Unitarian Universalism as a Political Platform
Fellow Americans, we are in a world of trouble and if we (that’s you and me) don’t take steps to make things better they are going to get drastically worse. As a culture/nation we have become very lazy; we have become complacent; and we have left it up to our "elected” officials to handle everything for us. They are doing a poor job of it and it’s time we take back control. If our forefathers could see us now, they’d be dumping oil in Boston Harbor.
Except for a small handful of sheep who can’t think for themselves, I believe that we are all in agreement that change is needed and it is needed NOW. This is not about being Republican or Democrat, this is about whether or not you can hold your head high and say “I’m an American” – these days I can not. I am embarrassed by the leadership of this country and the complacency of it’s citizens (that’s you and me, again).
It is clear that we are a nation divided – “polarized” to use the popular media term. It is that very polarization that is allowing the current state of affairs. We won’t come together to work on anything because we are so far apart and so stubborn that we can’t compromise. As a result, something far worse then compromise is occurring. It is time that we stop concentrating on our differences and instead focus on our similarities and work toward a solution.
At the risk of sounding like I am mixing politics and religion (which I am NOT) I would like to propose a Unitarian Universalist approach to our political problem. (Here me out – this is a good metaphor) There are many religions in the world, and the majority of them pretty much outline the same guidelines, but they have a different name for their God(s) and they tell different stories to illustrate their teachings, but in the end, much of the teachings are the same. But yet wars are waged over the slight differences and the need to have "my" religion be the ONE religion. And then the Unitarian Universalists came along and basically said: we don’t care what you call your God(s) (if any) or which story you believe (if any), we believe in “right relations” and as long as you believe in “right relations” then we’re all cool. You know what "right relations" is – you know right from wrong; you know what makes a good person vs. a bad person – do right; be a good person; be true to yourself and to others and try to make the world a better place.
Why can’t we take this same approach to politics? Why can’t we forget the semantics of right and left and concentrate on what we ALL want. Yes there will be differences between us, but we are not accomplishing anything productive by focusing on those differences, in fact, it is causing our self-destruction. We all want peace, we all want relief from poverty, a decent health care system, a healty environment . . . (the list goes on and on). So let’s put our great minds together and find a way to make it happen. Let’s be the UU’s of politics and say: we don’t care what you call your political party (if you even have one), we believe in “right relations” and as long as you believe in “right relations” then we’re all cool. You know what "right relations" is – you know right from wrong; you know what makes a good person vs. a bad person – do right; be a good person; be true to yourself and to others and try to make the world a better place.
Except for a small handful of sheep who can’t think for themselves, I believe that we are all in agreement that change is needed and it is needed NOW. This is not about being Republican or Democrat, this is about whether or not you can hold your head high and say “I’m an American” – these days I can not. I am embarrassed by the leadership of this country and the complacency of it’s citizens (that’s you and me, again).
It is clear that we are a nation divided – “polarized” to use the popular media term. It is that very polarization that is allowing the current state of affairs. We won’t come together to work on anything because we are so far apart and so stubborn that we can’t compromise. As a result, something far worse then compromise is occurring. It is time that we stop concentrating on our differences and instead focus on our similarities and work toward a solution.
At the risk of sounding like I am mixing politics and religion (which I am NOT) I would like to propose a Unitarian Universalist approach to our political problem. (Here me out – this is a good metaphor) There are many religions in the world, and the majority of them pretty much outline the same guidelines, but they have a different name for their God(s) and they tell different stories to illustrate their teachings, but in the end, much of the teachings are the same. But yet wars are waged over the slight differences and the need to have "my" religion be the ONE religion. And then the Unitarian Universalists came along and basically said: we don’t care what you call your God(s) (if any) or which story you believe (if any), we believe in “right relations” and as long as you believe in “right relations” then we’re all cool. You know what "right relations" is – you know right from wrong; you know what makes a good person vs. a bad person – do right; be a good person; be true to yourself and to others and try to make the world a better place.
Why can’t we take this same approach to politics? Why can’t we forget the semantics of right and left and concentrate on what we ALL want. Yes there will be differences between us, but we are not accomplishing anything productive by focusing on those differences, in fact, it is causing our self-destruction. We all want peace, we all want relief from poverty, a decent health care system, a healty environment . . . (the list goes on and on). So let’s put our great minds together and find a way to make it happen. Let’s be the UU’s of politics and say: we don’t care what you call your political party (if you even have one), we believe in “right relations” and as long as you believe in “right relations” then we’re all cool. You know what "right relations" is – you know right from wrong; you know what makes a good person vs. a bad person – do right; be a good person; be true to yourself and to others and try to make the world a better place.
posted by 10-8-ious | 2:56 PM
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