The Debacle of GA '20: The UUA's Unambiguous Response to Rev. Todd Eklof

Remember professional drama queen and attention whore Christina Rivera?

This one: She's mentioned in these articles: HERE, and HERE, and HERE, and HERE, and HERE, and HERE, and HERE, and many other places HERE.

Her behavior was critiqued in Rev. Todd Eklof's The Gadfly Papers. We all know how that turned out. 

Rev. Todd's congregation is being pressured to let him go. Oddly, they are using his ex-communication from the UUMA and from ministerial "fellowship" with the UUA, as selling points that somehow his ministry has been tarnished. 

Of course, this is shit coming from the UUA, so... you know. The reality is that both the pathetic ex-communication from the UUMA, and the vindictive one from the UUA are badges of honor. There is a powerful group in his congregation, a group called UUnite, who very much see these as badges of honor. And they are WOKE to the UUA's methods of doing business.

Lesson for the UUA: Sometimes the UUA's vindictive shit backfires. This may be just the shove the Spokane congregation needs to leave the UUA. This is being taken more and more seriously in that congregation the more the brain-trust at the UUA pushes their agenda on the congregation. 

Other individuals and congregations are taking note.

But, fear not! The UUA has one weapon in their arsenal that always seems to shoot them in the foot. The UUA loves, loves, loves to reward bad behavior.

Full thing HERE

Rev. Todd Eklof has been shunned for being a man of integrity by the idiots who run the UUA. At the same time, those very same fanatics reward what in a sane world would be regarded as startlingly bad behavior with one of their highest honors.

The idiots who run the UUA really are that childish, and stupid. It makes me wonder if Rev. Susan Frederick-Gray is partially retarded. (I guess the world will never know.)

It's childish because by elevating someone who has caused what appeared to be intentional damage to the denomination for what appears to be nothing more than personal gain, it makes its message clear. "Nyah, nyah, nyah, we don't like you Todd! We threw you in the trash and promoted an institutional cancer instead! We prefer institutional cancer to you!" 

Yup, that is how the UUA acts. It has acted this way since at least the time of the John Buehrens/Denny Davidoff presidency. No shit. [I've been calling this period the Buehrens/Davidoff presidency because much like George Bush and Dick Cheney, we all know who the "president" was and we all know who really called the shots.]

It's stupid because now that they've made their point, they have to live with their decision. So, for instance, let's say that this behavior is repeated. (There's no reason to believe that it won't be repeated as her bad behavior has been rewarded.) So, let's say this is repeated. Well after such a glowing ass-kissy award (reward?) the UUA will be stuck defending this behavior every time it rears its head.

Another lesson for the UUA: When you reward bad behavior, it will not only continue, it will in all likelihood increase. Enjoy the bed you've made.

Your Old Pal,

Devilhead

The Debacle of GA '19: Well This Was Inevitable

Rev. Todd Eklof has been disfellowshipped from the UUA right on the eve of GA '20.

Here's the letter: [Original HERE]

Is anyone surprised? Literally, everything I said would happen did. And it ain't over yet, not by a longshot.

In the last piece, The Debacle of GA '19: What Rev. Todd Eklof and the Spokane Church Can Expect, we examined how the UUA operates. It is completely and thoroughly dysfunctional. 

It seems surprising (to people who only pay attention to words, not deeds) that the whole anti-racism movement seems to have such ugly "side-effects" of "creating justice." It doesn't seem to make any sense, does it?

Well... it does make sense when one realizes that anti-racism was created as a psyop by a three-letter agency. (I'm not making the claim that  Capitalism's Invisible Army is behind it, although there is a long and rich history of the CIA doing illegal activities on US soil. There are many, many intelligence agencies active in the US. Sometimes they work separately, sometimes together. Sometimes they work within the confines of the law, sometimes they don't.)

"But wait..."  I hear you say, "anti-racism and the whole culture that surrounds it is here to create racial justice."

Yes, indeed, that's what we've been told, (harangued really), again and again, and again.

But what if I were to tell you that all of the insane shit going on in the general public, and in our churches, is NOT the byproduct of striving toward racial justice, but rather, its purpose. 

Take a look at THIS. This is from last year's Democratic Socialist Convention, held just a couple of months after GA '19. If you notice nothing gets done. Nothing. That's the point. This only happens to left-leaning groups. It almost seems tailor-made to shut down the opposition. Doesn't it? It would do us well to remind ourselves that intelligence agencies lean right, not left. Some of them lean very right. 

What if I were to tell you that several people in high places in the Unitarian Universalist hierarchy receive payments from one, or more, of these three-letter agencies? Let that thought experiment perk. I encourage readers to look for themselves. Look at your "leaders" and ask yourselves how they personally benefit. Look carefully. You may be surprised.

Given all of this, do you think the beneficiaries at the UUA will allow a political enemy to interfere with their payola agenda? We will explore all of this in a future piece. 

It's obvious that the letter above was written for the prime audience of believers, fanatics... oh, alright the chronically deluded. It's obvious because it's filled with flat out lies. 

Let's take a look:

The first paragraph makes it clear that Rev. Eklof refused to take part in the star chamber the UUA prefers to call due process. It is to Rev. Eklof's credit that he did not bow down before the false idols they erected. The fact that this is completely dysfunctional, and the "ministerial misconduct" was a simple disagreement over the vision and direction of the association, should give one pause. But the deluded majority in the ministry won't give this a second thought.

The key part of this missive is this: 

"The Rev. Dr. Eklof has sought to focus public attention on his critiques of the UUA's approach to this work of repairing injustice." 

That's their issue with Rev. Eklof. It's right there. He was executed as a political enemy for the crimes of wrong-think [heresy] and wrong-speak [blasphemy].

But they can't say that outright [even though they literally just did] because it might upset those who finally see the hypocrisy of an organization that has historically championed freedom of religious experience and interpretation using Orwellian tactics to stifle discourse and remove a political enemy through charges of heresy. If people saw it that way, they might be upset. Hence the crimes of wrong-think and wrong-speak (aka heresy) must be polished over. It can't be about Rev. Eklof speaking truth to power. Which is exactly what happened. Seriously, who abusing all the power right now? 

Yup, in the new Unitarian Universalism, using the power and the language of the oppressor to stomp out dissent is known as "repairing justice." It's right there. Plain as text.

It gets more Orwellian. As they can't actually say that Rev. Eklof was removed from fellowship for heresy, [although they literally just said it] because there are still those in Unitarian Universalism who might get upset, there needs to be another presenting reason in place of the truth. As the truth is inconvenient, they chose to lie instead.

"Whether he agrees or not with a particular approach to this work is not the essential issue in the Committee's process or determination."

That's a lie... it's not only the essential issue, it's the only issue.

"Rather, the refusal to engage in dialogue with others and to be accountable  for his actions [Devilhead's emphasis] through the MFC process was the context for the Committee's review and the basis for which it has now removed his fellowship."

In other words, even though Rev. Eklof was removed for the crimes of heresy and blasphemy, for questioning the direction of the association, Rev. Sarah Lammert as a writer of this letter chooses to blame Rev. Eklof for bad process. 

Rev. Lammert I think you're a sack of shit. I'm not surprised. In my time in the ministry and out I've never heard anyone speak highly of Rev. Sarah Lammert's ethics. I guess the above is an example why.

And although the above lie is obvious, I guarantee that the majority in the ministry will parrot the line that Rev. Eklof didn't want to be held accountable.

What Rev. Eklof  and the Spokane Church Can Expect:

What no one says, but I'll tell you here because I've seen it happen time and again to political enemies of the UUA, is that removing Rev. Todd Eklof from fellowship was a given.

What would have happened had Rev. Eklof met with the Ministerial Fellowship Committee?

It would have been a meeting where he was guilty and tried before he even entered the room. The MFC is a Star Chamber, make no mistake about it.

It would be a browbeating "dialog" [one way communication] with the only goal to shame him into admitting he was wrong. With these three results, and only three, possible:

1. Rev. Todd Eklof would stand firm in his position. With the result that he would be disfellowshipped for heresy and blasphemy. And the result that they would have to make up a different lie as to why he was disfellowshipped. This would have been the most likely scenario.
2. Rev. Todd would be shamed into submission. The MFC would then hand the good Rev. a laundry list of things to do, a very large laundry list, a list so large God might have a hard time doing it all. To make things more interesting, should he actually attempt to do the list, a time limit will be placed on things. And... each item on the list will have to be validated by someone in the borg collective. End result: Rev. Eklof is removed from fellowship for either not completing the list, not doing it in a timely manner, or not making his judges happy. [In reality, Rev. Todd was aware that this is how the Star Chamber of the MFC works. Which is why he chose not to legitimize a kangaroo court.
3. Rev. Todd would be shamed into submission. The MFC would then decide that they "gave him every opportunity" but he's beyond redemption. End result: Rev. Eklof is removed from the ministry just cause they don't like him.

Now one would think that being removed from fellowship would be enough.

But, no. They want him out of the ministry.

As we speak, and I know this for a fact having heard from a congregant recently, the new approach is to badmouth Rev. Eklof by suggesting that since he isn't in fellowship, he's not really a good minister. The congregation can do better. The usual bullshit claims that there are all sorts of good fellowshipped ministers in the pipeline. UUA and Region honchos are actually involved with spreading this manure around right now as I write. Yup, real scumbags.

We'll pick this up next time.

Your Old Pal,

Devilhead

The Debacle of GA '19: What Rev. Todd Eklof and the Spokane Church Can Expect

I've had enough requests asking me to comment upon the situation of Rev. Todd Eklof, the Unitarian Universalist Church of Spokane, and the Unitarian Universalist Association.

Rev. Todd Eklof's ministry is over. It may seem presumptive to say this because Rev. Eklof's congregation is largely behind him. In a sane world in which congregational polity is respected, that would be that.

But the UUA has no respect whatsoever for congregational polity. None. If you doubt this, pay attention to the UUA's actions, not their words. Their words are usually lies, their actions speak the truth; albeit a far different truth than their narrative allows.

Put very simply, but not inaccurately, it's not over because the UUA hasn't gotten what it wants. As the UUA has no respect for congregational polity it will stop at absolutely nothing to get what it wants.

And what the UUA wants is twofold: 1) Rev. Todd Eklof out of the Unitarian Universalist ministry with prejudice, and 2) The Unitarian Universalist Church of Spokane to join the borg collective the current thinking of the UUA.

Nothing else will do. The "leaders" at the UUA will stop at absolutely nothing to make sure that happens. It's already begun.

Without further ado, here's what Rev. Todd and the Unitarian Universalist Church of Spokane can expect:

First off this is going to be one absolutely miserable fucking year for Rev. Todd Eklof. As it is, he's already been publicly pilloried for wrong-think. The cherry on that shit-sundae was the UUMA Executive Committee in a startlingly visible act of cowardice censuring the Rev. Todd Eklof. 

Dead white males all be rayciss. Nothing to see or consider here folks.

There are some standing with him: The Board of Trustees of the Unitarian Universalist Church of Spokane, his good offices person (Isn't it interesting that he would need a good offices person for the crime of thinking for himself?), most of his congregation and the president of the Board of Trustees.

That last one's a two-edged sword. The current board president of the Unitarian Universalist Church of Spokane is, in my opinion, the single worst person in the congregation to be board president at this time. This is someone who gets bogged down in microscopic minutia. This is also someone who really loves her minister. 

Because of that, Rev. Todd Eklof will not lose his job while the current board president holds the office. In fact he's very safe, this year. The president would consider it a personal failing of hers if she were not able to "save the ministry" of Rev. Eklof.

At the same time, every single complaint she or the board receives regarding Rev. Eklof will be given careful, minute, painstaking, detailed investigation. Each time to exonerate Rev. Eklof. This leads inevitably to two parallel results leading to a third:

1) The constant, and I do mean constant, investigations into this or that aspect of Rev. Todd Eklof's ministry will sap the time from anything else. It will be very difficult for him to get any actual ministry done with meeting after meeting dealing with utter bullshit. As a result, Rev. Todd will begin to feel and show signs of burnout. 

2) Each and every investigation into Rev. Todd's racism, and other recently uncovered failings in his ministry, will start to cast doubt on Rev. Todd. It doesn't matter if Rev. Todd Eklof is racist or not, the constant investigations will either uncover, or manufacture, Rev. Todd's racism.

Both of these lead to 3) Rev. Todd's burnout will be seen as evidence of his guilt. Which changes the tone of each and every investigation.

"But, he wasn't guilty." you say. When has that ever applied to a scapegoat? The scapegoat's job is to take on the sins of the community and be expelled into outer darkness (aka away from the religious fold).

As the Spokane church has a president who has no ability to sort and pick important issues from the general stuff that swirls around controversy, everything will be given equal detail. Everything.

The big issue of whether Rev. Todd Eklof is a racist, did not originally come from inside the congregation. Literally no one in the congregation ever felt that Rev. Todd is or was a racist. That, however has changed because of the above and what follows.

We're going to take a little time to look at this as it shows how the Unitarian Universalist Association operates. Warning... it's ugly.

In the beginning, there was Rev. Todd Eklof and the Unitarian Universalist Church of Spokane. Both were happy with each other. The Unitarian Universalist Church of Spokane is -- whatever else it's shortcomings and failings -- one of the few Unitarian Universalist churches left in the country where free thought is encouraged and practiced. 

I can personally guarantee that everything that Rev. Todd Eklof presented in The Gadfly Papers was discussed with his congregation, through sermons certainly, but more importantly through all of the various discussion groups, think tanks, philosophical discussion groups, and on and on. The ideas in The Gadfly Papers were discussed and refined in the congregation's numerous talk groups. So, while it is safe to say that everything that Rev. Todd wrote and published is his, it isn't entirely his own. These are ideas that were refined in the congregation. The congregation owns them as well. Hence the need to scapegoat.

And I personally guarantee you that if The Gadfly Papers was met with enthusiasm by the borg collective GA attendees, the congregation would own as much of it as they could. As it is, it was rejected explosively, and now the congregation feels embarrassed. Not for the ideas, but for the reception the ideas received. And there's the chink in the armor. 

Do not for a nano-second believe that the UUA is going to sit on its hands and watch the show from the sidelines. Nope. There is a golden opportunity to get rid of a political enemy (that's really how the brain trust at the UUA sees it), and that opportuity has been seized with both hands.

It started subtly, after the fracas at GA '19, when they discovered that they hadn't ordered enough hug boxes for the chronically triggered. At GA itself, delegates were approached by various hoo-hahs with faux concern about what happened. Initial contacts were presented with care and concern. You know the deal, "It's such a shame that such a nice congregation that would never harbor such horrible ideas has had your minister put you in this terrible situation."

Over the summer, several leaders in the congregation received "pastoral" phone calls from region and national leaders, each on the surface seeing how everyone's weathering the storm. 

In all cases, information was gathered, weak points were probed, and the person contacted left the conversation with these salient points firmly established in their heads: 1) this is entirely Rev. Todd Eklof's fault, 2) as a result, the congregation is an innocent bystander/victim, 3) we're with you emotionally as you face this trial with your minister, and most importantly, 4) should it not work out... there are a lot of great new ministers in the pipeline. 

This last is both the most important piece of information a UUA/Region leader can impart and it's a flat out lie. What this means is not that there are plenty of good, qualified ministers in the pipeline, but rather that there is a glut of completely mediocre ministers who pass the UUA's political litmus test. These people may literally fail in any and all aspects of ministry (and frequently do) with the exception that they have completely bought into the psyop that passes for enlightened discourse in the UUA these days. And as a complete coincidence nearly all of these political hacks are subsidized by the UUA in the form of "Consulting" or "Contract" ministers. 

That is correct... the only thing looked at for fitness in ministry is political ideology. Seriously, that's it. Anyone hiring from this new pool is begging for trouble. 

To the UUA leadership's understanding, the Spokane church initially supporting their minister was (and is) seen as the church being racist to the core. I absolutely, positively, guarantee that when (not if, when) Rev. Todd leaves, the only candidates for interim ministry will be extreme hard-liners for the UUAs chosen political philosophy. Should they accept one of these stooges, and the congregation starts to inevitably falter, they will be offered a "partially all-expenses paid" consulting minister. The way thes work is since the UUA pays for part of the minister's salary, they feel it is their bought-and-paid-for right to control the direction of all of the congregation's ministry.

In order to help further this along, the helpful souls at the UUA/Region will suggest their own consulting team to come in and assess the congregation. As this is partially paid for by the UUA/Region... you know the rest. 

That's what we're going to see this year. 

In the next few pieces we'll look at the documented proof of what's going on with Rev. Todd and the Spokane church, and examine the calibre of the ministers the UUA pays for through their consulting (and other welfare programs for failed ministers) ministry program. All of which forces me to question whether the good folks at the UUA believe in the first principle...

One last thought. I happened to drive by the church a few times and noticed that their marquee out front was empty... all week long.

This photo was taken at 11am on Saturday morning (Feb. 22, 2020) It had been like this all week.

Let that sink in.

Your Old Pal,
Devilhead