What's really important in Unitarian Universalism.

What's really important in Unitarian Universalism

Since, and this again is the point, there is no consistency regarding when or how a word might be determined offensive, PC also has a chilling effect on any kind of meaningful dialogue, as, again, is its purpose. “In our identitarian age,” Shadi Hamid, of the Brookings Institute, says, “the bar for offence has been lowered considerably, which makes democratic debate more difficult—citizens are more likely to withhold their true opinions if they fear being labeled as bigoted or insensitive.”[70] 

Hence, within the deafening, though comfortable, echo chamber political correctness fashions for itself, in which its practitioners hear only their own unchallenged and unexamined absolutisms bounced back to themselves, real people are silenced, publicly shamed, demonized, or have their motives and minds uncharitably and unethically psychoanalyzed by those with no qualifications for doing so.

Eklof, Todd. The Gadfly Papers: Three Inconvenient Essays by One Pesky Minister . Kindle Edition. 

Under the banner of “Political Correctness” speech and thinking is squelched. This is antithetical to the Unitarian Universalist principle of affirming and promoting  the free and responsible search for truth and meaning.

Many times in Unitarian Universalist meetings people seem to be afraid to say what they think. There is judgmentalism in the rooms that leads to a lack of genuineness, sincerity, and authenticity. How is spiritual growth to be nurtured and encouraged when participants are not free to explore their own souls? Once again in the pursuit of social justice, spirituality is marginalized and repressed. This is another example of how Unitarian Universalism has lost its way and forgotten its mission which is primarily to encourage and nurture spiritual growth. It is a religious organization not a social justice agency.

The perversion of UUs mission and vision is a failure of leadership in all components of the organization. Unitarian Universalism needs a revival, a self reckoning, which, hopeful, would help the organization refocus on what’s really important, which is facilitating the search for the Divine in all aspects of our human experience.

What happens when the bullied bully?

 

Topic Six

What happens when the bullied bully?

This, understandably, has also led to an emerging pattern of “defensive self-censorship”[63] by those anxious about the possibility of being called out and publicly demonized or humiliated. In addition to making it more challenging for students to “practice the essential skills of critical thinking and civil disagreement,”[64] Coddling says, “Many in the audience may feel sympathy for the person being shamed but are afraid to speak up, yielding the false impression that the audience is unanimous in its condemnation.”[65] It is based upon a few private conversations I’ve had with a small number of other Unitarian Universalist ministers that I anecdotally infer this same trepidation also exists among some in the UUA. There are those deeply concerned about what’s going on at our Boston headquarters, in our theological schools (Meadville-Lombard and Starr King), during clergy gatherings, and, increasingly, in our congregations, yet are afraid to say anything about it for fear of being ostracized. Yet it is my hope enough of us will find the courage to voice our concerns so our religion might enter into a genuine dialogue about these difficult matters.

Eklof, Todd. The Gadfly Papers: Three Inconvenient Essays by One Pesky Minister . Kindle Edition. 

What happens when people who complain of being bullied become bullies themselves? It is not just the reactive bullying which is a problem but the self righteous indignation which seems to serve as a justification for such behavior. This kind of polarization is destroying the espoused covenantal relationships that so many UUs pay lip service to.

It is time to move the covenant forward with leaders who are differentiated enough that they can develop relationships with all parts of the whole. This kind of cultural maturity is what Charles M. Johnston calls “parts work.” It is what family therapist Boszormenyi-Nagy calls “multidimensional partiality”, and it's what Dr. Dan Papero and Dr. Carrie Collier at the Bowen Center For The Family call “systems thinking.”

Will UU leaders be able to develop the maturity and skills to lead such a multifaceted denomination as Unitarian Universalism? It remains to be seen. There is some glimmers of light on the horizon with leadership popping up in disparate places and the formation of such groups as the Unitarian Universalist Multiracial Unity Action Council (UUMUAC)

When callout culture is uncharitable.

 Topic Five

When callout culture is uncharitable.

it is not a good idea to start by assuming the worst about people and reading their actions as uncharitably as possible,” Lukianoff and Haidt tell us, “This is a [cognitive] distortion known as mind reading.”[59] 

When applied in this way, the misappropriation and misuse of the term “microaggression” becomes another mechanism for dismissing and silencing the voices of others by openly shaming them and making them chronically anxious about saying anything for fear it might be misconstrued as inappropriate. Referring to this practice as the “callout culture,” Coddling says, “anyone can be publicly shamed for saying something well-intentioned that someone interprets uncharitably.”[60] When used in this way, this misapplication of “microaggression” is not merely a form of mindreading, but of mind control.

Eklof, Todd. The Gadfly Papers: Three Inconvenient Essays by One Pesky Minister . Kindle Edition. 

The idea of a “microaggression” is a helpful concept if used in the appropriate context, but when taken out of context and used as a weapon to manipulate and control the speech of people it can be destructive.

This “callout culture” and attempt to shame other people as a means of controlling them is a favorite tactic of the self righteous left in which, unfortunately, Unitarian Universalists  participate. In pursuing a social justice agenda, UUs have forgotten their spiritual mission to facilitate the awareness of holiness in every person. 

Unfortunately, all too often the leaders in UU congregations and the UUA instead of manifesting mature leadership have joined and enhanced this dynamic of calling out and shaming the ideas of others. Rather than handling comments “charitably” as Lukianoff and Haidt suggest, the calling out of alleged microaggressions is used as a weapon to attack others and accuse them of suspect motives and thinking inappropriately and uncharitably. These attacks give rise to silencing, marginalization, exiling, and withdrawal and our congregations and Association rather than being better are worse off for it.

The kind of leadership UU needs.

 The kind of leadership UU needs.

Banishing those with whom we disagree, or banning them from saying what we disagree with, has been part of social control, in varying forms, for a very long time. Those doing the banishing or banning always feel morally justified doing so because they believe they are squashing or repelling the dangerous and harmful ideas of those they exile, torture, execute, or otherwise silence. From exile and ostracism practiced in ancient Rome, to the Crusades, Inquisitions, heresy trials, and McCarthyism, those responsible have considered it their religious and moral responsibility to suppress the “dangerous” voices of those with whom they and their communities disagree.

 Indeed, history suggests the first step in subjugating others is suppressing their freedom of speech. This is why linguistic colonialism (alt. language imperialism) always accompanies the spread of empire. As Spanish grammarian Antonio de Nebrija recognized in 1492, “siempre la lengua fue compariera del imperio”[53] (language was always the companion of empire). Or, as British colonialist Edmund Spencer admitted in 1596, “it hath ever been the use of the Conqueror to despise the language of the conquered and to force him by all means to learn his [own].”[54]

Eklof, Todd. The Gadfly Papers: Three Inconvenient Essays by One Pesky Minister . Kindle Edition. 

The idea of silencing others by enforcing norms of political correctness has been a “thing” for the last 20 years in our society. The term “linguicide” names the problem that we are challenged by in Unitarian Universalist congregations. It seems the whole denomination is made up of “church ladies” parodied in the satirical Saturday Night Live skits. Many church ladies and gentlemen  attempt to control a congregation by threatening to leave meetings if participants didn’t conform to their desires in what and how ideas are expressed. They are a powerful force in controlling discussions which participants are scared to upset for fear of being set up as a perpetrator of some sort of linguistic violence which then allows them to play the victim and rupture the covenantal relationship.

Playing the victim to control others is a subtle game very well played in Unitarian Universalists circles and meaningful dialogue is squelched and stagnation and paralysis occurs. People being set up to be perpetrators usually leave rather than take a principled stand. It takes great maturity and skill to deal with these dynamics which the majority of people don’t possess.

Is there  a better way? Of course. It takes mature people to take a stand and remain connected to others. There are few to be found in UU and therefore the denomination is dwindling. Can differentiated leadership be developed which can facilitate the amelioration of these dysfunctional dynamics?  It can, and it will take naming the qualities, skills, and competencies being sought. The Bowenian systems theory students call it “differentiation.” Charles M. Johnston calls it “cultural maturity.” Ken Wiber calls it “integral leadership.” Probably only 10 - 20% of the population function at this level and it is from this group that UU leadership must come if it is to survive and thrive as a religious denomination.

Unitarian Universalism has lost its way.

 Topic three

Unitarian Universalism has lost its way.

The puritanical pressures now being instituted by internal denominational forces to control the narrative of others—both who can speak and what they can speak about—and, thus, the overall group mindset, represents a form of oppression Unitarianism has, until now, resisted. Using shame, self-righteousness, and enraged warnings about dangerous ideas and hurtful speech in the name of justice and righteousness, is no less than the excuses some once used to burn Unitarians at the stake, to cast stones at Universalists as they preached, and to kick them as they tried to debate, insisting, “You have said enough, quite enough!”

Eklof, Todd. The Gadfly Papers: Three Inconvenient Essays by One Pesky Minister . Kindle Edition. 

Many people have walked away disgusted from Unitarian Universalism because of the self righteous indignation expressed by those in power to silence those with whom they disagree. This is one reason that congregations and the denomination remains so small and has had little influence in the broader society. In spite of the expressed covenantal affirmation and promotion of the fifth principle, “the right of conscience and the use of the democratic process…” in practice the application falls far short of the ideal.

Unitarian Universalism is not a big tent but extremely small and generates resentment and animosity from those it treats with contempt and disdain. This situation has existed for decades because of the lack of leadership which has been obsequious to mob rule. This is not democracy but a form of nihilistic narcissism which promotes the idea that there is no truth and everyone’s opinion is a s good as everyone else’s opinion as long as it agrees with mine. This level of group consciousness is egocentric and sociocentric and fails to evolve to a more world centric and integral understanding. 

The mission of facilitating spiritual growth gets captured by special interests who want to use the organizational resources to advocate for social justice causes that are peripheral to the prime mission and vision of the organization. This organizing around social justice issues cannot sustain a mature organization because the motivations are situational and relatively short lived.

Will UU find its way back to a substantial mission that facilitates the spiritual growth of the members and the society within which it resides? It doesn’t seem like the leadership and the membership is much interested in this mission and so the organization may continue to dwindle and dissolve.

Unitarian Universalism has failed to create a meta narrative around which people can collaborate and thrive. This failure is the biggest challenge facing the denomination at both the congregational and the association levels.

Book Review - The Gadfly Papers - What's wrong with Unitarian Universalism

The Gadfly Papers: Three Inconvenient Essays by One Pesky Minister by Todd Eklof is a very interesting collection of essays about what troubles Unitarian Universalism in our current times.

I found it very validating as Rev. Dr. Eklof points out several of the dysfunctional dynamics which plague the UUA and many UU churches.

In the first essay, Eklof, to put it bluntly, writes that policial correctness is killing us, and forcing us into identity politics which diminishes the importance of our shared humanity.

In the second essay, Eklof argues that it may be time for a divorce because the merger of Unitarians and Universalists has not served the NRM, New Religious Movement, well leaving its members and outsides confused about our identity, mission, and vision. In other words, Eklof writes that we have lost our way because we have not remembered our history and without a sense of our history we have no joint vision of our future. Amen! I have sat through enough incoherent and irrelevant sermons to last me for the rest of my life.

In the third and last essay, Eklot argues from a position of scholastic logic how the brouhaha over the hiring controversy back in 2017 leading to the resignation of the UUA President, Peter Morales, and several of his staff, was based not on sound human resource management policies and ethics but on identity politics and inbred conflicts of interest when a board member wanted a job as a paid staff person and cried foul when she wasn't selected for the job.

I was already on the edge when it came to my committment to Unitarian Universalism because I have felt for many years that its governance structure left a lot to be desired as well as its lack of a clear mission and vision for its organizational efforts.

I don't like Eklof's cute and self-denigrating title. His critique is substantive and it amounts to more than just being a gadfly and his being "pesky." He is a deep thinker and a skilled writer and anyone who cares about Unitarian Univeralism should give his book a serious read.

Evidence Based Social Policy Advocacy, Criminal Justice, Wrongful Convictions, Will Florida execute an innocent man based on informant testimony?

Editor's note:

I am a Roman Catholic Unitarian Univeralist. The Roman Catholic church has come against the death penalty as has the Unitarian Univeralist Association. Where does your congregation stand? Where do you stand? Where do the UU churches in Florida Stand?

As we have seen in our study of the 367 exonerations from DNA evidence obtained by the Innocence Project since 1989, 17% of wrongful convictions were due to incentivized informant testimony. Could this be such a case where there will be a miscarriage of justice?

The state of Florida has an unusually high number of exonerations. This raises questions about the criminal justice system in Florida.

Why is the "Living Tradition" of UU dying?

Unitarian Universalism has it backwards, the "it" being its relationship with the world.

Does UU attempt to sanctify the world or allow the world to contaminate the "Living Tradition?"

The obvious answer to the question is the later, Unitarian Universalism allows the world to contaminate its "Living Tradition."

Unitarian Universalism is passive when its faith is attacked. The old saying is that if you don't stand for something, you will fall for anything. UUs covenant together to affirm and promote seven principles and most UUs don't even know what the seven principles are that they covenant together to affirm and promote, and even if they did, they have no guidance from the church on how to stand up to the assault on them from the world.

In the era of Trumpism, the principles of the UU Living Tradition are trashed on a daily basis with 80% of Republicans supporting this trashing. Does UU accommodate this assault on its principles or does it cry foul and impose penalties? Unfortunately, it does the former rather than the later because of its poor organizational cohesiveness. The "Living Tradition" is left for the individual congregations to promote and affirm even though there is an attempt at coherence at the periodic general assemblies.

The failure of Unitarian Universalism to achieve more cohesiveness contributes to its failure to thrive as a "Living Tradition" as a church. Its stagnant and somewhat dwindling membership demonstrates not only its inability to survive as a voice to sanctify the world, but also demonstrates that it has sold its soul to a secular philosophy of relativism and accomodation.

The ineffectiveness of Unitarian Univeralism to sanctify the world is a shame because it has much to offer but it doesn't know what it is and how to share its faith with the world in a coherent way.

October 3 is Association Sunday

The Unitarians and the Universalists joined up together in 1960 and became the Unitarian Universalist Association. Every year the UUA celebrates the unification. This year is the 50th anniversary.

The Brockport Unitarian Universalist Fellowship is not yet part of the UUA but we hope to join next Spring after we have Charter Sunday.

From the UUA web site:

This is a unique year for Unitarian Universalists (UUs) everywhere: we are kicking off festivities for the 50th anniversary of our Association! Join thousands of UUs on October 3, 2010, for Association Sunday, a special service and collection that will celebrate the past 50 years of UUism and the future of our faith.


Proceeds from this year’s Association Sunday special collection will go to ensuring that our faith thrives for generations to come. Beginning in spring 2010, the Unitarian Universalist Association (UUA) will embark on an in-depth strategic review of leadership and growth in order to develop an action plan to strengthen our community for future generations.


“We want congregations that are spiritually deep places where strong and enduring relationships can flourish, and that are engaged in their communities as sources of moral vision and effective action. We want our religious homes to be truly multi-generational and reflect the racial and cultural diversity of the wider world. And, we want professional religious leaders who are visionary, spiritual, innovative, and diverse.”


—The Rev. Peter Morales, President of the UUA


Help us realize this shared vision by joining with fellow Unitarian Universalists across the country this Association Sunday.