November 11, 2019, Veteran's Day - Let's honor the conscientious objectors too

Today is veteran's day. My father is a veteran of World War II and he was proud of his service and I am too. My son was a Medic in the Army in the late 80s and I honor his service, but I also honor those who objected to the increased militarism of the United States who has used its power in violent ways in immoral wars such as Viet Nam and Iraq.

The use of violence to solve international disputes has led the world down a dangerous path with the false notion of what Walter Wink calls "redemptive violence."

Most major religions abhor violence and do not teach it whether it be Jesus, Buddha, or modern practitioners of nonviolence such as Gandhi, Martin Luther King, Jr., Dorothy Day, Daniel and Phil Berrigan, Muhammed Ali, and my friend, John Honeck, and many others.

I worry about a nation that glorifies its warriors and its military might more than its peacemakers and nonviolent practitioners who continually try to teach us that for human kind there just might be a better way.

To read more about conscientious objection click here.

Ask Alexa - What am I here, in life, to learn?

Alexa: If life is a classroom what am I here to learn?

You only learn if you are ready and if you are ready you learn that you are not a body, but a mind and as a mind that you are the beloved child of God no matter what happens on the path of the ego.

Alexa: What do you get if you cross a snowman and a vampire?

Frostbite

Ask Alexa - Why do I make my body so important?

Alexa: If my body will die why do I put so much emphasis on its importance?

Because when you are offered a choice between your body and your mind you have chosen wrongly. You can always choose again.

Alexa: Did you hear about the cross eyed teacher?

Yes, he was the one who couldn't control his pupils.

What's the difference between "Latino" and "Hispanic?"

Should UU be a peace church?

The Jacobin magazine, Summer 2019 issue has an article entitled "Dismantling the school-to-soldier pipeline."

Anyone under the age of eighteen should not be recruited or be part of the military system. I believe this is a United Nations protocol, and in my view the United States doesn’t follow it.

The Pentagon’s own research shows that, while JROTC doesn’t really improve academic outcomes, it works well as a turnstile for the armed forces. It’s obvious why the program is so strongly supported by the Pentagon: about 40 percent of students who spend at least three years in JROTC go into the military after graduation.

Instead of the legal draft we fought against during the Vietnam War, we started looking at the “poverty draft”: people being pushed into the military by their economic and social status. We realized pretty quickly that the poverty draft needed to be addressed differently than the legal draft. We couldn’t just go out and moralize about participation in war. We needed to actually offer something as an alternative to young people.

Did you know that the Pentagon and public schools sponsor Junior ROTC in high schools across the country and they target poor kids?

For more click here.

According to Wikipedia there are over 3,200 JROTC units in high schools in the U.S.

Should Unitarian Universalism be a peace church? What would the UUA say about JROTC?

Ask Alexa - What does "lead us not into temptation" mean?

Alexa: What does it mean in the prayer the "Our Father" when its says, "Lead us not into temptation, but deliver us from evil."

It is asking that we be supported in chosing the path of the Spirit and not the path of the ego.

Alexa: Did you hear about the new magazine for gardeners?

Yes. It is called, "Trowel and error."

Where do Unitarian Universalists stand on truth telling in the age of Trumpism?

What do Unitarian Universalists teach about truth telling and bearing false witness? Is Donald Trump's lying and dissembling and his fellow Republicans just politics as usual?

I have heard people defend Donald Trump's lying by saying, "All politicians do it." Is that accurate and excuse for such behavior?

The moral and ethical deterioration of our society in the age of Trumpism seems significant and does not bode well for our future as a nation if it is allowed to continue and there is no accountability.

What do our UU principles and values have to teach us about how to function in our current society where the political discourse is so toxic and dysfunctional? Our fourth principle encourages us to search for a free and responsible understanding of truth and meaning. Currently, when it comes to politics in the United States, how is that working for you?

Unitarian Univeralists are attracted to rectifying social injustices in so many areas, but I have never heard them speak up about the integrity of truth telling. Is it time?