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.

If we choose wrong we can always choose again.

Whenever you are not wholly joyous, it is because you have reacted with a lack of love to one of God’s creations. Perceiving this as “sin” you become defensive because you expect attack. The decision to react in this way is yours, and can therefore be undone. It cannot be undone by repentance in the usual sense, because this implies guilt. If you allow yourself to feel guilty, you will reinforce the error rather than allow it to be undone for you.T-5.VII.5:1-5

A Course in Miracles . Foundation for Inner Peace. Kindle Edition. 

When we fail to exercise unconditional love and instead love conditionally we often act with a lack of love for which there is a feeling of guilt leading to revenge. For this guilt it is best not to repent because it often makes things worse. The best thing to do is to make another choice which is to love unconditionally which is an extension of God’s love for God’s creations.

In Unitarian Universalism we join together to affirm and promote the inherent worth and dignity of every person. It is in this affirmation and promotion of inherent worth and dignity that we experience great joy. If we don’t experience this joy something has gone wrong.

Today it is suggested that we be mindful of the choices we make in our interactions with other people and things. The question to be considered is “What would love have me do?”

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.

Against Illiberalism: A critique of illiberal trends in liberal institutions, with a focus on Unitarian Universalism by David Cycleback

 This book examines recent illiberal trends in traditionally liberal American institutions. It focuses on Unitarian Universalism, a historically liberal church whose national leadership has adopted an extreme, authoritarian version of anti-racism as a "theological mandate," causing strife and division.

From Amazon website

This book describes many important ideas which will be posted on this blog over the coming weeks. UUAWOL readers are encouraged to add your comments.

What would Love have me do?

Excluding yourself from the Atonement is the ego’s last-ditch defense of its own existence. It reflects both the ego’s need to separate, and your willingness to side with its separateness. This willingness means that you do not want to be healed. T-5.VII.3:4-8

A Course in Miracles . Foundation for Inner Peace. Kindle Edition. 

The Atonement is the undoing of the separation from the non duality of the Oneness from which we have emerged. This undoing of the separation is also called “healing.” The ego does not want to give up its identity as a self separate from God. This unwillingness to give up our ego identity causes guilt, fear, and anger. Peace comes from bringing our own will into alignment with God’s will for us. The third step of Alcoholics Anonymous twelve step program is to turn our will over to the care of the will of our Higher Power.

In Unitarian Universalism we join together to affirm and promote the free and responsible search for truth and meaning. This truth and meaning is to be found in what we believe is God’s will for us.

Today it is suggested that we have to make a decision, we ask ourselves “What would Love have me do?” and then choose accordingly.

Systemic Racism - On All Fronts

 

SQ skill #1 - Do you know what makes you tick?

Today UUAWOL is starting a new feature addressing the skills of Spiritual Intelligence as described by Cindy Wigglesworth in her book The Twenty-One Skills of Spiritual Intelligence.

Since the purpose of the UUAWOL blog is to add value to its reader's spiritual life, it would be helpful in pursuing this purpose if reader's would leave comments about the significance of the question in focusing on their spiritual growth.

The third principle of Unitarian Universalism is the acceptance of one another and encouragement to spiritual growth. Your comments would be a way of sharing your experience as a means of encouraging the spiritual growth in oneself as well as with others.

Here's the first question; Do you know what makes you tick and can you explain it to others?

"To what extent do you think that you can explain to others the impacts of your culture, your upbringing, and your mensal assumptions on how you interpret the world around you?"

Not at all    Somewhat    Mostly   Completely