THE PRESIDENT OF THE UNITARIAN UNIVERSALIST ASSOCIATION
FOLLOWWING THE BLACK UNITARIAN UNIVERSALIST CAUCUS FIASCO WROTE
THAT RELIGIOUS LIBERALISM NEEDED TO CLARIFY A CONCEPT OF EVIL
TO DEFEND AGAINST THE MISUSE OF OUR RELIGIOUS VALUES.
HIS POINT THAT WE ARE AN OPTIMISTIC FAITH REGARDING HUMAN
POTENTIAL AND PROGRESS CAN LEAVE US VULNERABLE TO CON ARTISTS AND MANIPULATORS. OUR FIRST PRINCIPLE STATES THAT WE VALUE THE DIGNITY AND WORTH OF ALL PEOPLE. WE VALUE DIFFERENCES AS ADDING TO
THE GROWTH OF HUMANITY. DOES THIS MEAN WE HAVE TO TOLERATE
THE EVIL ACTIONS OF INDIVIDUALS AND ORGANIZATIONS IN THE NAME
OF ACCEPTING DIFFERENCES AND RESPECTING THE DIGNITY AND WORTH
OF OTHERS?
THE BUUC FIASCO BEGAN WITH THE DENOMINATIONS EFFORT TO BRING
TOGETHER ABOUT FORTY AFRICAN AMERICANS TO LEARN HOW TO MAKE
OUR GROUPS A MORE WELCOMING ATMOSPHERE FOR AFRICAN-AMERI
CANS. THE GROUP FORMED INTO BUUC AND DEMANDED REPARATIONS
FOR BLACK EMPOWERMENT FROM THE NEW UU DENOMINATION.THE DELE-
GATES. THE DELEGATES AT THE ANNUAL MEETING DID NOT PROVIDE
FOR THE EXACT REQEST WHICH LED TO A WALKOUT OF ABOUT HALF
THE AUDIENCE TO A NEARBY CHURCH. I WAS ONE OF THOSE WHO
PARTICIPATED IN THE EXODUS. CHURCHES GAVE BUUC THEIR ENDOW-
MENT MONEY FOR THE PURPOSE OF INVESTMENT. THE DENOMINATION
RESPONDED BY TAKING THE APPROVAL OF THE DENOMINATIONS BUDGET
FROM THE DELEGATE ASSEMBLY TO PLACE IT IN THE DENOMINATION'S
BOARD OF TRUSTEES SO THAT DELEGATES COULD NOT BE STEAM-
ROLLERED INTO REALLOCATED ED THE FUNDS OF ME ORGANIZATION.
THE PRESIDENT FILED SUIT IN THE COURTS AGAINST BUUC TO RECOVER
THE MONEY INVESTED BY CHURCHES IN BUUC. IT TOOK YEARS BUT THE
COURT RULED AGAINST MAX. ONLY HALF OF THE MONEY WAS LOCATED
AND RETURNED. THE OTHER HALF COULD NOT BE ACCOUNTED FOR.
YEARS LAER I HEARD THE DRIVING FORCE BEHIND BUUC GLOSS OVER
MISAPPROPRIATION OF FUNDS AND THE USE OF EMOTIONAL BLACKMAIL
EFFECTIVELY TO MANIPULATE A Will I E LIBERAL DENOMINATION. I WAS
ASKED BY THREE UU LADIES WHY I WAS NOT APPLAUDING HIS VERY
EFFECTIVE AND ROUSING SPEECH. I RESPONDED WITH THE COMMENT
THAT HE SOUNDED JUST LIKE THE CON MEN IN MY CORRECTIONAL
CASELOAD IN CALIFORNIA. MILLIONS WERE LOST TO A DEMAGOGUE WHO
THREATENED TO CALL UU'S RACIST.
APPARENTLY, AS A RESULT OF THE BUUC EXPERIENCE OUR PRESI-
DENT CAME TO THE CONCLUSION THAT OUR MOVEMENT NEEDED A
CLEARER VIEW OF EVIL TO DEFEND ITSELF.
WHEN WE LOOK AROUND TO SEE WHAT OTHER RELIGIONSDO ABOUT
ABOUT EVIL, WE FIND THE CHRISTIAN SCIENTISTS WHO DENY THAT
THERE IS ANY SUCH THING AS EVIL. THE POSITION SEEMS TO BE ONE OF
FOCUSING ON THE POSITIVE AS MORE PRODUCTIVE THAN FOCUSING
ON THE NEGATIVE. I ASSOCIATE THIS DENOMINATION WITH A WWII
SONG THAT GOES LIKE THIS:
YOU,VE GOT TO ACCENTUATE THE POSITIVE
ELIMINATE THE NEGATIVE
LATCH ON TO THE AFFIRMATIVE
AND DON'T MEES WITH MR IN BETWEEN
NOAH IN THE WHALE, JONAH IN THE ARK
WHAT DID THEY DO WHEN EVERYTHING LOOKED SO DARK
THEY SAID
(REPEAT FIRST FOUR LINES)
BUT THIS APPROACH DOES',T CREATE THE INTELECTUAL DEFENSES OUR
WA PRESIDENT WAS SEEKING.
THE METHODIST SEMINARY AT BOSTON UNIVERSITY HAD A GROUP OF
THEOLOGIANS NAMED BAUM, BERTOCCI, AND BRIGHTMAN. THEY WROTE
A WIDELY CIRCULATED TEXT TITLED A PHILOSOPHY OF RELIGION. THEY
TRIED TO TAKE INTO THEOLOGICAL CONSIDERATION A CONCEPT OF
"SURD EVIL" THIS EVIL WAS SO BAD THAT IT COULD NOT BE EXPLAINED
AWAY OR JUSTIFIED. THEY CONCLUDED THAT SURD EVIL MEANT THAT A
GOD CONCEPT COULD NOT BE ALL THREE TRADITIONAL ATTRIBUTES AT
THE SAME TIME BECAUSE IT MADE GOD RESPONSIBLE FOR SURD EVIL.
AN ALL-KNOWING, ALL-LOVING, AND ALL POWERFULL GOD WOULD NOT
LOGICALLY TOLERATE SURD EVIL. THE EVIDENCE OF SURD EVIL MUST
LIMIT OR ELIMINATE ONE OF THE THREE TRADITIONAL CHARACTERISTIC
AS PER BAUM BERTOCCI AND BRIGHTMAN.
THERE IS NO COMMON THEOLOGY OR RELIGIOUS CONCEPTS SHARED
BY ALL RELIGIONS. THE ONLY COMMONALITY AMONG ALL RELIGIONS
INVOLVES ETHICS. THEREFORE, GIVEN THIS FACT WE SHOULD LOOK AT
ETHICS TO SEE IF WE CAN FIND A UU CONCEPT OF EVIL THAT WE CAN
USE TO UNITE WITH NON-UUS TO FIGHT EVIL DOERS AND EVIL PRACTICES.
THIS IS TURNING OUT TO BE A BRAIN BURNER. IF SHAKESPEARE WERE
HERE, WE WOULD NOW EXPERIENCE SOME COMIC RELIEF. HOW ABOUT A
UU JOKE.
A WOMAN WALKED INTO A FABRIC STORE TO ORDER FORTY YARDS OF
SHEER NYLON. THE CLERK HAD NEVER FILLED SUCH A LARGE ORDER
AND ASKED WHAT SHE WAS GOING TO MAKE WITH THE CLOTH. THE
WOMAN ANSWERED THAT SHE WAS GOING TO MAKE A NEGLIGEE FOR
HUSBAND'S BIRTHDAY. THE CLERK EXCLAIMED THAT SHE ONLY NEEDED
EIGHT YARDS FOR THAT PURPOSE. "OH YOU DON'T UNDERSTAND. MY
HUSBAND IS A UNITARIAN AND BE WOULD RATHER SEEK THAN FIND!'
IN THE EVOLUTION OF WORLD RELIGIONS FROM SACRIFICES TO
APPEASE THE SPIRITS TO AN ETHICAL RELIGION OF INDIVIDUAL
RESPONSIBILITY OCCURRED BETWEEN 800 AND 400 BCE. IT IS CALLED
THE AXIAL PERIOD IN RELIGIOUS HISTORY. JEWISH RELIGIOUS HISTORY
PRODUCED THREE KINDS OF PROPHETS IN THIS PERIOD WITH THE
DESIGNATIONS OF CHOTSEH, ROECH, AND NAVI, ONE WAS A WHIRLING
DERVISH KIND OF A PROPHET WHO WOULD BRING BACK MESSAGE FROM
A TRANCE. ANOTHER WOULD ANSWER A QUESTION EITHER YES OR NO
BY DRAWING EITHER A WHITE OR A BLACK BALL FROM A BOX RESTING
ON HIS CHEST. THE THIRD TYPE IS THE ETHICAL PROPHETS WHO
CONTRIBUTED THE ETHICAL CORE OF WESTERN CIVILIZATION.
THE ETHICAL PROPHET AMOS HAS INSPIRED GENERATIONS OF
RELIGIOUS LEADERS LIKE REV MARTIN LUTHER KING WHO HAS A
QUOTE FROM AMOS ON HIS TOMB "LET JUSTICE FLOW LIKE WATER AND
RIGHTEOUSNESS LIKE A MIGHTY STREAM" AMOS AS THE SHEPHERD
FROM TEKOA WENT TO TO THE WESTMINISTER ABBEY OF HIS COUNTRY
ON ITS HIGHEST HOLY DAY AND TOLD ALL THE POLITICIANS, LOBBYISTS
NOBLES AND POWER BROKERS ASSEMBLED THERE FOR SERVICES THAT
THEY WERE NOT RELIGIOUS. HE CONDEMNED THE RITUAL NOISE OF THEIR
SOLEMN ASSEMBLY WHEN THE POOR ARE PLACED INTO SLAVERY IN THE
COURTS OF THE LAND OVER THE DEBT FOR A PAIR OF SHOES. THE ETHIC
OF JUSTICE BECAME A RELIGIOUS VALUE IN JUDAISM BY MEANS OF
AMOS.
HOSEA WAS A DIFFERENT KIND OF ETHICAL PROPHET HIS MESSAGE
WAS ONE OF FORGIVENESS AND LOVE. HE REASONED THAT IF HE COULD
FORGIVE HIS TEMPLE MAIDEN WIFE, GOD COULD DO NO LESS WITH
HUMANKIND.THUS, MERCY BECAME A RELIGIOUS VALUE IN THE
CULTURE OF JUDAISM.
THE ETHICAL PROHET MICAH SUMMARIZED THE ETHICAL PROPHETS IN
MICAH 6:8 WITH "WHAT DOES RELIGION REQUIRE OF YOU BUT TO DO
JUSTICE , LOVE MERCY, AND TO WALK HUMBLY WITH YOUR BELIEFS. S
THE GREAT SIGNIFICANCE OF THE ETHICAL PROPHETS IS THAT THEY
BECAME THE BASIS OF THE DEUTERONOMIC REFORM IN THE TORAH OR THE
PENTATEUCH OR THE FIRST FIVE BOOKS OF THE BIBLE. THE GENIUS OF
THIS REFORM MOVENT WAS TO COMBINE TEMPLE RITUAL WITH THE
UNDERLYING ASSUMPTION OF THE ETHICAL PROPHETS: AFFIRMATION
OF THE DIGNITY AND WORTH OF ALL PEOPLE REGARDLESS OF CLASS. IT
ESTABLISHED RULES THAT THE GRAIN NOT HARVESTED ON THE EDGES
OF A FIELD WERE TO BE LEFT FOR THE POOR, FOR ONE EXAMPLE THIS
MOVEMENT INSPIRED MANY GENERATIONS OF JEWISH AND XIAN
RELIGIOUS LEADERS IN THEIR SOCIAL JUSTICE EFFORTS.
THE ETHICAL PROPHETS ARE PROBABLY THE SOURCE HISTORICALLY
OF OUR FIRST PRINCIPLE "A BELIEF IN THE DIGNITY AND WORTH OF ALL
PEOPLE.
SO WHERE DOES THE CONCEPT OF EVIL COME INTO UNITARIAN
UNIVERSALISM? IS IT EVIL FOR ANYONE TO BE DENIED THEIR HUMAN
DIGNITY AND WORTH?
IMMANUEL KANT REINFORCED THIS POINT OF VIEW WITH HIS
CATEGORICAL IMPERATIVE HE LOGICALLY DECIMATED UTILITARIAN-
ISM AS AN ETHIC WHICH SEEKS THE GREATEST GOOD FOR THE GREATEST
NUMBER BY POINTING OUT THAT IT WOULD ALLOW 49% OF US TO BE
SLAVES! HE SUGGESTED THAT WE SHOULD TREAT EVERYONE AS AN
END IN THEMSELVES AND NOT AS A MEANS TO AN END.
HOW DOES USING THE DENIAL OF DIGNITY AND WORTH HELP US IN
IDENTIFYING REAL EVIL IN THIS WORLD. I WOULD LIKE TO SUGGEST
THAT IT WOULD POINT TO VOTER SUPPRESSION IN A DEMOCRACY AS A
TRULY EVIL ACT. IT IS DENYING THE DIGNITY AND WORTH OF THE
INDIVIDUAL VOTER WHO IS KEPT FROM PARTICIPATING IN A
DEMOCRATIC SOCIETY. AMOS WOULD CERTAINLY CONDEMN THE VOTER ID LAWS.
REV AL SHARPTON HAS SAID ON MSNBC THAT IT DISENFRANCHISE
TWO HUNDRED AND FIFTY THOUSAND IN TENNESSEE ALONE
IS THEIR ENOUGH MORALITY LEFT IN OUR CULTURE TO CONDEMN
SUCH EVIL.
YES WE HAVE A DE-FACTO CONCEPT OF EVIL IN OUR FIRST PRINCIPLE.
BUT ARE WE READY TO UNDERSTAND ITS FULL IMPLICATIONS ADOLPH
HITLER DEMONSTRATED THE EVIL OF MURDERING FIVE MILLION JEWS.
BY SCAPEGOATING THE JEWS AND TAKING AWAY THEIR LEGAL DIGNITY
AND WORTH, THAT YOU CAN TAKE AWAY EVENTUALLY THE RIGHTS AND
PRIVILEGES OF EVERYONE ELSE IN THAT SOCIETY. TO PROTECT OUR OWN
DIGNITY AND WORTH WE MUST PASSIONATELY DEFEND THE RIGHTS OF
ALL THE MINORITIES IN OUR SOCIETY OR EVENTUALLY SEE THE
THE RIGHTS OF EVERYONE COMPROMISED BY AN EVIL FASCISM. YES!
UNITARIAN UNIVERSALISTS HAVE AN IMPLICIT CONCEPT OF EVIL.
IT REMAINS FOR US TO APPLY IT IN OUR CURENT GENERATION.
AN ADDRESS DELIVERED TO THE UNITARIAN UNIVERSALIST CHURCH OF
SIOUX CITY IOWA ON OCTOBER 16TH, 2011 BY REV WILLIAM HOLDEN LICSW
COPYRIGHT 2011 WILLIAM L HOLDEN |
