Submission 353
Jean Knapp
Unitarian Universalist Society: East (Manchester, CT) 2721
What is your suggestion or idea?
In my opinion this re-write is unnecessary. I am in favor of keeping the principles that are
the bedrock for UU and have served us well for many years. They stand the test of time, and will serve
us well for many, many more years. They
are what has attracted so many to UUism in the first place.
So UUA, in my opinion, appears to be off-track. This
UUA Article II exercise looks like some kind of ‘make-work’ and change for the
sake of someone trying to show they are accomplishing something, without
enhancing a thing. There are no clear
improvements proposed, no substance, and no need for this activity.
The Article II review could have been completed briefly and
effectively by simply adding verbiage to one of the existing principles for
additional emphasis. This appears to have been a grand waste of time,
energy, and resources, both from the UUA and individual congregations. It
was not well communicated to all congregations.
It has caused a lot of unneeded angst and loss of focus to spend on other,
more important work.
My
hope is that the entire Article II proposal will be scrapped at June GA. Later,
a return to a brief and effective review can easily be done with very minimal
changes to the current A2.
What is the reason for your amendment idea?
I realize this echo’s many other posts on this site. So there is a lot of support for the idea of scrapping this.
Have you discussed this idea with your congregation or other UUs?
Yes, many in our congregation would prefer to keep the principles and are concerned about the proposed changes. The lack of communication and education for congregations led to not having enough time to get back to UUA. We are trying now at the last minute before GA 2023 to convey our preferences and hope they will be considered.