You are invited to join the UUWOL book discussion group

 

UUAWOL Book Discussion group

Each month a book will be chosen to discuss via email.

I will post a video on the UUAWOL blog every Sunday and send an email to the people who have signed up for the group. The ideas and topics will be discussed via email to all.

If you would like to join this email group, send your request to me at davidgmarkham@gmail.com and your email will be added to the UUAWOL book discussion group.

The first book is David Cycleback's, Against Illiberalism

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.

If our thoughts are unloving we can change them.

You have been asked to take me as your model for learning, since an extreme example is a particularly helpful learning device. Everyone teaches, and teaches all the time. This is a responsibility you inevitably assume the moment you accept any premise at all, and no one can organize his life without some thought system. Once you have developed a thought system of any kind, you live by it and teach it. Your capacity for allegiance to a thought system may be misplaced, but it is still a form of faith and can be redirected. T-6.in.2:1-5

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

Jesus provides us with a model for learning both through his activities, behavior, and words. As with any human, we behave as we perceive and believe. Often our perceptions are distorted and our beliefs are dysfunctional. The bumper sticker reads, “Reality doesn’t care anything about your beliefs.” If we come to realize that our thought system is misplaced we can change it.

In Unitarian Universalism we covenant together to affirm and promote the free and responsible search for truth and meaning and to accept one another and encourage each others’ spiritual growth.

Today, it is suggested that we reflect on our thought system and consider whether we should believe everything we think. If our thoughts are unloving and misplaced we can always change them.

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..

Achieving peace and joy requires the management of anger and fear.

The relationship of anger to attack is obvious, but the relationship of anger to fear is not always so apparent. Anger always involves projection of separation, which must ultimately be accepted as one’s own responsibility, rather than being blamed on others. Anger cannot occur unless you believe that you have been attacked, that your attack is justified in return, and that you are in no way responsible for it. Given these three wholly irrational premises, the equally irrational conclusion that a brother is worthy of attack rather than of love must follow. What can be expected from insane premises except an insane conclusion? The way to undo an insane conclusion is to consider the sanity of the premises on which it rests. You cannot be attacked, attack has no justification, and you are responsible for what you believe. T-6.in.1:1-7

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

The emotion underlying anger is fear. Whenever you are angry or perceive another as being angry you can ask, “What am I or they afraid of?” Dealing with the fear is much more constructive than dealing with the anger.

Jesus of Nazareth as he is being crucified on the cross says, “Father, forgive them for they know not what they do.” Where is the anger, the resentment, the hate, the grievance? He has risen above it and recognizes that the powers that be are afraid of his teaching and so wish to expunge it by killing him.

In Unitarian Universalism we covenant together to affirm and promote justice, equity, and compassion in human relations. There is no anger in this principle. The principle is based on a fear of separation and division and a loss of solidarity around our purpose of encouraging the spiritual growth of one another.

Today it is suggested that we be aware of our anger and our underlying fears. What is it that we are afraid of? If we can discern what we are afraid of we have a better chance of managing it so that we can achieve and experience of peace and joy.

Searching for the Kingdom Of God

Decision cannot be difficult. This is obvious, if you realize that you must already have decided not to be wholly joyous if that is how you feel. Therefore, the first step in the undoing is to recognize that you actively decided wrongly, but can as actively decide otherwise. Be very firm with yourself in this, and keep yourself fully aware that the undoing process, which does not come from you, is nevertheless within you because God placed it there. Your part is merely to return your thinking to the point at which the error was made, and give it over to the Atonement in peace. T-5.VII.6:1-5

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

This is a challenging passage for most people. We are born into a society which socializes and conditions us to think in terms of the world of the ego. It dawns on us at some point that there is a better way to live our lives because we are not happy following the teachings of the ego. The dawning initiates the search for truth and meaning which goes much more satisfyingly and fulfillingly if we ask the Holy Spirit to help us. Part of this process is to become aware of where our thinking went wrong and then to turn it over to what the Course calls the Atonement which is the healing of the separation and in AA they call “Higher Power.”

In Unitarian Universalism we covenant together to affirm and promote the free and responsible search for truth and meaning and to accept one another and encourage each other’s spiritual growth.

Today it is suggested that we turn over our attachments to the things of the world of the ego and ask the Holy Spirit to help us in our search for the Kingdom of God