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Emerson Church Unitarian Universalist
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| Walking Together - November, 2008 Edition |
| Don’t walk in front of me. I may not follow. Don’t walk behind me. I may not lead. Walk beside me. And just be my friend. ~ Albert Camus |
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 I believe that the hallmark of our religion is tolerance. And it is not just that we believe that people with different beliefs should be accepted, but rather that we work toward appreciating others such that we can discover their truths and their beauty. It is an essentially a democratic faith [with a small ‘d’] that makes it possible for people to find common ground so that our urgent and difficult problems can be solved. As I said in a recent sermon, I am concerned about how our election process has been unfolding recently. I am concerned by some of the cynical, dishonest campaigning that has stimulated some extremists to not only question candidates’ patriotism, but even to say threatening things.
Bobby Kennedy was right. Extremism is not about the issues or political philosophy. It is about dishonest ad hominen attacks that do not serve the American people well. One of the things I have been saying for several months now is, “This election is the most important in my lifetime.” That is a remarkable statement for this 62-yea “What is objectionable, what is dangerous about extremists, is not that they are extreme, but that they are intolerant. The evil is not what they say about their cause, but what they say about their opponents.”
Robert F. Kennedy |
r old man to make after witnessing so many wars, assassinations,financial crises, political scandals, broken government, foreign policy failures, environmental degradation, and an unfortunate election process that seemed suspiciously decided on the basis of politics and not by the rules of the game.
It does feel now that we Americans are in trouble, and it makes me wonder why anyone would want to be president now. The problems are so daunting that I would think that no one person could solve them. But we have faced even greater challenges in our history, such as the Civil War, the two World Wars and the Great Depression. It will take some time for our nation to right its course but I have faith that we can and we will.
To do that, though, will require our trust, good will and commitment to the democratic process. Our election process does not necessarily bring out those qualities in the American people, but after November 4, I say that we begin to do the noble work to make our nation a better place for ourselves and for future generations.
We Unitarian Universalists believe in the “right of conscience and the use of the democratic process.”Thus, we are well situated to lead the way to help heal our wounds and re-energize our democracy. For in the final analysis, a democracy depends on ordinary citizens doing the hard, daily work that fosters trust in our public
Faithfully yours,
Reverend Harold W. Beu
Copyright © by Emerson Church Unitarian Universalist - Troy, MI
All Right Reserved. Author: ecuuadmin - Published on: 2008-11-23 (599 reads) [ Go Back ] |
