#actually unitarian universalist

[themightycourtjester]

Before anyone tries to say anything abt me not posting anything online about any current events going on around the world, all the work I do is mostly offline and within my community and teaching everyone in my community these things. I have more of a voice offline than I do online at this current point in time, so doing my activism offline is honestly more productive than it is online.

I just know it's only a matter of time before someone tries to come on here and say I support stuff or refuse to stand in solidarity with anyone because I'm not posting or reposting stuff(which I do repost things, just not as often as others).

The last generation in my family to show any strong, progressive activism were my great grandparents, and it's their legacy and my own morals + basic human rights that I plan to uphold.

Community building and informing others in a rational and non-combative way is a huge part of activism that so many people now tend to overlook. Even with the people you 100% disagree with, you still need to listen to what they're saying, because if you don't, you'll also look like an idiot. It's important to listen to what they're saying to try to understand their point of view(even if it's extremely unethical and horrible and you hate thinking about it), because in the end, if you refuse to even hear them out, then their ideology is 100% never going to change/they'll never even reconsider their POV.

"How is community building helping others that aren't in your community/not even in your country though?"

It helps because then, it spreads awareness through direct human to human contact and you're not stuck in a perpetual echo chamber. You hear differing opinions, nuance, different sides and how it affects them or someone those people know. Community building helps others learn compassion and kindness to their fellow human being. You learn not only to respect others, but also your environment as well. You learn about other people's culture, whether it's regional or international culture.

All these things are so important. It's the foundation for the change that so many people are wanting right at this very moment. If we do not have community and cannot learn how to listen and respect each other and come together, then the atrocities that we are seeing going on around the world are going to continue to happen. And I am speaking from a very US-centered POV here, I am aware of that, and so this is more of a call-in to other Americans as well. I know that me saying this isn't really going to get anywhere, but I just feel like I need to get it out there, you know?

Shoot the cop in your head, learn compassion, uphold, demand, and enforce human rights for all, don't use your religion to tell others what to do, and finally, don't be a fucking asshole.

And remember, being an activist and trying to do the right things isn't going to be comfortable or easy all the time. In fact, you'll actually get worked up! You'll fuck up! Thats okay! And when that happens, learn from your mistakes and listen to others. Don't talk over marginalized communities, even if you believe your information is accurate. Humans are not inherently evil and humans are not inherently good either, we're very grey. Actually, grey isn't the best way to put it, moreso- humans are the paint that creates life, all different colors, mediums. You mix specific colors to make others, you use more of one color or more of another. *Everyone is different, and that is okay.*

Learn to be kind to yourself as well, it's so hard to be there for others when you're never there for yourself.

[cornerstone-of-my-heart]

Let's get in on like donkey kong- for the lord 🙏

[tanadrin]

Revised version of "polytheism vs elaborateness" religion chart. I started with a list of around 150 religions, sects, denominations, philosophies, and spiritual tendencies, whittled down to 100 based on what I could find information on and what meaningful differences would actually show up in a chart like this. Dark blue is Christianity and Christian-derived tendencies; light blue is Judaism and Jewish-derived tendencies; green is Islam and Islam-influenced tendencies; purple is ancient Mediterranean polytheism and related schools of thought; red is Dharmic/Hindu-influenced schools of thought; tan is Chinese religion and philosophy; orange is new religious movements; black is other, unaffiliated religions and movements.

Obviously, "what is a religion" is a complicated topic. Some of the things on this chart might strike you more as philosophical schools (Carvaka, Stoicism), epistemological approaches (Unitarian Universalism), or different ways of slicing the same tradition. The scholarly definition of "religion" is sort of fundamentally circular, and that's not something I'm interested in trying to untangle for this entirely non-scientific exercise.

Religions etc. are scored on two axis: polytheism vs elaborateness of practice. Polytheism is a rank from zero to 11, thus:

0. Strict atheist and materialist, denying the possibility of both gods and the supernatural, e.g., Carvaka.

1. Atheist. Denies the existence of significant supernatural agents worthy of worship, but may not deny all supernatural (or psychic, paranormal, etc.) beings and phenomena (e.g., Mimamsa).

2. Agnostic. This religion makes no dogmatic claims about the existence of supernatural beings worthy of worship, and it may not matter for this religion if such beings exist (e.g., Unitarian Universalists). It does not preclude--and may actually incorporate--other supernatural, psychic, or paranormal phenomena (e.g., Scientology).

3. Deist. This religion acknowledges at least one god or Supreme Being, but rejects this being's active intervention in the world after its creation (e.g., Christian Deism). Deism is marked with a gray line on the chart, in case you want to distinguish religions that specifically care about all this God business from ones that don't.

4. Tawhid monotheist. This religion acknowledges only a single transcendent god above all other natural or supernatural beings, who is usually the creator of the universe and the ground of being, and is without parts, division, or internal distinction (e.g., Islam).

5. Formal monotheism. This religion acknowledges a single god, usually transcendent above all other natural or supernatural beings, but who may have aspects, hypostases, or distinct parts (e.g., Trinitarian Christianity). Pantheism may be considered a special case of formal monotheism that identifies the universe and its many discrete phenomena with a single god or divine force.

6. Dualism. This religion acknowledges a single god worthy of worship, alongside a second inferior, often malevolent being that nevertheless wields great power in or over the world (e.g., Zoroastrianism or Gnosticism).

7. Monolatrist. This religion or practice acknowledges the existence of many gods or divine beings worthy of worship, but focuses on, or happens to be devoted to only one of them (e.g., ancient mystery cults; pre-exilic Judaism).

8. Oligotheist. This religion worships a small group of divine beings, who may function for devotional or rhetorical purposes as a single entity (e.g., Mormonism, Smartism).

9. Monogenic polytheism/Henotheism. This religion worships many gods, which it sees as proceeding from or owing their existence to, a single underlying or overarching force or supreme god (e.g., many forms of Hinduism).

10. Heterogenic polytheism. This religion worships many gods, who have diverse origins and/or natures. Though the number of gods is in practical terms probably unlimited, gods are discrete entities or personalities, i.e., they are "countably infinite" (e.g., many polytheistic traditions).

11. Animism. This religion worships many gods which may or may not be discrete entities, and which may or may not be innumerable even in principle, i.e., they are "uncountably infinite" (e.g., many animist traditions).

What counts as a god is naturally a bit of a judgement call, as is exactly where a religion falls on this scale.

Elaborateness of practice is based on assigning one point per feature from the following list of features:

Uses vs forbids accompanied music in worship

Saints or intermediary beings accept prayers/devotion

Liturgical calendar with specific rituals or festivals

Practices monasticism

Venerates relics or holy objects

Clerics have special, elaborate clothing

Clerics have special qualificiations, e.g., must be celibate or must go through elaborate initiation/training

Elaborate sacred art or architecture used in places of worship

Sites of pilgrimage, or other form of cult centralization

Sophisticated religious hierarchy beyond the congregational level

Mandatory periods of fasting and/or complex dietary rules

Specific clothing requirements for laypeople

Specific body modifications either required or forbidden for laypeople

Liturgical language

Complex ritual purity rules

Performs sacrifice

Performs human sacrifice (or cannibalism)

Uses entheogens

Uses meditation or engages in mystical practice

Additionally, a point is taken away for austerity for each of the following features:

Forbids secular music outside worship

Claims sola scriptura tradition

Practices pacifism or ahimsa

Requires vegetarianism of all adherents

These scores are probably pretty inexact, since I am not a scholar of world religion.

This chart is not scientific, it's just a goof based on that @apricops post.

Other fun dimensions along which to chart religions might be:

Orthodoxy vs orthopraxy

Authoritarianism/control of members. This would add some much needed distinctions to Christian sects in particular, and to the new religious movements.

Elaborateness of cosmological claims. Some religions (looking at you, Buddhism) really go hog-wild here.

Social egalitarianism. Even within the same framework/tradition/philosophy, some practices differ radically on how egalitarian they are.

[benevolentbirdgal]

Is it appropriate for non-jewish authors/designers to take inspiration from jewish mythology and writing? I’ve seen a lot of media that does that especially in fantasy.

That's a loaded question, and while I certainly don't Speak For All Jews Everywhere - I am Not The Jewrax, I basically hold that it'd be fine in theory but in practice, it's almost always problematic because few gentiles bother to engage with Jewish perspectives on what they're using.

I'm not 112% sure on what you mean by mythology and writing, nor am I 112% sure what you mean by inspiration, but I'm going to make some educated guesses and invite both you to DM me or ask again and other Jews to float other possibilities.

I'm imagining you mean something to the impact of the use of Jewish folklore, theology, and stories in non-Jewish media, like art and literature, so I'm answering in that context. Specifically, I feel like you might be asking about angels and demons, Lillith, and golems, although that is very speculative and just because Those Are The Things Gentiles REALLY Want To Use.

The TL;DR is that I think while in theory, it's fine for gentiles to incorporate elements of Jewishness into their story, in practice they usually screw it up pretty badly if not veering into antisemitic trope-age altogether. There are a few factors that make this the case.

On the one hand, I want to see more representation of Jewish stuff, and not just the same three stereotypes ad nauseam. I legitimately do want more Jewish elements in stories, and I recognize the quantity I want would heavily benefit from, if not outright require, some contribution from the 99.8% of people globally who are not Jewish.

With that said, I think that gentiles tend to fuck up Jewish representations, both from a folklore perspective and a Jews Are People That Exist perspective. It's not some fatal flaw to view other cultures through your own lenses - it's only human, but it is challenging to address and something to be aware of. I see Christianity, Islam, and other religions (and atheism, for that matter) through the view of a Jew who was raised in and lives in a Christian-dominated society. Gentile writers see Judaism through the lenses of their own backgrounds and the backgrounds of their society. For reasons that merit their own post, gentiles tend to forget that Jewishness exists independent of and predating many of their own lenses. For many of the same reasons, many gentiles have no interest in actually consulting Jews or Jewish sources on Jew things - we aren't regarded as minority enough or different enough or whatever to merit research, even among many gentile creators who normally research cultures they are not part of. Without getting into it, a lot of people also A) really can't handle the idea that Some Things Are Just For Jews (like Kabbalah) or accept closed and semi-closed say what they mean on the tin and B) have (at the very least) implicitly supersessionist attitudes in their approach to Judaism - applying other religious and cultural contexts backwards even if they're directly at odds with the original Jewish ones. They learned about Jew Stuff in their Christian, Wiccan, Muslim, Unitarian Universalist, Atheist, etc. spaces, and how those spaces approached Jew Stuff (and the attitudes inherited from those spaces) are prioritized over what the Jews think of their own Stuff. This often results in Jewish "representation" being filtered through the eyes of the dominant culture group (i.e. Christian), even if that's not the intent. This happens a lot with depictions or appropriations of Kabbalah, Lillith, and the Golem - specific cultural and theological biases are superimposed to the detriment of original context and meaning.

If you want to represent or take inspiration from a group, you need to understand that group. It doesn't mean you have to know EVERYTHING (no one does) but it means engaging with and researching the community beyond this One Cool Thing You Liked. The degree to which you do this depends on what you're using, but you want to be able to use stuff without stripping it of its original context.

Writing, mythology, and folklore are broad categories. If you want to use the zayde from Something From Nothing or make Sammy Spider real, that's way less loaded than taking traditional folklore and going Mine Mine Mine a la the birds in Finding Nemo. Good questions to ask when determining if you want to use a thing: is it explicitly closed or semi-closed? Has it been used to cause violence against its community of origin? Is it and its uses considered sacred?

Specific topics that you just shouldn't use because they are closed and/or have been used against Jews to cause us great pain: Lillith, Kabbalah, Golems, anything that implies or uses the blood libel, any kind of Jews-and-horns thing, or anything leaning into antisemitic conspiracy theories. I'd also tread very lightly and get sensitive readers on anything to do with angels and demons, circumcision, and kosher. [above list is def non-exhaustive, other Jews please add stuff]

Also stay away from any "this is the SECRET meaning of this Jewish Thing And The Jews Are Wrong And This Proves My Religion/Conspiracy Theory/Worldview." Even if it does not promote a specific worldview, there's some major ick in saying "no this is what your holiday/beliefs actually mean/imply." Don't Da Vinci Code us, basically.

If you are wanting to write or make something with Jewish elements, consult Jews on the specifics! Seriously, most of us are SO happy to help you workshop.

Again, I do not speak for all Jews, but this is my personal take, and the kind of stuff I've heard a lot of other Jews opine as well.

[katzmultiverse]

i’ve realized recently how lucky i am that i was raised in a very open-minded, spiritual household.

while we went to church every week, no one told me about God or any sort of religious theology, because i was a child. i was sent to play in the nursery rather than listen and watch people cry on the stage about different religions and how they hope God or whoever they believe in gives them a break. i’m not describing it well, it was a while ago at our Unitarian Universalist church.

Mom and Dad only told me about how our family is pagan about a couple years ago, until then i hardly knew what religion i was supposed to follow, because Mom only talked about how i am the one who will change things for myself. i am the one who has to take action, even if i’ve blessed everything i own, i have to begin the changes myself, the rocks can’t do that for me.

anyways, about a year ago i told my mom about shifting, and it turns out she actually had already known about it. before that even, my therapist asked about it because another client was talking about it. i really wanted to ask who but, i knew she wouldn’t be able to tell me. i’ve even talked to my sister about shifting, she’s a bit weirded out by it, but she’s still open to the idea. i haven’t told Dad about it though, even though i tell him quite literally everything, i’m nervous to bring it up.

mom thinks about it as a sort of timeline type of thing, which is mildly confusing, but she still encourages me. it’s a bit awkward when she brings it up when the doctor talks about hallucinations, but she clarifies that it’s not a hallucination, and it seems like the psychiatrists believe us when we say it’s real.

when i see anti-shifters say that it’s just us being delusional, i’m reminded of how literally every medical professional that i’ve told about shifting, haven’t verbally questioned that it’s real.

i dunno where i was going with this. sorry guys, another ramble. i’m not good at long posts 😕 i’m gonna go to bed now, goodnight y’all 🤍

[the-eternal-quest-for-balance]

BREAKING: OMG Team infiltrates secret NO MAS MUERTES encampment in the middle of the desert in Aravaca, Arizona near the border.

When the illegal immigrant asked where the Mexican men dressed in military attire associated with the No Mas Muertes nonprofit were from, one responded, “From Sonora,” while another was from Tijuana – notorious Mexican cartel hotbeds.  “I have a friend coming soon.  He will take you to the city,” said one of the cartel-appearing men.  “How much does he charge?” asked the illegal immigrant.  “$300,” responded one of the cartel-appearing men.  Hours later, these cartel-appearing men pointed guns at the illegal immigrant.

In the middle of the Arizona desert over 60 miles southwest of Tucson, O’Keefe Media Group (“OMG”) risked their lives to investigate the shady activity of No Mas Muertes, or No More Deaths, a nonprofit organization claiming to provide humanitarian aid to illegal immigrants but has been raided by US law enforcement and whose members have been arrested by border patrol numerous times.  Posing as donors and land surveyors, and with the help of an illegal immigrant working undercover, OMG recordings show this nonprofit repeating “we are a little paranoid,” refusing to state their names, voicing hostility towards law enforcement, interrogating the undercover illegal immigrant “Why don’t you ask for asylum? Why don’t you ask border patrol for asylum?” and offering to transport the undercover illegal immigrant for $300 cash before pointing guns at him – actions related more to a human trafficking operation than a humanitarian nonprofit.

No Mas Muertes workers refusing to provide their names or identifications stating: “You also don’t need the mask. I only put it on when the military shows up or when those white people show up, so they won’t take my picture” flies in the face of No More Deaths’ obligations as a 501(c)(3) tax-exempt organization to follow the law.  Instead, it seems to skirt immigration laws and traffic humans.  OMG’s exposé of secret illegal immigrant compounds funded by Catholic Community Services of Tucson coupled with this undercover footage of No More Deaths reveals the shocking proliferation of private tax-exempt nonprofit organizations working with the government or potentially dangerous cartels to engage in what amounts to human trafficking into the United States under the guise of humanitarian aid, without any scrutiny or accountability.

Off the outskirts of the tiny town of Arivaca 40 minutes on a dirt road from Interstate 15 at 36455 S Papalote Wash Road, several people wearing construction vests planted flags into the ground as land surveyors would before being approached by someone who told them to leave: “Hey guys, this is private property.”  These people were not, in fact, surveyors.  They were James O'Keefe and members of his OMG team, equipped with hidden cameras to investigate the rise in suspicious nonprofit organizations operating at the U.S.–Mexico border.  The team was outside the secretive location of No Mas Muertes, or No More Deaths.

Couched as a ministry of the Unitarian Universalist Church of Tucson, whose tag line is “a liberal light in the desert,” No More Deaths appears to use its relationship to Unitarian Universalist Church of Tucson to evade filing IRS documents of financial transparency (IRS Form 990) under an IRS exemption for religious organizations.  After confirming the location was No More Deaths property, an OMG team member posing as a donor called Mary Weiss, an administrator for the Unitarian Universalist Church of Tucson.  On the call, Weiss represented No More Deaths was an “organization we actually partner with,” as “a ministry of the church,” located in Arivaca with a staff of 4-5 employees and budget of $400 Thousand.

As the OMG team continued planting flags around the perimeter of the property, they sent a volunteer illegal immigrant with a hidden camera to observe No More Deaths from the inside.  No More Deaths workers welcomed OMG undercover illegal immigrant and explained how they “always have threats” at the camp on account of “bad people” and “the [border] patrols.”  They described wearing masks so they could not be identified or photographed “when the military shows up or when those white people show up” and declared the men at the perimeter to be white supremacists “looking to cause trouble.”  Apparently, government workers, law enforcement, and white people, made them “paranoid” – a very strange mental state for people working at a “humanitarian” nonprofit organization.

Upon the OMG team leaving the area, No More Deaths workers intercepted their car and questioned them.  After O’Keefe mentioned the Unitarian Universalist Church and No More Deaths, the No More Deaths workers denied knowing either organization and never provided their names. 

Back at the “humanitarian” camp, the two military-dressed men from Sonora and Tiuana – cities famous for Mexican cartels, interrogated OMG undercover illegal immigrant.  “Where are you from?”  “Why don’t you ask for asylum?”  “Where did you cross through?”  “Who are they?  Who brought you here?”  “How much did they charge you?”  “Your watch is expensive right, you got a camera in there?”  Ultimately, they offered to find someone to take him to Phoenix…for $300 despite the nonprofit’s budget of $400 Thousand.  OMG undercover illegal immigrant eventually reunited with the OMG team, but not before having guns pointed at him at “humanitarian” No More Deaths camp.

That night in the desert raised more questions than it provided answers.  Why are people at a nonprofit pointing guns at people?  Why is a humanitarian nonprofit adverse to border patrol?  Why does a humanitarian nonprofit have armed cartel-like men offering for-profit smuggling services?  How does an organization which routinely violates the law keep its tax-exempt status?  OMG’s investigation into No More Deaths reveals the growing abuse of nonprofit laws by organizations hiding under the cloak of religious affiliation and potentially profiting off human trafficking.  One thing is clear – men are armed, secrecy is rampant, and fear is wielded by nonprofit organizations running unfettered.

WATCH MORE ON YOUTUBE / ON X

[respectissexy]

Digby and Wilma Thistlespring are Unitarian Universalist coded because they love folk music, their child is adopted (for most UUs this is due to being gay but you know) and most importantly, they teach comprehensive sex education out of a large binder. In this essay I will...

(Pictured: the actual binder that I taught sex ed out of earlier this year.)

[grayrazor]

The diversity of Buddhism is fascinating. All the way from “there are no gods, there are no miracles, there’s no such thing as an immortal soul, karma and reincarnation are just metaphors,”

to “Siddhartha Gautama the Buddha was one human incarnation of the omnipotent multiversal being Mahāvairocana who came to give supernatural powers to his Enlightened followers, one of whom, Amitābha, made a Pure Land where you can go after you die if you call upon his name.”

Granted you could also kind of say the same thing about Christianity, but that’s always been a lot more self-policing of deviance, after all if you think there’s only one truth you want to nail down what exactly it is. Groups like Gnostics or Unitarian Universalists have always been marginalized, with the possible exception of the Mormons, who were isolated enough to actually build up some population.

[queen-beefcake-sqx]

Please do your Sanctifying Kim Take!

Perceiving that man through HDB coloured glasses put me off of most fandom depictions of him. Not to mention how absolutely tiny he's depicted when he's of completely average size. (2-3inches shorter than Harry who is above 6ft. Like I get people do be havin size kinks, but that man's not short)

Canon Kim is the most trigger happy cop depicted in the entire game. He shot 6 kids people between working in juvenile detention and processing, is a severely repressed speedfreak with unprocessed grief (still working Dom's cases) and a wild card (not above using Harry's amnesia to manipulate Joyce when he knows him for a couple of hours), who can maybe have 2 Auth over world soggiest superstar but let's be honest don't we all?

He is so petty that he will die in the tribunal if you give away his pen lmao. Like that man is literally two steps above Harry when it comes to being a weird cop, and that's being lovingly understanding. He needs Martinaise just as much as HDB does.

op I am holding your face gently and shaking like a wet chihuahua. you, you get it.

Here’s my thing — as a general theme, I’ve noticed fandom takes seem to lean into the belief that because Harry’s deification of Dora crashed and burned so spectacularly, that (1) deification of Kim would be just as unhealthy and (2) Kim would outright reject that kind of worship.

And like. Okay. I can see how you’d make a case for that, sure. Except as you pointed out Kim is actually really fucking weird, and damaged in his own way, and most importantly — Kim wants to be cool. There’s a purple check that outright states Kim values being perceived as cool FAR MORE than he lets on. I’ve already written a post that mentions how significant it is for Kim that Harry thinks he’s cool, and what I’m gonna say next is an extension of that:

I think, somewhere deep down and repressed, Kim would actually love being deified by someone, and if Harry put in the work to have a healthy relationship with religion, they could actually make that dynamic work.

Long thoughts and explanation under cut:

Alright a little background on me: I was raised Unitarian Universalist and have a history of deifying my lovers. Harry’s anguish over Dora was very heartbreakingly familiar (although I didn’t destroy my life quite as spectacularly), and the way Harry uses inquiry to engage with belief systems (personal, political, scientific, and religious) is VERY Unitarian. One of our precepts is literally the constant and continuous search for truth and meaning in the world, and that’s Harry’s whole MO. So a lot of this is personal experience coloring interpretation.

A few years ago I wrote a piece of meta about why Tian Guan Ci Fu, a novel about a worshiper’s love for a prince turned god, is better treated as a fairy tale instead of a typical character-driven novel. I bring this up because in the meta I set forth that there were three really big themes that the story teaches us about divinity:

Books Two and Four encapsulate Xie Lian’s biggest lesson - that no one person can hope to end all suffering, even a god, and that putting a person on a pedestal places unachievable expectations upon them.

The rest of the books deal with two different but tangential lessons — devotion means seeing the best in people, regardless of their flaws; devotion also means inevitable destruction when you are not valued to the same degree.

I bring this up because, incidentally, these are the EXACT same themes that Disco Elysium deals with in regards to deification and devotion. I firmly believe the rest of the text about Innocences corroborates this, but even just looking at Harry and Dora, these themes are SCREAMINGLY relevant. Harry destroyed himself when Dora, his Innocence and god, left him. Their relationship was never really equal — there was a class difference, the abortion and difference in want for parenthood, the fact she walked out on him at least one before. Harry placed Dora on such a high pedestal that he set her up to fail him when she couldn’t handle Harry’s addiction and deteriorating mental health at a job she encouraged him to pursue.

Because a really important caveat about those themes I didn’t elaborate on — “regardless of flaws” doesn’t mean never acknowledging them. I really think Harry got into his head that Dora could truly do no wrong and found himself increasingly hurt and floundering when she proved just how wrong that was, and instead of acknowledging things they BOTH needed to work on — to do better, to improve, to grow — Harry got angry, resentful, and depressed and Dora got out of there.

And I don’t blame her, nor anybody else who did the same. I don’t blame Jean’s anger with Harry’s carelessness with his life, even if the way he expresses it is actively harmful. But the problem is Harry is a vast, vast soul — he feels things very deeply and extremely. I like fics where he learns to work through it and love a person to a Normal(tm) degree, but there’s a part of me deep down that feels like that is impossible for him. There is vitriol or there is devotion and there is little to nothing in-between for him, and for him a healthy relationship isn’t less devotional/religious as much as it is reconceptualizing what it means to be divine — stealing from my TGCF meta, he needs to remember that deities were human before they were ever his god, and as someone who’s worked as a cop, he should KNOW how messy humans are.

And minus himself, fuck if there isn’t a human messier than Kim Kitsuragi.

I’ve written a bit about Kim’s self-image and the significance of Harry finding him cool before. Kim is honestly a mess. He’s implied to be still struggling with the death of his partner some time in the past, is trigger happy and hates it, and is also implied to be ostracized from his coworkers. Kim does his job because he genuinely thinks it’s one of the only ways he can do good under a military regime that’s got airships ready to attack at a moment’s sign of rebellion. He smokes one cigarette a way to challenge his own volition and give off an air of untouchability because he has to be cool, he has to, he has no power in his life if he doesn’t!

But I genuinely believe that cool is tested at every turn, and I think there’s very few people who see the cool without seeing everything else about him — all the things he’s ashamed of, that make him feel lesser or othered. And Harry sees all those things over time, with a thorough enough run — he learns about “Kimball” and the bad eyesight and his fierce protection of his status as a “true Revacholiere”.

But it’s day one that Harry can call Kim cool. Regardless of flaws you uncover or not, Harry can see Kim as someone to be admired. Because that’s what Harry does with people he likes. And when was the last time anyone called Kim cool and meant it genuinely?

I think it’s noteworthy that Kim tries to stay humble when Harry gets excited about Kim — he downplays himself or pulls Harry out of flights of fancy about the degree of his “coolness”. He reminds Harry that he’s human… even if inwardly he preens at praise and recognition. (I’m too lazy to go through the Fayde viewer right now to back myself up, but just really pay attention to his Empathy checks sometime). Kim keeps Harry from constantly putting him on a pedestal like he did to Dora.

It’s also noteworthy that regardless of what a hot mess you are re: addiction, Kim still respects you as a detective and will defend you to your precinct. Remember that third theme, about relational devotion? Devotion doesn’t work if you’re deifying someone who doesn’t respect you, and thus won’t hold you to the standard of their divinity. There’s a thing in teaching where teachers want to shy away from difficult or disruptive students, thinking we’re accommodating them when in reality we’re not challenging them and are disrespecting their right to learn. Respect also means setting boundaries and trust, and I don’t know how much of either Dora and Harry had by the end.

Kim sets boundaries right off — No, we will not talk about the pissing contest until the field autopsy is done, don’t even try asking again. Yes, I do think now is a bad time for a drink and you should stop being careless with your life. No I will not tell you a secret about myself. Kim isn’t afraid to draw lines in the sand with Harry, because not only does he respect himself, but he wants to see that Harry respects him, too.

And in exchange, Kim displays his respect openly in front of peers — in front of the organization he’s worked to protect his reputation within — to defend Harry. Known drunk, bad-cop-or-cop-with-bad-days, sad sack Harry Du Bois. It’s acknowledgement from the object of his devotion that he’s done good work and can do more, if he keeps putting in the work to get better.

The point is — I don’t think Harry can change how he loves people, I think its just inherent to who he is as a person, but devoting himself to the altar of Kim Kitsuragi might actually work, if only because Kim wants that worship and will hold Harry accountable for not letting it consume them both.

[sophieinwonderland]

Torn between "god is plural go brrrrr" and the fact that our system is collectively Unitarian (branch of christianity that doesn't believe in the trinity).

(/lh the handful of us that aren't atheists or polytheists (We're Unitarian Universalist specifically, which is very liberal, non-creedal, and very much not bible-centric, so this isn't uncommon, both within and outside our system) still tend to view god as plural just in a different way and for different reasons).

LOL! 🤣

You know, I'd actually love to hear the reasons you see God as plural as a Unitarian!

[rotationalsymmetry]

We need something like Unitarian Universalism for online presence.

The thing about Unitarian Universalism, is you can bounce around believing in a personal god to believing in no gods to paganism to Buddhism to who knows what else, and stay a Unitarian Universalist. You can be a Satanist or a relatively conventional Christian or anything. Your theology is your own business. And while Unitarian Universalism runs progressive, there's a good bit of room to bounce around politically too.

Whereas for a lot of online groups, it's like that joke about the guy meeting someone from almost exactly the same Protestant denomination who finds out they're actually from a slightly different branch of the same denomination, and suddenly they're mortal enemies. You spend enough time getting political online, and you wind up in this tight little silo where both your elbows are pressed tight against the wall. It's not great for mature adults, and it's terrible for teenagers and new adults who are still figuring shit out. And people who are still figuring things out because they used to be fundies or something and are looking for something else but they've got a lot to unpack.

People need space to be a little bit wrong, a little bit unsure, a little bit of a work in progress.

[artist-issues]

I love your post detailing greta gerwig's changes in her adaptation of little women, but isn't Narnia definitely flavored with some universalism? In the Last Battle, a worshipper of Tash ends up in heaven because he's like "truly seeking the face of God" essentially even if he knew Aslan by the wrong name because his culture only exposed him to Tash. Also, I was raised protestant so I don't know if catholics have a different idea about what counts as universalism or not, but basically I'm not so sure if this will get in the way of her working on the films, especially if she does the Magicians Nephew. Unrelated, I wonder how they're going to go about adapting the Horse and his Boy without it being lambasted for racism etc lol

I think "flavored" with Universalism is a good way to describe The Last Battle--and only The Last Battle, and only that bite of the meal that deals with the young Calormene. Because my understanding of Universalism is that they believe all people, regardless of their beliefs contradicting Biblical Christianity, go to heaven and are not condemned for choosing to be god-of-their-own-life.

You can't quite look at C.S. Lewis' entirety of work and believe he was a Universalist in that sense. He certainly believed in the Biblical truth of Hell. Otherwise, specifically in Narnia, there would be no "Darkness on Aslan's Left Side" that all the creatures who fear and hate him disappear into at the end of the world. That seems like a pretty straightforward representation of Judgement.

I think the whole thing with Emeth the Calormene is interesting. From the language Lewis uses, it seems like he's trying to say something about the posture of a heart more than the name one swears by. Emeth is confused that he's been allowed into the True Narnia because "all my life I have served Tash." But Aslan basically looks at the heart; he says if Emeth had been serving Tash, his deeds and his heart would match Tash. It actually seems more like Emeth didn't know who Tash was at all, or he would have been performing vile works to please Tash. Aslan also says Emeth would never have kept "seeking" for so long if his heart had been serving Tash, which implies that Tash is easier to know than Aslan.

All of that is fascinating (I do think it is the theologically weakest, if not worst, part of the Chronicles of Narnia series.) But I don't think it has anything to do with Universalism as we know it today. Unitarian Universalism is just "Believe whatever you want as long as your belief system doesn't judge other people's belief systems, and you'll be fine with 'God.'" Lewis certainly didn't subscribe to that unbiblical worldview, even with the Calormene in the Last Battle.

I don't know what you mean about the Magician's Nephew.

The real problem with Greta Gerwig is not that she claims Unitarian Universalism. It's that she can't tell a story that is faithful to the original books; she has to transpose it into her own values. So, for example in what we're talking about, if she were doing "The Last Battle," she'd certainly cut out The Darkness on Aslan's Left Side scene, and maybe even reduce the whole conversation between Aslan and Emeth to "all are welcome!" But the main thing she'll do is elevate Susan, Lucy, Jill, Aravis, and Polly to a disproportionate degree.

Finally, I would just say, I'd love for somebody to explain to me what makes The Horse and His Boy racist. (With a reminder that nobody on this website knows my race, so nobody can claim that race-based unconscious bias is what's keeping me from seeing it.)

Lewis invented his own race that, yes, is heavily influenced by Western-Arabian-Nights-interpretations of Middle Eastern cultures. But the Calormenes don't serve Allah, they serve Tash and other gods. The Calormene characters are not all ugly. The Calormen food is not all disgusting. Aravis is a Calormene, and she is a heroine and a main character. Not even every Calormene is even evil, or the enemy of Narnia, though the nation is. What, just because a non-white nation is depicted in Narnia and you can see what culture their fantasy culture is based on, that makes it racist? How? Because Lewis doesn't even write all Calormenes as good or evil, he writes them as humans. Explain to me how that's racist.

(I mean, not you, @childlessoldcatlady, I'm enjoying answering this question. I just meant, someone explain it, now that I'm on the subject. Thanks for the question. I'm Protestant, too.)

[ace-culture-is]

Ace culture is worrying that you're not actually ace and the reason why you're so apprehensive about sex is just internalized purity culture... even though you were raised by liberal atheist parents who took you to a secular Unitarian Universalist church with a very progressive sex-positive sex ed program in a majority blue state... so there wasn't really any "purity culture" TO be internalized :/

[theonlybezo]

Ok, Christofacists, let's entertain the idea that you actually win and turn America into your Jesusland utopia. In this perfect vision you have, which denomination of Christianity is in charge?

The Catholics?

Orthodox?

Baptists?

Pentecostal?

Methodist?

Unitarian Universalist?

The Amish?

Mormons?

Literally every religion in history has schisms, splinters, and factions. It's been this way for thousands of years.

Y'all think your brand of Jesus fandom is the One True Faith™ so which banner will you unite under?

This is why we need the separation of church and state.

[revlyncox]

Breathe and Push (2024)

In this third and final installment of a sermon series based on See No Stranger by Valarie Kaur, we join together in two aspects of the process of transformation: breathe and push. We must be able to breathe, to be present to life, to savor the beauty that still lives in the world; and we must be able to push, to be present to discomfort while putting forth focused attention and effort in order to bring about something new. May we draw from the wisdom of ancestors and respond to the call of the future as we practice transformation in the fullness of the present.

“None of us alone can save the world. Together--that is another possibility, waiting.”

The poetry of Rebecca Parker drew me into the imagination and theory and practice of clergy leadership, and her poetry helps me to stay connected, even when I feel alone, even when I feel like I have hit a wall and have nothing more to offer the world. Conspiring with liberation, creating beauty, spreading compassion - these are humanist in the best sense of the word to me, technologies for people together to apply human solutions to human problems. They work best when we use them together, and when we practice a rhythm of recharging, recommitting, and re-weaving. Sometimes we act, sometimes we reflect, and even when our work is solitary for a time, we are part of the “chorus of life.”

Creating a world where each person can reach their full potential, a world of justice and compassion where each person can bring out their best, has long been part of the dream of Humanists and Unitarian Universalists. This calling is perpetually urgent, to the point where it can be overwhelming. It can feel isolating, as each one of us digs into the aspect of moving toward truth and beauty that feels like ours to dig into. Yet our strength is our interdependence with each other and with all life. When we remember to give and take, to listen and act and pass along what we’ve learned, to be fully present in this moment while holding onto the vision of what can be, to entrust the work to others as we take breaks and then return with new focus … when we remember these things we are more effective. All of these are aspects of being part of something larger than ourselves, creating the new world in collaboration and solidarity and concrete, shared reality. 

There was a time when I half-joked and was half-serious that I thought death couldn’t catch me if I filled my calendar with appointments. Being busy was a shield against reckoning with my own mortality. Failing to take time to process mortality doesn’t actually work, of course. Emily Dickinson had a poem about that. Deeper down, that urge for denial may have been an attempt to leave some kind of mark on the world as soon as possible, because I knew too many people who hadn’t lived to the fullness of adulthood. I still do love my calendar, don’t get me wrong, but I am less convinced that it governs my lifespan. Being fully human asks us to live this life-- which many in this community believe is the only one we have-- to take rest and marvel and the beauty that is here and now, and not to save these things for a time to come that is not promised. 

In See No Stranger: A Memoir and Manifesto of Revolutionary Love, Valarie Kaur writes that breathing is part of the practice of revolutionary love. We need to care for ourselves, we need to ground our practice in the present and in our bodies, we need to gather our strength in preparation for collective effort. She writes:

Breathing is life-giving. In every breath, we take oxygen into our bodies to nourish and sustain us. We inhale the molecules we need; we exhale what we do not need. Breath is constant: Its rhythm moves within us whether or not we are aware of it. Buddhist, Hindu, and many other wisdom traditions have taught conscious breathwork for centuries: When we pay attention to our breath, our minds are called to the present moment. Not the past, not the future. Here and now. Inhale. Exhale. Breathing creates space and time to be present. Present to emotion. Present to sensation. Present to surroundings. Present to one another. Present to ourselves. (p. 216)

Kaur is writing for a diverse audience, people of every faith and no faith. In this community, rich with the Humanist aspect of our pluralistic UU faith, I would like to emphasize that the present moment is the one where we have agency. We can learn from the past and make plans for the future, but the present moment is when we act. To lose our grounding in the present moment is to risk being lost in speculation or anxiety, and in that space we can very easily fool ourselves as to how much of our thinking is rational. To be our best as individuals and as a community calls for mindfulness. When we pause and take an inventory of our feelings, our sensations, our thoughts, our surroundings, we are better equipped to make decisions based on what is instead of what was or what we fear or what we wish. Taking a mindful breath is congruent with many of the spiritual and ethical traditions among us. 

Let’s take a brief moment of mindfulness now. Attend to your body as you take one nourishing breath. Not all of us can breathe deeply or comfortably, so receive the breath your body is able to receive. Slow down your breathing by pausing for a moment before you exhale, savoring that breath within you. Release your breath, returning air and water vapor to the world to which we are all connected. 

Honoring our need to breathe is an exercise in remembering the inherent worth and dignity of every person. Each person deserves oxygen. We have an ethic of care for ourselves and each other in community, an ethic that supports each other’s need to breathe. You have a right to breathe. This is not a neutral statement. Some of our siblings have been told that they do not have a right to breathe, and this has been demonstrated with police violence, environmental racism, and neglect for the respiratory health of others. Take a breath, make space for others to take a breath, and claim a moment for human dignity. 

Audre Lorde said, “Caring for myself is not an act of self-indulgence, it is self-preservation, and that is an act of political warfare.” (From the epilogue to “A Burst of Light and Other Essays,” Ithaca, NY: Firebrand, 1988.) Lorde was speaking specifically of her experience as a Black woman, and I think it’s important to center Black women when we are inspired by that quote. And it’s true for any person with a marginalized identity, that when we live our lives in self-destructive ways, it serves the purposes of oppression more than revolution. 

We breathe and pause because our lives have worth. We need to stay grounded in this life and in our values and in the practice of human worth. So let’s keep breathing. 

Kaur uses “breathe” as one part of a formula that also includes “push,” using the process of giving birth as a metaphor. And here we need to pause again, because different people will have different relationships to that metaphor. Kaur notes that not all birthing people give birth vaginally, through a process of contractions, breathing, and pushing. And not all people with uteruses and not all women give birth to children. She writes that “the ability to create and nurture is a human right, not a biological one,” and she uses birthing as a metaphor for all creative endeavors. Just as not everyone who uses sports metaphors is an athlete, and not everyone who uses war metaphors has been in battle, Kaur offers birthing metaphors to everyone, whether or not giving birth has been or will be part of their experience. 

I want to acknowledge that birthing metaphors may fall painfully on people who have experienced miscarriage or stillbirth or infertility. There are people who have given birth under traumatic circumstances, who may not want to associate their creative work with that process. My own experience as a birthing person did not match the brochures. While this metaphor may not be comfortable for everyone, I hope we can recognize in this discomfort that there is power in the metaphor, and I hope we can hear the wisdom in what Kaur draws from her own experience, even if it does not resonate with our own. 

Breathing is not only a practice of mindfulness, bringing us back to the present moment where we have agency. Breathing is not only a declaration of human worth, even in the face of dehumanizing oppression. Breathing is part of a rhythm that helps us to keep the work of transformation sustainable. We hold on and we let go. We surge forward and we recharge. We breathe and we push. 

Pushing, in this case, means being present to discomfort while putting forth focused effort and attention to bring about something new. One of the challenges with this is recognizing the difference between discomfort and danger. There are many reasons why we might conflate comfort and safety. Sometimes it’s because we’ve seen too much harm or danger, and our fight-or-flight response is attuned to react at the first sign of a problem. Or we’ve seen so much harm that we minimize the danger we’re actually in. Sometimes it’s because we aren’t accustomed to certain kinds of challenge, we don’t have experience with feeling this unfamiliar discomfort and yet having things turn out OK. Sometimes we’ve been told that a feeling of shame or embarrassment is a signal that all of our external support is about to be withdrawn, and it feels like a fight for our lives to prove our worthiness. We need each other, and we need a practice of mindfulness to help us with the discernment about when to push and when to pause for healing. 

I was on a swim team in middle school and high school. My coach was all about helping each swimmer be their best. She helped us set goals based on our own improvement, not on comparing ourselves to others. She insisted that we stretch before practice. It was on the swim team that I started to understand the meaning of the phrase, “a good kind of hurt.” Muscles that are sore from building strength do not feel the same as muscles that are actually sprained or torn. That doesn’t mean it’s comfortable to be on the verge of a new level of strength or skill, and it doesn’t mean that it’s a good idea to keep pushing too far past your limits, but you can have a stretching discomfort–the good kind of hurt–without anything being really wrong. 

I can’t think of a way to learn the difference between the discomfort of stretching and strengthening and the damaging kind of hurt other than experience in the presence of someone who is caring and knowledgeable, someone who has accompanied other people through a process of transformation, someone who will help with setting realistic challenges and compassionate limits. In my case, that was a good coach. Kaur speaks about midwives for transformation, people who help bring new movements and new paradigms to birth. In any case, learning when to breathe and when to push is more safely and effectively done in companionship. We need people to hold us when we are hurting, whether that pain is from rising to a challenge or from an injury that requires time to heal. 

Kaur speaks of a personal experience of truth and reconciliation with a family member who hurt her. This process of accountability and repair took years. For her and especially for the person who hurt her, it took honesty and vulnerability and a willingness to stay with the process when it was uncomfortable. Speaking of this process with her family member, she writes that they “pushed together to the other side and transitioned our family into a new place--broken and whole, wounded and healed, which is, I think, the best shape for a family to be in. Sometimes reconciliation happens in the course of healing; sometimes it does not. What matters is the insistence that our liberation is possible. Pushing together through healing, forgiveness, and reconciliation was the labor of revolutionary love.” (p.270)

Echoing Bryan Stevenson, she continues, “In tending our wounds, we show mercy to ourselves and perhaps a corresponding need to show mercy to others. We are released from our attachment to punishment. We evolve our pursuit of justice from retribution--an eye for an eye--to collective liberation.” 

Kaur is right to connect breathing and pushing. Moving through discomfort toward liberation is extremely difficult. Being able to breathe, to get grounded in the present moment and to find renewal in between periods of intense effort, helps us to keep moving forward. 

Continuing the birthing metaphor, the next thing after “breathe and push” is “transition.” Kaur explains:

The final stage of birthing is the most dangerous stage, and the most painful... The medical term is “transition.” Transition feels like dying but it is the stage that precedes the birth of new life. After my labor, I began to think about transition as a metaphor for the most difficult fiery moments in our lives. In all our various creative labors--making a living, raising a family, building a nation--there are moments that are so painful, we want to give up. But inside searing pain and encroaching numbness, we might also find the depths of our courage, hear our deepest wisdom, and transition to the other side. (p. 278-279)

To get through transition, Kaur says, we need the voices of wisdom. Some of those voices are the beloveds around us, and some of those voices are the inner voices. Within us or around us, wise voices are the ones that tell us we are strong enough and brave enough and capable enough to be part of this new thing that is happening. My mother used to have a quote from Eleanor Roosevelt in her email signature:

“You gain strength, courage and confidence by every experience in which you really stop to look fear in the face. You are able to say to yourself, 'I have lived through this horror. I can take the next thing that comes along.' You must do the thing you think you cannot do.”

It is this quote in my mother’s voice that I hear in those transition moments, when doubt and pain and fear tell me I can’t. And perhaps alone I can’t. But with the voices of wisdom, we can. 

As we transition to the world that can be, a community of practice helps us to breathe and to have courage. And we can often be more effective together than we can alone. At the Poor People’s Campaign rally in Trenton on March 2, a group of us heard testimony from different groups of impacted people, mourned together over the lives lost to poverty, and came to understand again that our wellbeing and our solutions are linked. That meeting was meant to provide spiritual grounding and to inspire solidarity, leading to unified advocacy in the state legislature and commitment to democracy in the upcoming elections. 

The upcoming MLK@TUS event on April 7 will provide music and readings to get people grounded and inspired, and maybe a good word about what comes next from Bruce Morgan, New Brunswick Area NAACP President. This congregation’s work in the past in coalition with the NAACP, including the Lost Souls Project, and future plans about voter education and mobilization, represent an investment in a community of practice. 

Interfaith RISE, UU Faith Action New Jersey, and Food and Water Watch are some of this congregation’s other partners in breathing and pushing. The work can be boring or exciting at different times, frustrating or confusing or illuminating, and always human. We can move through transition with more joy and wisdom together than we can alone. 

There are a lot of things we hope to see on the other side of transition. We hope to see liberation, a society that reflects our interdependence with each other and the planet, compassionate and dignified medical care for every person, abundance and generosity, reparations for those who have been wronged, repair for the earth, an end to war and violence, space and time and resources for beauty and joy for all people. In this moment, I am also conscious of another transition: the slow and non-linear emergence into a post-COVID world. We must re-imagine ourselves and our community in light of our experiences over the past four years. 

Retreat is so tempting. We may be tempted to retreat into privilege, to shrink from our interdependence. We may be tempted to retreat into an idealized version of the past, to crave the best out of what we remember instead of sallying forth into the best of what we can be in the new world. Ground your plans for the future on your collective vision and values, not on nostalgia. We may be tempted to retreat into perfectionism, to give up on what is hard or messy or imperfect, to blame and complain and attempt to exert control when comfort is slow and the emerging reality is unfamiliar. Beloveds, let us breathe together and concentrate our energies on what is possible. A new thing is happening. We won’t know what it looks like until we have lived in it for awhile. We can help shape it to be something beautiful, equitable, and exciting. We need to be patient, imaginative, and caring as we help each other through this. 

The things that are worth doing are worth doing together, sustainably, through times of healing and times of discomfort and times of intense transition. Let’s breathe, and reconnect with human worth in the present moment. Let’s push, and hang in there through the discomfort of positive transformation. Let’s follow the voices of wisdom through transition, and bring into the world something new.

May it be so. 

[iowafashionweekbegins]

im not a christian anymore (im a unitarian universalist agnostic + possibly solipsist) but im absolutely a fan of jesus as a Guy and like the stories about him, the same way i was interested in greek mythology + historical figures as a child. and like. growing up with those stories and studying them extensively, i guess i just formed an emotional attachment to jesus as a person? i abandoned everything else because of the abuse and manipulation that i faced but, something about the story of jesus still draws me in and i feel a lot of intense emotions about it. i know it seems weird to people who didnt experience what i did as a child but yeah. it's also nice to see a more down-to-earth and accurate depiction of what he might have actually been like, as opposed to the depictions of him being pale white with shiny straight hair and silky robes. i dont know i just think hes neat