Preserving a comment for posterity

[velvetpage]

This is me, going public with my change of faith. This entry is not filtered. It's not even friends-locked. I do hope that people who read it will respect that.

The comment:

When a right-wing church in Colorado was targeted by a walkaway with significant mental health problems, he was shot to death by a security guard. That is, a CHURCH thought it was a reasonable expenditure of their money, which came from donations of congregants, to hire someone to protect them with guns.

Contrast that with the response of the UU church in Knoxville, Tennessee, where a gunman was subdued and immobilised until the police could arrive, or the response of the Amish schoolgirls who volunteered to go first in the hopes that their younger classmates would be spared, or their parents who made sure the gunman's widow and children were welcome and cared for and had food to eat - and you'll see far more Christian love in the latter two examples than in the first.

It's HARD to be a Unitarian. It's HARD to believe that whatever you decide to practise, faith-wise, is just about as likely to be right as the next guy's religious practice, and it's HARD to really believe that that's okay. It's HARD to know that the people around you look down on you, possibly even pray for your soul or believe you're a cultist, because you insist on being a seeker, who may or may not ever find. It's HARD to remember that not being an evangelical means you have to accept those who are, without trying to convert them to your way of thinking.

In today's climate, attaching yourself to a church and believing what they tell you to believe is relatively easy, at least publicly; what goes on inside your own head may not be so easy, of course. Committing yourself to a lifetime of religious uncertainty is not wishy-washy or "not really believing much of anything." It's laying your soul open for all to see, and that's not a wishy-washy thing to do.

Comments

[bodhifox.livejournal.com]

Being a UU is much more difficult than belonging to a church that tells you how it is in everything. I've attended two that were near where I lived, but there's not one near now or I probably would be here. Good luck to you on your continued walk down your own spiritual path.

[kibbles.livejournal.com]

What do you say to a post like this? Congrats? :D

The random warm fuzzy thoughts, I can't put them into words, I guess the closest is "I am holding you in the light" but not in the "praying for you to change" way, but just because that's where I already see you, an that's where you are, you know? "Keeping you in the light" maybe?

[catarzyna.livejournal.com]

It's laying your soul open for all to see, and that's not a wishy-washy thing to do.

It definitely isn't. Kudos for standing up for your beliefs and for your need to continue searching for meaning.

[kibbles.livejournal.com]

When you mention the Amish, I think of something I read a while back, not sure where, but it said "a true Christian isn't afraid to die". And I think that is how those Amish live their lives. I'm not at that point yet, may never be.

[r-caton.livejournal.com]

May you find, or be shown, that which you seek.

[quaero-verum.livejournal.com]

Wonderful post.

My prayer for you? That you find what you are seeking.

Because in the end, everyone is seeking the same thing. Most just don't know it.

[paka.livejournal.com]

I'm glad you're feeling comfortable with stuff! The Unitarians always seemed a bit more like how you see the world, anyways.

[loxian.livejournal.com]

"In my Father's house are many mansions: if it were not so, I would have told you." (John, 14:1(King James)) Good luck.

[scodiddly.livejournal.com]

Welcome aboard! On one hand, it's "easy" when you get to define your own faith. On the other hand, it's hard because you have to figure it out for yourself.

In the aftermath of the Tennessee UU shooting I'm somewhat distressed that it happened... at my own UU church I've found myself eyeing visitors a little at times as if I felt they posed some sort of threat. I'm not proud of that, though I'm also very proud of how it played out at the Tennessee church. It's one thing to put your faith in some known solution (guns), another to put your faith in your faith itself. And you know what? The shooter didn't get very many shots off at all before being tackled, and the congregation as a whole wasn't at risk for some kind of shootout crossfire situation. And the final outcome was much more in line with original Christian teachings, because instead of "suicide by cop", the shooter is alive to have a second chance at redemption.

[hendrikboom.livejournal.com]

Contrast that with the response of this church for a minute:

You might want to edit this a bit if it's for posterity. Posterity will not have context, and will not know that this church is the Tennessee Valley Unitarian-Universalist Church where a shoot-up occurred. And posterity may also not know what "this church"'s response was -- immobilizing the attacker, doing nothing more to him, and calling the police.

[hendrikboom.livejournal.com]

Since you said you were going public, I felt free to link to this from http://hendrikboom.livejournal.com/10155.html. Feel free to tell me if you prefer me to delete the link.

[mar2nee.livejournal.com]

This is so sad, what has happened at a few churches over the last while.
I got an email from the local UU church, there's going to be a special chalice lighting this week, and I think it also said that they are waiting to hear what is needed, and are hoping to be helpful in some way.
I activly avoid the news, so everything I know about this I've learned from your blog and that one church email. Thanks.