I'm spreading the word.
Your Ol; Pal,
Devilhead
Tuesday, July 16, 2019
Spreading the Word
I'm attaching a screencap from our comments section:
I'm spreading the word.
Your Ol; Pal,
Devilhead
I'm spreading the word.
Your Ol; Pal,
Devilhead
Thursday, July 11, 2019
The Debacle of GA '19: Those Who Signed
The controversy surrounding Rev. Eklof and the publication of The Gadfly Papers continues unabated. From my observation and experience, the controversy won't end until Rev. Eklof is out of the ministry. That's the only outcome tolerable to the hoo-hahs at the UUA. You know that and I know that. Rev. Todd knows that. [If anyone is interested, I can do a piece on what Rev. Eklof can expect from his colleagues and denomination, and the cancerous effect that will have on his congregation.]
In re-reading some of the responses to The Gadfly Papers, I noticed something odd among the signatories. There were those who signed the various papers calling Rev. Eklof and his book, racist, sexist, ableist, whatever-other-ists-would-stick-to-the-wall-when-hurled-against-it, etc.
And there were those who didn't.
In both cases, there were some interesting surprises on the list. Everything I'm about to point out has already been public knowledge. I'm just connecting dots and asking questions.
On the UUMA People of Color and Indiginous Chapter Statement, is this name:
Who, as it says, is President of Starr King School for the Ministry.
In the Open Letter from White UU Ministers, is this name:
Who, as it says, is President of Meadville Lombard Theological School.
Questions:
Does it strike anyone as odd that presidents of both Unitarian Universalist seminaries signed respective letters, calling The Gadfly Papers damaging?
The implication to me is that we have the presidents of the only two Unitarian Universalist seminaries that serve the UUA calling for the ban of a book.
Is this true? If it is, what does that say?
What about the idea of reading the book critically and then debating it? Why are the presidents of the UU seminaries not calling for this?
What of the future of Unitarian Universalism if this is how the future leaders are being trained?
The Unitarian Universalism you knew and loved is quite dead.
As to our future leaders, here's another name from that list:
That's right, Isabel Call, who was the outgoing Intern Minister at the Unitarian Universalist Church of Spokane. WTF? She was supervised by Rev. Todd Eklof, and in leaving the church signs a petition that calls the book and her mentor racist.
What is going on here?
A few possibilities, either she had a good relationship with Todd and the church, or she didn't. She could have had a great relationship with her mentor, and at the same time saw the realpolitik of the UUA and knew that she had better sign... or give up any hope of the ministry. (Not kidding, it really works that way.)
Questions:
Did Isabel Call see the writing on the wall as to the realpolitik of the UUA? Is that why she signed?
Does she believe the book, the minister and the church are racist? Does she believe any of them are racist? Is that why she signed?
It seems from the Spokesman-Review article that Rev. Todd Eklof was surprised by the presence of his church's Interm Minister on the list. Is this how we treat colleagues? Do we sign petitions instead of seeking honest dialog with our colleagues?
What of all the others who signed? How many of them sought an honest dialog with Rev. Todd Eklof?
To be more to the point, how many of them read the book before signing the petition? How many?
How many of them have read the book at all? How many?
And, how many of them still haven't read the book, and have no intention of reading the book, and yet signed the petition calling for the book to be banned? How many?
If you are a congregant in a Unitarian Universalist congregation, do you want your leaders signing petitions against a book they have not read?
What does all of this say about leadership among the Unitarian Universalists?
If your minister is on either of these lists as signers, you need to ask them if they read the book before signing the petition, if they read it at all. If your minister admits to having signed the petition without having read the book first...
Devilhead's advice would be for you to work as hard as possible to get rid of your minister. No one needs human garbage in the ministry. Don't worry about where you're going to find your next minister, as the UUA promises again and again, there's always more in the pipeline.
Your Ol' Pal,
Devilhead
In re-reading some of the responses to The Gadfly Papers, I noticed something odd among the signatories. There were those who signed the various papers calling Rev. Eklof and his book, racist, sexist, ableist, whatever-other-ists-would-stick-to-the-wall-when-hurled-against-it, etc.
And there were those who didn't.
In both cases, there were some interesting surprises on the list. Everything I'm about to point out has already been public knowledge. I'm just connecting dots and asking questions.
On the UUMA People of Color and Indiginous Chapter Statement, is this name:
Who, as it says, is President of Starr King School for the Ministry.
In the Open Letter from White UU Ministers, is this name:
Who, as it says, is President of Meadville Lombard Theological School.
Questions:
Does it strike anyone as odd that presidents of both Unitarian Universalist seminaries signed respective letters, calling The Gadfly Papers damaging?
The implication to me is that we have the presidents of the only two Unitarian Universalist seminaries that serve the UUA calling for the ban of a book.
Is this true? If it is, what does that say?
What about the idea of reading the book critically and then debating it? Why are the presidents of the UU seminaries not calling for this?
What of the future of Unitarian Universalism if this is how the future leaders are being trained?
The Unitarian Universalism you knew and loved is quite dead.
As to our future leaders, here's another name from that list:
That's right, Isabel Call, who was the outgoing Intern Minister at the Unitarian Universalist Church of Spokane. WTF? She was supervised by Rev. Todd Eklof, and in leaving the church signs a petition that calls the book and her mentor racist.
What is going on here?
A few possibilities, either she had a good relationship with Todd and the church, or she didn't. She could have had a great relationship with her mentor, and at the same time saw the realpolitik of the UUA and knew that she had better sign... or give up any hope of the ministry. (Not kidding, it really works that way.)
Questions:
Did Isabel Call see the writing on the wall as to the realpolitik of the UUA? Is that why she signed?
Does she believe the book, the minister and the church are racist? Does she believe any of them are racist? Is that why she signed?
It seems from the Spokesman-Review article that Rev. Todd Eklof was surprised by the presence of his church's Interm Minister on the list. Is this how we treat colleagues? Do we sign petitions instead of seeking honest dialog with our colleagues?
What of all the others who signed? How many of them sought an honest dialog with Rev. Todd Eklof?
To be more to the point, how many of them read the book before signing the petition? How many?
How many of them have read the book at all? How many?
And, how many of them still haven't read the book, and have no intention of reading the book, and yet signed the petition calling for the book to be banned? How many?
If you are a congregant in a Unitarian Universalist congregation, do you want your leaders signing petitions against a book they have not read?
What does all of this say about leadership among the Unitarian Universalists?
If your minister is on either of these lists as signers, you need to ask them if they read the book before signing the petition, if they read it at all. If your minister admits to having signed the petition without having read the book first...
Devilhead's advice would be for you to work as hard as possible to get rid of your minister. No one needs human garbage in the ministry. Don't worry about where you're going to find your next minister, as the UUA promises again and again, there's always more in the pipeline.
Your Ol' Pal,
Devilhead
Thursday, July 4, 2019
The Debacle of GA '19: What No One is Really Talking About
So far, the discussion surrounding the publication of Rev. Todd Eklof's The Gadfly Papers has focussed almost solely on whether the book is racist or not. That's not a big surprise as this narrative spin tends to favor the dominant voices in the UUA.
Is The Gadfly Papers racist?
Not at all.
That hasn't stopped the professionally aggrieved from hysterically shrieking that it is not only vile racism of the lowest order, but dangerous to boot. So dangerous that people shouldn't read it. They have been told that not only shouldn't they read it, but if they want to know what's inside they need only listen to one of the aggrieved as they tell you what it's all about.
Readers may notice a similarity between this viewpoint and that of the Medieval Church in regards to people reading the Bible for themselves. It was thought too dangerous, and so the Bible had to be mediated through priests. Does that sound familiar? Who does that benefit?
As a cherry on this shit sundae, it should come as no surprise to readers of this blog that many of the aggrieved who are happy to denounce the book as racism haven't bothered to read it. (I guess reading is rayciss.)
Welcome to today's Unitarian Universalism.
Here are a couple of pieces from the Spokesman-Review, Spokane's paper of record. [Here and Here]
Lost in the rush to denounce Rev. Todd Eklof as a racist, and make sure that no one reads his book and become infected with opposing viewpoints, is what happened in the meeting he had with the Right Relations Team.
Here's Rev. Eklof's account:
And here's the version from the Spokesman-Review, which was given verbatim from the UUA:
And:
Notice a difference?
This from a Redditor [Here] makes the timeline clearer:
My favorite part is, "Someone on the Right Relations team did not like the outcome of this meeting, and went above the Right Relations team."
That, my friends, is the whole fucking story right there. A meeting occurred, things were agreed upon, then someone on the very team who initiated the meeting had issues on the ride home, and went above everyone's heads. Remember, this is the new Unitarian Universalism. Rules are rayciss.
So, who's on the Right Relations Team? Here is the official web blurb. Interesting, it doesn't mention who's on the team, although it does have a few pics of previous Right Relations Team members.
Yup, the moderators were members of this team.
Here's what no one is talking about, but at the same time is the issue: the piss-poor boundaries of the leaders at the highest levels of the association.
Let's just go through this again:
Rev. Eklof hands out copies of his book at GA. Some were offended. Some tried to stop this book from being read altogether, but settled on it not being distributed for free. Rev. Todd agreed not to distribute the book. Meeting over, decisions reached. In a sane society that would be the end of it.
Except that Unitarian Universalism is populated by the emotionally damaged. Except that the whole anti-racismCIA Psyop initiative is deemed too important to follow rules. It has to succeed, and it doesn't matter if it does so on a lie. The rules don't matter if they stand in the way of naked political grasping. From this, we wind up with declaring that Robert's Rules of Order are rayciss.
[On that:
That's from a retired Unitarian Universalist Minister. How things have changed.]
A meeting did occur, someone didn't like the outcome. Most likely couldn't find a way to virtue signal, or even more likely, realized that they would have to deal with the sniveling of the professionally offended for the rest of GA. (And there probably weren't enough hug boxes in the safe room for everybody.) That's how the professionally offended get their way. They cry and throw tantrums until they get what they want.
And that's what happened. The official pronouncements are making it all about Rev. Eklof. You may notice they don't mention the names of the others present. What are they hiding? The reality is the unprofessionalism of the people on the Right Relations Team (whoever they are), the UUA Board member (whoever that is), and a co-moderator (whoever... wait... he? Mr. Barb Greve?) calls into question all of the processes and professionalism of the UUA.
Seriously, if you can't trust the word of your elected leaders, or trust that your leaders behave ethically, what the fuck do you have?
If this incident has proven anything, it's that the UUA leaders at the very highest levels can't be trusted and cover for each other.
That's what no one's talking about.
Your Ol' Pal,
Devilhead
Happy 4th! Maybe it is time to dissolve the Association.
Is The Gadfly Papers racist?
Not at all.
That hasn't stopped the professionally aggrieved from hysterically shrieking that it is not only vile racism of the lowest order, but dangerous to boot. So dangerous that people shouldn't read it. They have been told that not only shouldn't they read it, but if they want to know what's inside they need only listen to one of the aggrieved as they tell you what it's all about.
Readers may notice a similarity between this viewpoint and that of the Medieval Church in regards to people reading the Bible for themselves. It was thought too dangerous, and so the Bible had to be mediated through priests. Does that sound familiar? Who does that benefit?
As a cherry on this shit sundae, it should come as no surprise to readers of this blog that many of the aggrieved who are happy to denounce the book as racism haven't bothered to read it. (I guess reading is rayciss.)
Welcome to today's Unitarian Universalism.
Here are a couple of pieces from the Spokesman-Review, Spokane's paper of record. [Here and Here]
Lost in the rush to denounce Rev. Todd Eklof as a racist, and make sure that no one reads his book and become infected with opposing viewpoints, is what happened in the meeting he had with the Right Relations Team.
Here's Rev. Eklof's account:
This from a Redditor [Here] makes the timeline clearer:
My favorite part is, "Someone on the Right Relations team did not like the outcome of this meeting, and went above the Right Relations team."
That, my friends, is the whole fucking story right there. A meeting occurred, things were agreed upon, then someone on the very team who initiated the meeting had issues on the ride home, and went above everyone's heads. Remember, this is the new Unitarian Universalism. Rules are rayciss.
So, who's on the Right Relations Team? Here is the official web blurb. Interesting, it doesn't mention who's on the team, although it does have a few pics of previous Right Relations Team members.
Here's what no one is talking about, but at the same time is the issue: the piss-poor boundaries of the leaders at the highest levels of the association.
Let's just go through this again:
Rev. Eklof hands out copies of his book at GA. Some were offended. Some tried to stop this book from being read altogether, but settled on it not being distributed for free. Rev. Todd agreed not to distribute the book. Meeting over, decisions reached. In a sane society that would be the end of it.
Except that Unitarian Universalism is populated by the emotionally damaged. Except that the whole anti-racism
[On that:
That's from a retired Unitarian Universalist Minister. How things have changed.]
A meeting did occur, someone didn't like the outcome. Most likely couldn't find a way to virtue signal, or even more likely, realized that they would have to deal with the sniveling of the professionally offended for the rest of GA. (And there probably weren't enough hug boxes in the safe room for everybody.) That's how the professionally offended get their way. They cry and throw tantrums until they get what they want.
And that's what happened. The official pronouncements are making it all about Rev. Eklof. You may notice they don't mention the names of the others present. What are they hiding? The reality is the unprofessionalism of the people on the Right Relations Team (whoever they are), the UUA Board member (whoever that is), and a co-moderator (whoever... wait... he? Mr. Barb Greve?) calls into question all of the processes and professionalism of the UUA.
Seriously, if you can't trust the word of your elected leaders, or trust that your leaders behave ethically, what the fuck do you have?
If this incident has proven anything, it's that the UUA leaders at the very highest levels can't be trusted and cover for each other.
That's what no one's talking about.
Your Ol' Pal,
Devilhead
Happy 4th! Maybe it is time to dissolve the Association.
Tuesday, July 2, 2019
The Debacle of GA '19
I have the feeling the Unitarian Universalists have hit a historic point. It's not the historic point anyone would want to make, I'm sure, but a historic point has been made.
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:
Here's the backlash:
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
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
Thursday, June 27, 2019
Let's Talk...
I've been gone for a while. I've had, and continue to have, a few things going on in my life:
Currently, my 90+-year-old mother has been moved into an assisted living facility. I've been traveling, looking over properties in New York, New Mexico, Washington, and Italy (old family estate).
I've finished up a course of treatment for the PTSD I received from dealing with some horrid church leadership with help from a denomination that wanted to see me gone and my memory purged. EMDR treatments have been successful. I no longer feel the rage and pain I felt at being railroaded out of the ministry. I may finally talk about some of my personal experiences.
All of the above has contributed to this blog being put on the back burner. I haven't really checked my email much at all. [BTW Devilhead welcomes email from readers, contact me HERE.]
But there's a thing about back burners, everything simmers. So, for the past nine months or so, I've essentially ignored this blog. Not completely ignore it per se, I just had too much personal business that demanded my attention. And for the past several months readership has steadily grown. Not bad for a blog that could have been considered dead.
And boy do you guys write! My inbox has been overflowing with almost exclusively supportive material. There's negative too, usually along the lines of "how dare you force me to look at the shit-sty my denomination has become". But there's so little of that, I'm surprised.
A few of you have commented openly on this blog. Some of you want to know what I know. That's a two-way street. Contact me HERE (subtle fucking hint, I know).
So, as the blog slept, its readership grew steadily.
Another large group, not as large as the ministers, are congregational leadership. And that's been growing. GA '19 was a wake up call for many. This one that has proven how far the UUA has strayed from its roots. [It's probably safe to say that what calls itself "Unitarian Universalism" is so completely different from what has been Unitarianism and Universalism (in both separate and combined forms) for all of its history that it would be more honest to simply name it something new and move on.] This would have the added benefit of exorcising inconvenient history to the dumpster in the process. Don't worry, that'll never happen because it makes sense.
Here's the best part, several UUA staffers read this blog and largely agree [?!] with it. The number one complaint I get from UUA staff is this: hypocrisy at the higher levels. Quelle surprise!
I can't make this shit up. Yo' Rev. Sue, looks like you don't have a unified team at all. Time to purge house, again.
And finally, readers from UUReddit have found this blog and have been sharing posts with their friends. This accounts for much of this blogs growing popularity among a certain segment of the UU populace. All I can say to that is Welcome Reddit!
And many of the readers have lots of questions. Most are about the ministries and churches I've already discussed, filling me in with details. I've heard from family, former congregants and others who've had dealings with some of the ministers mentioned in this blog. Let's just say that from what I've heard, it's a good thing some of these people are out of the ministry.
And since GA '19, all anyone can talk about is Rev. Todd Eklof of the Spokane UU Church and his book decrying the excesses of a denomination that has run off the rails. I don't know the minister, but I do know the congregation very well. (Intimately, in fact.) I will do a few posts on this, but let me give you a preview.
The distance between Spokane, WA and Hayden, ID home of many white nationalists and some very famous white nationalist groups is only 36.8 miles. Nothing, particularly out in the west.
There are current members of the UU Church of Spokane who grew up playing with Richard Butler's kids.
I know for a absolute fact that that their former minister, Rev. Richard Erhardt was completely against the anti-racism bullshit as promulgated by theCIA UUA, and made that fact well known to the search committee. Their response was applause.
The congregation supports Rev. Eklof, does not see the Gadfly Papers as racist, and that's where it should end. But it won't.
Who says watching Unitarian Universalism commit suicide isn't fun?
Yours Truly,
Devilhead
Currently, my 90+-year-old mother has been moved into an assisted living facility. I've been traveling, looking over properties in New York, New Mexico, Washington, and Italy (old family estate).
I've finished up a course of treatment for the PTSD I received from dealing with some horrid church leadership with help from a denomination that wanted to see me gone and my memory purged. EMDR treatments have been successful. I no longer feel the rage and pain I felt at being railroaded out of the ministry. I may finally talk about some of my personal experiences.
All of the above has contributed to this blog being put on the back burner. I haven't really checked my email much at all. [BTW Devilhead welcomes email from readers, contact me HERE.]
But there's a thing about back burners, everything simmers. So, for the past nine months or so, I've essentially ignored this blog. Not completely ignore it per se, I just had too much personal business that demanded my attention. And for the past several months readership has steadily grown. Not bad for a blog that could have been considered dead.
And boy do you guys write! My inbox has been overflowing with almost exclusively supportive material. There's negative too, usually along the lines of "how dare you force me to look at the shit-sty my denomination has become". But there's so little of that, I'm surprised.
A few of you have commented openly on this blog. Some of you want to know what I know. That's a two-way street. Contact me HERE (subtle fucking hint, I know).
So, as the blog slept, its readership grew steadily.
Who Reads This Blog?
A surprising number of people who like this blog are ministers who've become disillusioned and disgusted with a denomination run by ideologically-blinded buffoons. Some are retired and are grateful to be done. Several have communicated that they will never set foot in another Unitarian Universalist church, even as they collect a pension check from the UUA.Another large group, not as large as the ministers, are congregational leadership. And that's been growing. GA '19 was a wake up call for many. This one that has proven how far the UUA has strayed from its roots. [It's probably safe to say that what calls itself "Unitarian Universalism" is so completely different from what has been Unitarianism and Universalism (in both separate and combined forms) for all of its history that it would be more honest to simply name it something new and move on.] This would have the added benefit of exorcising inconvenient history to the dumpster in the process. Don't worry, that'll never happen because it makes sense.
Here's the best part, several UUA staffers read this blog and largely agree [?!] with it. The number one complaint I get from UUA staff is this: hypocrisy at the higher levels. Quelle surprise!
I can't make this shit up. Yo' Rev. Sue, looks like you don't have a unified team at all. Time to purge house, again.
And finally, readers from UUReddit have found this blog and have been sharing posts with their friends. This accounts for much of this blogs growing popularity among a certain segment of the UU populace. All I can say to that is Welcome Reddit!
And many of the readers have lots of questions. Most are about the ministries and churches I've already discussed, filling me in with details. I've heard from family, former congregants and others who've had dealings with some of the ministers mentioned in this blog. Let's just say that from what I've heard, it's a good thing some of these people are out of the ministry.
And since GA '19, all anyone can talk about is Rev. Todd Eklof of the Spokane UU Church and his book decrying the excesses of a denomination that has run off the rails. I don't know the minister, but I do know the congregation very well. (Intimately, in fact.) I will do a few posts on this, but let me give you a preview.
The distance between Spokane, WA and Hayden, ID home of many white nationalists and some very famous white nationalist groups is only 36.8 miles. Nothing, particularly out in the west.
There are current members of the UU Church of Spokane who grew up playing with Richard Butler's kids.
I know for a absolute fact that that their former minister, Rev. Richard Erhardt was completely against the anti-racism bullshit as promulgated by the
The congregation supports Rev. Eklof, does not see the Gadfly Papers as racist, and that's where it should end. But it won't.
Who says watching Unitarian Universalism commit suicide isn't fun?
Yours Truly,
Devilhead
Monday, October 22, 2018
Is Unitarian Universalism populated by NPCs [Non-Playable Characters]?
Some questions:
How many Unitarian Universalist churches are filled with Non-Playable Characters?
What percentage of a Unitarian Universalist congregation are NPCs?
What percentage of Unitarian Universalist ministers are NPCs?
We'll discuss this in a future post. Right now we have a few videos to help us get up to speed on what a NPC is.
Enjoy...
and
and
How many Unitarian Universalist churches are filled with Non-Playable Characters?
What percentage of a Unitarian Universalist congregation are NPCs?
What percentage of Unitarian Universalist ministers are NPCs?
We'll discuss this in a future post. Right now we have a few videos to help us get up to speed on what a NPC is.
Enjoy...
and
and
Enjoy.
Until next time.
Devilhead
Monday, July 2, 2018
Another Ministry (or two) Falls to Raycism - Part 4
[Continued from HERE.]
A few readers of this blog pointed Devilhead to this article on the All Souls DC situation from the Washington City Paper.
I'm encouraging everyone to read it. It's very good.
In our last few posts we looked at the ongoing brouhaha at All Souls, DC, and found the usual mix of garbage that tends to destroy ministries and congregations: 1) a congregant who doesn't understand, or care about, congregational polity, and, as we shall see, 2) an Associate Minister who has no concept of what that means.
Once the UCC decided to do a ministerial fitness review of Rev. Susan Moore's ministry, an open letter went out to the congregation on October 25, 2017. It made it clear that there was a process in place to investigate the claims made by Mr. Tyndall and that for everyone's best interests, the process would be confidential. No one, including Rev. Moore would be allowed to talk about the investigation, until it was all over.
How do you think that went?
It helps if the minister under review has a clue about, a) confidentiality, b) congregational polity, and c) Unitarian Universalism.
Rev. Susan Newman Moore had no clue about Unitarian Universalism, or Unitarian Universalists. This is ridiculously easy to demonstrate: Rev. Moore's insistence on being called "Rev."
Literally five minutes in any Unitarian Universalist congregation will give a first-time visitor the correct interpretation that Unitarian Universalists are almost rabidly anti-clerical. It shows up absolutely everywhere:
Example: There is almost always a "lay leader" in the pulpit... because God forbid we let the minister "have too much power." That's a quote I've heard in absolutely EVERY UU congregation I've been in. Seriously, visit a UU church and ask, during coffee hour, "Why do you have a lay leader in the pulpit with the minister?" The answer will always include something on keeping the minister in check, or balancing the power. Always. Every single time. Don't take my word, try it for yourself.
Example: Associates are "called" by the congregation, which all but guarantees that the Associate rarely, if ever, understands their role. Seriously, half of them go around thinking they are the "counterpoint" to the called senior minister of the congregation. The blame for this is frequently to be placed at the feet of the search committee. Many search committees who search for an associate minister do so with the idea that there will be a "counterpoint" in the pulpit. Senior minister is preaching one vision, associate minister preaches the opposite... yeah that's not a recipe for disaster. Just look around at the number of called associate ministers who destroy their ministry along with the senior minister's ministry. The exceptions to this are few and far between.
A few readers of this blog pointed Devilhead to this article on the All Souls DC situation from the Washington City Paper.
I'm encouraging everyone to read it. It's very good.
In our last few posts we looked at the ongoing brouhaha at All Souls, DC, and found the usual mix of garbage that tends to destroy ministries and congregations: 1) a congregant who doesn't understand, or care about, congregational polity, and, as we shall see, 2) an Associate Minister who has no concept of what that means.
Once the UCC decided to do a ministerial fitness review of Rev. Susan Moore's ministry, an open letter went out to the congregation on October 25, 2017. It made it clear that there was a process in place to investigate the claims made by Mr. Tyndall and that for everyone's best interests, the process would be confidential. No one, including Rev. Moore would be allowed to talk about the investigation, until it was all over.
How do you think that went?
It helps if the minister under review has a clue about, a) confidentiality, b) congregational polity, and c) Unitarian Universalism.
Rev. Susan Newman Moore had no clue about Unitarian Universalism, or Unitarian Universalists. This is ridiculously easy to demonstrate: Rev. Moore's insistence on being called "Rev."
Literally five minutes in any Unitarian Universalist congregation will give a first-time visitor the correct interpretation that Unitarian Universalists are almost rabidly anti-clerical. It shows up absolutely everywhere:
Example: There is almost always a "lay leader" in the pulpit... because God forbid we let the minister "have too much power." That's a quote I've heard in absolutely EVERY UU congregation I've been in. Seriously, visit a UU church and ask, during coffee hour, "Why do you have a lay leader in the pulpit with the minister?" The answer will always include something on keeping the minister in check, or balancing the power. Always. Every single time. Don't take my word, try it for yourself.
Example: Associates are "called" by the congregation, which all but guarantees that the Associate rarely, if ever, understands their role. Seriously, half of them go around thinking they are the "counterpoint" to the called senior minister of the congregation. The blame for this is frequently to be placed at the feet of the search committee. Many search committees who search for an associate minister do so with the idea that there will be a "counterpoint" in the pulpit. Senior minister is preaching one vision, associate minister preaches the opposite... yeah that's not a recipe for disaster. Just look around at the number of called associate ministers who destroy their ministry along with the senior minister's ministry. The exceptions to this are few and far between.
I spoke to a colleague about Rev. Moore's insistence on being called "Reverend", and his response was, "Does she not understand Unitarian Universalism? UUs would rather eat broken glass than refer to their called religious leader as 'Reverend."
I concurred. The only time I was every called "Rev." or "Rev. Dr." was when a congregant wanted to impress a family member who visited church that day. (Or they wanted to feel important because they knew someone with those titles.) Otherwise, the "Rev." or "Rev. Dr." was never used.
Open message to Rev. Susan Newman Moore: Yo' Sue, you didn't understand this? How many years were you serving in a UU church? Are you too stupid to understand this? Or, do you have personal motivations that makes it impossible for you to understand? [Again, not a lot of middle ground here.]
The board gave Rev. Moore paid leave from October 31, 2017 - January 1, 2018. This was later extended from the beginning to the end of January 2018.
On January 29, 2018 a letter went out to the congregation regarding Rev. Moore's "separation" from All Souls DC.
On January 29, 2018 a letter went out to the congregation regarding Rev. Moore's "separation" from All Souls DC.
 |
| [ORIGINAL HERE] |
 |
| [ORIGINAL HERE] |
Rev. Moore and Rev. Hardies chose to part ways. This was done under the auspices of the Unitarian Universalist Association under UUA staffer Rev. Hope Johnson and two unnamed good offices people. All in all what sounds like a good, healthy process. The letter to the congregation, dated January 29, 2018, was appropriate given the situation.
And this is where the story should end...
But it doesn't.
Your Old Pal,
Devilhead
[Continued...]
And this is where the story should end...
But it doesn't.
Your Old Pal,
Devilhead
[Continued...]
Subscribe to:
Posts (Atom)