Friday, October 03, 2003

Because our church still hasn't gotten around to sending us a subscription to the UU World after two years of membership, I initially missed the July/August feature on Unitarian-Universalists and the military. The lead article, "Embattled Faith," does an excellent job of exploring historical and current conflicts within the denomination regarding war and peace. Unitarian-Universalism isn't pacifist either by creed (because there is no creed) or by history (Unitarians were strong promoters, for example, of the American Civil War), but pacifist viewpoints certainly dominate modern UU thinking to the extent that it can be uncomfortable to disagree. I credit the UU World for printing a sidebar piece by an Air Force wife who had to remind her church not to reject members of the military. It's not a very attractive view of Unitarian-Universalism, but I think it's important that practitioners of liberal religion be prepared to address our own hidden intolerances. Sure, it's more comfortable to focus on the beam in the other guy's eye, but UUs are supposed to believe in the inherent worth and dignity of all human beings, whether they're holding a peace sign at a rally or an M-16 in Iraq. No one ever said it was going to be easy.