Fourth Universalist Society in the City of New York

As I look back at the time since I arrived here at the Fourth Universalist Society, I have realized that one of the items I would like to make a cornerstone of my ministry is creating a safe space for adults, youth and children to come together and have an open dialogue of their beliefs about religion, parenting, God, spirituality and social justice. Having an open dialogue in a faith with no creed and a set of principles that we agree to affirm means that inevitably people will have differing points of view. That is okay and healthy for a growing community.

Unitarian Universalism is a place where refugees from other, more conservative religions have come to meet at the higher ground of acceptance. They rely on the notion that the free and open exchange of ideas that come from freedom of speech and freedom of expression will lead to a universal truth.  As Unitarian Universalists, we must be especially careful not to turn the underlying principle of Unitarian Universalism on its head by trying to change the opinion of people who have a different, sometimes, completely opposite point of view from our own. If we make this mistake, we run the risk of subverting the very principles that attracted us to this accepting religion, and causing others to feel the same way that our native, conservative religions caused us to feel when we fled them. One of the many reasons that I fled the religion of my childhood for Unitarian Universalism was the very fact that I would not be accepted if I was too open about what I believed about God and religion. Now I am free from those pre-judgments and restraints, and there is a spirituality to be found in that freedom. Let’s try not to mistake specific differences of opinion with the more important principle of freedom of speech/expression.

If we look hard enough, we can always find something that would be offensive to someone in our denomination. Our common goal as Unitarian Universalists should be to accept the fact that each of our beliefs is not always held in agreement with everyone else’s. One of the joys of being part of this faith is that we have the opportunity to model tolerance and acceptance by being in community even when we disagree.

Aisha Hauser, DRE

March 2008

It sounds as if our minister, Rosemary Bray McNatt, is having an amazing time in Kenya. As you probably know, she has been working with the International Council of Unitarians and Universalists as a trainer at a conference in Nairobi for the leaders of emerging congregations in East Africa. I’ve been reading her blog, revrose.com, with great interest, and it is inspiring to read about the courage and the commitment of the Unitarian Universalists she has met in Kenya. The women and men attending the training, she says, “are leading small congregations with big issues. They are sheltering and caring for AIDS orphans, sometimes five and six orphans to a household. They are opening schools for these children in their living rooms.”

Since the conference ended, Rosemary has met some of the people displaced by the terrible post-election humanitarian crisis in Kenya. The work of the emerging Unitarian Universalist congregations has become even more difficult and important. We can hold them in our thoughts and prayers, and we can make a donation through our Unitarian Universalist Service Committee’s disaster relief fund at http://www.uusc.org/programs/support_kenya.html.  As Rosemary says, “One of the most bittersweet realities of the African continent is that a gift that we might consider small, even insignificant, can do amazing things here.”

I encourage you to read revrose.com to find out about some of the wonderful people Rosemary has met in her travels; you’ll be inspired by their enthusiasm for the liberating power of Unitarian Universalism.

In peace and love,

Lois Coleman