I would like to dedicate today's sermon to Patty Gullick. She let me know when sermons inspired or challenged her to face something in her life. She several times asked me when I was going to preach a sermon on a current event. The ironic thing is that when I preached my political views, this was not when I received the positive feedback from her.
Patty described herself as more conservative politically than most people here. For more than two years prior to my arrival, she remained on the fringe and decidedly did not become a member. Patty recalled that she had been told in not so many words, that she wasn't a UU because of her view on a particular social concern.
Printed on the insert to your order of service are four questions. You'll notice that these questions focus on two central aspects of spirituality. First, they invite each of us to ponder our destiny, what we should or should not be doing with our lives. Second they ask us to consider the notion of providence, that we are, in some sense provided for; that what we need, we get.
I offered my understanding our how our religious movement works. We have no creedal test for membership. There is nothing you must swear to believe to be one of us. You are asked to value or at least support the use of the democratic process in the congregation. Democratic process has great influence upon many aspects of our religious life. For example, does a congregation have meditation, covenant groups, does it have rituals? Does a congregation or the UU Association of Congregations take a position and act upon a social issue? The answer to these are always influenced and sometimes determined by democratic process. Our movement is known for its leadership on progressive social issues, but I believe we are better characterized by our emphasis on process. We hold as a common value, the individual's right of conscience. We value equity and compassion in human relations. We hold as sacred our attempts to create beloved communities where people find support to grow in spiritual awareness and to actualize the beauty of their humanity.
When I remember the political issue that Patty raised, it's easy to imagine our first meeting having gone differently. I don't think we had much agreement on that issue. Fortunately, I was able to convey my hope that she would become a member of our congregation. I made clear that I would do my part to see that CUUC would be a place where she and her children would find support for their religious journeying.
The challenge of disagreeing with respect and self respect was a theme in our conversations. Patty demonstrated her appreciation of our shared ministry by speaking up when she wanted our church to do a better job of valuing and respecting its minister. She said to me "Phil this isn't about you." She wanted us to be respectful of our chosen leaders. She wanted fairness for all of us. She ask me when I would give a political sermon. For herself and all of us, she wanted this to be a place that honored conscience. Thank you Patty for asking me to speak my conscience.
Although I have grown fond of the pastoral role, it was UU address of social concerns that first attracted me to our UU movement. At least occasionally I need to move beyond my comfort zone and attempt to speak with Prophetic voice. It is too easy to focus on spiritual principles such as acceptance, forgiveness and even justice without challenging the particular ways we support the collective ills of society.
Therefore today, as part of this month's Pride celebration of lesbians, gays bisexuals, transgender and people questioning sexuality or gender, I will speak to the subject of "Fear, Gays and the Status Quo." My talk is based the assumption that all forms of oppression, and in particular gay oppression serves to enforce the status quo of a market place culture that enables a small minority to exploit the population and our natural resources.
"The earth, reeling as it is, produces more than enough food to feed plentifully every man, woman and child on the planet. There is enough food; yet, our economic system produces murderous scarcity. A few have more than they can consume, so much that garbage disposal is a critical problem; while millions perish in sight of plenty. One nation, containing a tiny fraction of the earth's population (the majority of whom think of themselves as Christians), consumes half the earth's resources, yet it still manages not to feed its own hungry."
The link of anti-gay sentiment and market place economics may not be obvious. I am suggesting that racism, sexism, mentalism, able bodied-ism,and the oppressions of any group deemed as abnormal or inferior, exist in order to divide the human race so that a minority elite can dominate and exploit Earth's resources. All forms of oppression serve to encourage competition and discourage cooperation. These are cultural patterns that keep us from recognizing the sacred and interdependent nature of life. These traditions keep us from recognizing what is in our COMMON interest. These patterns are kept in place so that the people and forces that hold sway over our most important resources can continue to dominate the population and and exploit our planet.
Now if you are tempted to dismiss what I am saying as a conspiracy theory delusion, I ask you to consider two things. First, I am not suggesting that these systems were created in a board room by a few rich white men. Second, it is not necessary for people to be fully aware of what they are doing in order to perpetuate systematic oppression.
I am talking about the condition that our human race finds itself in because of our obsession with dominance. I am diagnosing a condition where our basic relationship to nature and life is characterized by arrogance, fear and antagonism. Some time ago individuals and then tribes developed a distrust of nature. It has seemed to us that the only way to exist is to dominate, control and conquer. This condition has resulted in unprecedented rates of species extinction, great and widespread suffering on our planet. If this condition goes untreated, it will, in my opinion, lead to the extinction of the human race. The particular form of oppression that is anti-gay sentiment and discrimination is crucial for enforcing rigid and dehumanizing gender roles. We are made to become "real men" or "proper ladies." The conditioning of boys to become real men involves tremendous violence that causes a fear of vulnerability and a compulsion to dominate. The conditioning of girls to become proper ladies involves a complimentary denial of human qualities, and ensures passivity. If women knew they had the power to organize for the very values that they are required to have, they would do as Julia Ward Howe did and would call for noncooperation with a system that puts their sons and husbands into the meat grinder of war. After that, resistance to the meat-grinders of industry would follow close behind.
There are many reasons why homosexuality triggers great anxiety in the population, but the ultimate one is that triggers subconscious memories of being forced and coerced to conform to stereotypical patterns of gender. Anti gay oppression has less to do with sex than it does with the prohibition of tenderness in men, powerfulness in women, and mutuality for any of us. The presence of homosexuality reminds us at some level of the pain we experienced when we were forced to accept "the way things are." If you are tempted to deny that anything happened to you, can you deny remembering the mistreatment of others? The only reason any of us go along with the systematic mistreatment of groups of people, is that we are shown that resistance meets with severe punishment.
Homosexuality does threaten the social order and that is precisely why I am grateful for it. Times are changing. None of us embrace all of the changes. However, some people want to go back to a golden era that never existed, to the good old days when men were men and women didn't interfere.
One reason that fundamentalists so violently oppose same sex marriage is that acceptance of homosexuality threatens fundamentalism itself. When we recognize and acknowledge that the bible expresses prejudicial and unjust standards of a day gone by, then we pull the plug on biblical literalism. When we do that we threaten the dominating influence of most forms of religious institutional authority. People invested in religious systems (ourselves included) see themselves as participating in a force of social goodness. When we expose people's religion and their scripture as justifying blind and brutal dehumanization, this calls into question the worth of the very system that providing meaning and order to their lives.
The need for order and meaning is essential to all of us. It will help us to have compassion in realizing why people are reacting fearfully. Same sex marriage implies acceptance of something that has long been taught to be evil. We are foolish to mock people for their insecurity. We do greater harm if we deny the validity of these universal needs.
I am not suggesting that we allow our social order to be determined by biblical literalism or corporate desire to dominate. As UU's we shall continue to examine cultural beliefs and ask what our values require of us. For a growing number of us, conscience requires that we speak against the discrimination of lgbtqs. For a growing number of us it means denouncing anti-homosexual sentiment as prejudice.
In 1967, surveys indicated that the vast majority of UUs believed that it was socially responsible to discourage homosexuality. The change in our attitudes has been gradual, as we have come to understand the reality of the oppression faced by lgbtqs. We reject the mistreatment of lgbtqs long before we get over our own feelings about homosexuality. And if we are wise, the healing and learning will continue.
One idea that helped me question the assumption that homosexuality was sick and sinful was put forth many years ago by UU Isaac Asimov. He suggested that homosexuality could be viewed as a very intelligent and pro-survival adaptation to our population crisis. We laugh at fundamentalists who are afraid that homosexuality will spread like a disease if it isn't shunned. We want to believe that homosexuals always have been and always will be naturally occurring at 10% of the population based on genetics. The rhetoric of choice vs genetics doesn't allow for the complexity of variation within human behavior. We assert that gays shouldn't be mistreated because they were born with it. This implies that you can blame a person for being gay, but doesn't necessarily question the notion that homosexuality is an aberration.
The systematic mistreatment of behavior deemed as gay has served to keep us from loving one another. It's a tradition that has enabled the domination of humanity and the rape of nature. Homosexuality may represent a breakthrough toward the reclaiming of our humanity.
The biggest stakeholders of a sick and dieing system want to distract us from what's been going on. They want to distract us from eight years that have unleashed a failed war, destroyed our economy, removed environmental protections, turned back the clock away from human rights back toward feudal domination.
I am by no means suggesting that the Democratic party is blameless or that they can be counted on to serve the needs or the will of the people. However, it's important to know history. Ever since the civil rights era, the Republican party has been gaining voters by exploiting fears of social conditioning. First it was the fear of the mixing of the races. Now it's homophobia. The majority have never favored Republican policies, but people often vote based upon fear (prejudice) rather than policy.
The defense of marriage campaign is an attempt to divert us from greater moral issues including the war, poverty, civil rights and the destruction of our environment. How shall we respond? My faith tells me to be the change we want to see. Where there is fear, let us sow love. Where there is irrationality let us bring the calm voice of reason.
We can learn to listen with compassion, rather than imitate the trash fights of sensationalist media. We can put forth a vision of a country where everybody has a place at the welcome table. We can stand firmly grounded in our valuing of the dignity and inherent worth of every person. We do not need to satisfy people's every fear, before we refuse to continue destructive policies.
We can question the story that says that the only way to glory is to fight to the death and be the last man standing. It's time for a new story. It's time we learned to focus on the needs of the many rather than submit to the greed of a dominant few.
When someone suggests that we must kill our enemies to survive, that it's either us or them... We can proclaim our faith that it doesn't have to be that way. We can share our experience that people can come together and love one another. We can share our hope that all can be moved forward together.
When someone suggests that men are sinful, that their nature must be dominated, we can grieve what must have happened to them to make them believe so. And we can keep right on believing in the sanctity and the blessedness of life and our humanity. We can see divinity in them and in our selves. We can love men who love men and women who love women.
Finally we can make room for humility, that we all might continue learning together. None of us grew up in a world where men were allowed to love men. None of us grew up in a world where women were encouraged to take charge. All of us grew up indoctrinated to think that homosexuality was sick and sinful. And as we celebrate the dignity of men and women who are gay, lesbian, bisexual, transgender or questioning, we will make room for a new story, for a new day, for a new world
So be it.