uu_mom

I am friends with a minister and congregation in Kenya (more info below). I am trying to find them some good materials (like sermons) that are not U.S. or western-culture specific, that could be printed from the web that we could get copyright permission for. I don't have time to look for all the specific ones that would be appropriate. In other words, universal stories.

I helped them create a web site here (there's a link to history from the About page): http://ruaiuuchurch.org/ Kenya is the country with the fastest growing UU congregations (~100 in less than 15 yrs.), but they need UU materials as they tend to use the Bible & Biblical stories a lot. They have won over some of the Maasai people, though, and have a congregation there and they have been averse to Christianity. The Kenyan UUs are trying to build unity, peace, and harmony among west African people.

My congregation is working with them and will send them books and pamphlets later and hopefully in the future we can also send them things (and funds) for their elementary and secondary schools, but we're starting with UU materials and a list of things they can print since they think it is affordable to them.

Any help in finding universal UU materials along with copyright permission to use them would be very much appreciated.

esprix

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I know this has been making the rounds, but I thought it bore repeating. This is a wonderful blog that has inspired many people, including a lot of misguided Christians, to re-evaluate their place in their faith and take a hard look at how they treat others:

http://www.danoah.com/2011/11/im-christian-unless-youre-gay.html

There have been a lot of follow-up posts on the topic, but the most poignant one making the rounds is this one:

http://www.danoah.com/2012/04/a-teens-brave-response-to-im-christian-unless-youre-gay.html

Worth a read, and certainly worth thinking about in relation not only to the LGBT communities, but other people who are different from us.

(I read a particularly sad post here on LJ about a wheelchair-bound person who, at their own church, was asked to move from handicapped seating because they were "in the way." It was disgraceful, and I hope that our homes of faith have more understanding, education and compassion for those who need just a little bit of accommodation to make them feel part of our communities.)

nvcarnie

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It's a new year, and I had been hoping to start off with more church going, but it just doesn't seem to have been in the cards.  I nearly cried on the first Monday of the year when I realized that although I had the day off, it wasn't Sunday and I'd missed church!!!  

I moved to rural PA about a year ago and have experimented with the 4 UU congregations nearby.  None feel like the church I left behind, but it's a special place.  It's too much to ask for that.  But I did find one to call home - about 25 minutes away.  Maybe the lack of church going has been because of the commute?  Because the winter has been freakishly warm and I've continued spending a lot of weekends outside?  Because my boyfriend moved away and we've been commuting back and forth?  

All I know is that I'm desperate to connect again.  Have any of you ever attended CLF?  How does it work for you?  Would you suggest it?  Can I do any part of it on weeknights?  

luscious_purple

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The Boston Globe Magazine has a fascinating article looking back on the case of James Reeb, a UU minister who was killed in Selma, Alabama, during the civil-rights era. I certainly knew about the life of Reeb, but I didn't know that the FBI recently reopened the cold case -- and closed it again.

Don't forget to check out the slide show of photographs (you can see Dr. King marching in memory of Reeb, right next to an Eastern Orthodox priest), as well as this video, where you can hear people's voices, including Jack Mendelsohn's. (Jack Mendelsohn was the first UU minister I ever met, back when he was a comparatively young lad of 65.)

lookofevil

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There was a time when I was very active in my church, and my youth group meetings. I was proud of my religion, proud of the principles, morals, and philosophies I was raised to respect and understand. I was glad to be among others who loved and cherished their neighbors, and respected the opinions and lifestyles of others who differ from them.

But then I started to notice a change among my peers. People would use that same upbringing, those same principles, as a pedestal from which they could look down on others. I would hear people say things which- to my mind- boiled down to: "I am open-minded and I respect other beliefs and religions... I am therefore a much better person than people of other faiths."

There are many atheists and agnostics in my peer group. I may be among them, I haven't fully decided. I see my atheist friends say, "Theists- okay, Christians (which bothers me; why do young Atheists pick on Christians?)- are cruel and closed-minded and cannot accept people who don't believe what they believe! Christians are morally corrupt and follow an out-moded system of morals."  How is saying that any less closed-minded, or any more moral?

Is it just the youth? When did we stop respecting other people's right to opinion and belief? When did we stop encouraging each other to grow? I'm so tired of the pretentiousness of my fellow UU youths; treating their religion as some sort of badge to prove they are part of the "Morally Advanced, Logically Sound, Reason-Based Club."

I just can't STAND intolerant people.

“A great many people think they are thinking when they are merely rearranging their prejudices.” — William James