The Universe Bending Toward Justice

The Universe Bending Toward Justice
Presented by Sarah Lord and Kathy Converse at Prairie Unitarian Universalist Society August 8, 2004 Sarah Lord's presentation: “We affirm and promote the right of conscience and the use of the democratic process in our congregations and in society at large.” Hmmm, you might be thinking… I thought this was the service where our delegates to General Assembly were supposed to tell us about what happened at GA, about how fabulous it was to party with 5,000 UU’s in Long Beach, California. So, what’s up with all this talk about the fifth principle and democracy? Well, rest assured that Kathy and I will be sharing some of our experiences from General Assembly with you, but we’ve chosen for this occasion to reflect on those experiences through the lens of the fifth principle for a number of reasons, which we hope will become clear to you during the course of the morning. Before I dive into my discussion of GA, though, I’d like to spend a little time talking about the fifth principle itself. I bought a book at the UUA bookstore booth at GA (I tend to buy a lot of books at GA) called “Our Seven Principles in story and verse” by Kenneth Collier. In his discussion of the fifth principle, Collier points out that the fifth principle follows directly from our first principle. If we believe in the inherent worth and dignity of every person, then there are a couple of important consequences to that belief. One is that there is no natural hierarchy among people—no one is any more inherently worthy of, or any more entitled to power than anyone else. Another is that we all have potentially valid ideas that deserve to be heard and taken into account when making decisions about the society in which we live. To quote from the recently adopted Statement of Conscience on Civil Liberties, “Our Unitarian Universalist Principles are grounded in freedom, reason, and tolerance. Ours is a tradition that has sought to uphold the sanctity of the individual voice. We have affirmed that human beings need not adhere to the same beliefs or draw upon the same sources of meaning to discern the common good.” From these ideas, Collier formulates what I think is my favorite understanding of democracy: in a democracy, each of is in some sense responsible for everyone else, and everyone is responsible for each of us. This reminds me of the memorable motto of the Musketeers: All for one and one for all! Trite formulations aside, this is a very profound idea that lies at the heart of the fifth principle—which talks about BOTH the right of conscience AND the use of the democratic process. It is an understanding of the interdependent web of human society—we are not islands unto ourselves as some would have us believe, and it is not enough for us to look after only our self-interest while assuming that Adam Smith’s invisible hand will make everything alright, or while assuming that even if the invisible hand thing doesn’t work out, then it’s not my problem anyway if things are going badly for others. No, the common good is my responsibility, because I acknowledge both the inherent worth and dignity in me and in everyone else. So, now having established this idea of democracy as our shared responsibility for each other’s well-being, I’d like to share with you some of the things that I experienced and learned at GA. (Told you I’d get to that…) For those of you who haven’t attended a GA in the past, there is a very wide variety of programming there. There are music programs, dramas, programs on meditation and grief, there are worship services, political lectures, historical talks, film screenings, theological debates, and meetings about church governance and finance, and hiring a minister, and growth, and then, of course, there are the plenary sessions, where the “official” business of GA gets done—where the delegates vote on decisions which will guide the UUA in the years to come. I’ll say more about this democratic process in a few minutes. I’m sure it will not come as a surprise to any of you who know me at all, that my favorite programs at GA are, in general, the political ones. This year was no exception. Don’t get me wrong—I love the worship services, and singing, and networking with young adults, too, but I love politics, and so I’m drawn as if by an invisible hand to certain programs! Not surprisingly, perhaps, in an election year, virtually every political program that I went to emphasized the importance of voting, especially in this presidential election. And, the UUA, together with a number of other liberal religious denominations, is participating in a major voter-registration project this year, called “Faithful Democracy” so the emphasis on voting was coming from the pulpit as well as the podium. One thing that was interesting to me about all of this talk about voting was that some of it was coming from people who said that they previously either had not been voters, or had voted, but had seen it as far less important than their other work as activists. For many progressive activists, I think, the realm of electoral politics has often seemed a bit too compromised—it didn’t seem like a site from which real change could emanate. There’s some truth to this, I’m sure, but there seems to be a great deal of consensus this year—if the political speakers at GA can be taken as any kind of representative sample—that participating in the electoral process is critical, and may determine whether other kinds of activism will be allowed to occur, or whether they have any chance of success. I heard no one say that there were any ideal candidates running for important offices this year, but what was echoed over and over again was that we all need to be participating in the electoral process in a meaningful way or our society will cease to be democratic in any meaningful sense. If we cede elections to those who are the most predictable voters—affluent white people who are middle-aged or beyond—then our country becomes in effect an oligarchy. I’m not trying to pretend that our country is currently any kind of model democracy, because clearly it’s not. But that makes it more important, not less, for each of us to exercise our right of conscience, make our voices heard, and cast our votes—and to make sure that others have the opportunity to do so, and that all votes casted are counted. Voting, though, IS only one small but necessary part of our participation in our democratic society. We know that regardless of who wins in November, progressives will still have much work to do. We will not have met our obligations to each other (all for one and one for all, remember) just by voting. We will still need to be actively naming and addressing those instances of injustice and poverty, and environmental destruction, and so on, that we know compromise the common good. So, with that, I’d like to spend a few minutes talking about a couple of the speakers I heard, and some of the issues that they addressed. Probably the speaker I was most excited to hear at GA was Amy Goodman. She is, as most of you probably know, the host of the news program “Democracy, Now!” which can be heard on WORT at 1 in the afternoon, and seen on WYOU at, 7AM and 6PM. She is a real heroine of mine—I admire her brilliance—she seems to know everything about everything, and be able to make all kinds of connections between different important people, ideas and events. I admire her ability to think on the spot. I admire her energy as she seems to be everywhere and covering every story. And I admire her courage—she is seemingly not afraid to ask any question to any person, and while she is always respectful, she is never intimidated by anyone’s celebrity or power. She appeared in Madison the week before she was at GA, so maybe some of you heard her here. If you did, you already know that she’s currently doing a book tour promoting her book called “The Exception to the Rulers: Exposing Oily Politicians, War Profiteers, and the Media that Love them.” While her news program addresses all of the important events of the day, her book tour focuses primarily on the importance of independent media in a democracy. She rejects the term “mainstream media,” calling the corporate media the “extreme media.” As justification, she points out that during the few weeks leading up to the US invasion in Iraq, out of almost 400 interviews on PBS, NBC, ABC, and CBS—not even counting Fox—only 3 were with anti-war activists, and this was at a time when between 1/3 and ½ of the country were opposed to the war. Independent media, Amy argues, allows people from across the spectrum the time and space to speak for themselves, and this, she says, breaks down stereotypes and caricatures. So, to return to the fifth principle, and our promotion of the right of conscience and the democratic process—Amy Goodman reminds us of the importance of independent media in providing us the information we need to exercise our consciences responsibly in our democratic society. She also reminds us of the importance of listening carefully and respectfully to every voice—even those in the minority, and even those we disagree with. Another speaker that I was excited to hear, in part because I missed his talk last year, was Robert Reich. He, too, is promoting a book—his is called Reason: why liberals will win the battle for America. If you’re like me, you fluctuate between confident optimism that this next election will turn out OK, and abject terror that despite all of the issues and all of our hard work we might lose anyway. And so, you latch on to every prediction of victory regardless of the source—tea leaves are predicting a Bush defeat! Right on!—Reich, though, is a source with some reasons to know what he’s talking about. His book isn’t really about the next election, however. It has more to do with the long term direction of American ideology. He believes that there are two fundamental worldviews competing for dominance in our country right now. The first says that we are primarily individuals, rather than citizens. Our responsibility is to seek our self-interest, and, as a nation among nations, we are primarily defined by our ability to use force. The second says that we are citizens first, and we are interdependent. We cannot exist in our society nor among nations unless we realize our profound interdependence. (Sound familiar?) The reason that Reich believes that this latter ideology will ultimately win out is because he believes that underneath political identities most Americans have an underlying sense of fairness, and they don’t believe it’s fair for people to work hard, but not make enough money to support their families, or have health insurance, etc. From Reich, I think, the important lesson is not to give up on the fifty percent of Americans who might not seem to agree with us about anything. There are, he says, important shared values which can eventually help us live in a more democratic society where there is a more acknowledged understanding of our interdependence. The spirit reflected in Reich’s message was heard again recently, I think, in Barack Obama’s speech at the Democratic National Convention. (I like to bring up Obama whenever possible, because I worked with his wife Michelle when I was a student at the University of Chicago, and I was much impressed.) Obama said, “there is not a liberal America and a conservative America — there is the United States of America. There is not a Black America and a White America and Latino America and Asian America — there's the United States of America.” He continued, “The pundits like to slice-and-dice our country into Red States and Blue States; Red States for Republicans, Blue States for Democrats. But I've got news for them, too. We worship an awesome God in the Blue States, and we don't like federal agents poking around in our libraries in the Red States. We coach Little League in the Blue States and yes, we've got some gay friends in the Red States. There are patriots who opposed the war in Iraq and there are patriots who supported the war in Iraq. [But], we are all one people.” I heard other excellent speakers, including Dolores Huerta who spoke passionately about the need to fight for immigrants’ rights. Ben Bagdikian spoke about the new edition of his book, “The New Media Monopoly,” and like Amy Goodman stressed the importance of independent media in a democracy. And, former UUA president and current president of Amnesty International, Bill Schultz, argued that respect for human rights is at an all time low in our current administration, and, he said, it’s critical that we demand that those rights be respected, particularly by those who are acting in our name. So, there were all these great speeches, and all of this emphasis on voting, etc. For me, all of this can be tied together in the question, “What does it mean to be a Unitarian-Universalist in a democratic society?” In other words, how do we live the fifth principle? One of the ways that the UUA as an organization strives to live the fifth principle is through the social witness process, which leads to Statements of Conscience and Actions of Immediate Witness. You should have a handout updating you on this process. I don’t want to spend a lot of time talking about these issues today, as they are parts of ongoing conversations we’ve been having and will continue to have. I would like to just mention that the new Study/Action Issue chosen at this year’s GA was on the Threat of Global Warming. I look forward to working together with all of you on this issue—one for which I think Prairie has many excellent human resources! I see these issues—those named by speakers at GA, identified in the social witness process, etc.—as a large part of the ministry of the UUA. I know that a lot of UU’s get squeamish when traditional religious language is used, and I have to admit that at times, that describes me, too. But, I have thinking a lot lately about the idea of ministry. Not in terms of ministers, as credentialed professionals, but in terms of our service, as individuals and congregations, and the UUA as a whole. How do we minister to ourselves, and our communities? And this brings me back to my question, “What does it mean to be a UU in a democratic society?” Well, voting is clearly part of it, and energizing other voters. And speaking out when we sense that something is wrong, and focusing on achieving the common good in all kinds of ways. Another is listening to each other, and respecting every voice, even if it doesn’t agree with ours, or turn out to be in the majority. We know we have much work to do. I would like to close with one of my favorite quotes from GA. Dr. Welton Gaddy, a Baptist minister, and president of the Interfaith Alliance addressed the plenary session to talk about the work of the Alliance (of which the UUA is a part) to register voters, and to ensure that, in particular, minorities have the opportunity to vote and have their votes counted. He said, “I know I’m preaching to the choir, and what I’m saying is get off you butts and sing!” Thanks!

Presented by Sarah Lord and Kathy Converse
at Prairie Unitarian Universalist Society
August 8, 2004

Sarah Lord's presentation:

“We affirm and promote the right of conscience and the use of the democratic process in our congregations and in society at large.”

Hmmm, you might be thinking… I thought this was the service where our delegates to General Assembly were supposed to tell us about what happened at GA, about how fabulous it was to party with 5,000 UU’s in Long Beach, California. So, what’s up with all this talk about the fifth principle and democracy?

Well, rest assured that Kathy and I will be sharing some of our experiences from General Assembly with you, but we’ve chosen for this occasion to reflect on those experiences through the lens of the fifth principle for a number of reasons, which we hope will become clear to you during the course of the morning.

Before I dive into my discussion of GA, though, I’d like to spend a little time talking about the fifth principle itself. I bought a book at the UUA bookstore booth at GA (I tend to buy a lot of books at GA) called “Our Seven Principles in story and verse” by Kenneth Collier. In his discussion of the fifth principle, Collier points out that the fifth principle follows directly from our first principle. If we believe in the inherent worth and dignity of every person, then there are a couple of important consequences to that belief. One is that there is no natural hierarchy among people—no one is any more inherently worthy of, or any more entitled to power than anyone else. Another is that we all have potentially valid ideas that deserve to be heard and taken into account when making decisions about the society in which we live. To quote from the recently adopted Statement of Conscience on Civil Liberties, “Our Unitarian Universalist Principles are grounded in freedom, reason, and tolerance. Ours is a tradition that has sought to uphold the sanctity of the individual voice. We have affirmed that human beings need not adhere to the same beliefs or draw upon the same sources of meaning to discern the common good.” From these ideas, Collier formulates what I think is my favorite understanding of democracy: in a democracy, each of is in some sense responsible for everyone else, and everyone is responsible for each of us. This reminds me of the memorable motto of the Musketeers: All for one and one for all! Trite formulations aside, this is a very profound idea that lies at the heart of the fifth principle—which talks about BOTH the right of conscience AND the use of the democratic process. It is an understanding of the interdependent web of human society—we are not islands unto ourselves as some would have us believe, and it is not enough for us to look after only our self-interest while assuming that Adam Smith’s invisible hand will make everything alright, or while assuming that even if the invisible hand thing doesn’t work out, then it’s not my problem anyway if things are going badly for others. No, the common good is my responsibility, because I acknowledge both the inherent worth and dignity in me and in everyone else. So, now having established this idea of democracy as our shared responsibility for each other’s well-being, I’d like to share with you some of the things that I experienced and learned at GA. (Told you I’d get to that…)

For those of you who haven’t attended a GA in the past, there is a very wide variety of programming there. There are music programs, dramas, programs on meditation and grief, there are worship services, political lectures, historical talks, film screenings, theological debates, and meetings about church governance and finance, and hiring a minister, and growth, and then, of course, there are the plenary sessions, where the “official” business of GA gets done—where the delegates vote on decisions which will guide the UUA in the years to come. I’ll say more about this democratic process in a few minutes.

I’m sure it will not come as a surprise to any of you who know me at all, that my favorite programs at GA are, in general, the political ones. This year was no exception. Don’t get me wrong—I love the worship services, and singing, and networking with young adults, too, but I love politics, and so I’m drawn as if by an invisible hand to certain programs! Not surprisingly, perhaps, in an election year, virtually every political program that I went to emphasized the importance of voting, especially in this presidential election. And, the UUA, together with a number of other liberal religious denominations, is participating in a major voter-registration project this year, called “Faithful Democracy” so the emphasis on voting was coming from the pulpit as well as the podium.

One thing that was interesting to me about all of this talk about voting was that some of it was coming from people who said that they previously either had not been voters, or had voted, but had seen it as far less important than their other work as activists. For many progressive activists, I think, the realm of electoral politics has often seemed a bit too compromised—it didn’t seem like a site from which real change could emanate. There’s some truth to this, I’m sure, but there seems to be a great deal of consensus this year—if the political speakers at GA can be taken as any kind of representative sample—that participating in the electoral process is critical, and may determine whether other kinds of activism will be allowed to occur, or whether they have any chance of success. I heard no one say that there were any ideal candidates running for important offices this year, but what was echoed over and over again was that we all need to be participating in the electoral process in a meaningful way or our society will cease to be democratic in any meaningful sense. If we cede elections to those who are the most predictable voters—affluent white people who are middle-aged or beyond—then our country becomes in effect an oligarchy. I’m not trying to pretend that our country is currently any kind of model democracy, because clearly it’s not. But that makes it more important, not less, for each of us to exercise our right of conscience, make our voices heard, and cast our votes—and to make sure that others have the opportunity to do so, and that all votes casted are counted.

Voting, though, IS only one small but necessary part of our participation in our democratic society. We know that regardless of who wins in November, progressives will still have much work to do. We will not have met our obligations to each other (all for one and one for all, remember) just by voting. We will still need to be actively naming and addressing those instances of injustice and poverty, and environmental destruction, and so on, that we know compromise the common good.

So, with that, I’d like to spend a few minutes talking about a couple of the speakers I heard, and some of the issues that they addressed. Probably the speaker I was most excited to hear at GA was Amy Goodman. She is, as most of you probably know, the host of the news program “Democracy, Now!” which can be heard on WORT at 1 in the afternoon, and seen on WYOU at, 7AM and 6PM. She is a real heroine of mine—I admire her brilliance—she seems to know everything about everything, and be able to make all kinds of connections between different important people, ideas and events. I admire her ability to think on the spot. I admire her energy as she seems to be everywhere and covering every story. And I admire her courage—she is seemingly not afraid to ask any question to any person, and while she is always respectful, she is never intimidated by anyone’s celebrity or power.

She appeared in Madison the week before she was at GA, so maybe some of you heard her here. If you did, you already know that she’s currently doing a book tour promoting her book called “The Exception to the Rulers: Exposing Oily Politicians, War Profiteers, and the Media that Love them.” While her news program addresses all of the important events of the day, her book tour focuses primarily on the importance of independent media in a democracy. She rejects the term “mainstream media,” calling the corporate media the “extreme media.” As justification, she points out that during the few weeks leading up to the US invasion in Iraq, out of almost 400 interviews on PBS, NBC, ABC, and CBS—not even counting Fox—only 3 were with anti-war activists, and this was at a time when between 1/3 and ½ of the country were opposed to the war. Independent media, Amy argues, allows people from across the spectrum the time and space to speak for themselves, and this, she says, breaks down stereotypes and caricatures.

So, to return to the fifth principle, and our promotion of the right of conscience and the democratic process—Amy Goodman reminds us of the importance of independent media in providing us the information we need to exercise our consciences responsibly in our democratic society. She also reminds us of the importance of listening carefully and respectfully to every voice—even those in the minority, and even those we disagree with.

Another speaker that I was excited to hear, in part because I missed his talk last year, was Robert Reich. He, too, is promoting a book—his is called Reason: why liberals will win the battle for America. If you’re like me, you fluctuate between confident optimism that this next election will turn out OK, and abject terror that despite all of the issues and all of our hard work we might lose anyway. And so, you latch on to every prediction of victory regardless of the source—tea leaves are predicting a Bush defeat! Right on!—Reich, though, is a source with some reasons to know what he’s talking about. His book isn’t really about the next election, however. It has more to do with the long term direction of American ideology. He believes that there are two fundamental worldviews competing for dominance in our country right now. The first says that we are primarily individuals, rather than citizens. Our responsibility is to seek our self-interest, and, as a nation among nations, we are primarily defined by our ability to use force. The second says that we are citizens first, and we are interdependent. We cannot exist in our society nor among nations unless we realize our profound interdependence. (Sound familiar?)

The reason that Reich believes that this latter ideology will ultimately win out is because he believes that underneath political identities most Americans have an underlying sense of fairness, and they don’t believe it’s fair for people to work hard, but not make enough money to support their families, or have health insurance, etc. From Reich, I think, the important lesson is not to give up on the fifty percent of Americans who might not seem to agree with us about anything. There are, he says, important shared values which can eventually help us live in a more democratic society where there is a more acknowledged understanding of our interdependence. The spirit reflected in Reich’s message was heard again recently, I think, in Barack Obama’s speech at the Democratic National Convention. (I like to bring up Obama whenever possible, because I worked with his wife Michelle when I was a student at the University of Chicago, and I was much impressed.) Obama said, “there is not a liberal America and a conservative America — there is the United States of America. There is not a Black America and a White America and Latino America and Asian America — there's the United States of America.” He continued,
“The pundits like to slice-and-dice our country into Red States and Blue States; Red States for Republicans, Blue States for Democrats. But I've got news for them, too. We worship an awesome God in the Blue States, and we don't like federal agents poking around in our libraries in the Red States. We coach Little League in the Blue States and yes, we've got some gay friends in the Red States. There are patriots who opposed the war in Iraq and there are patriots who supported the war in Iraq. [But], we are all one people.”

I heard other excellent speakers, including Dolores Huerta who spoke passionately about the need to fight for immigrants’ rights. Ben Bagdikian spoke about the new edition of his book, “The New Media Monopoly,” and like Amy Goodman stressed the importance of independent media in a democracy. And, former UUA president and current president of Amnesty International, Bill Schultz, argued that respect for human rights is at an all time low in our current administration, and, he said, it’s critical that we demand that those rights be respected, particularly by those who are acting in our name.

So, there were all these great speeches, and all of this emphasis on voting, etc. For me, all of this can be tied together in the question, “What does it mean to be a Unitarian-Universalist in a democratic society?” In other words, how do we live the fifth principle?

One of the ways that the UUA as an organization strives to live the fifth principle is through the social witness process, which leads to Statements of Conscience and Actions of Immediate Witness. You should have a handout updating you on this process. I don’t want to spend a lot of time talking about these issues today, as they are parts of ongoing conversations we’ve been having and will continue to have. I would like to just mention that the new Study/Action Issue chosen at this year’s GA was on the Threat of Global Warming. I look forward to working together with all of you on this issue—one for which I think Prairie has many excellent human resources!

I see these issues—those named by speakers at GA, identified in the social witness process, etc.—as a large part of the ministry of the UUA. I know that a lot of UU’s get squeamish when traditional religious language is used, and I have to admit that at times, that describes me, too. But, I have thinking a lot lately about the idea of ministry. Not in terms of ministers, as credentialed professionals, but in terms of our service, as individuals and congregations, and the UUA as a whole. How do we minister to ourselves, and our communities? And this brings me back to my question, “What does it mean to be a UU in a democratic society?” Well, voting is clearly part of it, and energizing other voters. And speaking out when we sense that something is wrong, and focusing on achieving the common good in all kinds of ways. Another is listening to each other, and respecting every voice, even if it doesn’t agree with ours, or turn out to be in the majority. We know we have much work to do.

I would like to close with one of my favorite quotes from GA. Dr. Welton Gaddy, a Baptist minister, and president of the Interfaith Alliance addressed the plenary session to talk about the work of the Alliance (of which the UUA is a part) to register voters, and to ensure that, in particular, minorities have the opportunity to vote and have their votes counted. He said, “I know I’m preaching to the choir, and what I’m saying is get off you butts and sing!” Thanks!