
Against Illiberalism: A critique of illiberal trends in liberal institutions, with a focus on Unitarian Universalism by David Cycleback
From Amazon website