Arresting Gates, standing on the side of 'Standing,' and more

The arrest of Henry Louis Gates Jr.

Following the arrest of Harvard Professor Henry Louis Gates Jr. on the front porch of his home on Thursday, July 16, the Internet (as well as broadcast and cable TV and print newspapers and magazines) went wild. Unitarian Universalists were no different. UU blogs have had commentary, personal stories, and very active comments sections.

Princeton Professor Melissa Harris-Lacewell, a UU who delivered the Ware Lecture at the UUA's General Assembly in June, wrote "Skip Gates and the Post-Racial Project" for The Nation:

Gates is invested in black life, black history, black art, and black literature, but he has managed to achieve a largely post-political and even substantially post-racial existence.

Then he was arrested in his own home. (July 21)

Journalist Dan Kennedy wrote several blog posts at "Media Nation," beginning with "What the Gates story says about race and culture" (July 22; see also July 23, July 25).

The Rev. Meg Riley wrote "The Stories Below the Fold: A Reflection on Henry Louis Gates" at the UUA's "Standing on the Side of Love" blog:

But if we make this about Gates, we’re missing the point. We need to speak out for the unnamed people, the ones without the connections to make all the papers. We need to stand on the side of love with communities who live exclusion, oppression, and violence daily. We need to learn their stories firsthand, because they will never be above the fold in the paper. (undated)

Other UU bloggers addressing the incident include the Rev. Victoria Weinstein at "PeaceBang" (July 21), ChaliceChick at "The Chaliceblog" (July 21, July 22, and July 23), Bill Baar at "Baar's West Side" (July 23), the Rev. Timothy Jensen at "The Eclectic Cleric" (July 24), "On Wings of Thought" (July 24), and the Rev. Daniel Harper at "Yet Another Unitarian Universalist" (July 24). "Stories from LA" relates a personal arrest story (July 24). And Thomas N. DeWolf, author of Inheriting the Trade: A Northern Family Confronts Its Legacy as the Largest Slave-Trading Dynasty in U.S. History writes for Beacon Press's "Beacon Broadside" (July 24).

Science fiction and UU values

Science-fiction author Will Shetterly has several posts on Gates at "it's all one thing," and also one on race on science fiction book covers. (July 25; see also Shetterly's UU World essay, "Speculation and Revelation," March/April 2005.)

"Strange Attractor" writes specifically about "Star Trek":

I got to thinking about how much Star Trek has meant to me and shaped my life. I have been a Trekkie since before I was old enough to go to school. There is actually an embarrassing Kirk-related kindergarten story about this. I probably wouldn't be a Humanist and I definitely would not be a UU without the lessons Trek taught me. (July 20)

Knoxville anniversary, standing on the side of 'Standing,' and the death of cursive

On the first anniversary of the fatal shootings at the Tennesee Valley UU Church in Knoxville, David G. Markham at "UU A Way of Life" writes about media that fan hatred (July 26). TVUUC's senior minister, the Rev. Chris Buice, reflects on the spirituality that sustained his congregation in an essay for uuworld.org: "Their Spirit Is Still with Us" (July 27).

Kim Hampton at "east of midnight" writes about the use of language and publishes a letter from the Rev. Mary Harrington about criticism of the UUA's new "Standing on the Side of Love" campaign, which some people have criticized as insensitive to people with disabilities (July 21). Harrington, who has ALS, delivered the sermon at the Service of the Living Tradition while seated. (See also Harrington's uuworld.org essay, "Finding Relief in the Storm," June 15, 2009.)

The Rev. Eric Cherry posts profiles of the six U.S. participants in the International UU Youth Exchange 2009, a UU student exchange program with German Unitarians, at "Inspired Faith, Effective Action," the blog of the UUA Advocacy & Witness Staff Group (July 20).

The Rev. Thom Belote is posting his lectures on UU history and theology from the Midwest Leadership School at "RevThom."

The Cedar Lane Web Task Force is documenting their process, including work ChUUG (a Baltimore/Washington DC regional group of 30 churches) is doing for a Google Ad campaign. (July 21)

OD/HR Min—"a Unitarian Universalist (UU) minister who once was an OD (organizational development)/HR (human resources) professional"—writes at "Calling Ministers" about achieving equilibrium:

Where is your sense of equilibrium? What brings you back to center when you feel unbalanced? How do you find that peace in the midst of stress and anxiety? How do you let go of outcomes? (July 21)

Elizabeth J. Barrett at "exUUberance" has a suggestion for UU University next year: "I think a Spiritual practices track would be terrific because we would have time to learn various practices and try each one" (July 22).

The Rev. Marilyn Sewell reflects on Walter Cronkite and cell phones in a post on the nature of power and using it well:

Power is exercised by all human beings. We all leverage our gifts to gain advantage of one kind or another. And there are all kinds of power. (July 22)

Craftsperson Doug Stowe at "Wisdom of the Hands" worries about the possible death of cursive handwriting:

What if in the loops and curls, the flow of words from the mind to paper, there are things that happen in the poetry of thought? (July 25)

Not a UU, but . . .

This week saw an extended and wide-ranging conversation on atheism, fundamentalism, rationality, and Sunday school moderated by Patrick Appel on Andrew Sullivan's blog "The Daily Dish" for The Atlantic.

Beyond the blogs

That wedding entrance video is a YouTube sensation, and you can see it at the Rev. Kit Ketcham's blog, "Ms Kitty's Saloon and Road Show," because she loves it (July 23). ChaliceChick at "The Chaliceblog" doesn't, however, and writes "something about this happening in the church portion of the wedding kinda bugs me" (July 27).

Finally, don't miss Michelle Bates Deakin's article for uuworld.org on UU churches using Facebook (July 27).