The Unitarian Universalist Association recently held its 2003 General Assembly. Here are some highlights:
Family Values – Law and Marriage in the 21st Century. UU ministers talk about how the denial of marriage to gays constitutes a denial of their human rights. An actual enumeration of rights denied is never given, though hurt feelings are discussed. Maybe UUs consider hurt feelings to be a violation of their rights. That case has been made successfully before, literally, right here in New Jersey, in a case of racial speech.
New Congregations: New Definitions of Christianity. An organization called The Magi Network has taken on the mission of planting new UU Christian churches. They don't believe Jesus is the eternal Son of God, and they believe in Universalism, but they are critical of the coolness toward Christianity exhibited in most congregations of the UUA. The Magi Network has much in common with another UUA-spinoff called the American Unitarian Conference.
Abolition Today: Ending Modern Slavery. I am actually pretty impressed by this presentation. The UUA recognizes slavery outside of America - finally! A couple of years ago, while researching slavery and racism (in the context of the Durban anti-racism conference held in September 2001, the week before 9/11 - anyone remember that?), I did a Google search for Sudan on the UUA's website and got 0 hits. It's not like the issue didn't exist. The Institute for Religion and Democracy had a program Church Alliance for a New Sudan, dedicated to the issue. It is good to see that the UUA is finally cognizant that all is not well in the Third World.
These are Friday's (June 27) highlights, more to come later.