#385 | Bek Wheeler | Emphsize "inherent worth and dignity"

Submission 385
Bek Wheeler
Unitarian Universalist Fellowship of the Peninsula (Newport News, VA) 8114

What is your suggestion or idea?

Current: Equity. 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.

Amendment idea:

a) return the wording to “inherent worth and
dignity…”

b) place ““inherent worth and dignity”” as the FOCUS of the sentence

In sum, the amendment is to delete the first sentence of the Equity value and replace with ““We honor the inherent worth and dignity of each person and affirm that all have the right to
flourish in lives of meaning and significance.””

Proposed: ““We honor the inherent worth and dignity of each person and affirm that all have the right to
flourish in lives of meaning and significance. We covenant to use our time, wisdom, attention, and money to build and sustain fully accessible and inclusive communities.””

What is the reason for your amendment idea?

This has emerged for me in discussion on this April discussion board. ““Inherent worth and dignity”” is buried as an afterthought in the current proposal. My amendment idea would bring ‘inherent worth and dignity’ back into focus. I also attempt to suggest what it might mean to ““flourish,”” a term currently underspecified.

Other elaborations of this are obviously welcome.

Have you discussed this idea with your congregation or other UUs?

Discussions here on the discuss.uua.org site

Here’s another way of envisioning:

2nd Version of Amendment: We honor the inherent worth and dignity of each person and so affirm that all have the right to flourish in lives of meaning and significance. We covenant to use our time, wisdom, attention, and money to build and sustain fully accessible and inclusive communities.

3rd Version: As we honor the inherent worth and dignity of each person, we affirm that all have the right to flourish in lives of meaning and significance. We covenant to use our time, wisdom, attention, and money to build and sustain fully accessible and inclusive communities. @peckalec, @KLusignan , @Janet

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