UUCS Minister
There are lots of great Holiday songs out there, but one of my favorites may seem an unlikely candidate, Imagine, by John Lennon. Not only does it ask us to envision all that we hope for during the Holiday season, but the songwriter’s personal history reminds us what it takes to help make our dreams come true.
Sunday services is live streamed. Click Watch Services. Liberalism has long been defined by its aversion to authority, which is why it values the democratic principle of everyone having a voice in how they are governed. Yet today, rather than flourishing, democracy is being diminished by extremism on both the right and the left. In this sermon, we’ll focus on our historic commitment to preserving and promoting the distribution of power and the freedom of dissent.
Sunday service is live streamed. Click Watch Services. There is rising pressure these days to think and act like everyone else, or else. Because of a false idea of what equality means, individuals are increasingly expected to all arrive at the finish line at the same time. “Everyone is a winner,” which also means everyone loses. How do we look more deeply into what it means to be a society in which equity and equality prevail?
Sunday Service is live streamed. Click Watch Services. As communities and societies become more rigid and puritanical, it become difficult, if not dangerous, to openly maintain and express one’s autonomy. In this sermon, we’ll explore this trend in today’s world, and consider why we must remain committed to the principles of individuality and freedom of expression.
Sunday Service is live streamed. Click Watch Services. It is often said “the ends don’t justify the means.” This is especially so when the means to our ends are other human beings. Yet, throughout human history, masses of individuals have been exploited to benefit a few others. In this sermon, we will explore why it is categorically imperative that we fashion a society in which all people are able to flourish.
We’re excited about this singular opportunity to participate in an online (Zoom) service with our friends at the Unitarian Universalist Church of Salem (also UUCS) to hear a special message from the courageous and controversial writer, Irshad Manji, author of The Trouble With Islam Today: A Muslim’s Call for Reform in Her Faith (2003) and Don’t Label Me: How to Do Diversity without Inflaming the Culture Wars, among other works. Manji has suffered the consequences of both her courageous and compassionate voice that truly speaks in the name of inclusion and our common humanity. To view the YouTube video of this service click on the title then follow the link.
We are living at the beginning of a new age of Endarkenment, although our religion, in particular, is founded upon Enlightenment principles of the 17th century, stemming from the Renaissance period, rooted in Antiquity. Endarkenment requires shutting out the light, which means our religion, like other once Liberal institutions, is threatened because its principles are considered threatening. Ours can no longer be a religion of ease and convenience. It is a religion that takes courage if it is to truly remain our religion.
The Old English word from which “sin” derives means “wrongdoing,” but the Hebrew idea of sin, which our society’s notion is thought to be rooted in, means “missing the mark.” Instead of considering sin an ontological evil, a thing we are born with that has a physical existence in our genes, let’s consider what it means to think of sin as a consequence of our repeated mistakes.
Online Streaming Service Sunday at 11 AM
We’ll wrap up our Perennial Problems summer series by considering some of what philosophy has to say about society. Most philosophers agree that human beings are fundamentally social animals, and that it is up to us to help society flourish.
