“UUism For Fun and Prophet”
Rev. Greg Ward
Unitarian Universalist Metro Atlanta North
November 6th, 2005

Meditation  (Excerpted from Davison Loehr)
Political scientist, Dr. Lawrence Britt, In an essay he titled “Fascism Anyone?,” studied the social and political agendas common to fascist regimes. His comparisons of Hitler, Mussolini, Franco, Suharto, and Pinochet yielded this list of 14 “identifying characteristics common to all.”   I would like us all to consider the relevance of these points.  Not only as to whether they are relevant to our political situation, but whether they are relevant to our religious situation.

1. Constant use of Patriotism and Nationalism in public gatherings
This includes display of flags, use of patriotic songs and applause or deferred respect anytime military is present.

2. Disdain for the Recognition of Human Rights 
The general persuasion by the government that human rights can and should be ignored in certain cases because of “need.”  Situations where people  are asked to look the other way, understand or even condone the use of torture, assassinations, long incarcerations of prisoners, etc.

3. Identifying Enemies/Scapegoats to Unify the Cause
Frequent efforts to label a minority group as a perceived common threat or foe: could be based on racial, ethnic or religious grounds; liberals; communists; socialists, terrorists, etc. 

4. Supremacy of the Military
Even when there are widespread domestic problems, the military is given a disproportionate amount of government funding, and the domestic agenda is neglected. Soldiers and military service are glamorized.

5. Rampant Sexism
The governments of fascist nations tend to be almost exclusively male-dominated. Under fascist regimes, traditional gender roles are made more rigid. Opposition to abortion is high, as is homophobia and anti-gay legislation and national policy.

6. Attempt by government to control the Mass Media
Sometimes the media are directly controlled by the government, but in other cases, the media are indirectly controlled by government regulation, or sympathetic media spokespeople and executives. Censorship, especially in war time, is very common.

7. Obsession with threats to the National Security
Fear is used as a motivational tool by the government over the masses.

8. Religion and Government are Intertwined
Governments in fascist nations tend to use the most common religion in the nation as a tool to manipulate public opinion. Religious rhetoric and terminology is common from government leaders, even when the major tenets of the religion – such as charity, or care for the oppressed - are diametrically opposed to the government's policies and actions.

9. Corporate Power is Protected
The industrial and business aristocracy of a fascist nation often are the ones who put the government leaders into power, creating a mutually beneficial business/government relationship and power elite.

10. Organized Labor is Suppressed
Because the organizing power of labor is the only real threat to a fascist government, labor unions are either eliminated entirely, or are severely suppressed. 

11. Disdain for Intellectuals and the Arts
Fascist nations tend to discourage or cut funding to higher education, and academia and the arts. 

12. Obsession with Crime and Punishment
Under fascist regimes, the people are often asked to overlook police abuses and even forego civil liberties in the name of patriotism.

13. Rampant Cronyism and Corruption
Fascist regimes almost always are interconnected by friends and associates who appoint each other to government positions and use governmental power and authority to protect themselves from accountability.

14. Fraudulent Elections
Sometimes elections in fascist nations are a complete sham. Other times elections are manipulated by smear campaigns against or even assassination of opposition candidates, use of legislation to control voting numbers or political district boundaries, and manipulation of the media. Fascist nations also typically use their judiciaries to manipulate or control elections.

This list should be familiar to students of political science. But it should also be familiar to students of religion as well, for much of it mirrors the social and political agenda of religious fundamentalisms worldwide. It is both accurate and helpful for us to understand fundamentalism as religious fascism, and fascism as political fundamentalism. They both come from very primitive parts of us that have always been the default setting of our species: favoritism toward in-groups, oppression of out-groups, a disregard to fairness and steady decline of creative participation and hope. 

Think for a moment about relevance.  Is this something that is part of the politics of our current world?  Does this have any implications on our religious world?  In our world of UUism?  In our UUMAN world?

Sermon:
On my refrigerator at home I have a magnet that has a picture of Jesus and the words – “stop using Jesus as an excuse to be a narrow minded, bigoted, schmuck.”  On my bulletin board in my office I have a picture of Jesus at the last supper – a renaissance depiction where he appears with the disciples.  And alongside the disciples who are in distress, arguing across the table at each other, Jesus looks beatific, beaming at them – with the caption above that showing him as saying, ‘You’re all fired.’  At home close to my alter, I have religious action figures, Jesus, Noah, Moses and for good measure, Mr. T and Spider-man.  I enjoy knowing that people have actually joined this church because they heard of us on both Prairie Home Companion and the Simpsons.  I like pulling into the parking lot and seeing the bumper stickers like, “God wants spiritual fruits, not religious nuts.” 

I mention these things to make the point that being Unitarian Universalist is fun.   That’s important to me.  And I think a number of people agree.  I think a lot of people come to our faith because they believe that being religious does not have to mean constant suffering.  Many of came here because we were a religious alternative to ones that see people as ‘sinners in the hands of an angry God.   We came because we see ourselves having been born into original blessing – like the Unitarians.  And wanting a religion that offers not hell, but hope – like the Universalists.  And because, ultimately, we believe in a religion where laughter is honored as a sacrament and was not crucified so that guilt could rise on the third day and watch over reminding us that we’re sinning if we somehow do something that makes us glad to be in church.

Unitarian Universalism can be for fun.  But for prophet? 

When I titled the sermon UUism for Fun and Prophet, I obviously didn’t mean to imply that we were part of a pyramid scheme.  Or that anyone would get rich here.  Most all of us figured out that being UU can be expensive.  Although we have fun, we have to pay for everything we do here.  With the hope, of course, that what we do is ultimately more rewarding than costly.

But how can Unitarian Universalism be for prophet?   After all, it says quite clearly in our by-laws that we are a non-prophet organization.  And 501c3 laws require that whatever prophets we do reference be unaffiliated with any political party.  But does that mean that we can’t be a prophetic religion? 

More seriously, does that mean that we should refrain from expressing some religious imperative – specifically some moral or ethical call to action within the political arena?  What do you think?  This is an issue on which Unitarian Universalists are not of one mind.  And although it is sometimes fun to belong to a religion that is out of its one mind, it is something we ought to be clear about.  This morning, I read some pretty high octane political commentary.  I would like us to think about the appropriateness such commentary has within our worship.  Or even within our religious lives.

But before we do this, I think it is important to invite some accountability into our discussion.  Accountability for me.  For us.  I know that it sometimes makes a difference in conversations who is in the room.  Even in reflections.  When I write my sermons, it sometimes helps clarify my thoughts to know someone I need to remember is watching.

So I would like to invite in the room, by virtue of his identification card, a young man by the name of Wolfgang Munzer.  I am hoping that his presence will help us take a responsible look at the questions on the table.  So let’s imagine that he is here, with us.  Listening.

Now that we’re all here, I’d like to pose this morning’s question in a different way.  In the form of a letter.  It reads:

Dear Rev. Ward,

A couple of weeks ago, I came to worship service thinking I had come into a church.  But when I left, I wasn’t so sure.  The sermon was completely political.  It was critical of government and of the way society is run and some of the laws being made.  They questioned the current administration in a way that seemed to assume everyone agreed with them.  It felt very divisive and it bothered me.  Are they always that way?  I don’t come to church to hear political speeches.  If that’s what I wanted, I would spend my time at city hall.  I come here to find some peace.  For a sense of calm that is all-too-often missing in my life.  I come for spirituality.  I thought that is what this community was about – to provide a place for these things – not to get into the same divisive conflicts that are everywhere else in our society.  I want to get away from that.   Can we just focus on spirituality and not have politics in the church? 

Sincerely,
Seeking Spirituality

Let me say, this is not an actual letter.  Since I have been in this church, I have received this general message – either in email or written or verbal form at least a dozen times.  What I read was simply a virtual reconstruction of bits and pieces of many expressions. 

In the past, most of the references –although certainly not all – were in regards to comments that other people made while in this pulpit.  So it may be relevant to explain something called ‘Freedom of the Pulpit,’ which means something other than what most people think it means.

Freedom of the pulpit doesn’t mean that anyone who preaches here has license to say whatever they want.  It does not mean that this pulpit is a glorified soap box to all who stand here on Sundays.  It is actually a covenant forged between a congregation and the minister they call to serve them.  The covenant means that the congregation entrusts the pulpit to the minister’s best judgment in addressing the spiritual needs of the community.  In other words the called minister is responsible and accountable for every single sentiment expressed from the pulpit.  Whether spoken by the called minister or someone else he or she extends the pulpit to. 

Now, you might be familiar with how it works in some Christian churches when, in the course of a sermon, the spiritual hunger of the community is being given something nourishing, the people say, ‘amen.’  And when the spiritual hunger of the community is being given something poisonous, the people say, ‘ouch.’  Or they gag or choke or faint – except in a Pentecostal church when any of those can be a good thing.  Freedom of the pulpit means that the called minister is responsible for overseeing the menu whether he is cooking or not. 

Now I tend to be among the more liberal of our UU ministers when it comes to extending the pulpit to others.  I believe that it is important to hear different voices articulating truth with a small ‘t’ before anyone in the congregation can begin to hear the universal truths with a capital ‘T.’   I have also seen that being in a position of speaking to an audience we care about and are accountable to, encourages anyone who steps in here, to his or her best spiritual thinking.  But, ultimately, to insure that what’s said is palatable and not poisonous – and because the letters, when this is not the case, come to me – I have the responsibility of being fairly careful who says what. 

So, in that role, I hold out a few things to keep in mind to those preparing to preach here.  First, I ask them to remember that the aim is transform people.  That a good sermon will, as they say, comfort the afflicted and afflict the comfortable.  Secondly, that if you are planning on afflicting the comfortable it is important to do so with love – and if you don’t plan on doing that, you better plan on frisking them at the door for weapons.  I always say that it is always better to fall short in the aim of transforming people.  But never falling short of loving them.  Finally, I implore them to know that love – spiritual love – always offers a preferential option to the poor.  And that is why it is good to – at least in our minds – invite someone who we know needs to be remembered.  Like Wolfgang Munzer, who will keep us accountable. 

I offer you this explanation this morning to let you know that I care greatly about everyone who sits in this congregation Sunday after Sunday and I try to insure that what the people in these seats hear from this pulpit is love.  I know, like the letter states, that people come here hurting, sometimes feeling broken, seeking a sense of wholeness that is missing from their lives.  I believe it is my responsibility as a minister, and our responsibility as a church to offer that.

But I think it is also our responsibility as a religion – especially one that is expressly devoted towards being open and inclusive,  to love the world – to understand that the world is also hurting, sometimes feels broken and seeks a sense of wholeness that is missing.  Unless we invite the world in – give them a seat in our spiritual home – ask them to hold us accountable - we run the risk of being a religion that is only interested in ourselves.  A religion that is for fun and not for prophet. 

EB White once said, “I wake up each morning torn between the choice to save or to savor the world.  It makes it very hard to plan the day.”  If we are just going to savor and not save – just spend our freedom for fun and not for prophet – it still costs us.  The price we pay is living with knowing we sit by savoring our freedoms while others struggle.  And because we are caring people – people who believe we were born as agents of original blessing – not sin - who believe in not hell, but hope – witnessing such struggle in the world around us can leave us feeling disengaged with our better selves.  Less compassionate.  Less generous.   Less powerful than we believe ourselves to be. 

These feelings can plague us, leave us in despair.  They are often the feelings that send us in search of a spiritual community.  One not about guilt, but hope.  One that offers peace.  Not one that stirs up divisiveness.  But a place we can turn to for love.  To have the afflicted parts of ourselves comforted.  Not have the last of our comforts afflicted.   

Religion is ultimately about how to heal the brokenness – both within ourselves and the world.  It translates from the Latin to mean, ‘to bind together again.’  To find what is lost.  Restore what is broken.

Politics is the distribution of power and the deployment of resources.  It is what decides who are the haves and who are the have nots.  Who gets a hand up and who gets stepped on. 

There is a another fun bumper sticker found in many UU parking lots which says, ‘if you want peace, work for justice.’  It is this that asks us to recognize the power of love and to exercise that power with a preferential option for the poor.  It is this that asks us remember we stand for everyone – not just the people who are like us.  And to remember that our heritage, as Dave reminded us, calls us to speak truth to power.  That’s what makes us prophets.

It’s important to remember that the biblical prophets were not crackpots who preached that we had to believe in God.  They preached that we had to believe in our covenant to address real world concerns.  The prophets we know – like Elisha, Amos, Hosea and Isaiah were not sequestered in the religious world – ranting from a soap box in the wilderness.  They worked in the political world.  They were actually advisors to kings - political spin doctors who tried to keep power accountable to moral imperatives.  They spoke of the rights of the poor, the wrongs of military oppression and reminders that the least among us still have intrinsic worth and deserve our extrinsic attention. 

Unitarians and Universalists understand that when religion becomes obsessed with itself and imposing it’s will on its people instead of serving them, it creeps into fundamentalism.  And when government becomes obsessed with itself, it creeps into fascism.  And when they both do this – in concert with one another, such as was the case in Nazi Germany – and there is no prophetic voice willing to speak truth to power – then the people perish and peace and justice are lost.

One of the things that keeps me loyal to Unitarian Universalism, besides it being willing to be for fun, is because it is willing to be for prophet as well.  The Unitarian service Committee was willing to recognize – even before the United States was willing to get involved, that Nazi Germany was a fascist regime, oppressing and killing people while religion – and the rest of the world - stood idly by. 

When I went to the holocaust museum in Washington DC, I was introduced to Wolfgang Munzer.  When you enter, they hand you an identification card.  I got his.  As you go through the first floor and see the horrific conditions that led up to Nazism – the conditions the world tried so hard to ignore – you are asked to read a little bit about the ‘person who is walking you through the horror.’  How he grew up.  How he had dreams to study but was kept out of school for being a Jew.  The second floor shows the build up of fascism and the oppression of minorities.  I read how Wolfgang tried to escape but he was caught and sent, with his parents, to Auschwitz.  On the third floor they show you the gas chambers and the inhumanity people suffered.  And you read the last page to see if you guy lives or dies. 

Wolfgang Munzer lived.  He survived four years at Auschwitz.  But his parents were gassed on arrival.  I keep his ID card on my desk when I write my sermons.  I keep a seat in the congregation for him.  He holds me – holds us – accountable for the need to speak truth to power.  And to goad me when I get so comfortable, I become complacent. 

On the cover of the ID card it reads – for the dead AND the living we must bear witness. 

I remember in the museum there was a large sign that read, Remember all those who were involved in the Holocaust: the perpetrators, the victims, the bystanders, the rescuers and the liberators.  The Victims wanted the world to know.  The perpetrators wanted the world not to know.  The bystanders wanted the world not to know that they knew. 

Part of the religions job healing a broken world is to help us know ourselves.  Part of it is to help us know others.  And part of it is to never to let ourselves forget what we know.  It is great that we are able to have fun in this church.  But it is important to remember that the fun we have can only come when we are free.  Others may not have fun because they do not have the freedom to make that choice.  Peace – what we seek and what the world seeks - can only come when all are free.  Justice will only come about when we, who are free,  speak truth to power and save a place within our freedom for those still struggling to find

the Glory of Life.
 
Copyright Wardswords, 2005