Resenting the wealthy, Eagle Scouts and UUism, and more

Resentment against the wealthy

Attracting over 100 comments, the Rev. Victoria Weinstein of "PeaceBang" challenges readers to reconsider prejudices against affluent people:

This is about honest folks who wrote in to say that they have hostile feelings towards the very wealthy, and I think we should talk about it. What's that about? What does it mean for our congregations? What are our assumptions about the rich? What constitutes "rich enough" to earn hostility (for those who have those feelings)? Is there any corollary here about the un-rich? Do they merit special favor for those who harbor hostile feelings for the extremely wealthy? And finally, is this a personal prejudice or is it a liberationist stance aka "God’s preferential option for the poor?" (June 7, 2008)

Eagle Scouts

As her congregation recognizes its youth who have become Eagle Scouts this year, the Rev. Mary Wellemeyer of "A Larger Faith" writes:

We also felt a little ambivalent. Not about the young men who earned this honor. But about the relationship of the values of our religious movement with those of the larger Boy Scouts of America. We feel a little sneaky and underhanded as we celebrate our flight of Eagles, because we are painfully aware that the BSA does not accept boys and men who have minority sexual orientations. (June 8, 2008)

Worship language

Jacqueline of "MoxieLife" argues against the use of theological language by lay participants in worship:

Every Sunday we have someone get up light a candle and proclaim that they are either surrounding the congregation in the light, or that we are in a column of light, or that the light is entering us.

Nothing makes my skin crawl more then airy fairy descriptions of God. Now, if you want to believe in God, more power to you, but don't hide it in "the light." . . .

What REALLY makes me crazy though is that they think I either want to be in the light or that I also believe in the light. (June 10, 2008)

Together underground

The Rev. Michael Tino at "The Arc of the Universe" reflects on the New York subway system:

I believe that there's something about the New York City subway that forces those who take it to acknowledge the humanity of people who are different from them. Boundaries of privilege and caste that apply aboveground are made ever-so-slightly more permeable when you’re packed together like sardines in a tin can hurtling through a subterranean tunnel . . .

Every race, every nationality, every class and occupation, every gender and gender expression, people of all sexual orientations. They all take the subway. Together. (June 8, 2008)

Not to be missed

The Rev. Thom Belote at "RevThom" analyzes Liz Phair's song "Love/Hate." Lizard Eater at "The Journey" reads meaning between the lines of the popular UU hymn "Spirit of Life." And Kelsey Atherton at "Plastic Manzikert" reacts to Richard Higgins's UU World article on the gap between the number of Americans who identify as Unitarian Universalist and the number that attend Unitarian Universalist Association congregations.