Unitarian Universalists and Social Justice
UU's seek to define and promote social justice in the cultures in which we live.
Recently (last month?) I spoke about a choir tour
to Romania when I was in college.
I spoke about its having been an iron curtain country
well within the sphere of influence of the USSR.
I did not speak of one of my personally
most important memories
from the experience.
I knew very well that I was in a totalitarian state.
Nothing was more precious to me in those weeks
than my U.S. passport.
(especially refueling in Prague... Spring...)
The police carried military grade rifles,
probably Kalashnikovs.
Even as welcome American visitors,
we all watched our step,
and we were careful what we said,
and when and where we said it.
And yet, and yet, I could not suppress
an exhilirating feeling
that people were not going to bed hungry
in that place and time.
There were no homeless people on the sidewalks.
No one was deprived of medical care
just because they could not afford it.
(We were free to sing religious music in ancient
Orthodox churches,
whether the churches were active or not.)
In other words, despite the communist dictatorship,
that Soviet satellite country
did a better job of providing social justice
for its citizens than the United States ever has.
I'm not saying I would rather live there,
under such a totalitarian system of governance.
At the same time, I believe there is a false choice
being advocated in our time,
as though we had to choose between
civil liberty
and social justice.
It's a false choice because civil liberty
is a part of social justice.
(If you prefer, we could classify social justice
as a part of civil liberty,
but that is not the way I prefer to speak of it.)
By social justice I simply mean
that all citizens must have equal access to
the absolute necessities of life
in the modern world.
As the conservatives who are still speaking sensibly
remind us, we cannot predetermine outcomes.
In other words, no one can guarantee
that everyone will become wealthy.
Not everyone will be valedictorian, or even close,
in terms of academic achievement.
Yet it would be very possible in our time
to guarantee that no one goes hungry,
that no one will be deprived of needed care
medically or personally
and that no one will be excluded
from participation in society
except by circumstances
beyond anyone's control.
It is possible to meet everyone's need.
There is a limit to anyone's need.
It is not possible to meet anyone's greed.
There is no limit to greed.
Where we draw the line between need and greed
is subject to debate.
There will always be people
more talented than others
who can be encouraged to excel
for the benefit of all,
but those words, "for the benefit of all,"
have to be at the heart of the matter.
Social justice is impossible
without consideration of "the benefit of all."
Social justice requires political action,
but it is not a political issue.
It is a human issue,
and its importance cannot be subject to debate.
We can and must debate the means of achieving it,
but the goal of achieving it is essential
to any form of governance.
It is social justice that provides a foundation
for any kind of civil order.
Without social justice,
civil order quickly degenerates
into some form of oppression.
Contrary to some of the ideas floating around today,
social justice is not a concept of liberalism
versus conservatism.
It is not contrary to anyone's freedom.
Without social justice,
what do we have the freedom to do?
watch other people starve?
Quite the contrary,
the very term freedom is being redefined
by a few angry people,
even in the U.S. Congress
as an Orwellian expression
of some kind of right wing extremism.
In reality,
conservatives have traditionally worked
for social justice
as much as liberals.
No less of a conservative icon than Richard Nixon
in the early 1970's
proposed a three part program
to enable social justice in the U.S.
1. Wage and price controls
2. National health care system
3. Minimum income of $6000/year for a family of 4
The program was defeated by a coalition
of the far right wing who said it was too much
and the far left wing who said it was too little.
Does that sound familiar?
In the polarized debates of today,
it isn't likely to be quite so familiar,
but in times past,
many good ideas, especially around social justice,
were defeated by just such a coalition
of far left and far right.
Most importantly for our purposes today,
social justice is a spiritual issue.
At the most basic level, spirituality is breathing.
Social justice applies to breathing
as a consideration that any civil society
will seek to enable breathing
for all its citizens.
Unlike the CEO of Nestle corporation,
who recently said that access to water
is not a human right,
we who advocate social justice would call it so,
both air to breathe and water to drink,
because they are necessary to human life.
Remember the three self-evident truths
of the Declaration of Independence:
Life, Liberty and the Pursuit of happiness.
As UU's we share the belief of Christians and Jews
regarding the Second Great Commandment:
You shall love your neighbor as yourself.
If we truly seek to live by that commandment,
social justice will also be one of our goals.
We will want our neighbor to have access
to the good things of life,
access equal to our own.
As UU's we also have seven principles
all of which are necessary to social justice,
and our seven principles are likewise
necessary to social justice in society.
(which read)
***************************************
1st Principle: The inherent worth and dignity of every person;
2nd Principle: Justice, equity and compassion in human relations;
3rd Principle: Acceptance of one another and encouragement to spiritual growth in our congregations;
4th Principle: A free and responsible search for truth and meaning;
5th Principle: The right of conscience and the use of the democratic process within our congregations and in society at large;
6th Principle: The goal of world community with peace, liberty, and justice for all;
7th Principle: Respect for the interdependent web of all existence of which we are a part.
Fred's Single Word Seven Principles:
1. Worth
2. Compassion
3. Acceptance
4. Search
5. Democracy
6. Community
7. Web
*******************************************
Now I want to change gears completely.
I want to think together
about where we will go next
in our exploration
of religious faith of all kinds.
As UU's we not only have Seven Principles,
we also have Six sources of our faith.
(which read)
*******************************************
1. Direct experience of that transcending mystery and wonder, affirmed in all cultures,
which moves us to a renewal of the spirit and an openness to the forces which create and uphold life;
2. Words and deeds of prophetic women and men which challenge us to confront powers and structures of evil with justice, compassion,
and the transforming power of love;
3. Wisdom from the world's religions which inspires us in our ethical and spiritual life;
4. Jewish and Christian teachings which call us to respond to God's love by loving our neighbors as ourselves;
5. Humanist teachings which counsel us to heed the guidance of reason and the results of science,
and warn us against idolatries of the mind and spirit;
6. Spiritual teachings of Earth-centered traditions which celebrate the sacred circle of life
and instruct us to live in harmony with the rhythms of nature.
*******************************************
I want to use those as a way of entering into
and thinking about all kinds of spirituality
and the ways those spiritualities can enrich our own.
I'm thinking that the 6th Source may be the best
to continue with: Earth-centered traditions.
Amen
Blessed be
UU's seek to define and promote social justice in the cultures in which we live.
Recently (last month?) I spoke about a choir tour
to Romania when I was in college.
I spoke about its having been an iron curtain country
well within the sphere of influence of the USSR.
I did not speak of one of my personally
most important memories
from the experience.
I knew very well that I was in a totalitarian state.
Nothing was more precious to me in those weeks
than my U.S. passport.
(especially refueling in Prague... Spring...)
The police carried military grade rifles,
probably Kalashnikovs.
Even as welcome American visitors,
we all watched our step,
and we were careful what we said,
and when and where we said it.
And yet, and yet, I could not suppress
an exhilirating feeling
that people were not going to bed hungry
in that place and time.
There were no homeless people on the sidewalks.
No one was deprived of medical care
just because they could not afford it.
(We were free to sing religious music in ancient
Orthodox churches,
whether the churches were active or not.)
In other words, despite the communist dictatorship,
that Soviet satellite country
did a better job of providing social justice
for its citizens than the United States ever has.
I'm not saying I would rather live there,
under such a totalitarian system of governance.
At the same time, I believe there is a false choice
being advocated in our time,
as though we had to choose between
civil liberty
and social justice.
It's a false choice because civil liberty
is a part of social justice.
(If you prefer, we could classify social justice
as a part of civil liberty,
but that is not the way I prefer to speak of it.)
By social justice I simply mean
that all citizens must have equal access to
the absolute necessities of life
in the modern world.
As the conservatives who are still speaking sensibly
remind us, we cannot predetermine outcomes.
In other words, no one can guarantee
that everyone will become wealthy.
Not everyone will be valedictorian, or even close,
in terms of academic achievement.
Yet it would be very possible in our time
to guarantee that no one goes hungry,
that no one will be deprived of needed care
medically or personally
and that no one will be excluded
from participation in society
except by circumstances
beyond anyone's control.
It is possible to meet everyone's need.
There is a limit to anyone's need.
It is not possible to meet anyone's greed.
There is no limit to greed.
Where we draw the line between need and greed
is subject to debate.
There will always be people
more talented than others
who can be encouraged to excel
for the benefit of all,
but those words, "for the benefit of all,"
have to be at the heart of the matter.
Social justice is impossible
without consideration of "the benefit of all."
Social justice requires political action,
but it is not a political issue.
It is a human issue,
and its importance cannot be subject to debate.
We can and must debate the means of achieving it,
but the goal of achieving it is essential
to any form of governance.
It is social justice that provides a foundation
for any kind of civil order.
Without social justice,
civil order quickly degenerates
into some form of oppression.
Contrary to some of the ideas floating around today,
social justice is not a concept of liberalism
versus conservatism.
It is not contrary to anyone's freedom.
Without social justice,
what do we have the freedom to do?
watch other people starve?
Quite the contrary,
the very term freedom is being redefined
by a few angry people,
even in the U.S. Congress
as an Orwellian expression
of some kind of right wing extremism.
In reality,
conservatives have traditionally worked
for social justice
as much as liberals.
No less of a conservative icon than Richard Nixon
in the early 1970's
proposed a three part program
to enable social justice in the U.S.
1. Wage and price controls
2. National health care system
3. Minimum income of $6000/year for a family of 4
The program was defeated by a coalition
of the far right wing who said it was too much
and the far left wing who said it was too little.
Does that sound familiar?
In the polarized debates of today,
it isn't likely to be quite so familiar,
but in times past,
many good ideas, especially around social justice,
were defeated by just such a coalition
of far left and far right.
Most importantly for our purposes today,
social justice is a spiritual issue.
At the most basic level, spirituality is breathing.
Social justice applies to breathing
as a consideration that any civil society
will seek to enable breathing
for all its citizens.
Unlike the CEO of Nestle corporation,
who recently said that access to water
is not a human right,
we who advocate social justice would call it so,
both air to breathe and water to drink,
because they are necessary to human life.
Remember the three self-evident truths
of the Declaration of Independence:
Life, Liberty and the Pursuit of happiness.
As UU's we share the belief of Christians and Jews
regarding the Second Great Commandment:
You shall love your neighbor as yourself.
If we truly seek to live by that commandment,
social justice will also be one of our goals.
We will want our neighbor to have access
to the good things of life,
access equal to our own.
As UU's we also have seven principles
all of which are necessary to social justice,
and our seven principles are likewise
necessary to social justice in society.
(which read)
***************************************
1st Principle: The inherent worth and dignity of every person;
2nd Principle: Justice, equity and compassion in human relations;
3rd Principle: Acceptance of one another and encouragement to spiritual growth in our congregations;
4th Principle: A free and responsible search for truth and meaning;
5th Principle: The right of conscience and the use of the democratic process within our congregations and in society at large;
6th Principle: The goal of world community with peace, liberty, and justice for all;
7th Principle: Respect for the interdependent web of all existence of which we are a part.
Fred's Single Word Seven Principles:
1. Worth
2. Compassion
3. Acceptance
4. Search
5. Democracy
6. Community
7. Web
*******************************************
Now I want to change gears completely.
I want to think together
about where we will go next
in our exploration
of religious faith of all kinds.
As UU's we not only have Seven Principles,
we also have Six sources of our faith.
(which read)
*******************************************
1. Direct experience of that transcending mystery and wonder, affirmed in all cultures,
which moves us to a renewal of the spirit and an openness to the forces which create and uphold life;
2. Words and deeds of prophetic women and men which challenge us to confront powers and structures of evil with justice, compassion,
and the transforming power of love;
3. Wisdom from the world's religions which inspires us in our ethical and spiritual life;
4. Jewish and Christian teachings which call us to respond to God's love by loving our neighbors as ourselves;
5. Humanist teachings which counsel us to heed the guidance of reason and the results of science,
and warn us against idolatries of the mind and spirit;
6. Spiritual teachings of Earth-centered traditions which celebrate the sacred circle of life
and instruct us to live in harmony with the rhythms of nature.
*******************************************
I want to use those as a way of entering into
and thinking about all kinds of spirituality
and the ways those spiritualities can enrich our own.
I'm thinking that the 6th Source may be the best
to continue with: Earth-centered traditions.
Amen
Blessed be
posted by pastorfred at 8:31 PM
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