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Many Unitarian Universalists participate in lively online discussion. Keep up with the conversation: Read UU World’s Editors’ Blog, where you’ll find links to the best commentary about Unitarian Universalism each week (uuworld.org/blog).
Resilient enough to dismantle racism
Adam Dyer of Spirituwellness challenged UUs to show that they have the stamina for long term antiracist, multicultural activism: “I need you to prove that my fears are wrong. Dig deep. Find the wellspring in your core that sustains you as a change agent.” (spirituwellness.wordpress.com, August 26)
In a Facebook post, Chris Crass described the kind of courage white activists need: “We don’t need white people who never fail because they never risk challenging injustice. We need white people who risk and when they make mistakes and the going gets tough, open their hearts and fortify their souls, knowing this is the work our faith calls us
into.” (facebook.com/chris.crass.75, September 15)
Also on Facebook, Ashley Horan wrote an open letter to white UUs: “[We] white folks are often far too willing to throw each other under the bus. . . . But, at the end of the day, it matters more to me that I am a part of building and participating in a movement that will be resilient and powerful enough to actually dismantle white supremacy.”
(facebook.com/ashley.a.p.horan, September 18)
At The Lively Tradition, the Rev. Dr. Cynthia Landrum wrote about defaced Black Lives Matter banners: “There’s no confusion here what we mean when we say, ‘Black Lives Matter.’ This push-back of ‘All Lives Matter’ isn’t about clarification of a misunderstanding. It’s about an angry response to antiracism challenging the white cultural supremacy. It’s as simple as that.” (tomschade.com, September 3)
The organizing collective Black Lives of UU issued a statement about congregations posting Black Lives Matter signs: “We . . . see congregations that have been attacked and are stepping away from the unifying Black Lives Matter message, creating their own alternative statements. . . . Do black lives matter only when people are not mad at Unitarian Universalists for having boldly said they do?” (Black Lives of UU, September 20)
Throwing ourselves into the struggle
The Rev. Tom Schade of The Lively Tradition had a suggestion for renewing the church: “Maybe we should take a couple years off from our endless self-improvement projects and just go ‘all in for the social movements.’ . . . Throw ourselves into the struggle, by every means possible, for a few years, and then see where we are.” (tomschade.com, August 15)
For the Rev. Elizabeth Stevens, writing at Revehstevens, the image of a dead toddler on a beach humanized a faraway war: “All of us are powerless in the face of huge numbers. What moves us, what changes the world, are personal connections. Stories. Relationships. Images that break our hearts forge bonds between us. If we let it in, the compassion and empathy we feel for that one small human and his family transforms us, and we, in turn, help to transform the world.” (revehstevens.wordpress.com, September 6)
Theresa Soto, on her blog Theresa Loves You, responded to people who tell her to be less angry about inaccessibility: “I’m going to be angry when people are indifferent to barriers keeping me and people like me out of buildings, when they are indifferent to our participation. I am going to be angry when it is not capacity that keeps people from being active learners, but rather unwillingness.” (theresalovesyou.weebly.com, July 24)
Writing at Captain Reverend Mother, the Rev. Cynthia Kane celebrated strong women: “There is no point in history where we have been more blessed with women role models from all walks of life, owning their physical, mental, and spiritual power in magnificent ways; living their truths; getting out in the world to do what they came to; and letting go of that pernicious, bone-deep fear that keeps so many of us in check. That fear that we cannot be feminine while being who we are.” (captainreverendmother.wordpress.com, July 15)
After living for twenty years with HIV, Teo Drake of Roots Grow the Tree tells his complicated history with survival: “How do I tell you that I know you are happy I am still here and that I am grateful too, but that gratitude is also complicated. Some of my friends aren’t here. . . . Even now twenty years later I sometimes still encounter touch tinged with fear and my body remembers that the war isn’t over.” (rootsgrowthetree.com, July 15)
relaxing the rational
The Rev. Ken Collier of The Colliery described worship as a chance to relax our rational minds: “When well done, the words and the music integrate, become something more than either alone. A new thing is created, a new thing that has the power to transform your soul, even though you object to the words when they are lifted out of the music.” (uurevken.wordpress.com, August 12)