Article featured in The Catalyst, September 2009
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It is easy to get angry these days. Those who dream of the Beloved Community on Earth see its realization a long way off. We live in a society increasingly characterized by violent conflict and distributive injustice at home and abroad. We are appalled at violence such as the fatal shootings at the Tennessee Valley Unitarian Church last year just as we are at scenes of angry, gun-toting people hanging around political town hall meetings called to promote rational discourse not irrational conflict. We question government action to rescue wealthy and powerful financial institutions even as millions lose their jobs and homes, live without a social safety net, and struggle just to survive every day. As people of liberal religious convictions with a passion for social justice and zeal for social action, we want to engage with the world and help bring about systemic change.
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To meet this need, the Unitarian Universalist Association of Congregations has begun a nation-wide campaign to organize our witness and our action to change public perceptions about the inherent worth and dignity of all people. Called Standing on the Side of Love (http://www.standingonthesideoflove.org/), it is a campaign “that is ultimately about changing the world. Standing on the Side of Love is a public advocacy campaign...promoting respect for the inherent worth and dignity of every person...it is about lifting strong religious voices proclaiming love in the face of fear and hate.”
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Far from being an inner-directed, silent acceptance of the “world as it is”, Standing on the Side of Love, seeks to inspire all of us to act in the tradition of King and Gandhi, who marshaled the power of love and the strength of their convictions into strong witness and action for systemic social change. Historically, such witness and action has been an effective agent for change and our church believes it can be again. By changing public perceptions, we can begin to change public policy – aligning it more with those principles of human freedom, human worth, and human dignity that are not only our religious heritage but our national heritage as well.
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At Channing, we stand on the side of love and look forward to a new church year of witness and action to continue to live our convictions. The next meeting of Channing’s Social Justice Committee is Wednesday, September 9th, 7PM in the Channing Library. Please join us and share your ideas, your passion, and your commitment to the cause of peace, justice, and respect for all people and our planet, and positive change within our community and the world.
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Tom Beall, Social Action Co-Chair
