Sunday the Social Action Committee showed The Story of Stuff, a documentary about the consumer/waste stream. If you missed it you can catch the full video on the website (though that requires a certain amount of stuff -- recent vintage computer, broadband connection, etc.) Alternatively, you can find it chopped up and posted on YouTube (again, stuff required.) Below is the first segment:
As acknowledged in the sardonic parentheticals above, moderating one's consumption of stuff is tricky business. Me, I love my stuff. That stuff I don't love I'd like to replace with better stuff. The Story of Stuff unblinkingly calls out us stuff lovers, especially we whose religious principles call on us to take care of the planet.
Here are a couple of ideas for those of you looking for further inspiration. Colin Beaven set out to reduce his family's environmental footprint to zero and became No Impact Man. The experiment is over, but you can read the experience and his continuing adventures on his blog. Dave Chameides is undertaking something similar this year -- a year of throwing nothing away to learn about his place in the waste stream. Closer to home, Akron-based Terra writes a blog on environmental news and tips.
Showing posts with label Issues. Show all posts
Showing posts with label Issues. Show all posts
Monday, January 21, 2008
Sunday, October 28, 2007
A Gentle, Advertising People
Our Association, if you haven't heard yet, is advertising. The UUA has launched a print ad campaign, the first example of which you see at right. I personally have a couple misgivings, which I'll get to in a moment.In addition to running a couple of print ads in Time Magazine, the Association is paying for what they call "advertorials." I can't tell exactly what all the advertorials include, but they definitely include sponsoring Time.com/ReligionPages, a collection of stories from the Magazine about matters of faith.
I tried in vain to find the religion section from the Time homepage, to no avail. To find the pages, it appears you have to know where to look. The page currently runs an online poll asking readers' beliefs. The choices are: that there is an all-powerful God, that a spirit pervades all experience or that science explains everything. Right n0w, with 233 responses "spirit pervades" has over half the votes. Clearly UUs are swamping the poll.
So I'm all for anything that raises the profile of Unitarian Universalism outside the church. I am concerned, however, that the campaign does little to address one tension within a church comprised of theists and non-theists. Sometimes it seems that the only UUs who don't think the church is too Christian are those who think it's not Christian enough. We lose members who are looking for a spiritual home and find the church insufficiently nourishing and we lose members looking a community of Humanists who find too much God talk.
This tension is the great challenge of the church, made more challenging because it is difficult for the church to be neutral about matters of faith. And pretty much impossible to be perceived as being neutral. Hence, my misgivings about the ad. Some, in and out of the church, surely perceive the ad as being anti-theist/pro-Humanist. As such, how welcome will UU Christians or other theistic UUs continue to feel in the church? How well with the ad attract people who believe in something divine, but are uncomfortable in mainline churches? Happily, the online part of the church doesn't show much of a backlash yet, but we need be sensitive how the ads are playing.
The tagline for the "advertorial" linked to on the UUA website is "Find us and ye shall seek." This better summarizes what we are about. The church's great strength is its ability to welcome diverse spiritual seekers. That's also it's greatest challenge. Our ad wizards should bear that in mind.
UPDATE/CORRECTION: I'm wrong about that last bit. The mock-up advertorial pdf on the UUA website shows that the tag is the old "Seek and you shall find." I saw "find and you shall seek" on a UU blog, but now can't find it again. Personally I like that version better -- witty and descriptive. It'd be great if that could wend its way to UUA and make it into the campaign at some point.
Tuesday, July 31, 2007
UU Christian Fellowship News
Bob Fabre is a member of the Unitarian Universalist Church of Akron and on the Board of the Unitarian Universalist Christian Fellowship. Used with Permission.
At the recent General Assembly of Unitarian Universalists (UU), the Unitarian Universalist Christian Fellowship (UUCF), and many other religious-oriented groups, was denied independent affiliate status. In a response to an inquiry as to the ramifications of this decision, Pacific Southwest District Board member Tom Laughrey said, among other things: "the UUA is an association of congregations and that affiliations must serve congregational needs" and "Independant Affiliattion status gave [these groups] nothing to begin with [and] there was nothing to take away". UUCF Board member Peg Bartel then wrote the following letter to the Unitarian Universalist Association of Congregations Board. While the sentiments expressed therein are her own, many UUCF members feel the same, yours included.- Bob Fabre
I am writing in regard to the recent decision to deny the Unitarian Universalist Christian Fellowship independent affiliate status with the UUA...While I am not surprised, I am disappointed. From a practical point of view it will have little obvious impact on the UUCF. We will continue our activities. Any financial impact will be offset by members such as myself, who now find themselves a member of two faith families instead of one and will adjust my pledge to my local congregation accordingly. But this is not a practical issue—it is a matter of the heart, of how a faith community defines itself and what it sees as central to its faith. In that regard, I have been a little dismayed to read some of the responses made by some trustees in response to inquiries—pointing out that affiliation with the UUA meant nothing in practical terms except perhaps slots at GA. Of course this perspective misses the issue entirely. It is not about benefits, it is about being part of a larger whole—of belonging.
I understand that the UUA wants to focus on congregations. But what is the religious life of a congregation, if not the religious life of its members and friends? The roots of Unitarian Universalism draw deeply from many religious traditions. To have groups lose their status because they are following a particular path is indeed disheartening. These groups, not just the UCCF, are comprised of people who are deeply involved in their faith tradition as expressed in and through Unitarian Universalism. They are the stimulus in their congregations for small study groups, religious education and other activities that feed the religious life of the congregation.
I will always be a Unitarian Universalist. It is my preferred faith. A faith that dares to be free of doctrine and creed and yet remain faithful to the life of the spirit is powerful indeed. But this recent decision by the UUA reminds me of the luke-warmness of much of the UUA. The fear to be religious. The focus on tolerating each other as a goal rather than the glorious celebration of our differences. The mush of commonality rather than the beauty of the mosaic. No—this decision by the UUA has no practical implication for the UUCF, but it reveals a great deal about how the leadership of the UUA views the religious life of the congregations and their members. That is what is truly disheartening.
At the recent General Assembly of Unitarian Universalists (UU), the Unitarian Universalist Christian Fellowship (UUCF), and many other religious-oriented groups, was denied independent affiliate status. In a response to an inquiry as to the ramifications of this decision, Pacific Southwest District Board member Tom Laughrey said, among other things: "the UUA is an association of congregations and that affiliations must serve congregational needs" and "Independant Affiliattion status gave [these groups] nothing to begin with [and] there was nothing to take away". UUCF Board member Peg Bartel then wrote the following letter to the Unitarian Universalist Association of Congregations Board. While the sentiments expressed therein are her own, many UUCF members feel the same, yours included.- Bob Fabre
I am writing in regard to the recent decision to deny the Unitarian Universalist Christian Fellowship independent affiliate status with the UUA...While I am not surprised, I am disappointed. From a practical point of view it will have little obvious impact on the UUCF. We will continue our activities. Any financial impact will be offset by members such as myself, who now find themselves a member of two faith families instead of one and will adjust my pledge to my local congregation accordingly. But this is not a practical issue—it is a matter of the heart, of how a faith community defines itself and what it sees as central to its faith. In that regard, I have been a little dismayed to read some of the responses made by some trustees in response to inquiries—pointing out that affiliation with the UUA meant nothing in practical terms except perhaps slots at GA. Of course this perspective misses the issue entirely. It is not about benefits, it is about being part of a larger whole—of belonging.
I understand that the UUA wants to focus on congregations. But what is the religious life of a congregation, if not the religious life of its members and friends? The roots of Unitarian Universalism draw deeply from many religious traditions. To have groups lose their status because they are following a particular path is indeed disheartening. These groups, not just the UCCF, are comprised of people who are deeply involved in their faith tradition as expressed in and through Unitarian Universalism. They are the stimulus in their congregations for small study groups, religious education and other activities that feed the religious life of the congregation.
I will always be a Unitarian Universalist. It is my preferred faith. A faith that dares to be free of doctrine and creed and yet remain faithful to the life of the spirit is powerful indeed. But this recent decision by the UUA reminds me of the luke-warmness of much of the UUA. The fear to be religious. The focus on tolerating each other as a goal rather than the glorious celebration of our differences. The mush of commonality rather than the beauty of the mosaic. No—this decision by the UUA has no practical implication for the UUCF, but it reveals a great deal about how the leadership of the UUA views the religious life of the congregations and their members. That is what is truly disheartening.
Monday, April 02, 2007
Evangelicals Unite Against Slavery
From Reuters:
A couple thoughts. First, understand that one reason evangelicals are is . . . abortion. Anti-choice conservative Christians see links between their work against abortion and the abolition movement against slavery. They also argue that the Roe v. Wade decision was flawed in the same way the Dred Scott decision was. I don't agree with the abortion/slavery link and their reading of Dred Scott is entirely off base (for reasons that would constitute an entire post by themselves.) Not to say that the link to abortion invalidates the campaign, but we should keep it in mind moving forward.
So what are UU's doing about international slavery? Browsing around I found a World article from '04 announcing the formation of a UUs Against Slavery organization. Unfortunately, the website looks pretty much dead.
- U.S. evangelical Christians are divided on global warming, the minimum wage and other issues, but they are united behind a new campaign to end modern slavery around the world.
A couple thoughts. First, understand that one reason evangelicals are is . . . abortion. Anti-choice conservative Christians see links between their work against abortion and the abolition movement against slavery. They also argue that the Roe v. Wade decision was flawed in the same way the Dred Scott decision was. I don't agree with the abortion/slavery link and their reading of Dred Scott is entirely off base (for reasons that would constitute an entire post by themselves.) Not to say that the link to abortion invalidates the campaign, but we should keep it in mind moving forward.
So what are UU's doing about international slavery? Browsing around I found a World article from '04 announcing the formation of a UUs Against Slavery organization. Unfortunately, the website looks pretty much dead.
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