Rev. Todd Eklof, minister of the Unitarian Universalist Church of Spokane. is at the center of a fucking shitstorm.
Given the absolute outrage over Rev. Todd Eklof's actions, one might expect that he is a serial sexual predator or a molester of children, but apparently, he's done something worse, much worse.
His crime, the response of which is deafening, doesn't come close to being a serial sexual predator. The UUA/UUMA continues to keep predators safe. How else can one explain the large number of people with piss-poor sexual boundaries in the ministry? (One of them had his congregation leafleted by an irate husband of the congregant our minister was sleeping with, on Easter morning no less. That one is still in the ministry, although not in that church. Don't expect that to change anytime soon.)
The response to Rev. Eklof's crime to date has been louder and more psycho than usual. Certainly more so than the situation around that cancer Christina Rivera, or those surrounding the swift axing of Rev. Peter Morales from the UUA presidency, and that of Rev. Don Southworth from the UUMA presidency.
Moreso than the arrest and conviction of confessed pedophile Rev. Ron Robinson. That one barely had a peep made. It was pretty quiet, and some defended his character. So, Rev. Todd must be horrible.
Rev. Todd Eklof's crime was in publishing a book called The Gadfly Papers, [available on Amazon, purchase it] which called into question some of the methods of the "white supremacy" bullshit that is a part and parcel of anti-racism. [Kindle edition here.]
Before we go any further, let's examine what happened from the core documents that are out there:
An Open Letter from White UU Ministers
An Open Letter from UU People of Color
A Statement from LREDA
And one from DRUUM:
So, that's the official channels. Reddit is off the hinges. I've never seen this community so up in arms:
I love Reddit. In no particular order:
The Death of UUism by the Numbers
Rev. Todd Eklof's First Sermon Following the Release of the Gadfly Papers
Why You Should Read the Gadfly Papers
"White Fragility" Smacks of Psychological Abuse
Coverage of the Eklof Controversy from a Spokane Paper
This is, by Far, the Best Critique of the Gadfly Papers I've Read So Far
Curious About the Process of the Book Ban and its Rescinding
Telling Our Stories: The Failure of The Gadfly Papers
What is Going On?
The Gadfly Papers
General Assembly is Happening Right Now!
Well, that should give us all something to chew on.
Next time, we'll unpack some of this stuff. And being Devilhead, I'm interested in looking at the stuff no one's talking about.
Your Ol' Pal,
Devilhead
I am from Spokane and anyone who says that Todd Eklof is bigoted is simply displaying ignorance. He has been a backer of social and environmental justice throughout his time in our community and I am sure he will continue to do so. Count me as one of his supporters.
ReplyDeleteI agree with you. I am 100% sure that Rev. Todd Eklof is not racist in any way. That, however, will never stop the professionally offended (who rule at the UUA) from doing everything in their power to get him out of the ministry. They cannot tolerate dissent. Rev. Todd will need a lot of support from his church. I hope he gets it.
ReplyDelete