Last Preached on January 26th, 2014 I never imagined that I would be considered a Social Justice Minister. You cannot become a Unitarian Universalist Minister without having some knowledge, interest, and willingness to be involved in Social Justice, in working to and organizing others to transform the world from what … Read more →
Tag Archives: Equality
Is This Really Where We Are? — A Psalm of Lament
Oh Lord, Is this really where we are? A man once said, “I believe, but help my unbelief”. I’m not sure I ever understood, until I myself had to cry out to you, Is this really where we are, oh Lord. Are we really as far from the Kingdom of … Read more →
I’m Sick Unto Death of Hearing about Protecting the Religious Liberty of Military Chaplains
I remember something that my Drill Sergeant said to me, my first day of Basic Training some 20 years ago, when I was an 18 year old private at Ft. Leonard Wood Missouri. We were all in one of our first formations, and he asked us if any of us … Read more →
So… What Comes After the Revolution?
It is far easier for us humans to know what we are against than it is for us to know what we are for. Learned responses and internal morality can tell us if we are “against” something that we experience in our lives. We can know that we do not … Read more →
The Role of Faith for the Military Chaplain
In the fall of 2011 I was honored to attend the first ever OutServe Leadership Conference. This was the first time for this organization of LGB persons actively serving in the military to gather publicly, since such public gatherings and recognition was made possible by the repeal of Don’t Ask, … Read more →
It’s Always an Oligarchy
In the last few months, I have heard the word Oligarchy being bandied around on the edges of American political circles. In the Tea-Party wing, they are using it as a new word for “Hollywood Elite” and “Liberal Media”. On the semi-far left it is being used to refer to … Read more →
Bearing Witness or Smug Paternalism?
Recently, there has been some chatter in UU Ministerial and Lay-Leadership circles around the upcoming plans for the Unitarian Universalist Association “Justice GA” in Phoenix Arizona, focusing on how it is planned for those who attend to do far more learning and bearing witness on the issue of immigration, than … Read more →
The Feeling of Abandoning the Field
In my weekly pastoral letter to my congregation here in Midland Michigan, I spoke of a feeling that I have. It is a feeling I know makes no rational sense, but I have long believed that feelings are not necessarily supposed to make rational sense. They are the soul trying … Read more →
A Short “I Told You So”
I wish I could say I did not know this was going to happen. I really wish I had been wrong. I really wish that my theory that the power of Mass Protests to significantly affect political realities is expirational had been proven wrong. I wish that mass protests still had the power … Read more →
Liberal Religious Social Justice
I have had some wonderful and amazing conversations, both in person and online, in relation to my recent article on Gun Control, Militias, and the Second Amendment. I can always tell when I’m doing “good work” when people respond passionately and personally to an article, some in favor of what … Read more →
The Journey from Conservative to Liberal
I remember a day in seventh grade when I came home all excited to tell my parents that I had discovered that I was a Liberal. We had been studying the American political system in social studies class, and in our textbook was a little box that showed the typical … Read more →
Standing on the Side of Reflection and Practice
I want to be very clear at the beginning of this article that it applies to the religious right, the religious center, and the religious left, and I’m going to focus on the religious left. This is something within human nature, not within specific religious traditions. If there is a difference … Read more →
The Foundation of My Identity
This essay is a class assignment for Rev. Mark Morrison-Reed’s class “Afro-Americans and the Unitarians, Universalists, and the Unitarian Universalists.” It is an attempt to locate myself with regards to race, both in heritage and in belief. My first memory of my “nana”, my father’s grandmother, is from when I was ten … Read more →
Depends On the Part of Town…
Over the last 17 days, I have been working with the North Central Chaplain Recruiting team, mostly answering phones, visiting schools, and doing database work. Mixing that with my Summer Ministry and my work for the Central Midwest District of the UUA has been why the blog has been a … Read more →
Fourth Star to the Right, and Straight on Till Morn…
Yesterday, the U.S. Army reached a milestone, as the first ever female soldier was nominated to become a General, the Army’s highest rank. Lt. General Ann Dunwoody was nominated by Secretary Gates to take over Army Materials Command. Her nomination awaits only senate confirmation before she pins on that fourth … Read more →
Defining Religious Language: Tolerance and Engagement
Tolerance is a word that gets used a lot, often by people who have not thought through the implications of the word. When we say that we are tolerant of someone, or that we practice tolerance, or that we believe in religious tolerance… what we are really doing is reinforcing … Read more →
A Dream and a Young Boy
I grew up in what I can only describe as an integrated community, at least as far as race is concerned. Simply put, the subject never came up. You see, I grew up in the military. The other children that I played soccer with, played marbles with, went to classes … Read more →