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.

Online Streaming Service Sunday at 11 AM
In Part V of our Perennial Problems Series well look at the problem of thinking. On the one hand, thinking isn’t much of problem since most of do all of the time. Just try not thinking sometime. On the other hand, having thoughts isn’t necessarily the same as thinking, and most assuredly not the same as thinking well. In this sermon we’ll consider philosophical practices for thinking well.

Online Streaming Service Sunday at 11 AM
It could be that burgeoning epidemic of depression in our society is driven by mass boredom, the feeling our lives are without meaning. Philosophy has understood this and has been wrestling with the problem of meaning for centuries. In Part IV or our Perennial Problems Series we’ll explore some of its responses to this question and lay a foundation for discovering meaning for ourselves.

Live online streaming of Sunday service at 11:00 a.m. Click on “Watch Services”
Part III of our Perennial Problems Series takes up where we left off. Our notions of reality are intertwined with our conceptions of truth. Many would agree obtaining absolute truth is impossible, yet, in practice, we all feel absolutely certain of ourselves at times. In this sermon we’ll explore epistemology by considering how to live with knowing we don’t have all the answers rather than pretending that we do. [Our Perennial Problems Series will continue in September.]

Live online streaming of Sunday service at 11:00 a.m. Click on “Watch Services”
The underlying nature of reality is another fundamental philosophical problem. Most of us go through life believing we know what’s real, give or take a little uncertainty. But the ways we perceive and interact with the world are based on questionable assumptions. In Part II of our Perennial Problems Series we’ll explore the meaning and problems of metaphysics and establish some ground for determining our own view of reality.

Live online streaming of Sunday service at 11:00 a.m. Click on “Watch Services”
Throughout August & September we’ll be exploring several fundamental philosophical questions during a Perennial Problems Series of sermons, beginning with Ethics. Basic a question as it is, too few ever contemplate the reasons and soundness of how they distinguish right from wrong, upon which their values are established. Part I of our series will explore the meaning and theory of ethics, along with some tools for considering how to begin responding to this crucial question.

Live online streaming of Sunday service at 11:00 a.m. Click on “Watch Services”
If there’s anything we can be sure of, it’s that human are not machines. Some go so far as to think machines are completely unnatural and detract from our humanity. In this sermon, I’ll counter that technology, like everything, is part of evolution, and that were it not for the technologies invented by our hominid ancestors, our species would likely never have existed.