[Fuusmchat] A one candidate election?

[Ted Goertzel]

Nancy,

I think it might make sense if we, you and I, circulated a statement.  I
don't want this to be perceived as part of the division the church had over
handling Chris's resignation.  If you and I both circulated something,
perhaps it would be taken more seriously.

Ted

On Tue, Feb 14, 2023 at 10:12 AM Nancy Luthy via fuusmchat <
fuusmchat at fuusm.org> wrote:

> Ted.  I agree.
> Perhaps you would like to draft a document expressing these concerns that
> members could sign, if in agreement.
> I know Rev. Kat is reluctant to send a statement from her, because it is
> interpreted to represent the entire congregation.
> Nancy
>
> On Tue, Feb 14, 2023 at 10:06 AM Ted Goertzel via fuusmchat <
> fuusmchat at fuusm.org> wrote:
>
>> The Unitarian Universalist Association is about to elect a new President,
>> but we only get one candidate to vote for. This seems somehow undemocratic
>> and un-American, There is, or was, a group in the UUA that opposed the
>> current emphasis on anti-racism as the theme to revive the movement, but
>> they seem to have given up. I think they made some good points. The UU
>> movement may have a niche as America's "woke" church, but it won't attract
>> young families, and probably not many black members. I suspect we will
>> remain one of the most white denominations in the country.  We need to
>> focus on attracting young families and rebuilding religious education, but
>> the UUA doesn't seem to prioritize that.  The enrollment trends in RE
>> <https://www.uua.org/data/demographics/uua-statistics>are very
>> discouraging nationwide, as well as here.  I tried to get membership trends
>> by race, which they collect from us, but haven't been able to. I suspect
>> they would be embarrassing for a church that has prioritized diversity in
>> its rhetoric.
>>     If you are curious about the thinking of the more conservative,
>> traditionalist group in the UUA, I can recommend the essay "Where We Are
>> Headed
>> <https://trulyopenmindsandhearts.blog/2017/11/21/where-are-we-headed/>,"
>> by Rev. Kate Braestrup.  It is from 2017 when that group was still hopeful,
>> there isn't any current material on her blog.  She may be part of the group
>> of UU ministers who quit the UU Minister's A
>> <https://fifthprincipleproject.org/2020/09/16/we-quit-uu-ministers-resign-from-uuma/>ssociation
>> in protest over the purging of Rev Todd Elkoff of Spokane because of a book
>> he tried to distribute at the UUA a few years ago.  I suspect this year's
>> UUA will be free of dissenting voices.
>>
>> I don't think the traditionalist group has a solution to the UUA's
>> membership problems either, and it doesn't do any harm for us to examine
>> our unintentional racial biases. But I think it would be healthier if we
>> actually had a debate about the direction of the denomination rather than
>> just rallying about the Dear Leader like North Koreans.
>> _______________________________________________
>> fuusmchat mailing list
>> fuusmchat at fuusm.org
>> http://fuusm.org/mailman/listinfo/fuusmchat_fuusm.org
>>
> _______________________________________________
> fuusmchat mailing list
> fuusmchat at fuusm.org
> http://fuusm.org/mailman/listinfo/fuusmchat_fuusm.org
>
-------------- next part --------------
An HTML attachment was scrubbed...
URL: <http://fuusm.org/pipermail/fuusmchat_fuusm.org/attachments/20230214/f9d6dbfd/attachment.htm>