Editor: Steve Botts, stbotts@texas.net
Nosotros, las congregaciones miembros de la Asociación UU, convenimos en afirmar y formentar el valor y la dignidad propria de cada persona.
First, there's the column by our President, Mary Grace Ketner. This month, Mary Grace addresses the matter of making visitors feel comfortable and welcome to our church simply by being in the right place at the right time.
Then there's an autobiographical piece by Phil Shulman in which Phil gives us some background on the life experiences that have contributed to his spiritual growth and formed a basis for his beliefs. Inasmuch as the CUUC board has decided to explore the possibility of Phil serving us as a part-time minister, Mary Grace and I asked Phil to submit something to the newsletter so that the congregation could get a better idea of who he is and what he's about. Phil came up with the article printed here on rather short notice, but it's concise and relevant.
Henry Halff does the programs committe report this month. Henry addresses the matter of a social action committe for CUUC and also gives some further information about Phill Schulman including academic credentials and ordination status.
Also, the goals and plans of the newborn social action committee are given.
June Kachtik submits the second report of the futures committee which gives the results of a survey that many of us participated in.
Clem Chow sumarizes the meeting of the members service committe of 8/7, reminds us of the opportunity to contribute to Texas Public Radio through the church, tells us how to raise money for our church by eating Mexican food, and has some words about what's coming up for the Remarkable Films Group.
Then Glenna Jones-Kachtik, our RE director, brings us up to date on what's going on in the religious education program.
Following that is a column by from the Express-News by T.R. Fehrenbach on liberal religion from the 7/31 edition followed by a rebuttal by Janet P. Realini, a first UU member, printed a week later in the "Letters" section of the paper . There are also some articles about whether "intelligent design" should be taught in schools. Anyone wishing to discuss any of these articles within the CUUC comunity should post their thoughts on CUUC-Discussion mailto:cuuc-discuss-subscribe@yahoogroups.com.
There's even the beginning of a classified section with an ad by Suzie Olsen, a new member.
Finally, there's the calendar of upcoming events.
Can you give ten minutes a week to give to our church?
I hope you saw that question and thought "Of course I can give ten minutes!" because I plan to hold you to your word, even though it was a trick question. I am asking for ten minutes, true, but I am really asking for a particular ten minutes. It is the ten minutes from 10:15 to 10:25 on Sunday mornings. I am asking if you can give that ten minutes to your church. Here is why.
It takes me 18 minutes to get to church from my house. I know exactly when to leave in order to arrive at a service or meeting on time. But if I am visiting another church, say for a wedding, I am not sure exactly how to get there so I allow myself time to get lost and find my way again. Even if I know where the church is and have passed it many times, I probably never noticed how long it takes to go straight there, so I overestimate, to be sure. When I arrive, I may not be sure where to park or which door to go into, so I allow a little more time to get my bearings. By the time I arrive without all those things happening to me, I am fifteen minutes early!
That happens to our visitors, too. I know it does, because they arrive about 10:15.
The speaker and the worship coordinator for the day are there--very busy. Someone else may be, too, if there is a soup lunch or a meeting, but they, too, have a task they've committed to. They smile and say hello and try to visit, but ultimately must return to finish their morning commitments.
If only there were someone there for no other reason than that they simply loved our church and had set aside that ten minutes to just be there! Someone who had decided to give that ten minutes a week to their church.
Wait! What if there were several someone's there, standing around the coffee room laughing and chatting with each other, sitting on the couch or putting cream in their coffee or looking over the pamphlets and noticing the door, of course, so that they could invite visitors into the circle or step over to introduce themselves and welcome them?
An essay the UUA recently sent out said that churches must be careful not to repel visitors. Personally, I think the only way that our kind, funny, artsy, thoughtful, quirky, bantering, diverse, caring, beautiful members--that you--could repel visitors, is to not be there when they arrive.
That's why I'm asking if you will give ten minutes a week to our church?
Mary Grace Ketner
Experience is the best teacher. Here are some of the experiences that have encouraged me to reach for and find heaven, here and now, by and by.
65-69 Having teenage brothers who took me with them. 60's rule; "Parties must have an acoustic guitar."
65-73 Jewish and Catholic stories held out the vision of a time when people would live in peace and unity, and promised that we are loved by the One who created life.
67-76 Summer camp; campfires, hiking, swimming. Singing "We're the boys from cabin 16"? Everyone knew that they belonged.
73-78 Teen theater was alive! We sang and danced full out. Together we created something beautiful.
82- 05 The peace movement introduced me to UUs and other people whose critical independent thought demonstrated global concerns. In peace movement culture it's normal to care about the big picture and to try to do something that would help a lot of people..
85-89 Starr King School for the Ministry Utopian history and Unitarian intentional communities, Men's group.. Radical trust translating into genius, an outstanding education!
86 500 people walk 3,700 miles for Global Nuclear Disarmament. It was conscious community, an experiment in democracy and consensus building.
88 European Pilgrimage for disarmament and ecology. Peace Camp at Dachau and Berlin, intentional communities in France.
91- 05 Teaching and organizing with mental health consumers, survivors and x-patients. Liberation = empowerment!
92- ten weeks w/ Buddhist monks; fasting, shiatsu, and chanting.
96 1st Palestinian elections. International Interfaith Walk & Prayer for Peace
98-2000 Crisis Alternatives Program; Developing a peer support community. Promoting nonviolence, dignity, respect.
98 Walking for prison reform.
00-05 Oregon Country Fairs, Rainbow Gatherings, Conferences etc; expressive dance, hippies hugging, Massage Therapy CE, permaculture demonstrations, political theatre, renewable energy. Standing with thousands who share visions of a world where people matter more than profits.
Ask me about any of these experiences. Better yet let's create new ones!
I certainly hope that you're enjoying the short services led this summer by each of the church's programs. You may have also noticed that one of these programs is missing. "Where," you might ask, "is the Social Justice Committee?" (In some churches, this committee is known as the Social Responsibility Committee. I personally prefer the term Social Action committee, hoping that the committee might actually take some sort of action.)
A number of us (OK, I and my co-chair Stephanie Shearer; two's a number, isn't it?) have been thinking about Social Action recently. Social Action is a hard issue for UU churches. On the one hand, we have a strong tradition of social action and a commitment to putting our faith to work. On the other our individual views on social action are diverse and often directly opposed to those of others in the church. How, then should a church approach social action? Here are a few of the approaches that I've heard mentioned at CUUC.
Majority rules. We all pretty much feel the same way about matters. We shouldn't let a few naysayers keep the church from acting on important issues.
Arms length. If some members want to get together on some social action project or another, let them. The church itself should not get involved.
Can't we all get along? Surely there are a few issues that we all can agree upon. Let's just work on those and forget about the others.
There is fourth approach, one that I call Voltairian. Voltaire once said: "I disapprove of what you say, but I will defend to the death your right to say it." It's worth asking how far each of us would go down this road. Probably not "to the death," but do we consider it at all important that views opposed to our own are aired? Are we obliged to assist in their airing? If anyone is so obliged, it is UUs. Within our own churches we seek diversity, rely on the democratic process, and take special pains to make sure that everyone is heard. We could do the same for our communities. To do so would be one form of social action. Even a small church like ours can sponsor debates, forums, and other events to acquaint the community with more than one view of a topic. In the polaraized atmosphere of our times these forums and platforms are in short supply.
I'm not against any of the above philosophies of social action in a church. Each has a place. I do urge you to join us at the next Social Action committee meeting so that we get the benefit of your thoughts on what our church should be doing in the social arena.
You may have read the reports of the Future Committee and the Board in this issue of the newsletter. If not, we suggest that you do so. You'll learn that the Futures committee found widespread support for engaging a minister to help us with our most important issues, and that the board, acting on this information asked the newly formed Ministerial Search Committee to search for a quarter-time minister.
Fortunately, this task was easy for us since we had been approached by Rev. Phil Schulman about the possibility of just such a position. We have examined Phil's credentials, and we have interviewed him. We found that he is eminently qualified for the position.
We are now are asking you, the congregation, to get to know him and inform us of your feelings about his candidacy. Depending on what we hear from you, we shall recommend to the board that we vote on hiring him at a congregational meeting on September 18. You can start by read Phil's bio.
For twenty-five years, Phillip Schulman has been pursuing and promoting spirituality, social consciousness and healing. As a teacher, counselor, community organizer and minister, Phil has applied and promoted UU Principles.
He received a M.Div. from Thomas Starr King School for the Ministry in 1989. He then began a community ministry while working in the field of Addictions and Mental Health. He has taught spirituality classes and led support groups and workshops at conferences throughout the US, and in several European and Canadian cities. His presentations make use of contemporary music and media.
Phil has been active in numerous social concerns activities organizing for human rights and sustainable environmental policy. For the past decade, Phil's concern for healing has included a physical and massage therapy practice. His experience in Parish Ministry includes service to the Lakeland UU Fellowship in NJ, and the St. John UU Fellowship in the US Virgin Islands as well as itinerant ministry.
In addition, Phil has prepared a multimedia candidate package, and that package is available on a CD. Phil, or any member of the committee, can provide you with a copy. We can also furnish you with his résumé.
But the best way to get to know Phil is to talk to him. He plans on being at church on several Sundays between now and September 18. We suggest that you buttonhole him after these services and get acquainted with him. We have also asked him to drop in on as many committee and group meetings as he can in the next few weeks. This should give you an opportunity to see how he fits in with church activities.
You should also feel free to contact Phil on your own, either by phone (503-358-1197) or email (schulman@satx.rr.com).
Finally, Phil will again be in the pulpit on September 18, just before the annual meeting.
We, as a committee, will be working out the details of Phil's duties with us, the costs to us, and other contractual details. We'll make these available to the congregation for review and comment as we complete the drafts.
Whatever we decide about Phil, this is an important decision for the church and your input is critical. We on the Ministerial Search Committee look forward to working with each of you on this matter.
Henry Halff (210-493-7501, henry@quiensabe.com)
Mary Grace Ketner (210-271-0628, mgteller@yahoo.com)
Vicki Lee Mattern (210-690-1032, vmattern@sbcglobal.net)
The Social Action Committee was reborn last Sunday (August 14). Eleven of us met to discuss our interests in social action and to plan for converting those interests to action. We found that we had common interests in five general areas:
To advance these causes, and perhaps find others, we decided to take a number of steps.
We will meet monthly, on second Sundays, after the service. The next meeting is September 11.
We will each gin up specific ideas for taking action in the areas listed above. These ideas can be posted on the CUUC-Justice mailing list (cuuc-justice@yahoogroups.com) or sent to Henry Halff by postal mail. (To join CUUC-Justice send an email to cuuc-justice-subscribe@yahoogroups.com. Henry's postal address is 9 Villa Verde, San Antonio, TX 78230.)
We will take immediate action in two areas. We will consult the UUA concerning requirements for a green church. We are also planning a curriculum on tolerance for the children's program.
We will challenge each of the church's programs to make a contribution to social action.
We will look for hands-on projects that connect us directly with the people we seek to help.
We will seek roles as followers. We will look, where we can, for leadership from and cooperation with other organizations.
We will look for synergies among our work on different issues. For example, we could sponsor a debate on approaches to poverty, which would foster the causes of fighting poverty and promoting toleration.
We invite all to attend our next meeting On Sept 11, to join the CUUC-Justice mailing list, and to contribute to our work with hands, heart, and mind.
The Futures Committee interviewed 20 members between 8/7/05 and 8/9/05, or 2/3 of the pledging members. Their responses to the following questions were:
1. Have you had the opportunity to read our first report in the newsletter?
Would you care to comment?
This gave some who were not involved in the first survey an opportunity to share their thoughts.
Eight respondents had comments about tolerance, ranging from surprise that a third of those in the first survey of members and friends and those who no longer attend thought that we were not tolerant to one who pointed out that fostering a sense of community is extremely important in building a level of trust and respect.
Two mentioned the complexities of melding the intellect and the spirit into a meaningful Sunday morning service. And one felt that some growth is critical to the church's survival.
2. Do you think that having some "professional assistance" would help us -
"Enrich the ties that we have with each other?"
Yes: 15 No: 3
This area was emphasized by 4 of the affirmative respondents.
"Add a more spiritual element to our worship services?"
Yes: 15 No: 3
This area was emphasized by 8 of the affirmative respondents.
"Become more tolerant of each other's thoughts and feelings?"
Yes: 15 No: 3
This area was emphasized by 4 of the affirmative respondents
3. Are there other areas in which you think it would be helpful to have professional assistance?
Attention to growth: 11
Denominational affairs: 11
Leadership: 9
Personal pastoral care: 6
Social justice: 6
Guidance to board: 3
Programming: 3
Developing a youth group: 2
4. Would you be willing to increase your giving to the church by [5%/ 10%/ other amount] in order to be able to pay for this professional assistance?
Unqualified Yes 13
Unqualified No 1
Other
Will check on our budget
Maybe my spouse will
Ask my spouse
Maybe a little
It will be difficult, but I'll try
If necessary, but I would like to see everyone make a commitment, not just a few
From: Futures Committee, June Kachtik, chair
Sonya Graham, Phyllis Katcher, and Stephanie Schearer
Orientation Meeting, Aug. 7, 2005
Time: 12:25-1:30 PM
Location: Fire Place Room, CUUC
Attending: Visitors - Paloma Diaz, Patty Gullick, Ruth McMillian, Huyen Nguyen, Suzy Olsen, Julz Ruggles with Rev. Phil Schulman acting as a resource person. Members - Steve Botts, John and Joan Bradshaw, Clem and Joyce Chow, Henry and Jean Halff, Jeff and Mary Grace Ketner and Nancy White.
Descriptions of the meeting: Each person was asked to speak to his/her church going history. Rev. Schulman lighted the chalice. John Bradshaw covered briefly the history of CUUC. Mary Grace spoke on the governance of the church. Nancy White provided an overview of our yearly budget. Clem Chow distributed the brochures: "Many Hands" and "Why does Community UU need our members to pledge?". Questions raised by the visitors included: How is the church organized and administered? What happens when the church changes and I remain in my own convictions? Answers and discussions followed to these and other questions on RE and other matters raised.
Items for the light lunch were prepared and donated by: Jeff and Mary Grace Ketner, Clem and Joyce Chow and Nancy White.
Texas public radio (TPR) is a membership supported service that offers two separate FM stations in San Antonio. A business membership with a description of the member institution costs $800 per year. If more than thirteen of us who wish to support TPR for $60 a year can pool our contributions at the church, the church can then become a business member and gets a description of CCUC read over the air periodically. This is a good outreach towards a specific population. As a business member, two people from the church can go to special functions offered by TPR for business members only. However, if you choose to support TPR through the church, you will not be given an individual membership card. The church gets two membership cards that members can sign out for a definite period of time. You can still call and sign up for activities offered by TPR for their members. Just mention that you are part of the CUUC business membership. You also will not be sent a monthly copy of the "Key", the magazine for members, but you can sign up to receive it online at http://tpr.org/keynotes/keynotes.html.
The deadline for this year's membership is August 31. If you are interested, please write your check to CUUC with TPR membership designated on the memo line and hand the check to Nancy White, our treasurer. After we received a sufficient number of members' contributions, the church will then sign up as a business member. If you have any questions, please refer them to Clem Chow.
The El Matador restaurant, 12800 San Pedro (210-490-6684) just off Bitters and Highway 281, will give a 10 percent discount to people who bring in their church bulletin. That's nice enough, but the real interest is this: "At the end of each month, the restaurant will donate an additional 10 percent of each congregation's purchases back to that house of worship." Joyce and Clem Chow gave the restaurant a try on July 31. They received the 10 percent discount for their meals with our church bulletin. Nancy White also reported that another 10 percent was mailed to our church.
The next film selected by the Remarkable Film Group will feature the directorial debut of John Cassavetes' son, Nick: "Unhook the Stars". The 1996 film also featured his mother, Gena Rowlands. The film will be shown at church at 6:00 PM on Sunday, August 21.
The Remarkable Film Group will be featuring a film starring John Cassavetes to round off the series highlighting films mostly directed by him. The film will be selected during the group's meeting on August 21. The film featuring a John Cassavetes performance will be shown at church at 6:00 PM on Sunday, September 18.
The next series selected for the Remarkable Film Group will feature the works of director Billy Wilder. The first film in this series will be "Stalag 17". The 1953 film won the best actor's award for the performance of William Holden. The film will be shown at 6:00 PM on Sunday, October 16 at the church.
The second film in the Billy Wilder series for the Remarkable Film Group will be "Witness for the Prosecution". This 1957 film was based on a story written by Agatha Christie and featured remarkable performances by Tyrone Power, Marlene Dietrich and Charles Laughton. The film will be shown at 6:00 PM on Sunday, November 20 at the church.
The third and final film in the Billy Wilder series for the Remarkable Film Group will be "Some Like It Hot". The 1959 film is often considered by critics as the best comedy film ever produced. The film will be shown at 6:00 PM on Sunday, December 18 at the church.
RE students spent June and July talking about Tolerance (THE SNEETCHES), What it means to give your word (HORTON HATCHES THE EGG). We talked about Ecology in July (THE LORAX) and the children potted begonias and took them home with them. We also talked about why we use the symbol of the flaming chalice and they made their own chalices to take home.
August will be spent in a study of Harry Potter, The Lord of the Rings and other books, fairy tales and films that tie into the subject at hand which is Ethics. Last Sunday (8/7) we talked about magic mirrors, crystal balls and the difference between desire (what we would like) -vs- knowledge and truth (what is). The children made their own mirrors to take home. I suggested that they invest in a magnetic strip and then they can hang them in their lockers at school. August 21st we will be talking about the battle between good and evil - (the choices that we make).
The Parent's Covenant group met on 7/31 and we did scratch pictures. It will meet again on 8/14; however, I have not planned an activity yet.
September will represent a return to our World Religions curriculum.
We have been fortunate enough to have some visitors lately. Last week (8/7) we had Xacinta & Tadeo and the week before, Princess and her brother.
Stop by our classroom and see our artwork - as well as our new paint job (courtesy of Joan Bradshaw, Patty Gullick, Michael & Micaela Gullick, Stephanie Shearer and myself). On the workday, we cleaned closets and moved stuff downstairs into the new classroom.
Reading lists are due next Sunday 8/14. We ask that all students bring the list of the books they have read or finished this summer in - and parents of little ones the books read to them. For every 4 books, Joan Bradshaw and CUUC will supply a movie pass!
Hope everyone is enjoying the summer!!!!.
Glenna Jones-Kachtik
RE Director
Since the re-election of George W. Bush, the media's greatest interest in religious matters has been political. This is understandable. American media are overwhelmingly secular, and religion in general, whether mainline, fundamentalist, evangelical, Jewish or Muslim, is alien soil.
This misses, I believe, the spiritual dynamics of religion in America and what is taking place. Protestant liberalism is in spiritual collapse, replaced by different, if not newer, theologies.
Liberal Protestantism grew in the 19th century from many sources: deism, Hegel, Kant, Rousseau, Hume. It was utterly different from Wesley's Methodist movement (though in time it conquered it). I would define it in these terms: a critical approach to Scripture as a historical, not sacred, document; an openness to science and modernism; the stressing of individualism; and an effort to find common ground between various religious moral messages. Liberal theology was spread in Germany by Friedrich Schleiermacher and soon conquered England and America. By 1950, it was dominant.
However, German theological liberalism cratered early in the last century; it did not withstand the horror of World War I. The optimistic, well-ordered, progressive intellectual world of the Germans collapsed.
This was at first spiritual; it played out in politics. German religionists asked for a more vigorous faith, dynamic, judgmental and critical of modernism, which seemed to be leading mankind to the brink. Believers desired spiritual healing, authentic God-experience, a clear-cut single path to personal salvation and a God to stand in judgment of the corrupt Weimar Republic society. The result was a societal splintering into far left and right until Nazism ended the chaos.
In 1950 an observer might easily believe that religious liberalism would dominate the United States. It was making inroads into Catholicism and Judaism. However, the opposite happened. The most liberal bodies began to erode on the spiritual, secular and political level, losing millions of members and influence. The heaviest losses have been among Episcopalians and Presbyterians, once the upper reaches of Protestant society. Meanwhile, there's been an enormous growth among evangelical, Pentecostal, charismatic and neo-orthodox groups, most of whom reject the basic tenets of theological liberalism.
The theologian H. Richard Niebuhr summed up the liberal dilemma as this: Liberals posit "a God without wrath" bringing "men without sin into a kingdom without judgment through the ministrations of a Christ without a cross." This is not religion in any historical sense; it is more a social philosophy. Why bother being a Christian if it means only being a good, open-minded citizen?
The most basic problem, I suspect, stems from the biblical tradition. Christianity is based upon the Bible, not much else. If the Bible is a mere historical document without authority and its message is set forth in universalist terms and if churches worry too much about the social order, religion loses most of its personal impact and comfort. Religion is, after all, basically belief. It is in the world but not of it.
This means there are definite limits to biblical liberalization and reinterpretation if the church wishes to remain the church. Preaching peace, good deeds, harmonious relationships and love does not assist messy people with their equally messy lives, people who need reassurance, transcendence and a clear path to personal salvation..
Liberal theologians hate the rise of messianic and eschatological religion in America but have trouble opposing it. Many cannot understand the desperate need for intense, personal belief, and let the devil take the hindmost. They suffer from no such impulses; being a good world citizen is enough. But neither the world nor humanity is ruled by reason.
While the context today is still mainly spiritual, this battle has enormous cultural and political ramifications. With Americans veering from reality-based faith to a faith-based reality evidenced by the popularity of "end times," personal miracles, hatred of an "anything goes" secular culture and the rise of home-schooling to keep the sheep uncontaminated by the goats.
I often enjoy T.R. Fehrenbach's column, but I was dismayed by his erroneous comments to the effect that Protestant liberalism is in "spiritual collapse" ("Liberalism losing spiritual struggle," July 31).
It is one thing to acknowledge the growth of fundamentalist religion (including Muslim and Christian sects) and the increasing popularity and political power of evangelical Christianity. But it is absolutely not true that liberal religion is "not a religion" or that it has no "intense, personal belief."
Fehrenbach seems clueless about liberal religion, its power and its potential. (Liberal religion is not the same as liberal politics. "Liberal" here is in contrast to literal or traditional religion, not in contrast to conservative.)
To say, "Preaching peace, good deeds, harmonious relationships and love does not assist messy people with their messy lives" is ridiculous. Religion does not have to conform to a literal interpretation of the Bible to be spiritual or important or save people.
I am a member of the First Unitarian Universalist Church. At our church, Christians, Jews, atheists, pagans, Buddhists and others worship together, seeking truth and meaning. Among our congregation are some of the most passionately religious people I know - and their spirituality energizes them to make a difference in the real world.
-Janet P. Realini
You might have thought that a strategy of creating doubt about inconvenient research results could work only in soft fields like economics. But it turns out that the strategy works equally well when deployed against the hard sciences.
The most spectacular example is the campaign to discredit research on global warming. Despite an overwhelming scientific consensus, many people have the impression that the issue is still unresolved. This impression reflects the assiduous work of conservative think tanks, which produce and promote skeptical reports that look like peer-reviewed research, but aren't. And behind it all lies lavish financing from the energy industry, especially ExxonMobil.
There are several reasons why fake research is so effective. One is that nonscientists sometimes find it hard to tell the difference between research and advocacy - if it's got numbers and charts in it, doesn't that make it science?
Even when reporters do know the difference, the conventions of he-said-she-said journalism get in the way of conveying that knowledge to readers. I once joked that if President Bush said that the Earth was flat, the headlines of news articles would read, "Opinions Differ on Shape of the Earth." The headlines on many articles about the intelligent design controversy come pretty close. Finally, the self-policing nature of science - scientific truth is determined by peer review, not public opinion - can be exploited by skilled purveyors of cultural resentment. Do virtually all biologists agree that Darwin was right? Well, that just shows that they're elitists who think they're smarter than the rest of us.
Which brings us, finally, to intelligent design. Some of America's most powerful politicians have a deep hatred for Darwinism. Tom DeLay, the House majority leader, blamed the theory of evolution for the Columbine school shootings. But sheer political power hasn't been enough to get creationism into the school curriculum. The theory of evolution has overwhelming scientific support, and the country isn't ready - yet - to teach religious doctrine in public schools.
But what if creationists do to evolutionary theory what corporate interests did to global warming: create a widespread impression that the scientific consensus has shaky foundations?
Creationists failed when they pretended to be engaged in science, not religious indoctrination: "creation science" was too crude to fool anyone. But intelligent design, which spreads doubt about evolution without being too overtly religious, may succeed where creation science failed.
The important thing to remember is that like supply-side economics or global-warming skepticism, intelligent design doesn't have to attract significant support from actual researchers to be effective. All it has to do is create confusion, to make it seem as if there really is a controversy...
Given the human tendency toward inconsistency, there are people who will say they hold both positions. But you cannot coherently affirm the Christian-truth claim and the dominant model of evolutionary theory at the same time.
Personally, I am a young-Earth creationist. I believe the Bible is adequately clear about how God created the world, and that its most natural reading points to a six-day creation that included not just the animal and plant species but the earth itself. But there have always been Evangelicals who asserted that it might have taken longer. What they should not be asserting is the idea of God's having set the rules for evolution and then stepped back. And even less so, the model held by much of the scientific academy: of evolution as the result of a random process of mutation and selection.
For one thing, there's the issue of human "descent." Evangelicals must absolutely affirm the special creation of humans in God's image, with no physical evolution from any nonhuman species. Just as important, the Bible clearly teaches that God is involved in every aspect and moment in the life of His creation and the universe. That rules out the image of a kind of divine watchmaker.
I think it's interesting that many of evolution's most ardent academic defenders have moved away from the old claim that evolution is God's means to bring life into being in its various forms. More of them are saying that a truly informed belief in evolution entails a stance that the material world is all there is and that the natural must be explained in purely natural terms. They're saying that anyone who truly feels this way must exclude God from the story. I think their self-analysis is correct. I just couldn't disagree more with their premise.
There is a rumor that there has been a UU miracle. Someone claimed to have seen the face of Ralph Waldo Emerson in a tortilla.
A convict on Death Row, the night before his scheduled execution, was visited by the warden. The warden, in talking with the condemned man, said, "Usually at this point, persons in your situation find great comfort in talking to a member of the clergy. With that in mind, would you like us to send the prison chaplain over for a visit?" The convict replied, "Well, warden, I have to tell you - I was raised a Unitarian Universalist." The warden then said, "Well, then, would you like to talk to a math professor?"
In Minnesota, a congregation used to sell a bumper sticker that said "it is easier to be born again than it is to grow up"
Wherever you find two Jews, you will find three religious opinions. Unitarian Universalists would be amazed at such unanimity.
Didja hear the one about the UU monastery. All are welcome, but to allow for peaceful contemplation, you must take a vow of silence - unless you think of something REALLY good!
Arguing with a UU is like wrestling with a pig. Pretty soon you realize the pig likes it.
A devout Christian was arguing with a UU about the existence of God. He said, "Ok, just prove there is no God." The UU quipped, "You can't prove there is no God - you have take it on faith."
How much does an 800 pound UU eat at a soup lunch? As much as he or she wants.
. . .and a Baptist joke. A Sunday School teacher was talking to her class. "I have a question for you," she said "Who has a fluffy tail, grey fur and eats nuts and bark?". The kids all sat in silence. "I'll give you another clue," she said, "He climbs trees and sleeps in the winter." Still no reply from any of the children. "Can't you guess?" said the teacher, sounding a little frustrated now. "He eats nuts, climbs trees, has a big fluffy tail - who could he be?" After a long pause, one little boy put his hand up very hesitantly. "I know the answer's Jesus," he said, "but it sure sounds like a squirrel to me."
Room for rent, clean with bathroom, in three bedroom house with trees and yard and herb garden, near Medical Center and UTSA, neighborhood is safe, accessible by foot or bus to shopping etc. . Prefer non-smoker, vegetarian or nearly so, pets live outside. Artists, students, healers, inquisitives are welcome....please e-mail at suzyolsen@ev1.net .
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