Unitarian Universalists and Democracy
5th UU Principle: The right of conscience and the use of the democratic process within our congregations and in society at large. This principle especially bears emphasis in our time.
Well, it's happened again.
I thought I had my sermon all lined up,
prepared at least in my own mind.
Then events overtook me.
The last time it happened as clearly as this
was November 2016 - and it was
even clearer to me then.
My planned sermon title was
"Thankful for New Beginnings."
I stuck with that title,
but what I actually had to say
turned out to be very different
from what I thought
I was going to say.
When I planned for the theme and title
of Democracy for today,
I already knew that democracy
was at risk and in danger
all over the world,
but, like most of us,
I had not realized the full extent
of the danger and risk
all of us are facing
if we are committed
to democracy and civil liberty.
One of the great leaders of the 20th Century said
that a democratic system of government
is the worst kind ever devised...
except for all the others.
(That was Sir Winston Churchill.)
The word democracy is Greek, appropriately enough
since many of the principles
of democratic government
were developed in ancient Greece.
It literally means rule by the people.
The concept is a good one,
but it is impossible in practice.
Democratic elections to make every decision
would completely disable the functioning
of any kind of governance.
Likewise, democratic governments
can easily be led astray
by demagogues.
That's another Greek word, and it just means,
"one who leads the people."
That doesn't seem too bad until we stop
to consider how easily
the people can be led astray
and into harm.
Another way pure democracy doesn't work
is the danger to civil liberty.
Even without a demagogue,
tyranny by a majority is not unusual
in the history of human cultures.
If a person doesn't share the same tastes
as the majority of a purely democratic horde,
he or she might be ostracized
and even penalized
sometimes in life threatening ways.
So we elect representatives who are
supposed to carry out the will of the people.
I say supposedly
because representatives are people, too,
believe it or not!
They have a tendency
to look out for their own interests first,
considering the needs and wishes
of the people they represent
only after their own needs and wishes
are met.
Sometimes those needs and wishes converge,
and sometimes they do not.
Democratic societies function best
when they are carefully planned
to balance the very different needs
of different people
in different situations of life.
Laws are enacted to protect minorities
and to protect vulnerable people
and sometimes everyone
from wealthy and powerful people.
A true representative democracy
is governed by laws and not by individual leaders
- no matter how popular or competent
the leaders may be.
We hear it said that no one is above the law.
Obviously, that is more or less true,
and sometimes it is more true
than at other times.
There is always push and pull
between leaders and the law,
most of all when there are demagogues involved.
For us in our time and place, some of the saddest
and at the same time most hopeful words
I have read are the following:
"We must learn to see representative democracy not as something that was enacted with the Declaration of Independence or the Constitution, but a hope to which we have often aspired and seldom reached."
(from an article in Slate magazine by Jonathan Foiles, a therapist and Fellow at the Chicago Center for Psychoanalysis)
Democracy as we have known it is in trouble
not only in the U.S. but in many other places, too.
Mexico has just elected a populist,
AMLO, as he is known by his initials,
(André Manuel López Obrador)
but he is on the Left,
unlike the populists on the Right
here in the U.S. and many other places,
like Turkey, Hungary and Poland.
Germany has an ascendant far-right party,
know as the AfD, initials in German
for Alternative for Germany.
The whole process of Brexit in the U.K.
is the result of demagoguery, (Nigel Farage)
and the end result may be
a Kingdom that is no longer United.
Populists are not always demagogues,
but they are very similar.
So what do we do
in the face of so much trouble
for democracy
all over the world?
First of all, we can take stock.
Yes, there are problems everywhere.
Yet democracy is still on the rise in many places.
Spain has not returned to its fascist past,
electing instead left-of-center Pedro Sánchez.
We can take heart
regarding much of Africa,
parts of Europe
parts of Asia
and many places
where dictators and authoritarians
are being replaced
with new republics
and new civil liberties.
Romania is an example that comes to mind.
My own experience is admittedly anecdotal,
but it provides an example of hope nonetheless.
When I was in college, our choir had a 3 week tour
in the Socialist Republic of Romania.
We actually had an audience
with that country's dictator, Nicolae Ceausescu.
It was a true Soviet bloc, Iron Curtain country.
The dictator was eventually overthrown,
and Romania became a nascent democracy.
There have been some fits and starts
as there always are.
In the last week or so,
I've been hearing from a dear friend,
Marlene Walker, a UU minister.
Last Sunday she preached from the classical pulpit
of one of the oldest Unitarian churches
in the world, in the Romanian province
of Transylvania.
To her surprise,
the minister took off his preaching robe
and put it on her
as she entered the pulpit.
She said that it was one of the great experiences
of her life.
So we have a connection to a church
across the world
where democracy and liberty
have had struggles we can barely imagine.
Yet they have come through.
Although today the United States is at best
a flawed democracy,
with work and good faith
we will not become
a failed democracy.
We as UU's are nearly unique among churches.
Democracy is one of our articles of faith.
Well, one of our Seven Principles:
The right of conscience and the use of the democratic process within our congregations and in society at large.
In planning ahead,
I can think of nothing more important for us all
than GOTV campaigns.
I'm one of those people who believe
that the more people who vote
the better it will be for all of us.
So please encourage everyone to vote
especially in the election this November.
It's one of those times.
If we do not vote,
if the turnout is as abysmal as most midterms,
this time, our democracy truly could fall and fail.
Yet just as truly, there is hope.
I want to read again the words of Jonathan Foiles:
"We must learn to see representative democracy not as something that was enacted with the Declaration of Independence or the Constitution, but a hope to which we have often aspired and seldom reached."
I take courage from these words
because they are a reminder
that ours is not the first or only time
that democracy has struggled.
We have been through it before
and come out on the other side.
It will happen again.
I believe that government of the people
by the people and for the people
will prevail.
Take courage.
It's not too late.
Please begin planning now
to vote and to help get others to the polls
in any way you can.
This time, maybe more than ever,
we really could save our country
and our world
in the process.
Amen.
Blessed be.
5th UU Principle: The right of conscience and the use of the democratic process within our congregations and in society at large. This principle especially bears emphasis in our time.
Well, it's happened again.
I thought I had my sermon all lined up,
prepared at least in my own mind.
Then events overtook me.
The last time it happened as clearly as this
was November 2016 - and it was
even clearer to me then.
My planned sermon title was
"Thankful for New Beginnings."
I stuck with that title,
but what I actually had to say
turned out to be very different
from what I thought
I was going to say.
When I planned for the theme and title
of Democracy for today,
I already knew that democracy
was at risk and in danger
all over the world,
but, like most of us,
I had not realized the full extent
of the danger and risk
all of us are facing
if we are committed
to democracy and civil liberty.
One of the great leaders of the 20th Century said
that a democratic system of government
is the worst kind ever devised...
except for all the others.
(That was Sir Winston Churchill.)
The word democracy is Greek, appropriately enough
since many of the principles
of democratic government
were developed in ancient Greece.
It literally means rule by the people.
The concept is a good one,
but it is impossible in practice.
Democratic elections to make every decision
would completely disable the functioning
of any kind of governance.
Likewise, democratic governments
can easily be led astray
by demagogues.
That's another Greek word, and it just means,
"one who leads the people."
That doesn't seem too bad until we stop
to consider how easily
the people can be led astray
and into harm.
Another way pure democracy doesn't work
is the danger to civil liberty.
Even without a demagogue,
tyranny by a majority is not unusual
in the history of human cultures.
If a person doesn't share the same tastes
as the majority of a purely democratic horde,
he or she might be ostracized
and even penalized
sometimes in life threatening ways.
So we elect representatives who are
supposed to carry out the will of the people.
I say supposedly
because representatives are people, too,
believe it or not!
They have a tendency
to look out for their own interests first,
considering the needs and wishes
of the people they represent
only after their own needs and wishes
are met.
Sometimes those needs and wishes converge,
and sometimes they do not.
Democratic societies function best
when they are carefully planned
to balance the very different needs
of different people
in different situations of life.
Laws are enacted to protect minorities
and to protect vulnerable people
and sometimes everyone
from wealthy and powerful people.
A true representative democracy
is governed by laws and not by individual leaders
- no matter how popular or competent
the leaders may be.
We hear it said that no one is above the law.
Obviously, that is more or less true,
and sometimes it is more true
than at other times.
There is always push and pull
between leaders and the law,
most of all when there are demagogues involved.
For us in our time and place, some of the saddest
and at the same time most hopeful words
I have read are the following:
"We must learn to see representative democracy not as something that was enacted with the Declaration of Independence or the Constitution, but a hope to which we have often aspired and seldom reached."
(from an article in Slate magazine by Jonathan Foiles, a therapist and Fellow at the Chicago Center for Psychoanalysis)
Democracy as we have known it is in trouble
not only in the U.S. but in many other places, too.
Mexico has just elected a populist,
AMLO, as he is known by his initials,
(André Manuel López Obrador)
but he is on the Left,
unlike the populists on the Right
here in the U.S. and many other places,
like Turkey, Hungary and Poland.
Germany has an ascendant far-right party,
know as the AfD, initials in German
for Alternative for Germany.
The whole process of Brexit in the U.K.
is the result of demagoguery, (Nigel Farage)
and the end result may be
a Kingdom that is no longer United.
Populists are not always demagogues,
but they are very similar.
So what do we do
in the face of so much trouble
for democracy
all over the world?
First of all, we can take stock.
Yes, there are problems everywhere.
Yet democracy is still on the rise in many places.
Spain has not returned to its fascist past,
electing instead left-of-center Pedro Sánchez.
We can take heart
regarding much of Africa,
parts of Europe
parts of Asia
and many places
where dictators and authoritarians
are being replaced
with new republics
and new civil liberties.
Romania is an example that comes to mind.
My own experience is admittedly anecdotal,
but it provides an example of hope nonetheless.
When I was in college, our choir had a 3 week tour
in the Socialist Republic of Romania.
We actually had an audience
with that country's dictator, Nicolae Ceausescu.
It was a true Soviet bloc, Iron Curtain country.
The dictator was eventually overthrown,
and Romania became a nascent democracy.
There have been some fits and starts
as there always are.
In the last week or so,
I've been hearing from a dear friend,
Marlene Walker, a UU minister.
Last Sunday she preached from the classical pulpit
of one of the oldest Unitarian churches
in the world, in the Romanian province
of Transylvania.
To her surprise,
the minister took off his preaching robe
and put it on her
as she entered the pulpit.
She said that it was one of the great experiences
of her life.
So we have a connection to a church
across the world
where democracy and liberty
have had struggles we can barely imagine.
Yet they have come through.
Although today the United States is at best
a flawed democracy,
with work and good faith
we will not become
a failed democracy.
We as UU's are nearly unique among churches.
Democracy is one of our articles of faith.
Well, one of our Seven Principles:
The right of conscience and the use of the democratic process within our congregations and in society at large.
In planning ahead,
I can think of nothing more important for us all
than GOTV campaigns.
I'm one of those people who believe
that the more people who vote
the better it will be for all of us.
So please encourage everyone to vote
especially in the election this November.
It's one of those times.
If we do not vote,
if the turnout is as abysmal as most midterms,
this time, our democracy truly could fall and fail.
Yet just as truly, there is hope.
I want to read again the words of Jonathan Foiles:
"We must learn to see representative democracy not as something that was enacted with the Declaration of Independence or the Constitution, but a hope to which we have often aspired and seldom reached."
I take courage from these words
because they are a reminder
that ours is not the first or only time
that democracy has struggled.
We have been through it before
and come out on the other side.
It will happen again.
I believe that government of the people
by the people and for the people
will prevail.
Take courage.
It's not too late.
Please begin planning now
to vote and to help get others to the polls
in any way you can.
This time, maybe more than ever,
we really could save our country
and our world
in the process.
Amen.
Blessed be.
posted by pastorfred at 10:34 AM
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