The latest edition of the UUFD (Unitarian Universalist of
Decatur) newsletter was delivered, and when I read a paragraph from the
minister repeatedly asking everyone to pray for the indigenous people at
Standing Rock, I realized I may not be able to fit in with Unitarians
anymore. I have crossed the line into
“hardened atheist.” The calls for prayer
and especially prayer alone, offend me.
What good will praying do? She
should have told her followers something the congregation could do that would
actually help the people.
I realize “pray” came from a position of helplessness and caring, and some will even say praying will motivate others because they will become more positive and vested in the cause, but I think it will do the opposite. I think it makes a person feel like they have helped and it puts the action into “God’s hands.” It wipes responsibility away from a person and takes away their need to help the downtrodden.
I realize “pray” came from a position of helplessness and caring, and some will even say praying will motivate others because they will become more positive and vested in the cause, but I think it will do the opposite. I think it makes a person feel like they have helped and it puts the action into “God’s hands.” It wipes responsibility away from a person and takes away their need to help the downtrodden.
Unitarian churches differ from congregation to congregation,
and pastors have a lot to do with the tone of the church. Some are focused strongly on gay rights, some
have a good variety of issues, and some are conservative in nature, with a
minister who defected from evangelical pastorship and still conveniently quotes
the Bible because it is what he knows.
In order for a church to be a church, the word “faith” must be used. Unitarians are big on faith. Now, despite my analytical writing, I am a caring person and a positive, rather funny person – in person. But being Unitarian requires a tolerance for people who believe in fairies, in pseudoscience, and in being compassionate toward humans even when they are doing wrong. An example of the latter is when a guest at a vegan/vegetarian meet-up group ordered meat. Our vegan/vegetarian group is made up of many Unitarians, and a good share of them are not vegan or vegetarian but love animals and like eating healthy. As we discussed the situation at our vegan potluck meeting of a guest eating meat at the vegan/vegetarian meet-up, my reaction was that it was totally inappropriate and disrespectful to the group. I used the example that if we allow people to order meat at the vegan/vegetarian meet-up, we should hand out slabs of steak at our vegan/vegetarian potlucks because, “they are not vegan so we must have meat handy for them.” Of course, they brushed off that example because the thought of having meat handy at a vegan/vegetarian potluck is absurd, and they did not understand my comparison!
Only three of us shared the same views, and we are all vegan – the rest took the side of the guest, and said we should be compassionate to all. All humans, that is. Once again, we see that people who are not in the group for animals' rights will put people's feelings before the needs of the animals. I was not rude to anyone and was not even present at the vegan/vegetarian meet up where the guest ordered meat. I simply gave my opinion at our potluck meeting that I thought the guest was out of line, and found myself in the minority.
Perhaps I do not have the patience for stupid people anymore! Perhaps I lack the “anything goes” attitude and the "we must be cheerful all the time" demeanor.
In order for a church to be a church, the word “faith” must be used. Unitarians are big on faith. Now, despite my analytical writing, I am a caring person and a positive, rather funny person – in person. But being Unitarian requires a tolerance for people who believe in fairies, in pseudoscience, and in being compassionate toward humans even when they are doing wrong. An example of the latter is when a guest at a vegan/vegetarian meet-up group ordered meat. Our vegan/vegetarian group is made up of many Unitarians, and a good share of them are not vegan or vegetarian but love animals and like eating healthy. As we discussed the situation at our vegan potluck meeting of a guest eating meat at the vegan/vegetarian meet-up, my reaction was that it was totally inappropriate and disrespectful to the group. I used the example that if we allow people to order meat at the vegan/vegetarian meet-up, we should hand out slabs of steak at our vegan/vegetarian potlucks because, “they are not vegan so we must have meat handy for them.” Of course, they brushed off that example because the thought of having meat handy at a vegan/vegetarian potluck is absurd, and they did not understand my comparison!
Only three of us shared the same views, and we are all vegan – the rest took the side of the guest, and said we should be compassionate to all. All humans, that is. Once again, we see that people who are not in the group for animals' rights will put people's feelings before the needs of the animals. I was not rude to anyone and was not even present at the vegan/vegetarian meet up where the guest ordered meat. I simply gave my opinion at our potluck meeting that I thought the guest was out of line, and found myself in the minority.
Perhaps I do not have the patience for stupid people anymore! Perhaps I lack the “anything goes” attitude and the "we must be cheerful all the time" demeanor.
Standing Rock was not solved with a prayer – it is being solved by action. Not every challenge mankind faces can be solved with a hug.
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