Showing posts with label Principle 2 Justice. Show all posts
Showing posts with label Principle 2 Justice. Show all posts

Sunday, July 14, 2019

How are you managing your thoughts and feelings about this weekend's raids?


I don't want any more kids in cages or people frightened of midnight raids leading to deportation. Enough is enough. 

Even City mayors now are resisting and refusing to cooperate with ICE and the ineffective, abusive policies of the Trump administration

 I live in Western NY state where many hispanic farm workers live in fear and panic. I was talking to a friend of mine who works at the Migrant Education Center at our local College at Brockport and she tells me that enrollment is down this summer because parents are afraid to bring their children to town for summer programming. She told me a very sad story about a 15 year old girl in the program who has been sex trafficed by her mother to a 23 year old male for the money at least twice,  and Child Protective Services from the County are reluctant to get involved and twice have returned the girl to her mother. Whether local police have been called because this is statutory rape the person didn't know.

What's going on in our country reminds me of how the Jews were treated under the Nazis, and citizens with integrity are taking steps to hide, and protect the discriminated people among us from the government. If you have to choose statutory rape or your mother's possiblee deportation which would you choose?

We all have little things we can do every day to help people and protect them. I don't thing Pelosi or McConnel or Nadler or Schiff or any other politiicans will help us. We are on our own and we must protect our fellow human beings from the government which increasingly doesn't seem to be  acting in moral ways that I can support.

I am a privileged 73 old white guy and Iam scared where I live in Western New York not for myself but for my neighbors and the people I mingle with in our community.

As a Unitarian Universalist I covenant together with other UUs to affirm and promote justice, equity, and compassion in human relations. The Trump white house administration and his supporters don't support this principle. It seems that we are back to civil disobedience as a means of resisting oppression and immorality.

From The Week, 07/14/19:

Cities prepare for ICE raids
Immigrant communities in major U.S. cities are preparing for raids conducted by Immigration and Customs Enforcement on Sunday, as promised by President Trump on Friday. Trump has said ICE will initially focus on searching for undocumented immigrants with criminal histories, but fears of deportation are widespread, and many people say they are carrying their U.S. passports just in case. San Francisco Mayor London Breed said her city's police will not cooperate with ICE. "If you want to come after them, you're going to have to come through us," Breed said. In some cities, government human-service workers are ready to find foster homes for any children left behind if their parents are detained and marked for deportation. In many cases, adult undocumented immigrants have children who are U.S. citizens. [USA Today, NBC News]

Thursday, July 11, 2019

Immigrants have rights - pass the word



Unitarian Universalists covenant together to affirm and promote justice, equity, and compassion in human relations.

Saturday, June 22, 2019

You might think it's okay to harass and abuse immigrants, but UUs think it's not okay.


You might think that it's okay to abuse, lock up, separate families, deport undocumented immigrants but it's not okay because Christian tradition teaches that we should welcome the stranger because all of God's children have inherent worth and dignity and are to be treated with justice, equity, and compassion.

This, we Unitarian Universalists have covenanted together to affirm and promote.

Wednesday, June 19, 2019

A Course In Miracles and Unitarian Universalism - Uncondtional Love and social justice

From A Course In Miracles

T-21.in.1. Projection makes perception. 

The world you see is what you gave it, nothing more than that. But though it is no more than that, it is not less. Therefore, to you it is important. 

It is the witness to your state of mind, the outside picture of an inward condition. As a man thinketh, so does he perceive. 

Therefore, seek not to change the world, but choose to change your mind about the world.

Perception is a result and not a cause. And that is why order of difficulty in miracles is meaningless. 

Everything looked upon with vision is healed and holy. Nothing perceived without it means anything. And where there is no meaning, there is chaos.

Schucman, Dr. Helen. A Course in Miracles (p. 445). Foundation for Inner Peace. 




Comment - 

Many Unitarian Universalists are interested in and concerned about social justice. In fact, this concern is part of our covenant with one another which is to affirm and promote justice, equity, and compassion in human relations. It is important to understand that we enact this principle not to make the world a better place, because what we see in the world is an illusion, but rather to forgive ourselves for our judgmental and distorted preception.

The third principle asks us to accept one another and encourage spiritual growth in our congregations. Focusing on the condition of the external world instead of focusing our own internal state of mind is a distraction and a mistake. Jesus tells us before you attempt to remove the splinter in your neighbor's eye, take the log out of your own eye first.

A Course In Miracles asks us to shift gears and look upon our brothers and sisters with unconditional love and this is the core of our Universalist faith. If we are to look upon our brothers and sisters with unconditional love what does that mean for pursing social justice?

It means that we love the sinner and hate the sin. It means, as Jesus told us, that we should love our enemies.

Jesus told us that all are called but few choose the Universalist path of Unconditional Love.

Friday, March 8, 2019

What do you think about bail reform?



Editor's note:
Unitarian Universalists covenant together to affirm and promote justice, equity, and compassion in human relations. One of the biggest promoters of injustice in our society is our criminal justice system. It is a two tiered system. The highest tier is for people with money who can afford bail and powerful attorneys who are well connected and highly skilled. The lowest tier is for poor people who cannot afford bail and cannot afford skilled well connected attorneys.

New York State needs to enact bail reform. UUs should be educated and concerned about the dysfunctions in our criminal justice system.

Wednesday, January 30, 2019

UU A Way Of Life ministries index - school lock downs in the U.S. 2017 - 2018


  • Number of children who experienced school lock downs in the U.S. 2017-2018 = 4 million
  • Number of school lock downs in the U.S. 2017 - 2018 = 6,200
  • Number of school lock downs, on average, per day in U.S. schools 2017 - 2018 = 16

Source - Washington Post as reported in The Week on 01/11/19

Editor's note:
There is growing evidence that school lock down drills are very traumatizing to children which raises the question of whether the benefit of such practices are worth the psychological and social costs.

These statistics also make one pause and consider what kind of a society we have become as a result of our love of freely available guns and what kind of a society we want for our future.

Unitarian Universalists covenant together to affirm and promote justice, equity, and compassion and human relations. How does this second principle apply to this situation?

Monday, January 7, 2019

How are resentment and grievance healed?


Resentments and grievances abound.
Some, self righteously exploit them and gloat.
Others, rise above and move on.

What about me?
What about you?

The Tao, full of paradox, takes it all as a harmonious whole.
The person of resentment and grievance is out of balance.
The person who goes with the flow experiences the peace of balance and harmony.

Unitarian Univeralists know this because they covenant together to affirm and promote the seventh of their seven principles, the respect for the interdependent web of all existence. UUs also affirm and promote justice, equity, and compassion in human relations. It is with these two principles that resentment and grievance are healed.


Saturday, January 5, 2019

Are patience and persistence virtues?


What is more powerful than water which wears away rock?
What is more supple than water than can slide around any barrier.

And yet we emulate rock instead of water to get our way.
The stupid don't appreciate the paradox.

Patience and persistence are more powerful that force and domination.
Loving kindness is more powerful than tyrannical rule.

Unitarian Universalists are masters of flexibility.a
UUs affirm and promote the free and responsible search for truth and meaning.

UUs do not dictate and impose.
UUs affirm and promote justice, equity, and compassion throughout the land.


Tuesday, January 1, 2019

What will bring justice and joy to the people?


What happens when the people are lied to and manipulated?
People suffer for the benefit of the few who manipulate.

What happens when the people complain and rebel against injustice?
They are stigmatized, denigrated, silenced, sometimes killed.

What happens when those in power hold out promises of safety and bonuses?
The people scramble like pigs at a trough forgetting their innate dignity.

What will improve the well being of all?
When the governed assent to the justice and equity of the governing policies.

Unitarian Univeralists covenant together to affirm and promote seven principles the second of which is justice, equity, and compassion in human relations. When the second principle is followed and implemented there will be peace and joy in the land for there will be harmony among the people.


Tuesday, December 18, 2018

Are Unitarian Univeralists called to gentleness?

It is taught in the Manual for Teachers in A Course In Miracles that gentleness is one of the characteristics of a teacher of God. Being non-judgmental how could a teacher of God punish?

A pastor said to me one time, "There is a difference between being nice and being kind. Being nice isn't always kind and being kind isn't always being nice."

The definition of Irish diplomacy is "Telling a person to go to hell in such a way as they enjoy the trip."

Can the hard truth be told and negative feedback be provided in a gentle way?

St. Paul writes in his letter to the Colossians, "12 Therefore, as God’s chosen people, holy and dearly loved, clothe yourselves with compassion, kindness, humility, gentleness and patience.

Unitarian Univeralists covenant together to affirm and promote justice, equity, and compassion in human relations. There is a creative tension in those three ideas. Can one be just and still be compassionate. Can one be compassionat and still be just?

A Course In Miracles teaches us that one of the characteristics of a teacher of God is implementing such a skill and in the execution of the skill there is a manifestation of gentleness.

Why aren't UUs sychophantic?


The sychophants offer high praises and gifts.
Many seek this kind of adulation stroking their egos.

Those who are centered eschew infatuation.
Those who are centered are comforted by the basic.

Unitarian Univeralists covenant together to affirm and promote justice, equity, and compassion.
UUs have their feet planted firmly on the ground and their heads don't swell.

Unitarian Univeralists affirm and promote the interdependent web of all existence.
It is in this interdependent web that they find their comfort and peace.


Friday, December 7, 2018

What is the key to peace?

It is exhausting to pound a square peg into a round hole.
It is exhausting to block the wind and push the river.

Going with the flow brings a sense of peace
Fighting things creates a stress that causes break downs.

The lesson to be learned is to respect the Tao.
Unitarian Univeralists know this because they covenant together to affirm and promote the interdpendent web of all existence. In the Wholeness is an equilibrium which cannot be ignored without putting oneself in peril.

Unitarian Univeralists covenant together to affirm and promote justice, equity, and compassion in all things. This wisdom serves UUs and the world very well because it is in alighnment with the workings of Tao.


Monday, December 3, 2018

Would the Holy Family be welcomed in the U.S. this year?


Jesus was born when Joseph and Mary were traveling. After His birth in Bethlehem they fled to Egypt to avoid the infanticide ordered by Herod. Who would take this small family in? If today they were fleeing from Honduras to the U.S. they would be rejected at the U.S.' Southern Border. Jesus might be taken from Joseph and Mary and put in a juvenile detention center while Jospeh and Mary are extradited back to Honduras, the land where the killing is taking place.

People in the United States prize their culturual Christianity, but they do not behave like Chrisitans. Even those who proclaim themselves the most evangelical, support policies and leaders which are the opposite of Christian.

At this time of Advent we prepare ourselves to welcome the Messiah and his parents, the Holy Family. Would that we vote for leaders and policies that will make this possible.

Unitarian Univeralists stand out among religious people covenanting together to affirm and promote justice, equity, and compassion in human relations. We are an inclusive and welcoming religious tradition. The Messiah and His Family are welcome among us.

Saturday, December 1, 2018

Do we need to get back to basics?


The way is straight but there are many distractions.
Bread and circuses keep the masses asleep.
While people starve and suffer, the 24/7 cable news spew out "he said, she said" to keep people's minds off the real issues.

The blame game is emotinally captivating
Forgetting that other people are out brothers and sisters, we attack them thinking it will make us safe.
The people have lost their way and have forgotten who they really are.

Returning to the Ground of our Being requires that we put all nonsense aside, and get back on track.

Unitarian Universalists know that their covenant based on seven principles will save them. They know that affirming and promoting justice, equity, and compassion is the better course. UUs know that every person has inherent worth and dignity and, of this, UUs need to remind themselves regularly and share their light with the world.


Saturday, November 24, 2018

Do we control the universe?


The more we learn, the higher our expectations rise.
Dropping our expectations leads to wisdom.

It's not that ignorance is bliss, it is that attachment causes suffering.
If peace is the goal, turning our expectations over to Tao is the method.

The Holy Spirit knows best and will show us the way if we ask.
Jesus said, "Ask and you will receive," but few actually believe this.
Most cling to desires that corrupt one's contentment.

Go with the flow. Whatever will be, will be. The future is not ours to see.
We don't control the universe, do we?

Unitarian Universalists covenant together to affirm and promote the free and responsible search for truth and meaning, and while searching, UUs know that Truth is not to be found in what we expect.

UUs realize that we are a part of the Interdependent Web of Existence which is beyond understanding and total control. Justice, equity, and compassion flow not from control and coercion, but from loving kindness and loving kindness is unconditional.


Sunday, November 18, 2018

Can we keep our balance in a turbulent world?


When life gives you white water, get a surf board.

Turbulent times are best navigated with balance.

Exert too much or too little and you lose your balance.

Rome wasn't built in a day. There are a lot of ways to skin a cat.

In spite of what you have been taught, Life is not mechanical, it is organic.

Retreat from the extremes and find the center. It is in the center that balance is found.

If you would find peace, harmony, bliss, it will be in the Ground of Being not in the ten thousand things.

Unitarian Universalists know about the center because they covenant together to affirm and promote the interdependent web of all existence of which they just a tiny part.

Unitarian Univeralists covenant together to affirm and promote the inherent worth and dignity of all persons, and in this awareness they find refuge.

Unitarian Univeralists covenant together to affirm and promote justice, equity, and compassion and with this principle they evolve to the heavens where Oneness abides beyond the ten thousand things.


Tuesday, November 6, 2018

How does fear get managed?

At a threat and even in a desire to dominate we, humans, attack.

Fear is the name of the game. It drives human souls to cruel and destructive things.

Behind anger is always fear even for something as small as the loss of face, a slight to one's ego.

Guns make it easier to kill. The days of a punch in the nose are over. Instead of a bleeding nose, it is a stoped heart that occurs.

On the path of the spirit, there is no desire to dominate and the response to threat is a desire to understand so that methods of management can be devised for the safety and well being of all.

Unitarian Universalists covenant together to affirm and promote justice, equity, and compassion in human relations. UUs are also very aware of the interdependent web of all existence.


Sunday, November 4, 2018

As a Unitarian Univeralist is it my religious duty to vote?

Unitarian Universalists covenent together to affirm and support seven princples the fifth of which is the right of conscience and the use of the democratic process within our congregations and in society at large.

So, the correct answer is "yes." It is not only your civic duty to vote, it is part of our religious covenant as well.

One of the more significant social injustices perpetrated throughout U.S. history has been voter suppression. It has been especially virulent and malicious in the last 40 years. Disenfranchising large segments of what the political party in control considers to be undersirable voters has led to systemic, institutional injustices throughout the country. Therefore, it is encumbent on UUs not only to vote themselves but to encourage others to vote as well. This encourgement of others to vote is based on UUs second principle which is justice, equity, and compassion in human relations.

Here is a video giving a good overview of the mid-terms which comes, interestingly, from Australia.

Vote on this coming Tuesday, November 6, 2018.


Thursday, October 11, 2018

Do you live a life of primal virtue?

Back in the 60s we boomers talked about whether people had "their shit together." Psychologists talk about the "well integrated personality."

In the 60s when we met someone we noticed whether we got "good vibes" or "bad vibes." The Beach Boys even had a hit song named "Good Vibrations."

Do we walk though the world, our lives, with grace?

The Tao Te Ching in chapter ten asks:

"Understanding and being open to all things,
are you able to do nothing?"

And then it follows with:

"Giving birth and nourishing,
Bearing yet not possessing,
Working yet not taking credit,
Leading yet not dominating,"

The last verse states - "This is primal virtue."

Do Unitarian Univeralists practice primal virtue? Is this ideal a part of their faith?

Unitarian Univeralists covenant together to affirm and promote the responsible search for truth and meaning which requires them, if they seriously live their faith, to proceed in their lives with immense curiosity which gives birth and nourishes 10,000 ideas and questions.

Unitarian Univeralists covenant together to affirm and promote justice, equity, and compassion in their human relations which requires them, if they seriously live their faith, to bear and not possess, and work and yet not take credit.

Unitarian Univeralists covenant together to affirm and promote the acceptance of one another and encouragement to spirital growth which requires them, if they seriously live their faith, to lead and yet not dominate.

Unitarian Univeralists who covenant together to affirm and promote their seven principles, serioulsy living their faith, continually live lives of what the Tao Te Ching calls "primal virtue." The more successful practitioners of the faith are, the more they have their shit together and exude good vibrations.



Friday, September 14, 2018

UUAWOL ministries index - Capital punishment in the U.S.




  • number of people on death row in the U.S. exonerated in past 45 years = 162
  • number of other people executed in the U.S. during that time = 1,479
  • new position of the Roman Catholic church on the death penalty according to Pope Francis = against in all cases
Unitarian Univeralists covenant together to affirm and promote justice, equity, and compassion in human relations.
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