Submission 123
Karen Brown
uucmp
What is your suggestion or idea?
In the section titled ““Equity””, change the title to ““Respect””. Change ““We declare that every person has the right to flourish with inherent dignity and worthiness. We covenant to use our time, wisdom, attention, and money to build and sustain fully accessible and inclusive communities.”” Change those sentences to:
““Respect: We declare that every person has dignity and worth and the right to flourish. We covenant to use our time, wisdom, attention, and compassion to sustain each other and fully accessible, inclusive communities.””
What is the reason for your amendment idea?
I think that the ““Justice”” value and covenant covers equity. Equity is not a commonly understood word. I am involved with outreach and RE and worship, so I value commonly understood language. As I read the Equity value and covenant, I thought, ““oh, here is where I find the ist and 3rd principle””, which I am eager to do. In general, the words work, but I wish they spoke to our everyday situations with other individuals. That’s why I changed it just a little. Keep worth instead of worthiness. It is simple and and reminds us of the old principles, instead of giving us another new word.
Have you discussed this idea with your congregation or other UUs?
Yes, though mostly, I try to encourage them to look at the proposal - only. I don’t try to persuade them to my point of view. I am trying to get the church to have some discussion on it. I have been an active UU for over 30 years and had no idea what was meant by Article 2. I’m afraid that is the case with most people. I feel in general that the proposal is a big mistake. I am content to modify the principles, not to eliminate or hide them. I want to modify the sources, not to lump them together in an essay. I want to keep our denomination together. I want the democratic process to work, so I am letting people know what Article 2 is and a bit about the process and the issues.