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Unitarian Universalist Society of Fairhaven "The Inherent Worth and Dignity of Every Person" Rev. Ann C. Fox |
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In a daily walking meditation with Buddhist monk Thich Nhat Hanh this summer, we students (about 1,000) regularly sang a simple song where the verses all ended in "I am free, I am free, I am free" while we made a gesture with our hands going outwards from the body. However, the gesture actually implied inner spaciousness, inner freedom. It was fascinating to look around and watch the smiles increase on the faces of the students until by the end of the song, we were all smiling. "I am free" invoked the joy that freedom brings. I feel this way when I think of our Unitarian Universalist Principles for we are free of the bonds of required belief. Let us take a very brief look at how we came to be free. In early the nineteenth century, Reverend William Ellery Channing of the Arlington Street church took the lead in describing the liberal Christian belief in his sermon called "Unitarian Christianity." It had four major points, 1) that the Bible was open to question and criticism, 2) that the concept of the Trinity was invalid [not found in scripture], 3) that Jesus was human and not God, and 4) that God is infinitely good and not a God of wrath. (Frost, p.25) It was a two-hour sermon and when it was published, it sold out of many printings. For Unitarians, the next 100 years were fraught with theological struggle while liberal religionists worked out what they did believe. This was the journey to becoming theologically diverse. After the Unitarians and the Universalists merged in 1961, they soon realized that they needed to form Principles of Belief that defined them. They essentially merged the Principles of the two denominations, and in 1985, they revised and updated them to be the gender sensitive and inclusive Principles that we read together today. It took almost 200 years to come to where we are today. The people in both denominations struggled all the way. We can believe what our hearts know to be true. However, it is not good enough to just say, "We are free." We have to know what we believe that makes us free. As Sophia Lyons Fahs says in our responsive reading, "It matters what we believe." We are diverse in the beliefs that we hold in our hearts. But as a people, we have to be clear about the unity in our diversity. You might have heard of the Unitarian Universalist mother who was worried that with all this diversity her sons wouldn't get the moral values she was hoping for. One Sunday morning, she was making pancakes for her sons, John and Neil. They were arguing over who would get the first pancake. She saw an opportunity for a lesson in generosity. She said to her older son, John, "If Jesus were sitting here, He would say, "Let my brother have the first pancake. I can wait." John turned to his younger brother, Neil, and said, "Neil, you be Jesus!" Seriously though, the unity in diversity is in the Principles that we covenant to affirm and promote. Can we be united if we cannot affirm and promote each Principle one hundred percent? Let us inquire. In the reading, we heard that "the first principle is our foundation. It speaks of respect [and] . . . encourages people to unfold according to their true and authentic nature." Now, the inherent worth and dignity implies that every person has a true and authentic nature and is worthy of respect. If I ask myself whether this is true, the idealistic part of me says, "Oh, yes, of course! It goes without saying!" But let us test it out. Let us begin with our family and our partner and children. Well, we wouldn't stay with a partner who we didn't respect and children are ours to treat with respect so that they will grow with self-respect and the capacity to respect others. What about members of our family and friends and work mates who are troublesome? Well, perhaps we can make some allowances since surely they all have some saving graces (don't they) and we can't expect everyone to be perfect and don't all the world's religions call us to love one another and so we do our best to hold everyone in high regard? Is it that we can honor the worth and dignity of all people but also have appropriate boundaries with them and teach this to our children as well? I believe that we would do well to do this not only for our own peace of mind but also to model respectful behavior to the best of our ability. Let us test this principle to the utmost. In response to the September 11, 2001 attack on the Twin Towers, an article appeared in our January/February 2002 UU World magazine called, "Confronting Evil." It asked whether dignity and worth is inherent in the September 11th 2001 terrorists, the Holocaust perpetrators, the Pol Pot regime, those in Rwanda who maimed and murdered thousands, and many other examples. If Osama bin Laden were captured tomorrow, what should we do with him? Our laws require that we assume he is innocent until proven guilty. He would have to receive a fair trial. UU theologian, Rev. Dr. Thandeka, suggests that evil behavior is a failure to understand the inherent worth and dignity of every person. Perhaps we are obligated to teach the inherent worth and dignity to the very people who have not understood it! Perhaps you read in Time Magazine that a black South African woman psychologist wrote a book about a former police chief who ordered and participated in the torture of dozens of black policemen suspected of helping terrorists. She interviewed him in a Johannesburg jail. As their meetings progressed he began to exhibit remorse and asked to meet with the widows of the policemen he had tortured and killed. Over time, she saw him become ill with remorse. Once her heart went out to him and she spontaneously reached out and touched his hand. They were both shocked with this gesture. She even recoiled from her own compassion for him. She witnessed transformation take place before her eyes. Clearly, he was capable of understanding the part he took in the violation of humankind in South Africa. What about the mass murderer or a person who abuses, tortures and kills little children? Is "worth and dignity" inherent in these people? What about Adolf Hitler? What do you think? I have heard from prison chaplains, people who have spent their lives doing ministry with hard core prisoners, that there was little hope for the transformation of some people. But is that a reason to treat a person with disrespect. The terrorists attack on the Twin Towers caused us as a denomination to inquire into the validity of our first principle in the face of evil. Rev. Dr. Thandeka, thinks that it is more important than ever to promote the worth and dignity of every person. Our former president, Bill Schultz, says that the first principle is a value and an assertion that every person has certain fundamental rights. Bill Schultz has been the President of Amnesty International for many years. He says, "We can make the world a better place when we treat people as having worth and dignity, even if they do not treat us that way." However, many others in the article thought that some people just don't have worth and dignity and it is idealistic nonsense to believe otherwise! For myself, I believe that some people's inherent capability for goodness is dysfunctional and they can be a danger to others. For these people, it is best to remove them from society but I do not think we should kill them or mistreat them. For one thing, I believe that as long as someone is alive, and treated in a civilized but firm manner, there is a possibility for transformation. Also, when we harm another person, that act also harms ourselves. It is like the slave owner who actually enslaves himself to the habit of degrading another person. As long as we treat another person with love, perhaps tough love, somehow that love might be transforming, if only for ourselves. Some of us will agree that all people have inherent worth and dignity and should be treated accordingly, though some with greater firmness. Others will disagree. The question is, "Can we still be Unitarian Universalists and disagree about our first principle? I believe the answer is definitely, "Yes." We do not have to agree one hundred percent on all of the principles in order for us to hold similar religious values that bind us as a people. This year, we will look at each one of our principles in the hopes of engaging them in our lives or at least struggle with them to work out what part of the principle we can accept and what must be let go. We are free to do precisely this! All of the world's religions encourage us to treat people with respect. The Judeo-Christian tradition teaches us to love our neighbor as our own self. If we are open to it, love itself, will be our guide. May the inner spaciousness that freedom engenders help each of us to discern our part in creating the conditions where inherent worth and dignity and love will inform all our words and actions. So may it be. References The following have informed and inspired this sermon: Frost, Edward A. With Purpose and Principle: Essays about the Seven Principles of Unitarian Universalism. Boston: Skinner House Books, 1998. UU World, January/February 2002, "Confronting Evil," by Warren R. Ross (obtainable from ww.uua.org/world/2002/01/feature1.html).
Reading
"The first principle is our foundation. It speaks of respecting others enough to never objectify and control them in the service of ideology, however precious. It encourages people to unfold according to their true and authentic nature, to live with integrity according to their own heart's leaning. As Unitarian Universalists, we do not ask members [and friends] to adopt any creed or doctrine. People are accepted as they are, whether they are Christians, Buddhists, Jews, humanists, atheists, or simply searching. Whether they are straight, gay, lesbian, bisexual, or transgendered. Whether they are socialists or Republicans. [Yes, Republicans!] Whether they are white or people of color. All have worth and dignity. All are welcome at the table [of Fellowship]. The first principle is human-centered. It implies that living on this earth is the proper focus of our time and attention. Heaven will take care of itself. |
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