Rev. Michael Schuler at the First Unitarian Society of Madison gave a wonderful sermon on March 16, 2008 entitled "Who's the decider?" There is a brief description of the sermon on the First Unitarian Society of Madison web site. Where is what it says:
"The fifth Principle of Unitarian Universalism guarantees freedom of individual conscience and encourages UUs to practice and promote democracy both within and beyond our movement. But how absolute a standard are we talking about here? Are there instances where, as a religion or as a society, we might want to embrace a different approach to decision-making?"
Rev. Schuler makes the point that most Americans are pretty ignorant when it comes to their democracy. Most Americans cannot name the branches of government, identify their state senators, describe the Bill Of Rights or identify the significance of Roe vs.Wade. With Americans this ignorant, it is no wonder that most of them are not aware of the civil liberties they lost with the passage of the Patriot Act.
Rev. Schuler makes the further point that Americans are not very politically sophisticated. When asked if they favor more welfare spending they say "no", but if asked if they favor more spending to help the poor, they say "yes".
Rev. Schuler makes the point that the United States is more a plutocracy run for the benefit of the rich upper classes than a democracy working for the common good.
The fifth value/principle of Unitarian Universalism is "the right of conscience and the use of the democratic process within our congregations and in society at large." This is not just a poltical value but a spiritual value as well believing that people do not live well with material things alone, but more importantly as Rev. Schuler says, with the opportunities " ... to express themselves creatively, candidly, cooperatively, and allows them to have a hand in determining their own destiny..."
"The fifth Principle of Unitarian Universalism guarantees freedom of individual conscience and encourages UUs to practice and promote democracy both within and beyond our movement. But how absolute a standard are we talking about here? Are there instances where, as a religion or as a society, we might want to embrace a different approach to decision-making?"
Rev. Schuler makes the point that most Americans are pretty ignorant when it comes to their democracy. Most Americans cannot name the branches of government, identify their state senators, describe the Bill Of Rights or identify the significance of Roe vs.Wade. With Americans this ignorant, it is no wonder that most of them are not aware of the civil liberties they lost with the passage of the Patriot Act.
Rev. Schuler makes the further point that Americans are not very politically sophisticated. When asked if they favor more welfare spending they say "no", but if asked if they favor more spending to help the poor, they say "yes".
Rev. Schuler makes the point that the United States is more a plutocracy run for the benefit of the rich upper classes than a democracy working for the common good.
The fifth value/principle of Unitarian Universalism is "the right of conscience and the use of the democratic process within our congregations and in society at large." This is not just a poltical value but a spiritual value as well believing that people do not live well with material things alone, but more importantly as Rev. Schuler says, with the opportunities " ... to express themselves creatively, candidly, cooperatively, and allows them to have a hand in determining their own destiny..."
You can access a PDF of Rev. Schuler's sermon or an MP3 file by going to the web site by clicking here.
Call It Democracy by Bruce Cockburn
1 comments:
Thanks for posting Bruce Cockburn from YouTube
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