Submission 483 LeRae Niell Unitarian Universalist Church of Long Beach (Long Beach, CA) 2224
What is your suggestion or idea?
Reason seems to be omitted and is a very important value to many of us.
Suggestion. Add a petal and description for Reason
Reason
We search for truth and meaning, informed by reason,
evidence, and the results of science, often motivated by wonder, curiosity, and
concern for others. We are open to new
ideas.
We covenant to listen to and respect the views
of others.
What is the reason for your amendment idea?
Many of us join the UU Church, for it’s freedom from Dogma and acceptance of reason.
Have you discussed this idea with your congregation or other UUs?
Nearly everyone I talked to (25-30 people) agreed that reason is a priority.
Hi LeRae,
I saw your comment on a thread that I started and replied to you on that. Another comment came from Bek Wheeler, who suggested creating a Google Doc in which to edit the proposal of adding Reason as a UU Value. Here’s the link:
I’m happy to work with you and others to wordsmith the best possible proposal for adding Reason as a UU Value. Please help us to continue the discussion!
My Latest Revision (5/26) REASON: We search for truth and meaning, informed by both reason and values. We covenant to search responsibly, thoughtfully considering the results of science and other evidence, while remaining open to new ideas and others’ viewpoints. Motivated by wonder, curiosity, and compassion, we strive to use our capacity for reason to engender better outcomes for all in our interconnected world.
We have gone from respecting all the world’s religions to respecting none of them, I guess.
I can understand why UUs who were not raised in this faith would be resentful towards religion and religious language, but I was raised in a UU church where we claim that we think all people and perspectives have access to truth, and that’s why we see value in all the spiritual practices of the world… not why we ignore or reject all of them.
“…while remaining open to new ideas”… as long as they’re not spiritual ideas?
I am a research scientist during the day, and I have some math hobbies, so to be clear, am certainly inspired often by reason, but I also consider myself a spiritual person, though I don’t believe in any conventional gods. Since we have no creed or doctrine, what we say here is as important as what we omit and what we imply – intentional or not.
Along with the other changes to the inspirations and “pluralism”/religious truth, my spiritual side doesn’t feel very “included”. It feels like an attempt to completely secularize the values – to be free of the influence of the “spiritual” religions. I don’t think we should be a church of “facts and logic”, and this makes it sound like we are a church where we’re supposed to be secular, but we’re allowed to be spiritual.
To go on the spiritual journey, to discover what the world is like, is not something which can be done through sitting and thinking real hard about if/then, true/false statements. I feel like something is missing if the path to truth doesn’t specifically mention the many spiritual ideas of the world.
Another member of my congregation is working an amendment to include the spiritual side in the Inspirations section, and I totally support that!
I’m noticing a lot of people are feeling left out.
Would you consider “We covenant to support each other in a free and responsible search,…while remaining open to and respectful of new ideas…we strive to use our capacity for reason to improve our interconnected world.”
REASON: We search for truth and meaning, informed by both reason and values. We covenant to search responsibly, thoughtfully considering the results of science and other evidence, while remaining open to new ideas and others’ viewpoints. Motivated by wonder, curiosity, and compassion, we strive to use our capacity for reason to engender better outcomes for all in our interconnected world.
If you are interested in continuing to work on an amendment similar to this you may contact me, LeRae, at LES4W8@gmail.com. Thank you!
Also there is an Amendment to Article II Slack set up. Here is the invitation link: Slack Some people are joining to work on the Reason Amendment and some for other topics.
Note to authors and proponents of amendments that weren’t prioritized or presented: This forum is closing for comment tomorrow, but our lay-led public Facebook group, Blue Boat Passengers, will remain open for another few weeks for commenting (and still be viewable after that).If you want to find others to coordinate about the 15-congregation amendment process, you may use the group to do so while it is open. Please read both the rules and the pinned post before posting or commenting there.