Part of the Problem

Staying at a hotel for MSD district annual assembly, I was awoken at 2:45 AM to loud screaming at the pool. There was a group of people in the pool area and they were having quite the discussion. In my half stupor, I opened the door and began yelling for them to quiet down. They did not hear me. I yelled again… they still did not hear me… it slowly dawned on me as I was waking up that I was now part of the problem rather than the solution. I shut the door and called the front desk who had just received several calls regarding the situation and no doubt my cacophony was included in the complaint.

I have been reflecting on whether there were other times in my life when my actions were part of the problem?   Were there times that I with the sleepiness of unawareness acted in ways that contributed to racism through white privilege; or global warming  through abandoned consumerism; or injustice through self-centered attitudes. 

Being part of the problem is never the role a person wants to be in when trying to solve a dilemma. We want to make things better, we want to create justice, we want to heal the wounds that have been inflicted; not make things worse by increasing injustice with layers of bureaucracy, or re-wound the inflicted. Yet, sometimes we have approached problems the same way for so long we think that must be the right way to solve this new problem or old problem that has once again surfaced to our awareness.  

The bumper sticker that reads “if you are not part of the solution you are part of the problem” never seemed very helpful to me.  I wanted a bit more awareness about this problem. What was the problem, how was I contributing to it, how could I stop contributing it? 

Somewhere in my sleepy stupor of wanting to return to sleep and no longer hear the yelling and screaming, I realized that I had become part of the problem and not the solution.  I owned my participation in exacerbating the problem and saw a means to stop contributing to the problem and perhaps found another way to solve the problem. It was a matter of becoming fully alert and present to what was happening. 

This seems key to me… to be fully alert and present to what is happening. It may be painful to be fully alert and present and so I understand the desire to keep responding from the sleepy numbing stupor but that will not create the solution desired and may actually increase the problem.  yet, it is only when we are fully awake can we respond with our full authentic selves and bring healing and transformation to this world. 

May we all seek to realize the role we play in the problems we face and become awake and alert in order to see our ways to the solutions we seek.  Blessings, Rev. Fred L Hammond

 

Voices of a Liberal Faith–Unitarian Universalists

This is an excellent introduction to Unitarian Universalism. It has been seen elsewhere. But there may be people in Mississippi who have not seen it. Enjoy!

Plus, placing this video here taught me how to do this on this blog…

Blessings, Rev. Fred L Hammond

Success

I thought this quote was correctly attributed to Ralph Waldo Emerson but alas, it may not be.  There are two other poems with very similar language, some things added, some things substracted.  A poem by Bessie Anderson Stanley which won a prize in 1904 and a poem by Robert Louis Stevenson.  I sought to find another source for the the Stevenson poem and could not.   Perhaps one of our dear readers may know the correct source of this quote.  Regardless of who said it first or best, these are good words to heed.  Blessings,

Obama in 30 seconds

Moveon.org is sponsoring a contest for political ads for Barack Obama.  Here are some of my favorites.   I wasn’t able to figure out to post these differently but enjoy…  For other clips and to vote on your favorites go to Obamain30seconds.org.  Blessings,

http://obamain30seconds.org/vote/?v=view-2491-u5KqEL

 

http://www.obamain30seconds.org/vote/?v=view-2441-UhcnHd&linkfromdisplay=true&linktarget=_blank“

http://www.obamain30seconds.org/vote/index.html?id=-6801616-.oQCUO&voted=1

http://obamain30seconds.org/vote/?v=view-2319-RD5L_u

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Cousin George W. Bush??

I am an avid amateur genealogist.  [Did I just hear someone say rabid?] I enjoy tracking my ancestors and learning more about their lives, who they were, what they thought, what kinds of struggles did they have.  This all fascinates me.  It also fascinates me to discover how I am related to other people.  It is for me a clear sign of the interdependent web of which we are all a part.  

Ancestry.com has a feature that allows someone as rabid about genealogy as I am to look up famous people and their connections to your family tree.  Of course, the connections are only as good as the research that people have done to confirm these connections.  I discovered that I am related, albeit, distantly, to some 6 presidents and 6 first ladies, as well as Rev. William Ellery Channing, one of the icons of Unitarian history.  Interesting, if this sort of thing excites you.  

What startled me is that one of these Presidents that I am distantly related to is none other than President George Walker Bush through his mother, Barbara. 

Now for those of you who know me know that I am not a huge fan of our President.  In fact, I have pretty strong opinions about where I think he should be instead of at the White House.  But the fact that somewhere  inside him and inside me flows the same DNA has stirred up some things for me.   

First, that someone so [Fill in your own expletives @%$#&*!] could be even remotely related to me is astounding.  But it reveals another thought… oft times expressed as “there but for the grace of god, go I.”  I don’t know what experiences he may have had that led him to being the type of persona I see in the media.  For that matter I am not even sure what experiences I have had that were directly responsible and linked to the expression of my own unique persona.  But here I am and here he is on this planet.  Opposites in our opinion, hanging steadfast in our stubbornness to believe that ours are the right ones. Stubborness must come from his mother’s side of the family as it must come from my father’s side of the family.   

In my quest to understand my heritage, I learned several years ago that one of my great grandmothers, several generations back, was Adrienne Cuvelier.  She was the mother of the first white male born in the New World–New Amsterdam, before it was New Amsterdam, to be exact.  It was her family which is claimed to be responsible for one of the first massacres of the native people here.  She instigated revenge for the killing of a white man after a poker game with the native peoples.  In revenge, the men from the fort in the middle of the night crossed the river into New Jersey to slaughter men, women and children of the native people.  Many were decapitated with their heads placed on stakes brought back to the fort.  Grandma Cuvelier was so deranged that it was said she played kick ball with one of the heads after it fell off the stake.  The chief of this village, it is written, is said to have asked what kind of people would kill their own sons and daughters.  Many of the tribe had intermarried with the families from the fort and therefore white blood flowed within their beings. 

I remember feeling sick, physically sick when I first read this historical account of my ancestors role in this brutal attack.  It was unimaginable to me to act in this manner.  And I wondered what part of her still existed in my veins. 

What her act represents to me is the  beginnings of White Privilege in this country.  The belief that whites are so privileged to act in a manner that this behavior coming from other people would be considered at best; arrogantly rude or as in the example given above; down right evil.  Not justifying the act of the native person’s killing of another person, but for the members of the fort to lay blame on an entire village of people is to declare those people as an other, an object that can be gotten rid of as easily as one would get rid of an insect infestation.  To separate oneself from the shared biological connection these people had is a form of schizophrenia, it is to disown a part of our selves.  And, given that my ancestors included 6 Presidents and 6 First Ladies means that others of my ancestry were in the position to strengthen this notion of White Privilege as it developed in America.  

It is said that all people can trace their DNA back to Africa.  Which means that we are all related some how, albeit very distantly.  So when we find ourselves disagreeing vehemently with another person, whether they are in the same room as us, in the news media or across the globe in Iraq or North Korea, know that he or she is kin.   And just as I may disagree with my immediate family on a variety of issues–just listen in on my families annual Thanksgiving political debates–I do not wish any harm to befall them. 

So too, I wish only well being for my Cousin George Dubya.  I close with this Metta. 

May all in my immediate family dwell in peace in their hearts and minds and in their actions. May all in my immediate family know their own well-being.  May all in my distant family dwell in peace in their hearts and minds and in their actions.  May all in my distant family know their own well-being. May all living in other lands dwell in peace in their hearts and minds and in their actions.  May all living in other lands know their own well-being. Namaste… Rev. Fred L Hammond          

   

Rev. Dr. Martin Luther King

Today marks the 40th anniversary of Rev. Dr. Martin  Luther King’s assassination in Memphis, TN.  Unitarian Universalists had a special relationship with King’s civil rights movement.  Over 200 Unitarian Universalist clergy answered his call to come to Selma to protest the voting registration policies.  During that call Unitarian Universalists lost Rev. James Reeb to a fatal beating.  These were dangerous times and Rev. Dr. Martin Luther King was able to engender hope and freedom for all of America. 

There are two things that happen when a man like Martin Luther King is killed.  Either he is placed high on a pedestal or his detractors inflate his failings.   Both are true regarding this man.  His work with civil rights has elevated him on a pedestal for many making him untouchable and his legacy as unrepeatable by any other person. His admirers have called him an American Saint (even though Baptists do not canonize people) and Prophet.  His detractors inflate his flaws–his womanizing and his alleged plagiarizing on his doctoral thesis.   The truth is that this man, this human being, was both saint and sinner.   He led a people to the mountain tops.  He made some mis-judgments along the way.  

The lesson is this…  We all have the potential to do wonderful and great things to help right society’s wrongs.  We all have the potential to make errors in judgment and behave poorly as a result.   One does not discount the other.  As humans we can accomplish great and wonderful things regardless of our human failings. We can do things that create suffering and still have moments of grace where good things happen through us.  Humanity is neither 100% good nor 100% evil.  We are a mixture of both. 

To place a person on a pedestal of 100% good is to deny our own potential of doing great things to improve society.  To place a person in the other direction is to deny our own potential to do things that create suffering.  We potentially will do  both and have probably done both in our own eyes and in the eyes of others. 

 Let’s honor Rev. Dr. Martin Luther King for the human he was.  A man who strove to help set a people free in the land of the free.  Who sought to make things right and reduce the suffering of so many individuals and families.  A  man who also  brought suffering to his own family because of his own human inclinations.  Because Rev. Dr. Martin Luther King was human, we too can strive to help set people free in this land of the free.    May we continue his legacy by seeking the path of non-violence in all of our deliberations and actions. 

Blessings,
Rev. Fred L Hammond

5 UU myths debunked

The following is an adapted excerpt from a sermon I gave entitled “Identity Crisis”.   I thought it would be helpful for those exploring Unitarian Universalism to have a minister’s perspective on these very common myths about us.   

1.  Myth:  Unitarian Universalism is a new religion. 

No.  While the Unitarian and Universalist denominations merged in 1961, Unitarian Universalism is a faith tradition with roots in the Protestant reformation of the late 1500’s and theological thoughts going back to the founding days of Christianity.   Unitarian and Universalism thought were profound shapers of the formation of the United States of America.  Five Presidents have been either Unitarian or Unitarian influenced; Thomas Jefferson, John Adams, John Quincy Adams, Millard Fillmore, and William Howard Taft.   Thomas Jefferson never officially joined a Unitarian church however,  there is enough documentation to suggest his religious beliefs were very much aligned with Unitarian thought.  John Quincy Adams was raised in his father’s Unitarian church but later joined a Congregational church as an adult.  For fundamentalist Christians to claim that the founding fathers were intending a Christian nation to be developed is a weak argument given the profound influence of Unitarian theology in colonial America which was non-creedally based.   

Judith Sargent Murray, wife of John Murray the founder of Universalism in America had a profound impact on the social development of this country.  Her writings on education,on women’s issues, and on social concerns were ahead of her  time and influenced the development of public education, the suffrage movement, and the development of modern social work. 

2. Myth:  Unitarian Universalists can believe whatever they want. 

Not true.  Yes, we are a creedless faith just as our spiritual ancestors the Puritans did not have a creedal test for membership.  But just as our Puritan ancestors did, we have covenanted together to uphold certain standards.  Today we call those standards our seven principles.   And while our individual theologies may differ from one another, these theologies are to support our striving to live out these seven principles.  If our beliefs counter these principles, then we are challenged to examine our beliefs and explore how to bring them into alignment with these principles. 

3. Myth: Unitarian Universalists do not have a faith.  

No, I have a very strong faith.  My faith is not handed to me from some text book written thousands of years ago by a people who could not even imagine my life and culture.  My faith is an intimate and personal relationship with my here and now.  My faith is concerned with how closely I live my values now, and not on whether some hereafter judgment will allow me to enter a heavenly paradise. My faith is focused here in this life; the hereafter will take care of itself.   Yes, I have a strong faith.     

4.  Myth:  Unitarian Universalists are wishy-washy in their values. 

No. I am very firm in my values.  My values are based on my ability to sift through the lessons of humanity, seeing what is moral and good.  Using my intellect, my faculties of reason and experience; I weigh out the measure of what constitutes liberty, justice, and equality.  My values guide me to act in certain ways to help correct societal ills.  Many of us have come to conclude that one need not think alike in order to embrace others into our family. We have learned that from great diversity comes greater ideas and wisdom that can guide us in living our humanity collectively.  Our values give us the basis from which we are free to explore other religious thoughts without being threatened that those thoughts might reveal a truth that contradicts our presumptions.  My faith is firm in its values. 

5.  Myth: Unitarian Universalism is a cult.  

No.  Just because someone may not understand another’s faith does not mean the other person is in a cult.  There are distinct characteristics of a cult.  Cults tend to be insular.  Cults tend to want to separate from society.  They tend to want to isolate members from those from outside the group, including their friends and family.  Cults insist that their way of being and doing is the only course of action that is correct.  Cults tend to discourage questioning and free thinking about their beliefs.   Cults tend to have a central key figure who is charismatic and whose totalitarian authority is supreme above all others. We Unitarian Universalists want to question.  We want to encourage our young people to have critical thinking skills.  We want our young people to find a spiritual path that exemplifies and strengthens their values and moral convictions.  We want to be engaged in society, to seek improvements for all people, of all classes, races, and sexual orientation.  Our faith has been engaged with American Society since the days of King George III.  We value the democratic method of governance within our congregations.  No, we are not a cult.  In fact, we have our seven principles that we covenant to uphold that would help prevent any of our congregations from becoming cult-like. 

If you would like more information on Unitarian Universalism please check out http://www.uua.org or watch this video on youtube  http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=wezp1W2HKlU 

Blessings,
Rev. Fred L Hammond

 

US Supreme Court to hear Ten Commandments case

The Christian Science Monitor today ( http://www.csmonitor.com/2008/0401/p02s01-usju.html?page=2) reports that the US Supreme Court has decided to take up the case as to whether the display of the Ten Commandments the Utah public park constitute a form of government speech which is not allowed to everyone.   The Salt Lake City based Summum church requested to have a monument of their Seven Aphorisms erected next to the Ten Commandment monument (http://www.summum.us/summum.shtml).  

The Seven Aphorisms, the Summum Church contends are the first set of laws or commandments given by G-d to Moses on Mount Sinai.  These were the first set of tablets that Moses broke into pieces when he saw the people of Israel behaving in a manner not worthy of receiving these laws.   The Summum church claims these Seven Aphorisms survived through oral tradition and is found in the teachings of Jewish Mysticism (The Kabbalah) and in Christian Gnosticism.   When the city of Pleasant Grove, Utah refused to allow the monument, the church sued claiming their Free Speech Amendment rights were violated.

The Federal judge hearing the case found for the city. However, the 10th US Court of the Appeals found for the church. This case now goes to the US Supreme court in the fall. 

What is at stake here however is more than simply allowing another religious voice to place a monument on public lands.  The City of Casper, Wyoming filed a friend of the court brief regarding this case.  Rev. Fred Phelps’ church is seeking to use the 10th US Court of Appeals case to have a monument placed next to their Ten Commandment monument in their city park.  Casper is the home for Matthew Shepard. who was brutally murdered and tied to a fence in cruciform for being gay.   Rev. Fred Phelps, as we might remember attended Shepard’s funeral with pictures of the young man surrounded with flames indicating he is now in hell for his sins.   Phelps wants to place next to the Ten Commandment monument in Casper, WY;  a monument stating: ”MATTHEW SHEPARD Entered Hell October 12, 1998, in Defiance of God’s Warning ‘Thou shalt not lie with mankind as with womankind: it is abomination.’ Lev. 18:22.”

The decision of the 10th US Court of Appeals places the City of Casper in a bind.  The language of Rev. Fred Phelps is what people have defined as hate speech.  Yet, should it be allowed in a public forum to preserve Freedom of Speech and to prevent a form of government speech?  Does allowing such a hate filled monument then become seen as the sanctioned voice of the government because it is on public land? 

Strictly from an ethical standpoint, I am at a loss to this question.  I understand the argument presented by the Summum church to Pleasant Grove.  AND, I most definitely understand the question raised in Casper, WY where they do not want to honor in any way the murderous actions of those who killed Matthew Shepard but may be forced to if the ruling of the 10th US Court is upheld by the Supreme Court. 

What is clear to me from these proceedings is this: our actions to seek justice in one location could have profound and negative unjust actions result in another location.  We need to be deligent to explore as many possible outcomes in advance of our deciding what causes of justice we are eager to fight for in our society. 

Ours is a faith that comes with no easy answers.  We have no doctrine that delineates easily our actions into concrete right and wrong.  We must search for those answers to the best of our ability and know that an honest responsible search for truth and meaning is enough.   It also means that if we are later proved to have erred, that we accept our errors and begin love again. 

Blessings,

Rev. Fred L Hammond

Rev. Wright: United Church of Christ Response

I thought the response by United Church of Christ’s denomination President Rev. John Thomas to be one that wonderfully illustrates the history of the free pulpit and the role of prophets in the church.  I have linked his response here:  http://www.ucc.org/news/responding-to-wright.html

The comments that Rev. Thomas received appears to prove that old adage that a prophet is never welcomed in his own home.  It seems that once again that only when our prophets are dead– Rev. Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr, Malcom X– do we then begin to honor their legacy and words to us. 

We also seem to be in an era in this country where patriotism is only thought to be a true character of a person when they only wave the flag or wear a lapel pin or speak lofty praise of governmental actions.  We seem to be living in an era where any voice of dissent is seen as a mark of treason.   Dangerous times when the land of the free is so afraid of a voice of dissent that it must squelch it. 

Rev. Wright’s legacy with Trinity Church in Chicago goes far beyond the soundbytes that a conservative news media chose to focus on and then the rest of the media followed like hungry dogs.  The church has been a beacon of hope to thousands of families living on the south side of Chicago.  Rev. Thomas in his remarks recognizes the whole picture of who this man is.  He is more than a selected soundbyte.   

I offer my thoughts and prayers that Rev. Wright and Rev. Thomas will be able to continue to stand with integrity in their convictions with the freedom of the pulpit to express these. 

Blessings,
Rev. Fred L Hammond

A return to Old Fashion Mississippi values ??

I don’t know if any of you have seen or heard the political ad where the candidate running for congress states several things:  Has conservative values (OK); nation founded on Faith, Family, and Freedom (OK); will not waver on his views of traditional marriage (OK, I happen to be pro equal marriage rights); will continue to stand up for the unborn (OK, I happen to be pro choice);  and Washington needs a good dose of “Old Fashion Mississippi Values.”  (er… WHAT?!).

I understand the conservative values statement but I tend to be progressive in my values.  I am not totally convinced that Faith, Family, and Freedom were the three things America was founded on but I have heard this rhetoric from conservatives before.   I understand how someone could be against equal marriage rights and even against a women’s right to choose.  But to end the ad with wanting to bring to Washington ”Old fashion Mississippi values”?  

Uhm… I don’t know about you but here is what popped into my mind when he said this…  White supremacy…  White Privilege… Re-instituting the Sovereignty Commission which spied on civil rights activists and colluded (or if that word is too strong … conveniently turned a blind eye) with the terrorist organization known as the KKK… segregation of schools…  lynchings…  Burning churches…  The free use of degrading terms to demonize groups of people (such as the n word)…  These were the values of Mississippi 40-50 years ago.  These are the old fashioned values of yesteryear and he wants to bring these back?  To do what?  …  (My ability to be facetious won’t really work here.)

How about some new values or better yet a return to values that a very wise teacher taught on the shores of Galilee…  Love your neighbor as your self… Do unto others as you would have others do unto you…  How about being like the good Samaritan–that reviled demonized race of ancient times–who sought to relieve the suffering of another…   How about seeking to emulate those values… 

How about wanting to keep jobs in Mississippi instead of having them leave for cheaper wages in other countries.  How about wanting to ensure equal educational opportunities in our schools so that all students regardless of the school district they live in have the same chance to excel.  How about insisting on a living wage in Mississippi?  How about wanting equality for all the citizens of Mississippi.     How about ensuring affordable housing for low-income families?  How about ensuring that couples who are looking to adopt and raise children in loving homes can, regardless if they are common-law wed or same gendered (This is a bill before the state legislators).  How about not creating felons of undocumented employees and their employers for hiring them (This was just signed into law by Governor Barbour).   How about fixing our judiciary system so that the punishment is the same for a person of color as for a white person who commits the same type of crime. 

These actions are based in values that I could get behind.  They represent the values that my faith teaches…  inherent worth and dignity of all persons;  Justice, compassion, and equity in human relationships.  

May our hearts embrace the desire for a different kind of Mississippi,  not one from the past, but one that seeks to uplift all of its citizens towards a better future. 

Blessings,
Rev. Fred L Hammond