The Oracle

September 6, 2004

Reading for Maturity

    This is our annual Gathering of the Waters service. Please bring waters you have collected during our summer travels, or from your home or favorite watering hole. We’ll collect our waters while we reflect on what a mature spiritual community feels like.

Being a Beacon in the Larger World

    With so much polarized religious debate in our country, what role do Unitarian Universalists play? Are we a part of the debate, making it more polarized, or easing the tension? How do we even begin a conversation with friends or family, never mind the folks in the elevator?

² ² ²

    The recent controversy over the Academy’s decision to post-pone the showing of Michael Moore’s Fahrenheit 911 has resulted in far more editorial letters and op ed pieces than any controversy I’ve tried to stir up in this town. On an observer level it has been rather exciting to read the paper lately, and that’s something to say with our paper.

    Here is my op ed piece for the readers in our religious community. I’ve agreed with almost all of the comments objecting to the movie postponement and eventual cancellation. Here are a couple more thoughts:

The Academy has censored a potentially "objectionable" movie, and they also have the option to do so as an independently owned non-profit. Yet to do so showed several things. Judging by the quotes in the paper, the board showed consider-able lack of foresight and awareness when they agreed to the schedule proposed by the movie selection committee. Anyone who didn’t know how potentially "objection-able" Moore’s movie is, had to be living on a remote island for the last nine months. Considering the business the Academy is in, the board has a duty to be aware and educated on current movies, plays and music, and the fact they are potentially "objectionable", before they are scheduled to play in their house.

 

While the Academy is a private, 501c-3 non-profit, they still receive public funds through grants, which makes them responsible at a very high level, to ensure that they public’s best interest is considered in their decision making. Showing triple X rated movies would not be in the public’s best interest. Showing movies that further the public interest in political, social and ethical discourse is in the public’s best interest.

 

If Moore’s movie had bombed at the movie theaters, if it had been vilified by the main stream and middle of the road movie critics, if the movie had been banned at the Cannes Film Festival, the theater would be on stronger ground with their decision. But, the movie did exceptionally well at the box office for a "documentary" category movie, the only people vilifying the movie were those vilified IN the movie, and it won a major award at a prestigious film festival.

 

Finally, once the Academy made the decision to show Fahrenheit 911, they should have stuck to their commitment. In postponing the movie, particularly in light of pressure received from private donors, the Academy board members showed a profound deficiency in courage. Creating, showing and viewing art and its inherent political nature, takes courage. Those who are charged, and therefore trusted by the public to show art, need strong backs to carry the weight of controversy. The Academy board has lost the trust of many in this community, and it will take a long time for that trust to be granted again. Basing a decision upon fear rarely results in a positive outcome. Most unfortunately, the board of the Academy has brilliantly demonstrated this.

² ² ²

Weaving the Fabric of Diversity

    Take stock of the "isms" that may be holding you back from embracing diversity: racism, heterosexism, ableism, classism and ageism. Eight sessions offer learning strategies for increasing diversity in your congregation.

    Childcare available but will need one week notice.

How many UUs does it take to change a light bulb?

    New members and visitors take note: On October 31, November 7 and 14, at 12 noon in the parish house, Kate will facilitate a new member and visitor orientation that includes some history of Unitarian Universalism, how UUs are governed, what we teach our children, and answer the question of "How many UUs does it take to change a light bulb". These are fun and informative sessions for anyone interested in learning more about UUs or have simply a need to upgrade their UU history.

² ² ²

To the Board and the whole congregation:

    I want to thank you all for the lovely note and unexpected check that were sent to me in thanks for my ministerial help while Kate was away this year on Sabbatical. What a wonderful surprise! Your generosity is very much appreciated. While I am still in Meadville for the next year I want you to know I will continue to help out in any way I am able until the time comes when I move on to a church of my own. Thank you, as ever, for your continuing and invaluable support and encouragement of my ministry.

² ² ²

Mama: What did you talk about in Sunday School today?

Latricia: Cannibalism.

Mama: Cannibalism? Was your teacher for it or against it?

Latricia: She said we had to decide for ourselves.

² ² ²

Religious Education at Church

    The large trees outside the RE rooms are already showing signs of yellow, and the breeze through the open window smells of autumn. The RE classrooms have been dusted, swept, and stocked for the new year. I take a deep breath and smell wax from the bright untried crayons and the wood shavings from newly sharpened pencils. Soon the rooms will be buzzing with activities and conversations. Many of you may wonder what kind of discussions will be held in these UU RE rooms. Below is a brief overview of our 2004-2005 Religious Education Curriculum. Also, our new RE brochure is hot off the presses and will contain other vital RE information. These brochures will be available in the pews at church and in the parish house. Of course, if you have specific questions about a certain curriculum please feel free to ask me.

    The 4 to 6 year old children will be learning from the Story Time curriculum. This two year curriculum draws upon children’s literature, crafts, music, and creative movement to teach UU principles, build positive social skills, and explore spirituality in an open-ended way. The children will also get an introduction to religious holidays.

    In 2004-2005 this class will be using the We Believe Curriculum. This curriculum focuses on one of the seven UU principles each month. Students learn through stories and activities how each principle impacts their daily lives.

    This class is organized around a two-year curriculum entitled Stepping Stones which is based on the following premises:

• Religion helps people find answers to important life questions, and

• Unitarian Universalists seek to find these answers for themselves.

    Some of these life questions are explored through stories and myths from other religions and different cultures, UU history, famous UUs, and activities involving moral reflection and responsible decision making.

    This group will draw upon multiple resources for learning more about UU values in a broader social context. Many lessons will be drawn from the UU curriculums, Traditions with a Wink, and Neighboring Faiths. Lessons will incorporate religious texts and teachings from other religions. The class will develop service projects, create personal faith statements, and learn about other religions by visiting other churches or places of worship.

    This curriculum is designed for our youth in high school. Since the youth are already in a highly structured classroom environment during the week, this program is not text-book based. Our high school youth are dealing with many issues at this time in their lives. This pro-gram, therefore, provides a safe place to deal with these issues. Each year the youth group develops a social action project, leads a spring worship service, and plans a field trip. They also hold over-nighters and other social activities throughout the year.

RE Registration Continues

    For those of you who have not registered your children, please pick up a registration form at the RE display in the parish house before or after church. I would like to have a record of all of our students up to age 18.

² ² ²

    The Committee on Congregational Ministry conducted a survey last May. Under the section asking, "Name three things you like about our congregation, eight people specifically named the Religious Education program or some aspect of it. Two examples:

• A strong dedicated RE program that nurtures and challenges our children

• Permits/encourages full participation by children (joys/concerns, the dancing etc.)

    A basic report on the survey was printed in the newsletter in July. The full verbatim report on what people said, and the statistical results, are available in the office, just ask Venessa. All board members have received copies of the comments made on the survey and the statistical results. Anyone who has questions or concerns are encouraged to speak directly with members of the Committee on Congregational Ministry: Mike McGrath, Sue Fuller, Amelia Carr, John Fox, and Herb Klions. Please note this committee is charged with overseeing the overall spiritual and emotional health of the congregation, so if you believe something is wrong, or right, tell one of them!

² ² ²

    There will be a Congregational Meeting after the service on September 12, 2004. We will discuss the motion to proceed with a Capital Campaign to address a number of pressing repairs to our historic buildings.

² ² ²

Theocracy Watch

    Social Concerns Committee will host a luncheon talk on the Radical Religious Right following the service on September 19.

    "Religious freedom is one thing," says Joan Bokaer, executive director of TheocracyWatch, a project of the Center for Religion, Ethics, and Social Policy (CRESP) at Cornell University. "But religious extremism is something completely different. What people aren’t aware of is just how deeply the radical religious right has penetrated our government – in all three branches. We are very close to becoming a theocracy. People have reason to be worried."

    Bokaer will bring information on the rise of the radical religious right in US government to a lunch-time talk in the parish house following the worship service on September 19. She will discuss the movement that seeks to bring an end to the separation of church and state, and to place the country under biblical law instead of the Constitution. She will explain how the leaders of this well-funded, carefully planned movement reject democracy, pluralism, and tolerance in favor of an ideology of dominion over all people and the Earth itself. Bokaer connects the dots between dominionist philosophy and the actual implementation of related policies over the last four years. Her presentation includes Power-Point slides and time for a question-and-answer session.

    Bokaer founded Theocracy-Watch to educate the public about the rise of religious extremism and expose the threat it poses to the basic principles of US democracy. She has spoken across the country on the subject. She is also known for her work as a nuclear proliferation educator and activist, and is the founder of EcoVillage at Ithaca, an innovative and often-imitated co-housing community in the Finger Lakes region of New York state. Visit <www.theocracywatch.org> to learn more about Joan Bokaer and her work.

News You Can Use

    A Back to School Guide by the Center for a New American Dream provides some tips on how students can make a statement with their new gear: "I care about the planet." A buying guide recommends that if last year’s school supplies cannot be reused, that students not only buy better products which reduce natural resource use and are socially responsible, but also become activists to influence the market, such as suggestion cards and talking points to discuss with store managers, school administrators and school parent councils.

Examples of products with specific brand names are:

• Paper with a high post-consumer recycled content, and chlorine-free processing. Example: Treecycle Earth Friendly.

• Pencils and pens made from high post-consumer content or wood certified by the Forest Stewardship Council. Example: Dixon Ticonderoga pencils and Wheely’s Pens.

• White Tape. Avoid White Out. Use white tape instead. Example: Post-It.

• Scissors, rules, binders. Look for no PVC and recycled con-tent. Example: Kleen Earth Recycled Stainless Steel Scissors and Recycled Plastic ruler, TuffStuff Recycled binders.

• Backpacks and lunch bags – Avoid PVC and go for recycled rubber, organic cotton, wool or hemp. Example: Green Earth Office Supply lunch bags.

• Shoes and Clothing: Sweatshop free or organic cotton. Example: American Apparel, Patagonia.

² ² ²

    Forty years ago, I wrote a poem that began, "The last plumed pen of goldenrod has signed the testament of summer." It was a maudlin poem, as were most of the poems I wrote at that time of my life. The me that was then found little to like about winter and saw autumn as a season of impending death.

    This week I had my first sighting of a goldenrod in bloom, and thought how lovely it would be in a huge bouquet gracing the front porch. Soon the hill behind my house will be covered with a velvety spread of lush sun-colored blooms.

    Since that long ago time of wallowing in self-pity and gloom, my feelings about life and about goldenrods have changed drastically. What used to be a sign of endings is now, like the death card in a tarot deck, a sign of transitions. Summer travelers will return, classes will begin and committees will be getting into high gear. The piles of freshly picked fruits and vegetables in the farmers’ markets will reflect autumn’s bounty. Old plants will have to be refurbished, and new bulbs planted. The push is on to complete projects for the fall and holiday craft shows (although this year I am actually two months ahead), and for holiday gifts. When the holidays are over, there are boxes of ancestral photos to be sorted, copied and put into note-books for family members. By the time this is done, the first shoots of the early spring bulbs will be appearing, and the herb garden I planted for Joan will begin to fill the air with its sweet or pungent blessings.

    In another week or two, I will gather the goldenrods and bunches of brightly colored leaves and make that bouquet for the porch, to re-mind me of the wonderful things I have to look forward to as the fall turns to winter and winter to spring.

² ² ²

    Friday September 10 is our first time back after the summer. We meet at 10 a.m. at Stone UM Church (across the street from our church). Volunteers are welcome! Call Stewarts for information.

² ² ²

    CUUPS is having a Harvest Festival on Friday evening, September 17. The ritual will begin at 6 p.m. in the parlor, followed by a pot luck supper. People of whatever faith journey or lifestyle are invited to join us. If you are coming to the ritual, please bring an autumn flower for the altar. If you are coming to the potluck, dishes that reflect foods that are grown or made at this time of year are suggested. For more details or ???, call Mary-Lib.

² ² ²

    We have several parish house keys whose whereabouts are unknown. Currently there are members of the church who are in need of these keys. If at this time you are not a board member or a committee chair, please return your key to the parish house. They may be dropped in the silver mailbox at the parish house or left on my desk. Your cooperation is needed. Thank you.

² ² ²

    Three vinyl LPs left on the coat rack shelf in the parish house. Owner please claim at Venessa’s desk. Thank you.

² ² ²

    At the UUA General Assembly which concluded in Long Beach, CA on June 28, UU delegates passed a new Statement of Con-science on Civil Liberties, voted to study Global Warming, and passed six actions of immediate witness and the responsive resolution on topical issues including same sex marriage and torture.

    The complete text of the study action issue for 2004, Civil Liberties, can be found at <uua.org/actions/civil-liberties/04civil-liberties>. The study action issue, on Global Warming, will be discussed again at the 2005 General Assembly and voted on at the 2006 GA. The text of this issue is found at <uua.org/actions/ecology/04global-warming>.

    The 2004 actions of immediate witness included:

    In addition, the delegates voted a responsive resolution, condemning torture of prisoners, following statements on torture in Iraq by UUA President William Sinkford and former President William F. Schultz, who now heads Amnesty International USA.

    For more information on the UUA General Assembly at Long Beach, go to <uua.org/ga/ga04>.

² ² ²

    Next deadline for submitting items for the newsletter is Friday, September 17, 2004, at 3:30 p.m. You may email your articles to:

<mthaeler@zoominternet.net>; or leave items in the folder on Venessa’s desk in the parish house. Thank you!