When I was in elementary school, every morning at the beginning of classes we, in a part of the U.S. where the student body appeared to be drawn from the United Nations, would stand at attention and, with hand over heart recite the pledge of allegiance: "I pledge allegiance to the flag of the United States of America, and to the republic…
When I was in elementary school, every morning at the beginning of classes we, in a part of the U.S. where the student body appeared to be drawn from the United Nations, would stand at attention and, with hand over heart recite the pledge of allegiance: "I pledge allegiance to the flag of the United States of America, and to the republic for which it stands, one nation under God, indivisible, with liberty and justice for all." In none of this pledge do I see a reference to "Anglo-Saxon" nor do I remember many in my classes who would fit this description, including the Japanese American students whose fathers fought with the 442 Regiment across Europe, while their grandparents and mothers were held in interment camps, the black descendents of slaves, and the Hispanic students whose ancestors were here long before there was a USA. Yet, we were all loyal and good citizens. As a child, I thought that this was America. Now many among us tell us it was not and is not. Whatever happened to "e pluribus unum" and "with liberty and justice for all"?
Thanks, Lynell. I knew "Give me your tired, your poor, your huddled masses" is inscribed on the Statue of Liberty but I had never heard of Emma Lazarus or read the complete poem. It's charming! I'm sorry the poet died so young.
At the beginning of the T**** term, I remember some discussion from the right wing about removing this from the statue of Lady Liberty as those who don't like "the huddled masses yearning to breathe free" wanted to keep the little bit of remaining air of freedom for (white) Americans (the already here) only. Fortunately, that movement died.
I should think a majority of the people in this country did aspire to this vision, or else we wouldn't be where we are today. You can say what you want about our many failings, but overall we ALL descended from these immigrants at some point, except the indigenous. That's what gets me: these "American Firsters" don't want to accept that only in the very beginning of our colonies were we an "anglo saxon" nation. I think every one of them should take a 23andMe DNA test and show us their results. Racial purity may have been possible a hundred+ years ago, but not today and I think that's a good thing. Travel, education, commerce, etc all have broken our borders. I know that scares the crap out of them, but they are behind the eight ball of worldwide progress.
I think a very few on this planet would discover any "purity" in their results. Migration has been a feature of humanoid life on this planet since we crawled out of the ocean, climbed down out of the trees, or left Eden (depending on your ideas about our origins). Sonia Shah's The Next Great Migration is very enlightening on the still ongoing circumnavigations humans have made around this globe. We are currently being encouraged to see migration as a purely contemporary problem. Shah offers a different view.
I confess that I always remain silent on the "one nation, under God" part. I've never understood religion, although I long for the community it creates. The more I "seek" the more I say "no thank you." This language was added June 14, 1954.
The software is acting up...It's an aspiration. As for flags, they meant something in the past, as far back as the Romans. One would rally around the flag. I hate throwing the baby out with the bathwater, re our country.
Agree! When the ex-president began using the red, white, and blue to communicate his evil, lies, narcissism, etc., the colors turned sour to me. I hope to let that go, and get back to admiring it again.
I just don't think it's ever been an admirable symbol, at least not for me. It represents a history of genocide, slavery, racism, misogyny, and religious intolerance. Objectively, I also find it rather ugly. Just as with the anthem, I think we could do much better.
I hate that the interpretation of our original "men are created equal" includes that "they didn't mean all men." What the hell were they thinking, and why didn't it show up elsewhere?
It's not an interpretation, it's a fact. Only white men of substance were given the vote, in a revolution that was about no taxation without representation. What was unique about the "American experiment" was the opportunity to (white men of the correct religion) to make their own choices in life. Our history has been a gradual expansion of who gets to vote, who gets to count.
"Under God" was added to the US Loyalty Oath in 1954, after almost 100 years of a separation of church and state that meant that such oaths did not include god language. I have not recited the pledge since I gave up oathtaking in 1968--I was kicked out of Girl Scouts because I wouldn't "love God and my Country".
It has also always struck me as very strange that we were pledging allegiance to a flag, of all things. I know it gets right into "and the republic for which it stands," but the U.S. flag strikes me as a blood-soaked symbol of white supremacy and Indigenous genocide (everyone of those stars representing displaced and murdered people). There are more potent, meaningful symbols than that rag.
I've eliminated the pledge Ally, but I refused to say those words since about the same time--and I am a year older than you. Power to the Crones!! (I consider crone a compliment)
You were precocious, and I'm impressed. I probably would have eliminated the "under god" in 4th or 5th grade, had my parents not started sending me to private schools were there was no reciting of pledge.
As an active member of our local Unitarian congregation of committed social justice advocates, I agree. Although I also state, I seek to recruit or convert no one but only invite you to explore a local congregation if you have similar feelings. I have always believed that no one should rob another individual of the magic of self-discovery by recruitment or attempted "conversions."
The way in which Christi has extended an open invitation is consistent with this view and leaves the opportunity for that magic of self-discovery. We have members of our own Unitarian conversation that have come from a rainbow of religious traditions broader than most can even imagine. The most wonderful thing about that is that there is room for all of those in a Unitarian congregation without the need to surrender anyone's own views in order to conform with the views of others.
Very well stated, Bruce! I view my time with the congregation as a safe and peaceful place to interact with all kinds of faiths and intelligent, caring people. Our focus on social justice has help me grow and bloom as a person. I never push any spiritual thoughts or actions on others. That pushing is what irritates me most about other religious practices. Thanks, Bruce.
I have wondered about that, too. I am not at all religious but have been grieving my lack of community. We have a very vibrant UU church fairly nearby. Once Covid allows, I might check it out.
Here is a brief description of our own local UU Earth Day Celebration planned for this coming Thursday, Earth Day. It may provide a window into typical UU celebratory thinking and our nature of the shared community with each other and the interdependent web of all existence to which we all belong.
You will likely find similar Earth Day celebrations with most UU congregations. We always welcome others in our community any time we gather. No membership is required.
Our UU Earth Day Planting and Celebration
Everything takes place OUTDOORS. At 10 am we gather in a safely-distanced ceremony circle for a few words about Mother Earth and a blessing of the plants to be planted. Please let us know if you’re coming so the correct number of plants can be available for planting, but if you fail to RSVP please come anyway! We will be following CDC standards, working in pods of family or friends, wearing masks, 6ft distancing, no shared water or snacks (bring your own), we can’t go inside our building…in order to fully observe CDC guidelines. Children are welcome, but they must remain in their family pods.
If you have a shovel, trowel, loppers/clippers, or a rake, please bring them. You may also want to bring gloves, a hat, and sunscreen. Dress scrubby for gardening and be sure to bring water to drink. (Remember, the building will be locked and we won't be going inside for any reason.)
We’ll have a plant exchange table, so bring bulbs, cuttings, leftover seeds from your own garden and take plants from others’ gardens home to your own. And another big payoff in addition to beautifying our grounds will be to see many friends again for REAL, after a whole year of being separated by the distance of Zoom! WOW!
Absolutely. We live in a ranch subdivision in the Texas Hill Country and have wildflower meadows surrounding our home and several gardens surrounding my wife's art studio behind our home. Despite the Texas freeze this winter, the wildflowers and particularly the bluebonnets are quite prolific.
Sounds wonderful, Bruce. Our congregation maintains a very large prairie on our land. I want to see fruit trees planted in the future to help sustain food pantries.
Despite my lack of religion, and my family of origin's lack of religion, I was in a Mormon boy scout troop as a kid, because my older brother's best friend was a Mormon. They treated us well, didn't prosthelytize, and I've always been nostalgic for the sense of community they have. Had I had an ounce of faith I might have converted.
Fun fact: my scoutmaster's wife, Laurel Thatcher Ulrich, is the person who came up with "Well behaved women rarely make history". She is an expert on women in early America, and a University Prof at Harvard, and it was the title to an essay. Some entrepreneurial Oregonian made a deal with her about putting it on bumper stickers and the like, she was bemused by its success, and later used it as the title of a book.
<gack> Nope. No ward where I grew up until I was ten. My extended family chose the place specifically because there was no Mormon community. When some new Mormons came in and set one up, they assumed I would be baptized. I declined.
I'd been raised around some delightfully apostate great aunts and uncles. I learned a lot of neat stuff from them about the church that affirmed my decision. My aunt thought I'd get excited and change my mind, so I was bundled into the car. Won't go into details, but when they came to get me, I resisted, they insisted, and I hollered to holy hell. Caused quite a stir. My dad came and got me, and that was that.
Happily apostate, age 11.
My aunt became an uber-Mormon and dragged her kids along with her. Everybody else left.
BTW: the only time I am called Sister is when I am at the Buddhist dharma center I go to on retreat, where I am known as Sister Annie (or Sister Compassion). It's part of my Buddhist/Quaker identity. Oh, wait, there is occasionally another setting; when I get back to visit my old neighborhood, still mixed. I get to sing old gospel songs, which I learned from my mom. Life is so interesting.
Isn't it just! I was a good Mormon boy until I was 15, then I became precisely the opposite. My brothers both went on missions, but I didn't. My extended family is mostly LDS, but many have drifted away. All three of my siblings have left the church and my younger brother is married to an Episcopal priest!
I goofed- technically I am not an apostate because I was never baptized. And I made sure that nobody can baptize posthumously. They can't excommunicate me either, never having been baptized. So I am worse than an apostate! Oh, delicious. (In the beginning I just wanted to make sure I didn't end up in the same "heaven" as my aunt.) They still count 2 of my brothers as members, though, because they were baptized, though they never thought of themselves as mormons. They died some years ago, and I hope they didn't have to go to our aunt's heaven.
One thing I like about both the Quakers and the my Buddhist branch is that neither have dogma. Faith not a requirement: it's all about how one lives and the kind of person one strives to be, and being part of the community.
I didn't feel the community in my Quaker elementary school the way I did in the Mormon Church. I'm just giving you the reaction of my much younger self. I did learn well in that Quaker school. I'm NOT quibbling with your comments about dogma in the least. Both Buddhism and the Quaker faith have a lot to give.
Yes, COVID has shut us down building-wise. But, all UCC congregations have worked hard to stay involved with members through Zoom and regular "drive throughs" at the building. We are aiming for the beginning of September for our in-person goal.
My father, a good-humored - if occasional - Unitarian and firm believer in science, never expressed his religious beliefs out loud, at least that I can remember, but I do recall that on one of my first days at public school in Pittsburgh PA he told me I did not have to say the "under God" part of the pledge just because the other kids were saying it. He didn't say "Don't say it!", just that I was free to decide for myself. I do not remember if I said it or not, but now when I hear the pledge I am intensely aware of those words, much more than of the others, apart from "freedom and justice for all" which still makes my heart flutter a bit.
Of course there were other times later on when I decided for myself what to do and pissed my father off no end. A week from today would be his 101st birthday, and I am sure he would be disappointed at our nation's lack of progress since his death in 1980.
My Dad was a stauch conservative who loathed Trump. Had he lived long enough, he intended to vote for Hillary, which burned him up a bit, but he was never one to sit out a fight.
My mother's younger brother Richard was a professional Republican (ran local campaigns) until he achieved his life's ambition of becoming a judge. Although he admired John McCain greatly, Uncle Dick voted for Barack Obama rather than see Sarah Palin one heartbeat away from the Presidency. If he had lived long enough, he would have been with your Dad, holding his nose while he voted for Hillary. He would have been 91 in February.
My father was born 100 years ago today (not 97 as I mistakenly wrote a few days ago). He would have been dismayed at the condition of this country, how far it sunk in last six years. He also would be cheering on everyone doing something about it.
I'm old enough to remember when that was put in (second grade or so), and I didn't like it then. But then I'm the kid who kicked the Sunday School teacher in the shins the first time I was sent, and called her a "liar."
I remember coming home at some point feeling troubled. My mom asked me why and I said I thought that it was wrong to have to say a pledge to a flag "because it is just a piece of cloth", and now they wanted us to say America is under one god, and I didn't feel good about that, because I didn't think there was just one god. Mom told me that I didn't have to say "under god" if I didn't want to, and that I didn't even have to say the pledge, but that it would be a good idea to stand in respect for others. That's pretty much what I do to this day. I don't salute, either. It just feels wrong. My concept of spirituality has grown more sophisticated as I grow older, but my sense that a piece of cloth has nothing to do with either spirituality or patriotism has held steady.
Kelly Sullivan, yes it was 1954. I remember well when that language was added. When I was in the second grade, our teacher announced that there would be words added to the pledge. So, we dutifully learned them and recited them not knowing why the words were added nor why they were important. We were just kids looking forward to recess.
I'm with you, Fred, on the founding of our nation. To escape religious persecution. And, today evangelical Christians show distain and intolerance of other religious beliefs and practices. There is a lot of history that has totally flipped for our nation.
The European settlers were indeed escaping from persecution, but they also showed intense disdain and intolerance for other groups who held beliefs different from theirs. The Puritans were especially bad about that. That's why actually only a small percentage of the immigrants were allowed in the church. They were there as laborors and skilled craftspeople to serve the settlements because basically the Puritans and other holier than thou groups were city people and did not have the skills to survive in their own back yards, let alone a continent they knew little about and were unwilling to learn about. Their goal was to shape it in the image of England, with themselves taking on the role of the aristocracy. The righteous right wing evangelicals are just continuing a centuries old tradition. By the way, not all people who consider themselves evangelical are intolerant and disdainful of those who believe differently. Our local interfaith group working for environmental, racial, and civil justice includes evangelicals, including a preacher. At the national level, Rev Dr William Barbur is one, and there are many others. (MLK was another- think about that for a while.)
I agree that not all of any group represents the worst of actions and words. I have a great distain for Republicans right now, but I know for a fact that not all of them have followed the delusional ex president. Same with evangelicals and most white men. They hold hard to their intelligence and respect for everyone.
There is no question that organized religion is yet another mechanism to control and exploit people for power and wealth. The concept of god is a creation of primitive societies; the continued extension of it represents the success this concept provides in manipulating the masses.
Though this is also the conclusion that best fits with my world view, it is well to have the humility to recognize that many wise and well-informed people have a firm belief in God. Many use it for good. My brother is one, and his wife, who became an Episcopalian priest in midlife. I admire them both.
It amuses me that I, of all people, should be standing up for religion. Nonetheless: while many of them are wrong about many things, sexuality and sexual identity in particular, don't you think the concept of sin can and often does reinforce a sense of morality within people, inculcating kindness, charity, compassion, and understanding? Depends on the religion, of course, and how its leaders interpret teachings, but it can be a force for good. I have a bigger problem, actually, with the transactional nature of the concept of sin: god saying, you do something for me and I will do something for you. It's a pretty low level of morality if one is doing the right thing in order to reap a reward or avoid a punishment.
I guess I don't like the controlling aspect of sin by many heads and ministers of religious practices. To instill deep guilt in many to control the many. I guess you can't have people questioning every spiritual belief you tell each week, so they focus on all the ways to go to hell versus the goodness of treating everyone with respect and kindness and caring.
Indeed. That certainly turned me off to organized religion. On the other hand, my sister-in-law is an Episcopal priest and would no sooner threaten people with sin than she would jump off a cliff. I can't hang with the divinity of Jesus (beyond the idea that we're all divine) and I'm an atheist, but her take on the world as a place that can be made more perfect with kindness and love does have an appeal.
I hear you Kelly. My husband and I feel the same way. Some kind of community of people is important, especially if you have kids.....but maybe not if we look at the current state of affairs surrounding Republican politics that seem to harness Christians into negativity and creating otherness "it's them, it's their fault" from bigotry to anti immigration, it's always someone else's fault and THEY are the enemy.
We are so not the faith type of people we can't even be described as atheist because that would be joining an ideology too. I was raised at a Buddhist Zen Center. I can say if you are going to hang with a "community" that's a good one, but as all organized religions, it comes with some stumbling blocks.
I think it's really important not to lump all Christians together. It is largely EVANGELICAL Christians (and not by any means all of them, either) who back the racist, sexist, misogynistic, anti-immigrant rhetoric. Most Christians are horrified by what is going on in this country.
I know, and I certainly understand your frustration and ire. There are some truly evil people out there masquerading as Christian. Christ would repudiate them.
This is a powerful perspective. Thank you. Your immersion in diversity and an honorable life of a "loyal, good citizen" is a moving memory and a tribute to an American "kindness" that needs to be reimagined.
My first youthful political action was to stop saying "under God" while we saying that pledge each morning in primary school. My parents (evangelical Christians) were always talking about separation of church and state - primarily to make sure that the government did not charge churches tax or prohibit them from worshipping how they chose - but I early on made my own independent assessment that I should not be asked by the government to either pray in school or to say "under God". I'm not sure whether my rebellion was against my parents or the government, but I continued this protest later on in junior high school by standing but not reciting any of the pledge because during the Civil Rights protests in LA and elsewhere, I did not see liberty and justice for all being practised - and finally, in high school, by refusing to stand at all in protest against our involvement in Vietnam. It's been many years since I've been to any function where the Pledge of Allegiance was performed. If I ever go to another ball game, I plan to take a knee during the National Anthem until there are some serious changes to policing in America. It's not a lot, but it's something and it is a public, symbolic act.
When I was in elementary school in the 1950s, we all said the same thing, except for the fact there was no "under God" in it back then. That was added later by largely 'Anglo-Saxon descendants so that their white God would be included in the pledge. I'm a white descendent of the May Flower on my father's side, and on my mother's side, I'm from Liverpool, England, and Hamburg, Germany. I think my ancestors who came America, or at least most of them, would disagree with this America First Caucus.
Also, on October 30, 1968, my Boeing 707 landed at Stapleton Field in Denver, Colorado, which enabled me to join fellow volunteers from all over America to train to become Volunteers in Service to America (VISTA). We looked like descendants from many parts of the world. About a week later, we watched the Presidential Election on TV. That's the night Richard Nixon defeated Hubert Humphrey. We all had wet eyes that night, for we knew how Nixon stood on the Office of Economic Opportunity, the big Kennedy/Johnson program to make America better for poor and disadvantaged people. Over the years, Nixon and his followers have managed to destroy nearly all of what we and America stood for back then.
When I was in elementary school, every morning at the beginning of classes we, in a part of the U.S. where the student body appeared to be drawn from the United Nations, would stand at attention and, with hand over heart recite the pledge of allegiance: "I pledge allegiance to the flag of the United States of America, and to the republic for which it stands, one nation under God, indivisible, with liberty and justice for all." In none of this pledge do I see a reference to "Anglo-Saxon" nor do I remember many in my classes who would fit this description, including the Japanese American students whose fathers fought with the 442 Regiment across Europe, while their grandparents and mothers were held in interment camps, the black descendents of slaves, and the Hispanic students whose ancestors were here long before there was a USA. Yet, we were all loyal and good citizens. As a child, I thought that this was America. Now many among us tell us it was not and is not. Whatever happened to "e pluribus unum" and "with liberty and justice for all"?
Not like the brazen giant of Greek fame,
With conquering limbs astride from land to land;
Here at our sea-washed, sunset gates shall stand
A mighty woman with a torch, whose flame
Is the imprisoned lightning, and her name
Mother of Exiles. From her beacon-hand
Glows world-wide welcome; her mild eyes command
The air-bridged harbor that twin cities frame.
"Keep, ancient lands, your storied pomp!" cries she
With silent lips. "Give me your tired, your poor,
Your huddled masses yearning to breathe free,
The wretched refuse of your teeming shore.
Send these, the homeless, tempest-tost to me,
I lift my lamp beside the golden door!" ~Emma Lazarus
November 2, 1883
I'll take "the wretched refuse," thank you very much.
Morning Lynell!! Up early again per usual. I'm retiring in a few mins. You can leave the lamp on, from sea to shining sea.
Morning, TPJ!! Morning, FERN!! Reading a bit of the "Caucasian Caucus," I wondered if Sarah Palin was consulted. The detail is...amazingly shallow!
Oooohhhhhh! Sarah Palin, the powerhouse of erudition! Good morning, Lynell! I'm going back to sleep now.
Morning, Daria!! Just woke up for the 2nd time.
Morning Again Lynell! I just woke up for the 2nd time. Heading downstairs for a cup of coffee. Have a Fab Saturday.
Then she probably was in on it from the start.
Thank you, Lady Liberty.
Thanks, Lynell. I knew "Give me your tired, your poor, your huddled masses" is inscribed on the Statue of Liberty but I had never heard of Emma Lazarus or read the complete poem. It's charming! I'm sorry the poet died so young.
Morning, David!! Beautiful, welcoming words, to be sure. Thanks for reading.
At the beginning of the T**** term, I remember some discussion from the right wing about removing this from the statue of Lady Liberty as those who don't like "the huddled masses yearning to breathe free" wanted to keep the little bit of remaining air of freedom for (white) Americans (the already here) only. Fortunately, that movement died.
Except we as a country never meant it.
I should think a majority of the people in this country did aspire to this vision, or else we wouldn't be where we are today. You can say what you want about our many failings, but overall we ALL descended from these immigrants at some point, except the indigenous. That's what gets me: these "American Firsters" don't want to accept that only in the very beginning of our colonies were we an "anglo saxon" nation. I think every one of them should take a 23andMe DNA test and show us their results. Racial purity may have been possible a hundred+ years ago, but not today and I think that's a good thing. Travel, education, commerce, etc all have broken our borders. I know that scares the crap out of them, but they are behind the eight ball of worldwide progress.
Barbara, I had the same thought. How many of these "Firsters" could "pass" a 23andMe DNA test!
I think a very few on this planet would discover any "purity" in their results. Migration has been a feature of humanoid life on this planet since we crawled out of the ocean, climbed down out of the trees, or left Eden (depending on your ideas about our origins). Sonia Shah's The Next Great Migration is very enlightening on the still ongoing circumnavigations humans have made around this globe. We are currently being encouraged to see migration as a purely contemporary problem. Shah offers a different view.
Nope.
I confess that I always remain silent on the "one nation, under God" part. I've never understood religion, although I long for the community it creates. The more I "seek" the more I say "no thank you." This language was added June 14, 1954.
it is getting harder and harder to say "with liberty and justice for all"
It was never true.
And in National anthem ‘o’r the land of the free’
The software is acting up...It's an aspiration. As for flags, they meant something in the past, as far back as the Romans. One would rally around the flag. I hate throwing the baby out with the bathwater, re our country.
Yes, I get that. This particular flag though, for me, is beyond redemption.
Agree! When the ex-president began using the red, white, and blue to communicate his evil, lies, narcissism, etc., the colors turned sour to me. I hope to let that go, and get back to admiring it again.
I just don't think it's ever been an admirable symbol, at least not for me. It represents a history of genocide, slavery, racism, misogyny, and religious intolerance. Objectively, I also find it rather ugly. Just as with the anthem, I think we could do much better.
I hate that the interpretation of our original "men are created equal" includes that "they didn't mean all men." What the hell were they thinking, and why didn't it show up elsewhere?
It's not an interpretation, it's a fact. Only white men of substance were given the vote, in a revolution that was about no taxation without representation. What was unique about the "American experiment" was the opportunity to (white men of the correct religion) to make their own choices in life. Our history has been a gradual expansion of who gets to vote, who gets to count.
"Under God" was added to the US Loyalty Oath in 1954, after almost 100 years of a separation of church and state that meant that such oaths did not include god language. I have not recited the pledge since I gave up oathtaking in 1968--I was kicked out of Girl Scouts because I wouldn't "love God and my Country".
Haha! I was kicked out of Overeaters Anonymous because I called my higher power, "She."
They didn't like facts.
Zowie Hope.
Oh, my! I do that, too. Not a very tolerant or loving leader in your group.
It has also always struck me as very strange that we were pledging allegiance to a flag, of all things. I know it gets right into "and the republic for which it stands," but the U.S. flag strikes me as a blood-soaked symbol of white supremacy and Indigenous genocide (everyone of those stars representing displaced and murdered people). There are more potent, meaningful symbols than that rag.
Don't blame the flag but the bearer.
Our rights and freedom are on a continuum and have never been truly absolute, but our duty is to strive forward and improve.
I have omitted those words since the third grade. I'm 63.
I've eliminated the pledge Ally, but I refused to say those words since about the same time--and I am a year older than you. Power to the Crones!! (I consider crone a compliment)
We have a small Crones Club here - I’m happy to be a crone.
Crones unite!
Is it possible to be an honorary crone?
I think that makes you a wizard.
You betcha. All in the attitude.
OH YES, my brother! You are SO there!
Best compliment I can think of
Totes!
offering a definition
Crone: Great Hag of History, long-lasting one, Survivor of the perpetual witchcraze of patriarchy...Ex. Harriet Tubman, Ding Ling
Wickedary by Daly and Caputi
You were precocious, and I'm impressed. I probably would have eliminated the "under god" in 4th or 5th grade, had my parents not started sending me to private schools were there was no reciting of pledge.
I understand the struggle, Kelly. You might seek out a Unitarian Universalist congregation. I have found my family.
As an active member of our local Unitarian congregation of committed social justice advocates, I agree. Although I also state, I seek to recruit or convert no one but only invite you to explore a local congregation if you have similar feelings. I have always believed that no one should rob another individual of the magic of self-discovery by recruitment or attempted "conversions."
The way in which Christi has extended an open invitation is consistent with this view and leaves the opportunity for that magic of self-discovery. We have members of our own Unitarian conversation that have come from a rainbow of religious traditions broader than most can even imagine. The most wonderful thing about that is that there is room for all of those in a Unitarian congregation without the need to surrender anyone's own views in order to conform with the views of others.
Very well stated, Bruce! I view my time with the congregation as a safe and peaceful place to interact with all kinds of faiths and intelligent, caring people. Our focus on social justice has help me grow and bloom as a person. I never push any spiritual thoughts or actions on others. That pushing is what irritates me most about other religious practices. Thanks, Bruce.
or worship in the wild ;-)
Or check out UCC.org - open an affirming, progressive, social justice oriented denomination.
Congregations are autonomous and focus on community. Wishing you the best.
I have wondered about that, too. I am not at all religious but have been grieving my lack of community. We have a very vibrant UU church fairly nearby. Once Covid allows, I might check it out.
Here is a brief description of our own local UU Earth Day Celebration planned for this coming Thursday, Earth Day. It may provide a window into typical UU celebratory thinking and our nature of the shared community with each other and the interdependent web of all existence to which we all belong.
You will likely find similar Earth Day celebrations with most UU congregations. We always welcome others in our community any time we gather. No membership is required.
Our UU Earth Day Planting and Celebration
Everything takes place OUTDOORS. At 10 am we gather in a safely-distanced ceremony circle for a few words about Mother Earth and a blessing of the plants to be planted. Please let us know if you’re coming so the correct number of plants can be available for planting, but if you fail to RSVP please come anyway! We will be following CDC standards, working in pods of family or friends, wearing masks, 6ft distancing, no shared water or snacks (bring your own), we can’t go inside our building…in order to fully observe CDC guidelines. Children are welcome, but they must remain in their family pods.
If you have a shovel, trowel, loppers/clippers, or a rake, please bring them. You may also want to bring gloves, a hat, and sunscreen. Dress scrubby for gardening and be sure to bring water to drink. (Remember, the building will be locked and we won't be going inside for any reason.)
We’ll have a plant exchange table, so bring bulbs, cuttings, leftover seeds from your own garden and take plants from others’ gardens home to your own. And another big payoff in addition to beautifying our grounds will be to see many friends again for REAL, after a whole year of being separated by the distance of Zoom! WOW!
Gardening -- my kind of worship!
Good on you, Bruce; wish I could be there. Are the bluebonnets blooming yet?
Absolutely. We live in a ranch subdivision in the Texas Hill Country and have wildflower meadows surrounding our home and several gardens surrounding my wife's art studio behind our home. Despite the Texas freeze this winter, the wildflowers and particularly the bluebonnets are quite prolific.
Nature soothes the slings and arrows of outrageous fortune. Another good reason to protect it.
Thank you for sharing this, Bruce. Sounds wonderful.
Sounds wonderful, Bruce. Our congregation maintains a very large prairie on our land. I want to see fruit trees planted in the future to help sustain food pantries.
Despite my lack of religion, and my family of origin's lack of religion, I was in a Mormon boy scout troop as a kid, because my older brother's best friend was a Mormon. They treated us well, didn't prosthelytize, and I've always been nostalgic for the sense of community they have. Had I had an ounce of faith I might have converted.
Fun fact: my scoutmaster's wife, Laurel Thatcher Ulrich, is the person who came up with "Well behaved women rarely make history". She is an expert on women in early America, and a University Prof at Harvard, and it was the title to an essay. Some entrepreneurial Oregonian made a deal with her about putting it on bumper stickers and the like, she was bemused by its success, and later used it as the title of a book.
I was raised Mormon. Nice enough people, but I don't think you would have been happy there. Way too white, way too conservative.
Amen.
Sister Stratton!
<gack> Nope. No ward where I grew up until I was ten. My extended family chose the place specifically because there was no Mormon community. When some new Mormons came in and set one up, they assumed I would be baptized. I declined.
I'd been raised around some delightfully apostate great aunts and uncles. I learned a lot of neat stuff from them about the church that affirmed my decision. My aunt thought I'd get excited and change my mind, so I was bundled into the car. Won't go into details, but when they came to get me, I resisted, they insisted, and I hollered to holy hell. Caused quite a stir. My dad came and got me, and that was that.
Happily apostate, age 11.
My aunt became an uber-Mormon and dragged her kids along with her. Everybody else left.
BTW: the only time I am called Sister is when I am at the Buddhist dharma center I go to on retreat, where I am known as Sister Annie (or Sister Compassion). It's part of my Buddhist/Quaker identity. Oh, wait, there is occasionally another setting; when I get back to visit my old neighborhood, still mixed. I get to sing old gospel songs, which I learned from my mom. Life is so interesting.
Isn't it just! I was a good Mormon boy until I was 15, then I became precisely the opposite. My brothers both went on missions, but I didn't. My extended family is mostly LDS, but many have drifted away. All three of my siblings have left the church and my younger brother is married to an Episcopal priest!
I goofed- technically I am not an apostate because I was never baptized. And I made sure that nobody can baptize posthumously. They can't excommunicate me either, never having been baptized. So I am worse than an apostate! Oh, delicious. (In the beginning I just wanted to make sure I didn't end up in the same "heaven" as my aunt.) They still count 2 of my brothers as members, though, because they were baptized, though they never thought of themselves as mormons. They died some years ago, and I hope they didn't have to go to our aunt's heaven.
Good on you for resisting!
No, I would not have fit. Plus, I don't have an ounce of faith.
That would have been an impediment. 😁
It's true!!!
One thing I like about both the Quakers and the my Buddhist branch is that neither have dogma. Faith not a requirement: it's all about how one lives and the kind of person one strives to be, and being part of the community.
I didn't feel the community in my Quaker elementary school the way I did in the Mormon Church. I'm just giving you the reaction of my much younger self. I did learn well in that Quaker school. I'm NOT quibbling with your comments about dogma in the least. Both Buddhism and the Quaker faith have a lot to give.
That's my plan once we get past Covid and they meet in person again!
Yes, COVID has shut us down building-wise. But, all UCC congregations have worked hard to stay involved with members through Zoom and regular "drive throughs" at the building. We are aiming for the beginning of September for our in-person goal.
Sorry... UUC
I have trouble with that part too.
My father, a good-humored - if occasional - Unitarian and firm believer in science, never expressed his religious beliefs out loud, at least that I can remember, but I do recall that on one of my first days at public school in Pittsburgh PA he told me I did not have to say the "under God" part of the pledge just because the other kids were saying it. He didn't say "Don't say it!", just that I was free to decide for myself. I do not remember if I said it or not, but now when I hear the pledge I am intensely aware of those words, much more than of the others, apart from "freedom and justice for all" which still makes my heart flutter a bit.
Of course there were other times later on when I decided for myself what to do and pissed my father off no end. A week from today would be his 101st birthday, and I am sure he would be disappointed at our nation's lack of progress since his death in 1980.
My Dad was a stauch conservative who loathed Trump. Had he lived long enough, he intended to vote for Hillary, which burned him up a bit, but he was never one to sit out a fight.
My mother's younger brother Richard was a professional Republican (ran local campaigns) until he achieved his life's ambition of becoming a judge. Although he admired John McCain greatly, Uncle Dick voted for Barack Obama rather than see Sarah Palin one heartbeat away from the Presidency. If he had lived long enough, he would have been with your Dad, holding his nose while he voted for Hillary. He would have been 91 in February.
He would have been 94 next month.
My father was born 100 years ago today (not 97 as I mistakenly wrote a few days ago). He would have been dismayed at the condition of this country, how far it sunk in last six years. He also would be cheering on everyone doing something about it.
I'm old enough to remember when that was put in (second grade or so), and I didn't like it then. But then I'm the kid who kicked the Sunday School teacher in the shins the first time I was sent, and called her a "liar."
I remember coming home at some point feeling troubled. My mom asked me why and I said I thought that it was wrong to have to say a pledge to a flag "because it is just a piece of cloth", and now they wanted us to say America is under one god, and I didn't feel good about that, because I didn't think there was just one god. Mom told me that I didn't have to say "under god" if I didn't want to, and that I didn't even have to say the pledge, but that it would be a good idea to stand in respect for others. That's pretty much what I do to this day. I don't salute, either. It just feels wrong. My concept of spirituality has grown more sophisticated as I grow older, but my sense that a piece of cloth has nothing to do with either spirituality or patriotism has held steady.
🤣
Kelly Sullivan, yes it was 1954. I remember well when that language was added. When I was in the second grade, our teacher announced that there would be words added to the pledge. So, we dutifully learned them and recited them not knowing why the words were added nor why they were important. We were just kids looking forward to recess.
I identify with this and remember as a 12 year old kid in school wondering why when our historical roots were in escape from religious persecution.
I'm with you, Fred, on the founding of our nation. To escape religious persecution. And, today evangelical Christians show distain and intolerance of other religious beliefs and practices. There is a lot of history that has totally flipped for our nation.
The European settlers were indeed escaping from persecution, but they also showed intense disdain and intolerance for other groups who held beliefs different from theirs. The Puritans were especially bad about that. That's why actually only a small percentage of the immigrants were allowed in the church. They were there as laborors and skilled craftspeople to serve the settlements because basically the Puritans and other holier than thou groups were city people and did not have the skills to survive in their own back yards, let alone a continent they knew little about and were unwilling to learn about. Their goal was to shape it in the image of England, with themselves taking on the role of the aristocracy. The righteous right wing evangelicals are just continuing a centuries old tradition. By the way, not all people who consider themselves evangelical are intolerant and disdainful of those who believe differently. Our local interfaith group working for environmental, racial, and civil justice includes evangelicals, including a preacher. At the national level, Rev Dr William Barbur is one, and there are many others. (MLK was another- think about that for a while.)
I agree that not all of any group represents the worst of actions and words. I have a great distain for Republicans right now, but I know for a fact that not all of them have followed the delusional ex president. Same with evangelicals and most white men. They hold hard to their intelligence and respect for everyone.
It was the red scare in the 50s that led to the addition of "under god." https://www.ushistory.org/documents/pledge.htm
I was never scared, but then I was a redhead.
TPJ- no kidding? I was too!
There is no question that organized religion is yet another mechanism to control and exploit people for power and wealth. The concept of god is a creation of primitive societies; the continued extension of it represents the success this concept provides in manipulating the masses.
Though this is also the conclusion that best fits with my world view, it is well to have the humility to recognize that many wise and well-informed people have a firm belief in God. Many use it for good. My brother is one, and his wife, who became an Episcopalian priest in midlife. I admire them both.
The concept of sin is a direct means of controlling the actions of parishioners.
It amuses me that I, of all people, should be standing up for religion. Nonetheless: while many of them are wrong about many things, sexuality and sexual identity in particular, don't you think the concept of sin can and often does reinforce a sense of morality within people, inculcating kindness, charity, compassion, and understanding? Depends on the religion, of course, and how its leaders interpret teachings, but it can be a force for good. I have a bigger problem, actually, with the transactional nature of the concept of sin: god saying, you do something for me and I will do something for you. It's a pretty low level of morality if one is doing the right thing in order to reap a reward or avoid a punishment.
I guess I don't like the controlling aspect of sin by many heads and ministers of religious practices. To instill deep guilt in many to control the many. I guess you can't have people questioning every spiritual belief you tell each week, so they focus on all the ways to go to hell versus the goodness of treating everyone with respect and kindness and caring.
Indeed. That certainly turned me off to organized religion. On the other hand, my sister-in-law is an Episcopal priest and would no sooner threaten people with sin than she would jump off a cliff. I can't hang with the divinity of Jesus (beyond the idea that we're all divine) and I'm an atheist, but her take on the world as a place that can be made more perfect with kindness and love does have an appeal.
I hear you Kelly. My husband and I feel the same way. Some kind of community of people is important, especially if you have kids.....but maybe not if we look at the current state of affairs surrounding Republican politics that seem to harness Christians into negativity and creating otherness "it's them, it's their fault" from bigotry to anti immigration, it's always someone else's fault and THEY are the enemy.
We are so not the faith type of people we can't even be described as atheist because that would be joining an ideology too. I was raised at a Buddhist Zen Center. I can say if you are going to hang with a "community" that's a good one, but as all organized religions, it comes with some stumbling blocks.
I think it's really important not to lump all Christians together. It is largely EVANGELICAL Christians (and not by any means all of them, either) who back the racist, sexist, misogynistic, anti-immigrant rhetoric. Most Christians are horrified by what is going on in this country.
You are absolutely correct Reid! Did not mean to lump all together.
I know, and I certainly understand your frustration and ire. There are some truly evil people out there masquerading as Christian. Christ would repudiate them.
Bravo, Manuel. Keep the comments coming.
I would stand for the pledge but I wouldn't recite it.
My parents would call me the president of the Blame America First Club.
It's called wanting the country to live up to its ideals.
Badge Of Honor
This is a powerful perspective. Thank you. Your immersion in diversity and an honorable life of a "loyal, good citizen" is a moving memory and a tribute to an American "kindness" that needs to be reimagined.
My first youthful political action was to stop saying "under God" while we saying that pledge each morning in primary school. My parents (evangelical Christians) were always talking about separation of church and state - primarily to make sure that the government did not charge churches tax or prohibit them from worshipping how they chose - but I early on made my own independent assessment that I should not be asked by the government to either pray in school or to say "under God". I'm not sure whether my rebellion was against my parents or the government, but I continued this protest later on in junior high school by standing but not reciting any of the pledge because during the Civil Rights protests in LA and elsewhere, I did not see liberty and justice for all being practised - and finally, in high school, by refusing to stand at all in protest against our involvement in Vietnam. It's been many years since I've been to any function where the Pledge of Allegiance was performed. If I ever go to another ball game, I plan to take a knee during the National Anthem until there are some serious changes to policing in America. It's not a lot, but it's something and it is a public, symbolic act.
When I was in elementary school in the 1950s, we all said the same thing, except for the fact there was no "under God" in it back then. That was added later by largely 'Anglo-Saxon descendants so that their white God would be included in the pledge. I'm a white descendent of the May Flower on my father's side, and on my mother's side, I'm from Liverpool, England, and Hamburg, Germany. I think my ancestors who came America, or at least most of them, would disagree with this America First Caucus.
Also, on October 30, 1968, my Boeing 707 landed at Stapleton Field in Denver, Colorado, which enabled me to join fellow volunteers from all over America to train to become Volunteers in Service to America (VISTA). We looked like descendants from many parts of the world. About a week later, we watched the Presidential Election on TV. That's the night Richard Nixon defeated Hubert Humphrey. We all had wet eyes that night, for we knew how Nixon stood on the Office of Economic Opportunity, the big Kennedy/Johnson program to make America better for poor and disadvantaged people. Over the years, Nixon and his followers have managed to destroy nearly all of what we and America stood for back then.