The Aug. 2024 issue of the UU Underworld: A Newsletter for Unitarian Universalist FreeThinkers is now available.here.This version of the UUUnderworld features articles, advise, humour and letters to the editor.
Make sure you read and share Rebecca Pace’s warning to WATCH YOUR CHURCH’S ASSETS! The Association’s Backdoor Way of Owning Your Church.
And finally do your friends and Unitarian’s everywhere a favour by sharing this link!
While many of us had the opportunity to hear Rev. Eklof present an amended version of Rev. John Dietrich’s 1918 sermon, “Unitarianism and Freedom of Thought”, last Sunday on UUSpokane zoom, some of you did not.
For me, it was an extremely powerful and meaningful experience.
While one can watch the Service on YouTube. However, there are so many important ideas expressed in the sermon that I wanted to have the text so that I could study it more carefully, share it with others and keep it for reference.
A guest post by Stephen Polmar
Click to download the sermon text in PDF
The UU Underworld – A Newsletter for Unitarian Universalist FreeThinkers is a new occasional periodical edited by John Griffin Miller. This 25 page, 2024 Post GA issue of the Underworld, contains a summary of the activities and results of the recent General Assembly as well as their potential impact on UU Congregations . It includes a checklist of things for a congregation to deal with if they decide to leave the UUA.. These are followed by three longer essays:
The newsletter is a useful summary of the past and a road map for a future for Unitarians that includes the NAUA.
NAUA is sponsoring another new CIRCLE called Nurturing Your Spiritual Life CIRCLE that will be open to 12 participants and will meet every other Thursday beginning at 4:00 PM PDT (7:00 EDT) for 10 to 12 sessions.
The purpose of the CIRCLE will be to discuss ideas and practices about how to nurture and facilitate one’s interior spiritual life. The meeting will involve participants sharing their internal personal experiences as well their use of external resources. The intent is to provide an opportunity for participants to learn from each other’s experiences. It is hoped that participants will benefit by learning more about practices that nourish their spiritual life and the spiritual life of others.
This CIRCLE will be led by David G. Markham, who is a Licensed Clinical Social Work Psychotherapist in New York State with over 54 years of experience in the mental health and substance abuse field as a clinician and manager. He has had an interest in Spiritually Integrated Psychotherapy for several years. He was raised as a Roman Catholic and in his adult life explored all the major religious traditions and for twenty years was affiliated with three different Unitarian Universalist congregations.
If you are interested in participating in this CIRCLE, kindly send an email to circles@naunitarians.org and put “Spiritual CIRCLE” in the subject line, and we will respond quickly. Please include your phone number. We plan on beginning as soon as we have an adequate amount of participants.
In this 13 minute video Rev. Todd Eklof details the many concerns that many of feel after the wholesale revision of the Principles and Values of the Unitarian Universalist Association. He repeats a theme first introduced in the Gadfly Papers that the merge of the Unitarians with the Universalists resulted in a profound and continuing identity crisis for former members of both denominations. He goes own to note the move away from individualism and the freedom to hold differing opinions and priorities. He also notes the difference between Liberal and Liberation.
The voting delegates to the 2024 UUA General Assembly voted 80.2% to amend Article 2 of their bylaws to remove the 7 Principles and the Sources and to replace them with a set of values with ‘love’ at their centre.
Amendments to add “Reason” and “Peace” to the list of guiding values were defeated by the delegates. The resulting JET PIG diagram (at left) has become a visual image of these new values and the direction the Unitarian Universalist denomination in now headed. You will note that “a free and responsible search for truth and meaning;” and ” The right of conscience and the use of the democratic process within our congregation” are absent from these values.
These results end a multi year battle to retain the liberal Principles that have guided Unitarian Congregations since 1980’s. One long term member expresses his reaction to this vote below:
Unitarian Universalism taught us that the sacred tapestry of life is woven from threads of many colors and textures. It showed us the beauty of a pluralistic vision, where each unique strand was integral to the whole. It was a tradition that found strength in its openness, its commitment to democratic principles, and its unyielding belief in the inherent worth and dignity of every person.
Yet, there came a time when the winds of change shifted, and with heavy hearts, we witnessed a narrowing of that once-expansive horizon. The celebration of diversity gave way to a singular focus, and the chorus of many voices fell silent before a dominant creed. The garden of free thought, once lush with varied blooms, began to fade, as only certain flowers were tended to.
Today, we honor the legacy of what Unitarian Universalism once was—a sanctuary for free spirits, a school for thought, and a community bound by love and respect. We cherish the memories of its vibrant days and hold close the lessons it imparted upon us. May the spirit of true inclusivity and open-hearted dialogue live on in each of us, as we carry forward the flame of compassion and justice in our own ways.
In its essence, Unitarian Universalism reminded us that we are all part of an interconnected web of existence, and it is in this spirit that we say farewell. May its memory inspire us to build bridges where walls have risen and to light the way for a future where every voice can once again find its song.
Rest in peace, dear friend. Your vision of a world united in diversity will not be forgotten.
You may wish to reflect on these momentous changes as you listen to the “saddest song ever” from Barber’s Adagio.
The NAUA aspires to support liberal religion despite this set back in our hopes and ideals.
Please share your reaction to this development on our X or Facebook groups.