Doing nothing, fascism rising, and apologizing to Indians

What draws visitors, and keeps them from returning

David A. Markham posts a list of reasons why someone might visit a UU church ("UU a Way of Life," August 8). The Rev. Sean Parker Dennison initiates a conversation about what keeps visitors from returning to a UU congregation, with a list of 15 reasons why first-time guests may not return from Church Solutions magazine ("ministrare," August 3).

What draws people into the ministry

The Rev. Kit Ketcham tells the story of how she recognized her call to the ministry ("Ms. Kitty's Saloon and Road Show," August 8), and seminarians Lizard Eater and Ogre offer their stories, too ("The Journey," August 8; "Sparks in the Dark," August 8).

Dangers of fascism and mercenaries

Sara Robinson, who writes for the anti-right-wing blog "Orcinus," sees disturbing developments in American conservatism:

All through the Bush years, progressive right-wing watchers refused to call it "fascism" because, though we kept looking, we never saw clear signs of a deliberate, committed institutional partnership forming between America's conservative elites and its emerging homegrown brownshirt horde. We caught tantalizing signs of brief flirtations -- passing political alliances, money passing hands, far-right moonbat talking points flying out of the mouths of "mainstream" conservative leaders. But it was all circumstantial, and fairly transitory. The two sides kept a discreet distance from each other, at least in public. What went on behind closed doors, we could only guess. They certainly didn't act like a married couple.

Now, the guessing game is over. We know beyond doubt that the Teabag movement was created out of whole cloth by astroturf groups like Dick Armey's FreedomWorks and Tim Phillips' Americans for Prosperity, with massive media help from FOX News. We see the Birther fracas -- the kind of urban myth-making that should have never made it out of the pages of the National Enquirer -- being openly ratified by Congressional Republicans. We've seen Armey's own professionally-produced field manual that carefully instructs conservative goon squads in the fine art of disrupting the democratic governing process -- and the film of public officials being terrorized and threatened to the point where some of them required armed escorts to leave the building. We've seen Republican House Minority Leader John Boehner applauding and promoting a video of the disruptions and looking forward to "a long, hot August for Democrats in Congress."

This is the sign we were waiting for -- the one that tells us that yes, kids: we are there now. America's conservative elites have openly thrown in with the country's legions of discontented far right thugs. They have explicitly deputized them and empowered them to act as their enforcement arm on America's streets, sanctioning the physical harassment and intimidation of workers, liberals, and public officials who won't do their political or economic bidding.

This is the catalyzing moment at which honest-to-Hitler fascism begins. (August 7)

Responding to news that the U.S. independent military contractor formerly known as Blackwater may be implicated in murders of critics of the company in the United States, Army chaplain-candidate David Pyle writes:

Military Ceremony reminds our soldiers that they are not mercenaries.

The mercenary provides their own meaning for why they choose to risk their life, why they use violence, and they are primarily responsible to themselves or to other mercenaries. The most common conception is that the mercenary finds meaning in the pay they receive . . . but of the meanings they might find this is a fairly benign one. . . .

If the reports are true, for many in the Blackwater organization the meaning was found not primarily in money, but in a Dominionist understanding of Christianity. Their risk and service was made meaningful by an understanding of themselves as holy warriors, fighting a culture war against an opposing religion.

This understanding, this source of meaning is outside what is appropriate to United States Military and related forces. It is detrimental to our national interest, and to our stated goals of creating a stable and self-sustaining governmental system in the areas we are currently involved. This source of meaning for the mission of Blackwater can be traced to attitudes which lead directly to some of the most controversial aspects of the company’s actions in combat zones. ("Celestial Lands," August 6)

The value of doing nothing

The Rev. James Ford writes in praise of doing nothing ("Monkey Mind," August 8).

The Rev. Victoria Weinstein likes to take her beagle Max for a walk through the town green. She writes:

We’re quite a spectacle.
Because we’re just sitting there.
Sometimes Max rolls on his back and wriggles in the grass, causing people to grin like children if they happen to notice.

Watching people watch him, I realize that Max is just basically a living commercial for beagles; or more generally, for having a dog.

And I realize that I myself am a commercial for Just Sitting There, a kind of radical thing to do in our place and time. ("PeaceBang," August 4)

Pagan reflections

JohnFranc, a UU and a Druid, reflects on the "antiquity" of contemporary Paganism:

John Michael Greer said something I’ve heard before, though perhaps not in these exact words. He said that Paganism in general and Druidry in particular are not “revived” religions or even “reconstructed” religions. Rather, they are indigenous religions of modern Anglo-American industrial society. I think that’s right. . . .

[Paganism is] a reaction to the environmental and commercial excesses of the Industrial Revolution that continue to this day. It’s a reaction to our disconnection with the land and separation from families and communities. It’s also a reaction to both male-dominated misogynistic religions and soul-denying hyper-rational scientific materialism. ("Under the Ancient Oaks," August 5)

Jason Pitzl-Waters responds to a blog post we highlighted last week about a Discordian-led pagan ritual celebrating Lammas, generating a lively conversation at "The Wild Hunt" (August 6).

On looking deeply

Rebecca Hecking sees more than most of us in a styrofoam peanut:

My inner scientist (a product of my college years) started playing mental free-association games. Styrofoam . . . plastic . . . polymers . . . petroleum . . . fossil fuels . . . fossil fern fronds . . . It hit me that this little white blob was really a tiny piece of an ancient legacy, transformed by humans into its present form. . . .

It is a carrier of the hidden Sacred, a reminder of our connection to our Deep Time ancestors. If we open our eyes, it can serve as a catalyst to our collective memory. Can we find other connections? Can we see the Sacred, hiding in plain sight? ("The Sustainable Soul," August 4)

Apologizing to Utes, rethinking Atticus Finch, and more

Seminarian Paul Oakley posts a letter from the Rev. Tracey Robinson-Harris explaining how UUA President William G. Sinkford came to offer an apology on behalf of the UUA to the Northern Ute people for their treatment in the late nineteenth century by American Unitarians, a story which had not been widely known before Sinkford offered the apology at the 2009 General Assembly ("Inner Light, Radiant Life," August 6).

The Rev. Marilyn Sewell writes about her surprise at falling in love as she approached retirement (August 5). She is getting married next month.

In a conversation about Macolm Gladwell's New Yorker article about To Kill a Mockingbird and early twentieth-century Southern liberalism, commenters at "The Chaliceblog" have all sorts of interesting things to say about the novel (August 8).

The Rev. Scott Wells (of "Boy in the Bands") has launched a small independent online-only magazine for Unitarian, Universalist, and other liberal Christians called The Liberal Christian.

Erik Resley reflects on a poem by Scott Cairns, who stops by to offer a comment in reply ("Embodied Fragments," August 6).

UUA trustee Linda Laskowski writes about the Board of Trustees' attempt to create links with "sources of authority and accountability" in the UUA's member congregations.

What became clear was how difficult it is for many congregation presidents to get out of the role of "customer". Linkage is not only about who you talk to, but what you talk about: our congregations are both "customers" of services provided by the UUA (a conversation held most appropriately with the UUA staff), and "sources" (moral owners) who care deeply about what the institution of Unitarian Universalism provides to the world (conversations with the UUA Board). Congregation presidents are often so caught up in the crises of church life . . . that asking them what differences they want the UUA to make in the world can not only catch them cold but also seem irrelevant. ("UUA View from Berkeley," August 5)

Religious studies scholar Jeff W. posts a summary of UU and religious liberal events at the annual American Academy of Religion meeting in Montreal this November ("Transient and Permanent," August 5).