167: Black Lives of UU
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Leslie Mac and Lena K. Gardner join The VUU from the Black Lives of UU organizing collective. We talk about assumptions around authority, decentering whiteness, humility and the need for liberal white folks to first do the work within and not expect kudos for not voting for Trump.
Show notes:
- Inaugural Black Lives of UU Convening in New Orleans, LA on March 9 – 12, 2017
- Safety Pin Box
- Recording of Standing on the Side of Love’s pre-march webinar with Lena K. Gardner, Caitlen Breedlove and Rev. Ashley Horan
- “Liberals love to kill movements with bureaucracy, not outright resistance.” — Rev. Ashley Horan
- What’s Next After All the Marches? Organize by Brittney T. Oliver
The VUU is hosted by Meg Riley, Joanna Fontaine Crawford, Aisha Hauser, Hank Peirce, Michael Tino and Alicia Forde, with production support provided by Terri Burnor. Tom Shade joined the hosting crew this week. The VUU streams live on Thursdays at 11 am ET. This episode aired on January 19, 2017.
Note: The audio above has been slightly edited for a better listening experience. View the live original recording on YouTube.
166: The Religious Right with Peter Montgomery
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The VUU talks with Peter Montgomery about religion and politics, the global impact of the religious right, the religiosity behind fascism, and the countering power of the arts and beauty. Peter is a writer who has studied religious conservatives for close to two decades. In this past presidential campaign, he attended the GOP Convention and a number of Trump rallies.
Peter is a well-regarded writer/thinker and a source for national media. Follow his work:
Peter finds inspiration and hope in this quote by Johann Wolfgang von Goethe (referenced at the end of the show):
A [person] should hear a little music, read a little poetry, and see a fine picture every day of [their] life, in order that worldly cares may not obliterate the sense of the beautiful which God has implanted in the human soul.
The VUU is hosted by Meg Riley, Joanna Fontaine Crawford, Aisha Hauser, Hank Peirce, Michael Tino and Alicia Forde, with production support provided by Terri Burnor. The VUU streams live on Thursdays at 11 am ET. This episode aired on January 12, 2017.
Note: The audio above has been slightly edited for a better listening experience. View the live original recording on YouTube.
165: Immigration and the New Sanctuary Movement with Katia Hansen
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Our guest is Katia Hansen, President/CEO of UURISE. We talk about congregational support for immigration justice including providing sanctuary, the importance of becoming a coalition partner, immigration services her organization provides, and general concerns going into the new Trump administration.
Resources mentioned in today’s episode:
- UURISE (UU Refugee and Immigrant Services and Education)
- UUA’s New Sanctuary Movement page
- BorderLinks trip to US/Mexico border
- United We Dream, the largest immigrant youth-led organization in the nation
- Puente Movement, a grassroots migrant justice organization based in Phoenix, Arizona
- National Day Laborer Organizing Network
Upcoming webinars:
- UUSC’s Sanctuary and Solidarity webinar (for clergy only) on Tuesday, January 17, 3:00-4:15 PM (ET) – Register
- UUSC’s Sanctuary and Solidarity webinar (open to all) on Sunday, January 22, 3:30-4:45pm (ET) – Contact Paul Langston-Daley
- UUCSJ/UURISE: Faithful Discernment: Is Your Congregation Called to Offer Sanctuary? on Monday, January 30, 7:00-9:00 pm (ET)
- UUCSJ/UURISE: The Path Toward Sanctuary: A Practical Guide on Monday, February 27 7:00-9:00 pm (ET)
The VUU is hosted by Meg Riley, Joanna Fontaine Crawford, Aisha Hauser, Hank Peirce, Michael Tino and Alicia Forde, with production support provided by Terri Burnor. Tom Shade joined the hosting crew this week. The VUU streams live on Thursdays at 11 am ET. This episode aired on January 5, 2017.
Note: The audio above has been slightly edited for a better listening experience. View the live original recording on YouTube.
Something New
This month, try something new that you’ve never tried before! This can be something big or something small, but it should be something that is new to you. Here are some ideas:
- Try a new kind of food, especially a new fruit or vegetable.
- Learn how to say some words in a new language.
- Make a new friend or sit with a new person at the lunch table.
- Play a sport you’ve never played before.
- Listen to a different kind of music, or music from another part of the world.
- Learn about how children live in other cultures. There are many organizations that will match people up with pen pals in other countries. (Kids, ask your parents for help with this!)
- Learn the names of your mailman, grocery clerk, school crossing guard, or others who help you every day. You might even give them a thank you card to show them you appreciate them.
A New Freedom of Faith
Throughout the history of Christianity there have been big fights over changes in religious belief and practice, with different people say their version is the real version.
But King John Sigismund, the one and only Unitarian king in history, had a different point of view. Way back in 1561, John Sigismund was very interested in religion, partly because people in his country of Transylvania kept fighting about it. The Roman Catholics, Lutherans, Calvinists, and Unitarians all argued about whose views about God and Jesus and how church services should be conducted were right.
Francis David
Finally, King John called the best speaker from each church to come to a place called Torda for a debate to decide who was right. The speaker from the Unitarian church was a man named Francis David. He argued that no one has the right to force people to believe anything about God, and that it’s OK if our understanding of religion changes.
After 10 days, King John ordered the debate to end. But he did not announce a winner; he did not say that any of the four churches was the best. Instead, King John agreed with Francis David, and he created what was called the Edict of Torda, which declared that every church and every person would be free to follow their own beliefs, even if those beliefs changed over time. There are still Unitarians in Transylvania today who share that commitment to freedom of belief.
Read more about Francis David from the UUA’s Tapestry of Faith programming, or read the Edict of Torda for yourself!
Making Change
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Did you know that prisoners now make up more than 20% of the CLF’s membership? Read more →
Help Wanted:
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CLF Pen Pals for some of the 725 CLF members in prisons who are new to Unitarian Universalism. Read more →
Did You Know?
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…that you can sign up for CLF online classes to stretch your mind and spirit? Click here to learn more. Read more →
Wave Driven by Wave
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As wave is driven by wave
And each, pursued, pursues the wave ahead,
So time flies on and follows, flies, and follows,
Always, for ever and new. What was before
Is left behind; what never was is now;
And every passing moment is renewed.
by Ovid, from Metamorphoses
