Archive for the ‘presidents-message’ Category

During the recent Executive Committee Retreat (followed by a great church picnic) there were discussions and brainstorming among the Officers and Committee Chairs regarding concerns and opportunities for the coming year. The discussions led me to three separate but intertwined trains of thought which I understand best as Faith, Politics and Common Respect. It seems almost prophetic that the current “Muslim Community Center and Mosque at Ground Zero” conflict has further illuminated and crystallized my thinking regarding the three.
FAITH
Faith is often used in a religious context, as in theology, where it almost universally refers to a trusting belief in a transcendent reality, or else in a Supreme Being and/or this being’s role in the order of transcendent, spiritual things. Unitarian Universalist faith is based in the 7 principles of our covenant (commitment) rather than a Supreme Being. Our individual and collective search for truth is unencumbered by proclaimed dogma leaving us free to embrace those principles of other doctrines and theology that resonate within our spirits and makes common sense to us. The principles are based on common humanitarian principles, social justice and equality and common decency.  Faith is the confident belief or trust in the truth or trustworthiness of a person, idea, or thing. Faith is in general the persuasion of the mind that a certain statement is true. UU faith is in part the belief and the assent of the mind to the truth of what is declared, based on our covenant, its moral authority and truthfulness. The Mosque at Ground Zero is argued as a conflict between constitutional first amendment rights and the separation of church and state. It has become a political attack between Democrats and Republicans, Progressives and Conservatives. I am an ardent political being and the attack against the creation of the Muslim mosque on religious grounds is to my mind an egregious violation of constitutional rights, but it is also a profound violation of most of the principles of my UU covenant. I find that I am compelled to give voice to my faith and my political indignation. We sometimes have to find an appropriate way to do each if we honor the wall of separation which protects both institutions.
POLITICS
The separation of church and state is a legal and political principle derived from various documents of several of the Founders of the United States. The First Amendment to the United States Constitution reads “Congress shall make no law respecting an establishment of religion, or prohibiting the free exercise thereof . . .” In an 1802 letter by Thomas Jefferson to the Danbury Baptists,  Jefferson spoke of the combined effect of the Establishment Clause and the Free Exercise Clause of the First Amendment. His purpose in this letter was to assuage the fears of the Danbury, Connecticut Baptists, and so he told them that this wall had been erected to protect them. To my mind the attempt to prohibit the development of a Muslim mosque at “Ground Zero” is a clear violation of the “Establishment Clause” Some of the Executive Committee Retreat discussion revolved around concern regarding the 501c3 IRS rules which derive from the above wall of separation. We as a congregation must continue to struggle with the inherent political principles of the First Amendment. That is to guard against church based or sponsored activities that put us at risk of violating 501c3 rules while ensuring congregants the free exercise of defending their beliefs based on our covenant are preserved.
COMMON RESPECT
The most compelling argument for forcing the removal of the planned community center and mosque is that it is insensitive to the families of the victims of the 9/11 attack by Al Qaeda. Compassion is a hard point to argue against (even as a pretext). Passion for the feelings of others is a compelling humanistic principle. I don’t know many people more compassionate than Unitarian Universalists and we often have the challenge of accommodating competing compassions in our Sunday services and committee discussions. Some parts of the “order of services” such as Announcements and Joys and Concerns are the foundation for our practices of “caring and sharing”. But, as a practical matter we have a limited amount of time to divide between transformational messaging and caring and sharing messaging. We rely on common respect to allow as many people as possible to share joys, concerns and important events going on that are of interest to all our congregants. Fortunately we have additional ways to support these desirable parts of our coming together. The social hour following the service is one opportunity to share additional time. We also – thanks to Bob Shepherd, our Webmaster – have a first class website that extends opportunities for sharing news, announcements and calendars. I hope people will consider using these other occasions to share and communicate. The Executive Committee is weighing other ways to fairly and equitably moderate the limited amount of time for caring and sharing exchanges, but common respect for each other will go a long ways and three of our 7 covenant principles address this thought:
Acceptance of one another and encouragement to spiritual growth in our congregations;
A free and responsible search for truth and meaning;
The right of conscience and the use of the democratic process within our congregations [and in society at large]

Respectfully Submitted,
Gerry Robinson