Current Republican anti-choice agenda violates Unitarian Universalism's fourth principle

One of Unitarian Universalism's  premier  principles is the person's right to self determination. Republicans do not abide by this prinicple when it comes to a woman's right to choose her own reproductive health care.

These laws are being passed at a time when the birth replacement in the United States is below maintenance of current population. 

Perhaps, Margaret Atwood's Handmaiden's Tale is not so far fetched after all. Republican men are enslaving women to be breeders even if they are impregnated by incest and rape. Perhaps this explains the resonance of the popular culture with Atwood's dystopian novel.

Once again we see that elections do make a difference, if not in the short run, in the long term. We as Unitarian Universalists are called upon to lift up our values and advocate for the person's right to self-determination. After all, this right to self-determination is one of the main definitions of freedom. What does the "free and responsible search for truth and meaning" mean if it does not apply to the right to choose about what happens to one's own body.

As a self governing people we have not only the right but the obligation to change our government when it does not serve the people well. This current effort to curb women's right to choose should give everyone a moment to seriously consider the consequences of supporting Republican candidates not only at the Federal, but at the State and local levels as well.

Spiritual reading book discussion articles

Spiritual Reading Online Book Discusion

Unitarian Univeralism: A Way of Life is introducing a new feature on its blog: an online spiritual reading book discussion group. This feature will provide a series of articles on the book being studied. Readers are invited to comment on the topics under discussion whether they have read the book or not.

If readers have nominations for future books for study, please leave them in the comments or email your nominations to davidgmarkham@gmail.com.

The first book being discussed is "Maturity: The Responsibility For Being Oneself" by Osho.

Editor's note: For a brief video commentary click here.</

UUAWOL blog returning to Blogger from Typepad

UU A Way Of Life ministries blog has returned to the blogger platform.

After an experiment publishing on the Typepad blog platform, our UUAWOL staff have decided that blogger has more to offer.

Please continue to visit our UUAWOL blog here on blogger.

Sorry for whatever confusion and inconvenience this experiment has caused.

Spirirtual reading discussion group - Maturity: The Responsibility For Being Oneself - Chapter Two - Ignorance or innocence?

Chapter two

Ignorance or innocence?

For growing up, just watch a tree. As the tree grows up its roots are growing down, deeper. There is a balance—the higher the tree goes the deeper the roots will go. You cannot have a tree one hundred and fifty feet high with small roots; they could not support such a huge tree. Maturity means the same as innocence, only with one difference: it is innocence reclaimed, it is innocence recaptured.

In life, growing up means growing deep within yourself—that’s where your roots are.

To me, the first principle of life is meditation. Everything else comes second. And childhood is the best time. As you grow older it means you are coming closer to death, and it becomes more and more difficult to go into meditation.

Meditation means going into your immortality, going into your eternity, going into your godliness. And the child is the most qualified person because he is still unburdened by knowledge, unburdened by religion, unburdened by education, unburdened by all kinds of rubbish. He is innocent.

But unfortunately his innocence is condemned as ignorance. Ignorance and innocence have a similarity, but they are not the same. Ignorance is also a state of not knowing, just as innocence is—but there is a great difference too, which has been overlooked by the whole of humanity up to now. Innocence is not knowledgeable, but it is not desirous of being knowledgeable either. It is utterly content, fulfilled.

A small child has no ambitions, he has no desires. He is so absorbed in the moment—a bird on the wing catches his eye so totally; a butterfly, its beautiful colors, and he is enchanted; the rainbow in the sky … and he cannot conceive that there can be anything more significant, richer than this rainbow. And the night full of stars, stars beyond stars …

Innocence is rich, it is full, it is pure. Ignorance is poor, it is a beggar—it wants this, it wants that, it wants to be knowledgeable, it wants to be respectable, it wants to be wealthy, it wants to be powerful. Ignorance moves on the path of desire. Innocence is a state of desirelessness. But because both are without knowledge, we have remained confused about their natures. We have taken it for granted that they are the same.
Osho. Maturity: The Responsibility of Being Oneself (Osho Insights for a New Way of Living) . St. Martin's Press. Kindle Edition.
Comment:
Osho makes the distinction between ignorance and innocence. Osho says that ignorance is not knowing but wanting to acquire knowledge. Ignorance is grasping, seeking, wanting to acquire the external. Innocence is being content with what is within and resting in wonderment, peace, curiosity, and awe.

Osho says that “Maturity means the same as innocence, only with one difference: it is innocence reclaimed, it is innocence recaptured.”

Unitarian Universalists recapture their innocence when they covenant together to affirm and promote the fourth principle which is the free and responsible search for truth and meaning. This free and responsible search takes one within not without and requires a surrender of one’s will to the will of the Tao, their Higher Power however they understand It.

This is a second article in a series on Maturity: The Responsibility of Being Oneself by Osho.

ACIM and UU - Chapter one, "Original Sin."

Today a new feature is being introduced on UU A Way Of Life entitled, A Course In Miracles and Unitarian Univeralism. It will be replacing our Ask Alexa and Today's Lesson columns.

A Course In Miracles and Unitarian Universalism

Chapter One

Original Sin

In order to understand A Course In Miracles, the student must first comprehend its metaphysics. “Metaphysics” is the study of thought systems describing ultimate reality. ACIM is based on the idea of the Oneness of the Ultimate Reality. Human consciousness was born from what ACIM calls the “tiny mad idea” that human beings, God’s creations, could be separate from God.

            This “tiny mad idea” lead to the birth of the ego which believes that it, itself, is God, and this mistaken belief, leads to suffering.

            This egotistical belief that the self is God is manifested in many ways that are called sin, mistakes, illusions, delusions, wrong mindedness, and insanity.

            ACIM teaches that its purpose is not to teach the meaning of Love for that cannot be taught, but to make one aware of the blocks and obstacles to the awareness of Love’s presence, the beatific Oneness that we call heaven, the kingdom, Nirvana, bliss, peace, home.

            The primary vehicle which the ego uses to establish its kingdom is what ACIM calls “special relationships” which are based on guilt, fear, and wrong mindedness. This guilt, fear, and wrong-mindedness is manifested in “give to get” and “one or the other” dynamics of special relationships. This can simply be called “conditional love.” “I’ll love you if….” And “it’s all your fault, and “you made me do it.”

            Unitarian Univeralism does not believe in separation and exclusion. Unitarian Univeralism is what is called a “covenantal” religion because it is based on a covenant to affirm and promote seven principles. Unitarian Universalism is about joining with Unconditional Love rather than about separation based on differences that judge, punish, and exclude.

            The practices of Unitarian Universalism are counter-cultural. They are not based on individual ego, but on recognition, acknowledgment, and functioning based on interdependence.

            The original sin was the egotistical thought that the self was God. This thought system is alive and well in our secular and religious societies to this day. Unitarian Univeralism offers a different view and based on this a different way of life.

Ask Alexa - What must I do to have eternal life?

Alexa: What must I do to have eternal life?

Easy, peasy, partner, give up your ego.

Alexa: What do you call the person who leads the executive committee meetings?

The chairperson of the bored.