The Gadfly Papers: Three Inconvenient Essays by One Pesky Minister PDF
Preview The Gadfly Papers: Three Inconvenient Essays by One Pesky Minister
The Gadfly Papers ____________________________________ Three Inconvenient Essays by One Pesky Minister ___________________________________________ Todd F. Eklof The Gadfly Papers __________________________________________ Three Inconvenient Essays by One Pesky Minister ___________________________________________ Todd F. Eklof Independently Published Spokane, WA Copyright © 2019 by Todd F. Eklof All Rights Reserved ISBN: 9781070524481 For Unitarian Universalists CONTENTS PREFACE The Coddling of the Unitarian Universalist Mind I Want a Divorce Let’s Be Reasonable Afterword SOURCES CITED ABOUT THE AUTHOR PREFACE I don’t wish to be a pest. I prefer to get along with people, especially with other Unitarian Universalists, my tribe, and don’t enjoy engaging in conflict—not at all! Still, as I must often remind myself, I don’t like offending others, but I also don’t mind it. What I mean is that I can’t allow my wish to get along excuse me to simply go along. I must say what I believe is true and do what I believe is right, even if I’m wrong, and even if doing so isn’t going to be fun. I do so humbly but boldly because that’s my job as a UU minister and it’s also integral to who I am. For whatever reasons, I’ve become a person who values the freedom of conscience and its expression more than much else. I believe it’s a right that should be guaranteed for everyone and one that everyone should respect. I believe we should all protect this right, including for those with whom we may vehemently disagree. This probably explains why I’m a Unitarian Universalist to begin with, because, until recently, I thought freedom of conscience and freedom of speech was our thing, too. I’m pretty sure it has been, but, as the essays I’ve written herein will show, not so much anymore. The first essay outlines several examples of the suppressive behaviors increasingly being employed within the Unitarian Universalist Association’s culture. Borrowing from the framework laid out in The Coddling of the American Mind by Greg Lukianoff and Jonathan Haidt, I discuss how some of the same disturbing trends we’ve seen occurring on college campuses during recent years are now manifesting in the UUA. I suspect most Unitarian Universalists will be surprised by much of what I reveal, which is my intent, so we can make a course correction before it’s too late. So far what’s been going on has been mostly limited to UUA events, meetings, and publications, though it’s increasingly impacting the UU Ministers Association (UUMA), our UU theological schools (Starr King and Meadville-Lombard), the Ministerial Fellowship Committee (MFC), and our Liberal Religious Educator’s Association (LREDA), which means the same mindset and behaviors will soon sweep through our pulpits, RE departments, and, alas, our congregations, if those of us who care do nothing. My second essay discusses the history and difficulties related to the 1961 merger of the Unitarians and the Universalists. In it, I address the unresolved differences between the two faiths, which I suspect are partly to blame for the denominational identity crisis we’ve been in ever since. This crisis, in my opinion, has led to the displacement of Universalism by the emerging culture of safetyism, political correctness, and identitarianism (explained in my first essay). Unitarianism, on the other hand, has become the silent partner in the relationship, pressured by the fear of being publicly shamed for saying anything others might deem harmful or dangerous, or has simply been quietly ignored, uninvited, or disinvited by the UUA’s unwritten policies, under the guise of “institutional change.” Unitarians must now keep the values closest to their hearts quietly to themselves—freedom of conscience, reason, and the recognition of our common humanity. I further propose, since Unitarians and Universalists have been unable to accomplish our primary purpose for joining together, establishing a universal religion of humanity for liberal religions around the world, that it may be time to break up. Universalism has died and been displaced by a grotesque imposter in its place. Unitarianism, though muted, still lives, but must break free from the bonds that now restrain it if it is going to survive. My third essay demonstrates the use of reason, one of Unitarianism’s three legs, which Unitarian Universalism still claims is supposed to “warn us against idolatries of mind and spirit.” Yet the UUA’s response to accusations it upholds racism and white supremacy after a controversial hiring decision in 2017 has been rooted in emotional thinking, not upon substantiated facts or sound reason. Nevertheless, the organization has, upon face value, accepted these accusations must be true, and has since chosen to practically ignore any other issues going on in our denomination, our congregations, our country, and our world. Any dissenting voices have been hushed or brushed aside, creating a self-perpetuating echo chamber, circular reasoning solidified by unfounded memes the UUA has itself helped invent that claim any such dissent only proves its point. These are not easy matters to write about, having witnessed the vitriol directed at well meaning individuals who get off script, and knowing some of it is now sure to come my way. Nor will it be easy to read about, if, like me, you love Unitarian Universalism and care deeply about freedom and equality for everyone, especially those who are denied it most. But, in fighting for what we believe in, we cannot allow ourselves to become what we disbelieve in, nor achieve our goals by adopting the cruelties of those we oppose. The end matters, but so do the means. The destination holds our hopes, but the path holds our hearts. I, for one, cannot continue traveling along a path with those who no longer respect the minds and voices of their fellow sojourners. So long as the fire of Unitarianism burns within my breast, and the hope of Universalism gives me strength, nothing shall shut my mouth, nor arrest my testimony… not all the stones in Boston. THE CODDLING OF THE UNITARIAN UNIVERSALIST MIND How the Emerging Culture of Safetyism, Identitarianism, and Political Correctness is Reshaping America’s Most Liberal Religion 1. Safetyism In their book, The Coddling of the American Mind, authors Greg Lukianoff and Jonathan Haidt write about an alarming and rising number of incidents occurring on U.S. college campuses during which students are pressuring others—their peers, professors, and guest lecturers—not to say anything they deem offensive or harmful, using intimidation and, sometimes, violence to achieve their ends. Troubled by these trends, which have mostly gone under-reported by the mainstream national media and glossed over by college administrators, Lukianoff and Haidt, both educators, attempt to explain why such blatant disregard for the free speech of others, especially by socially progressive students,
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