Taking It Home, Workshop 12: I've Got Tears Like the Raindrops — Freedom, in the Faith like a River Program
We can choose between hating our neighbors or feeling kindly toward them. We can avenge or forgive. We can participate in political life; we can also leave politics to the demagogues. We can help the suffering, the ill, the unfortunate; we can let them die. We can encourage the search for truth and free expression of ideas or we can join in the clamor for suppression of all with which we disagree. We can work toward a united world community, or we can work for American dominion or isolation. These are all fateful choices, and it is our duty to choose. — The Rev. Howard Brooks, Unitarian Service Committee staff, 1949
Pick one of the issues covered in this workshop to journal about. Try to enter a time period of struggle for the issue you've chosen. Using these words from James Luther Adams as a starting point, think and write about what might have stopped someone at the time from taking a stand or acting for freedom. Adams wrote:
I became acutely aware of the necessity for explicit commitment, in contrast to a vague sort of liberalism opposed to prejudices and promoting openness of mind.
You might try writing this as an "excuse note," explaining the reasons. Then, reflect on what might have caused a person to act on behalf of freedom and justice under the same circumstances.
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Last updated on Wednesday, October 26, 2011.
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