A PLACE OF WHOLENESS
A Tapestry of Faith Program for Youth
WORKSHOP 8: FREEDOM
BY BETH DANA AND JESSE JAEGER
© Copyright 2010 Unitarian Universalist Association.
Published to the Web on 9/29/2014 7:13:47 PM PST.
This program and additional resources are available on the UUA.org web site at
www.uua.org/religiouseducation/curricula/tapestryfaith.
WORKSHOP OVERVIEW
INTRODUCTION
For to be free is not merely to cast off one's chains, but to live in a way that respects and enhances the freedom of others. — Nelson Mandela
Freedom is central to Unitarian Universalism's "free faith" and is inextricably linked with other core values—the use of reason, tolerance of difference, love, hope for change, and faith. James Luther Adams' wrote that "all relations between persons ought ideally to rest on mutual, free consent and not on coercion." His second stone is "establishment of a just and loving community."
This workshop explores freedom struggles in Unitarian Universalist history to the present day, making connections with freedom and liberation movements in other cultures and communities. Participants consider what they, as Unitarian Universalists, can learn and contribute.
Activity 4, Freedom Songs, requires advance notice to participants to select songs about freedom that they appreciate. Plan to email or otherwise communicate with the group early. The Faith in Action activity puts into practice the idea that with freedom comes responsibility, or as Nelson Mandela said, the call to "live in a way that respects and enhances the freedom of others." Through doing this we become truly free and whole.
GOALS
This workshop will:
LEARNING OBJECTIVES
Participants will:
WORKSHOP-AT-A-GLANCE
Activity | Minutes |
Welcoming and Entering | 0 |
Opening | 5 |
Activity 1: Many Kinds of Freedom | 10 |
Activity 2: Story — Viola Liuzzo, To Freedom Land | 10 |
Activity 3: Three Stories of Religious Freedom | 20 |
Activity 4: Freedom Songs | 30 |
Activity 5: I Believe, I Feel, I Act | 5 |
Faith in Action: Community Action Project | |
Closing | 10 |
Alternate Activity 1: Liberalism and Liberation Theology | 20 |
Alternate Activity 2: Freedom for All | 25 |
SPIRITUAL PREPARATION
For a long time, music has been a powerful way for people to both celebrate and express their desire for freedom. Find a song that you like with a freedom or liberation theme. Sit down and listen to it. Play it through a few times. What is the song telling you about freedom? What does your choice of songs say about your views of freedom? What are your experiences of freedom, or freedom denied? Are there freedoms that you take for granted?
WORKSHOP PLAN
WELCOMING AND ENTERING
Materials for Activity
Preparation for Activity
Description of Activity
The Welcome Words are meant to set the stage for the workshop and spark conversation before the workshop begins. The Welcome Words for today are a quote and questions.
For to be free is not merely to cast off one's chains, but to live in a way that respects and enhances the freedom of others. — Nelson Mandela, former South African President, anti-apartheid activist, and advocate of democracy
Questions: How does the way you live respect and enhance the freedom of others? How do others respect and enhance your freedom?
As participants arrive, invite them to personalize a journal, review and/or add to their journal based on the Welcome Words posted, or informally discuss the Welcome Words. Orient visitors and first-time participants to the program and get a sense of what brought them today.
OPENING (5 MINUTES)
Materials for Activity
Preparation for Activity
Description of Activity
Distribute Responsive Reading — Five Smooth Stones (Handout 1 from Workshop 1). Lead participants in the responsive reading or ask for a volunteer to lead. Encourage participants to take turns leading the responsive reading from workshop to workshop.
After the responsive reading, ask for a volunteer to light the chalice.
Including All Participants
Assist youth that need help with words in the responsive reading. Remember to allow participants to pass on reading aloud.
ACTIVITY 1: MANY KINDS OF FREEDOM (10 MINUTES)
Materials for Activity
Preparation for Activity
Description of Activity
Participants identify different types of freedom and reflect on their own experiences of freedom.
Explain that freedom has been an important principle to Unitarians, Universalists, and Unitarian Universalists throughout our history. Say that today's workshop looks at some of this history and asks them to think about how they live out the principle of freedom in their own lives.
Ask participants, "What freedoms do you experience?" Write their responses on one sheet of newsprint.
Then ask, "What freedoms do you not experience?" Write those on a separate piece of newsprint.
Ask the group to compare the lists. Use the following refection questions to lead a discussion:
ACTIVITY 2: STORY — VIOLA LIUZZO, TO FREEDOM LAND (10 MINUTES)
Materials for Activity
Preparation for Activity
Description of Activity
This activity tells the story through words and song of Viola Liuzzo, a white Unitarian Universalist who fought and died for the civil rights of African Americans.
Begin by telling participants that, as they explored in Activity 1, there are many kinds of freedom. Viola Liuzzo, a white Unitarian Universalist, was working alongside African Americans for their rights as full citizens and freedom from discrimination during the Civil Rights Movement. She was putting her faith in freedom into action. Invite the participants to listen as you share the story of Viola Liuzzo. Read or tell the story, while your co-leader or a volunteer sings the song lines interspersed throughout.
After presenting the story, lead a short discussion with the following reflection questions:
ACTIVITY 3: THREE STORIES OF RELIGIOUS FREEDOM (20 MINUTES)
Materials for Activity
Preparation for Activity
Description of Activity
Participants explore times in history that Unitarians, Universalists, and Unitarian Universalists took action to expand religious freedom. It challenges participants to look at areas where they themselves, or people in their community, lack freedom and what they might do about it.
Start by explaining that they will be looking at three stories of religious freedom. The first comes from Unitarians in the 1500s. The second is from Universalists in the 1700s. The third comes from Unitarian Universalists in the 1990s.
Use Leader Resource 1, Three Stories of Religious Freedom, to present the stories as you have planned.
After the stories are read, break participants into groups of three or four to discuss the following questions:
Invite all participants back into the large group. Ask youth to each share one reflection on freedom that came up during the discussion.
ACTIVITY 4: FREEDOM SONGS (30 MINUTES)
Materials for Activity
Preparation for Activity
Description of Activity
Youth explore the theme of freedom and liberation through music. The thirty-minute time estimate may be low; it will take approximately five minutes per participant.
Point out that people have expressed their deepest desires for freedom through music for a long time. Many of today's gospel songs were originally sung by enslaved Africans; many folk songs were originally sung by laborers; and anti-war songs were sung by protesters of the Vietnam War.
Remind them of the songs that they have picked. Tell them that you made a CD of all the songs for each of them. Explain that after the group listens to each song, the person who selected that song will have two or three minutes to share what they think the song is about. When you have listened to all the songs, lead a discussion using the following reflection questions:
ACTIVITY 5: I BELIEVE, I FEEL, I ACT (5 MINUTES)
Materials for Activity
Preparation for Activity
Description of Activity
Explain that participants now have the opportunity to reflect and write or draw on what they have learned and discussed in the workshop. The following is a framework for reflecting, but they are free to reflect in any way that is helpful for them.
Ask them to make three columns in their journals:
I BELIEVE I FEEL I ACT
(world view) (loyalty of my heart) (way of life)
Invite them to consider their faith in these terms.
An example might be:
1) I believe that everyone should be free.
2) I feel privileged to be part of a community that values freedom.
3) I act on my beliefs and feelings by working with others to bring about freedom for all.
Explain that they can make as many statements as they have time for now and they can always continue during the reflection time in future workshops. Invite them to draw or represent their reflections visually, if they prefer.
Also offer the following reflection questions related to the theme of the day:
How does Unitarian Universalism inform the way you view or experience freedom? How does Unitarian Universalism call you to work for the freedom of all? When you have joined with a Unitarian Universalist community to work towards freedom?
CLOSING (10 MINUTES)
Materials for Activity
Preparation for Activity
Description of Activity
To close the workshop, ask for a couple participants to share brief reflections from the journaling exercise about their beliefs, feelings, and actions in response to today's workshop. Wrap up the sharing after five minutes.
Tell participants that Unitarian Universalists have many favorite songs about freedom. Some are in our hymnbooks, and are drawn from various sources and traditions. Ask them to name any that they know or have sung. Introduce the song, "Building a New Way" by Martha Sandefer and Jim Scott, a song that calls for building a new way of peace and freedom for all. Many of the well-known freedom songs are African American spirituals from the times of slavery or the Civil Rights era of the 1950s and 60s. This song, however, is more recent, reminding us that the struggle for freedom continues.
Invite participants to rise in body or spirit and sing Hymn 1017 in Singing the Journey. Invite a participant to extinguish the chalice and distribute copies of Taking It Home.
Including All Participants
An invitation to "rise in body or spirit" accommodates participants of all physical abilities.
FAITH IN ACTION: COMMUNITY ACTION PROJECT
Materials for Activity
Preparation for Activity
Description of Activity
Throughout this workshop, participants have been exploring freedom. This Faith in Action project gives participants an opportunity to develop and implement a plan to take action to expand freedom in their community. Below is a five-step process leading to action.
Listing Issues
Ask participants: If someone has been denied their freedom or liberty, is it our responsibility to do something about it? Discuss this question for about five minutes.
Point out that in this workshop they have been asked to think about times and places where freedom has been denied. Ask them to name these times and places where freedom has been denied, and list them on newsprint. It is possible that they will start with times in history like slavery or the Holocaust. It is okay to list these, but encourage them to also name times and places that are current and located in their community.
Once they have brainstormed a list, ask: Which of these situations can we do NOTHING about? This is a trick question. There should not be an issue one can do nothing about. For example, if slavery is on the list and your congregation is located in New England or one of the states that made up the Confederacy, it is possible that your congregation's ancestors, or even the church itself, profited from slavery. Does your church have a responsibility to address those actions? Or, if the Holocaust is on the list, participants can do something by learning more about it. Learning more is an action that we can take with just about any situation where someone's freedom has been denied.
Criteria for selection
Tell participants that they will create and implement a plan to do something about one of the issues they listed. Explain that the next step is to identify criteria for choosing an issue to address. Lead the group in brainstorming the criteria they would use. For example, it must be a local issue, or an issue that relates to youth. List the criteria on newsprint.
Once you have a list of criteria, determine which criteria are most important to the group by using a process called multi-voting. Hand each participant three dot stickers. Explain that they will vote on the criteria most important to them. Tell them they can place their dots on two or three different criteria, or if they feel strongly about one of the criteria, they can put all their dots on one.
When participants are done, tally up the dots for each criteria.
Selecting the issue
Using the same multi-voting process described above, ask participants to vote for the issues they would like to address. Remind them to think about the criteria they prioritized.
See if there is a clear winner. Sometimes one issue will stand out with the most votes. If this is the case, ask participants if this is the issue they want to act on. If you have two or three issues with about the same number of votes, the group can vote only on these few options with one vote each.
Action Planning
The next step is making an action plan. Ask participants to think of specific actions they can take related to the issue. It is important that they should be actions that are attainable for your group. Traveling to Darfur to work in a refugee camp might be exciting, but taking part in a letter writing campaign to get your congregation's bank to divest from companies doing business in Darfur might be a more attainable project.
The group may identify one big action or a few smaller ones. If they choose several smaller actions, they might break into small working teams for the next step.
Distribute Handout 4, Action Planning. Either in the large group or in the smaller working teams, brainstorm a list of tasks needed to make the action happen. When a list has been written, work with participants to put the tasks in the order they need to be done. Ask participants to fill in their own handout as you discuss what needs to be done with each task.
Making It Happen
The last step is implementation. Talk with the congregation's director of religious education and the minister about the project. Communicate with the congregation's social action committee (or equivalent). Make a plan with participants for how they will check in about the tasks each is responsible for. And finally, have a great time!
LEADER REFLECTION AND PLANNING
Talk with your co-leader about the workshop. What do you think went well? What might you have done differently? Did you learn anything about your working relationship or how you lead an activity that would be important to note for future workshops?
Thinking about the content of the workshop, what did you find most surprising about what you learned? Did participants have any interesting reactions to the content? What would you like to learn more about?
If you are doing this program as a series, go over the plan for the next workshop with your co-leader. Who will do what preparatory tasks? Is there any research you will need to do? If you have more or less time than the 90 minutes planned for in the workshop outline which activities will you add or cut?
TAKING IT HOME
For to be free is not merely to cast off one's chains, but to live in a way that respects and enhances the freedom of others. — Nelson Mandela, former South African President, anti-apartheid activist, and advocate of democracy
In Today's Workshop...
We learned about the historic struggle for religious freedom that Unitarian Universalists have been a part of. Through story and song, we learned about Viola Liuzzo, whose courageous work for freedom led to her death. We also made connections between freedom struggles throughout history and our own lives, reflecting on ways in which we do or do not experience freedom.
Explore further with family and friends...
ALTERNATE ACTIVITY 1: LIBERALISM AND LIBERATION THEOLOGY (20 MINUTES)
Materials for Activity
Description of Activity
This activity explores the encounter between liberal religion and liberation theology in Unitarian Universalism through art.
Explain that the group will explore the differences and similarities between religious liberalism and liberation theology in their approach to freedom. Religious liberalism emphasizes freedom of belief. Unitarian Universalism is a liberal religion partly because we do not have a creed, or a statement of belief that all members must agree to. Liberation theology is a school of Christian theology, especially present in Latin America, which emphasizes the biblical call to liberate people from political, social, and material oppression. James Luther Adams, whose five smooth stones of religious liberalism we reflect on at the beginning of each workshop, advocated liberalism that works for social transformation in much the same way that liberation theology does. Both liberal and liberation theology emphasize human freedom, but there are some key differences between them. The Reverend Mark Morrison-Reed, a Unitarian Universalist minister, African American, and author of Black Pioneers in a White Denomination and In Between: Memoir of an Integration Baby, calls liberalism and liberation two distinct models of freedom. Liberalism focuses on providing opportunities for individuals to be free, while liberation is an ongoing struggle to create and restore relationships that free people and communities from systems of oppression.
Ask the group: What people or groups can you think of that have struggled for liberation — spiritual, physical, and political freedom? Invite responses. Reinforce that the groups that have historically struggled for this type of freedom, such as people of color, ethnic minorities and poor people, have been systemically marginalized.
Many Unitarian Universalist ministers and theologians have suggested that liberal attempts to work for human freedom are not enough, and that we have much to learn from liberation theology. Distribute Handout 1, Perspectives on Liberal and Liberation Theologies. Explain that each quote addresses the question:: How can we learn from liberation theology so that our liberal tradition can engage in more liberating and transformative work for freedom?
Ask for volunteers to read each quote aloud. Then lead a discussion with the following questions:
ALTERNATE ACTIVITY 2: FREEDOM FOR ALL (25 MINUTES)
Materials for Activity
Preparation for Activity
Description of Activity
This activity uses images of freedom in Diego Rivera's mural "Pan-American Unity" to explore parallel freedom movements in North and South America and encourages participants to relate it to their own experience of parallel freedom movements. This is a good activity to follow Activity 4, Liberalism and Liberation, which introduces liberation theology and its connection to Unitarian Universalism.
Draw the group's attention the mural. Explain that it is called "Marriage of the Artistic Expression of the North and of the South on this Continent," but is more commonly known as "Pan-American Unity." The artist, Diego Rivera, painted it in 1940 because he believed that "in order to make an American art, a real American art, this will be necessary, this blending of the art of the Indian, the Mexican, the Eskimo, with the kind of urge which makes the machine..."
Rivera was one of the most prominent Mexican painters of the 20th century, and was strongly influenced by the Mexican Revolution (1914-15) and the Russian Revolution (1917). He believed that art should empower working people to understand their histories, and should be accessible to all, which is why many of his murals are painted on public buildings, like this one, which is at the City College of San Francisco. Rivera's art is informed by liberation theology.
Tell the group to focus in particular on Panels 2 and 4 of the mural. These two panels include images that represent freedom and liberation as well as oppression and violence.
Divide participants into two groups, and assign one group Panel 2 and the other Panel 4. Distribute Handout 2, Pan-American Unity — Panel 2, to the first group and Handout 3, Pan-American Unity — Panel 4, to the second. Invite them to look closely at their panel and discuss the role of freedom and oppression in the images with the following questions:
Spend time with participants, helping them identify images. This mural is very complex and it is likely that they will have questions.
After 12 minutes, invite the groups to share their panel and explain its significance. Ask the groups what parallels they see between the different freedom struggles represented. Conclude by saying that, as this mural demonstrates, there have been and continue to be many parallel freedom struggles in different communities throughout history. Invite participants to continue reflecting on the freedom struggles they experience in their lives and communities, and how they relate to each other to achieve freedom for all.
A PLACE OF WHOLENESS: WORKSHOP 8:
STORY: VIOLA LIUZZO — TO FREEDOM LAND
Adapted from a story by Jessica York. The song is an African American spiritual.
This story is best told in pairs. One volunteer sings the song at the beginning and later in the story, while the other volunteer narrates the story. The song lyrics are in quotes at the beginning, and in parentheses at the end of sentences later in the story.
"Ain't gonna let nobody
Turn me 'round
Turn me 'round
Turn me 'round
Ain't gonna let nobody
Turn me 'round
Gonna keep on a-walkin'
keep on a-talkin'
Walking up to freedom land" — words of an African American spiritual
The protesters sang and chanted on the 50 mile march from Selma to Montgomery, Alabama. The Black people of Selma had tried to march earlier in the month to demonstrate for African American voting rights and in remembrance of Jimmy Lee Jackson, a young Black man who had been killed a few weeks before during another peaceful protest. However, the earlier protest was called off when the marchers were met by police officers who beat them and imprisoned many. Now the Reverend Martin Luther King, Jr. was leading a new protest march to the State Capitol and marchers planned to let nothing stop them. Among these marchers were hundreds of Unitarian Universalists.
The marchers' numbers had grown by over 20,000. Many people saw the televised coverage of Bloody Sunday, when the first march was brutally attacked. Many had heard the call from Reverend King for lovers of justice to come to Selma and join the march. One of the many who saw and heard was Viola Liuzzo, a 39-year-old white woman. She went to Selma to support the cause of civil rights. Her car was in Selma, too, being used to pick up the old and weak who started the march, but could not finish. After the march, she helped carpool supporters to the airport, bus, and train stations for their journey home. But Viola herself would not be going home.
Home for Viola was Detroit, Michigan. Once, it had been Pennsylvania, where she was born. Then Tennessee and then Georgia. Her family moved to where her father and mother could find work, which wasn't always easy. Viola's family struggled. Yet as hard a time as her family had, Viola could see that the Black people in Tennessee and Georgia had a much harder time. Viola asked herself questions about why some people had so much wealth and others had so little. She wondered what the color of a person's skin had to do with whether they would be a hard worker or a good student. When her family moved to Michigan, she thought it would be better there.
However, in Michigan, she encountered segregation like she had never seen before. She saw how White people and Black people lived in two different worlds and she wondered why people thought she couldn't be friends with Black people.
All that thinking helped Viola shape firm opinions about what is right, wrong, and fair. Once she made her mind up, nobody was going to turn her around!
So she worked for economic justice and education reform in Detroit. She worked for civil rights with the NAACP (National Association for the Advancement of Colored People) alongside her Black friends. When she did not see her beliefs and values reflected in the Catholic Church she attended, she left and joined the First Unitarian Universalist Church of Detroit.
When Viola saw what was happening in Selma and heard Reverend King's call, nothing was going to stop her from doing what she believed she had to do: to go down to Selma and support the march. As a mother of five children, Viola had many responsibilities at home. So once she made up her mind to go, she called her husband and told him her plans. He was worried.
"Viola, it might be dangerous." (Ain't gonna let nobody turn me 'round)
"I know, ------" she replied.(Turn me round)
"Viola, you might get killed", he said. (Turn me round)
"I know", she answered. (Turn me round)
Before anyone else could try and talk her out of it, Viola was in her station wagon and heading to Alabama.
She held hands with Black people and White people, crossed the bridge and marched three-strong. (I'm gonna keep on a walking)
She offered her car to be used as needed. (I'm gonna keep on a talking)
Later that night after the march was finished, Viola was helping marchers get home. As she and Leroy Moton, a Black civil rights worker, drove along Highway 80, a car full of white supremacist men from the Ku Klux Klan began following and threatening her. She became frustrated, and started singing freedom songs at the top of her lungs. Twenty miles later, the men were still on her tail, and along a lonely stretch of road they pulled up next to her car and shot her. They shot Viola and killed her because she was a white woman trying to help Black people claim their civil rights. (Walking up to freedom land)
They thought this would stop the Civil Rights Movement, but like a mighty tide, it kept on rolling toward freedom. Many people were outraged by Viola's murder and put more pressure on their legislators in Washington, DC to pass the Voting Rights Act of 1965. Viola's dedication to her values and sacrifice helped ALL people get a little closer to freedom land, as the American Civil Rights Movement has been an inspiration for oppressed people all over the world. She is the only White woman honored on the Civil Rights Memorial in Montgomery, Alabama and a plaque in her honor hangs at the national headquarters of the Unitarian Universalist Association in Boston, Massachusetts.
A PLACE OF WHOLENESS: WORKSHOP 8:
HANDOUT 1: PERSPECTIVES ON LIBERALISM AND LIBERATION THEOLOGIES
Sources: James Luther Adams. On Being Human Religiously (Boston: Skinner House Books, 1976)
Essex Conversations: Visions for Lifespan Religious Education (Boston: Skinner House Books, 2001)
Jack Mendelsohn. Being Liberal in an Illiberal Age: Why I Am a Unitarian Universalist (Boston: Skinner House Books, 2006)
Fredric John Muir. A Reason for Hope: Liberation Theology Confronts a Liberal Faith (Carmel, CA: Sunflower Ink, 1994)
Paul Rasor. Faith Without Certainty: Liberal Theology in the 21st Century (Boston: Skinner House Books, 2005)
James Luther Adams: Adams' second smooth stone of religious liberalism is that "all relations between persons ought ideally to rest on mutual, free consent and not on coercion." He believed that the freedom to come together with others can be a "dynamic institutional force for social change or for resistance to it." But, he clarifies that "freedom... involves more than freedom of choice. Many people entertain attitudes in favor of freedom, but socially effective freedom requires participation in associations that define or redefine freedom and that attempt to articulate or implement that freedom in a specific social milieu." (On Being Human Religiously, 56-7)
Marjorie Bowens-Wheatley: "What liberalism and liberation have in common is that each is engaged in a project to extend human freedom, but liberalism's approach is inadequate, in part, because of its tendency to view freedom in the abstract — without exploring a critical question: freedom for whom to do what?" (Essex Conversations, 28-9)
Fredric John Muir: "... there is an urgent need for Unitarian Universalists to translate personal, community, and Association beliefs (like the Principles and [Sources]) into the language of liberation theology in order to make clear our support for the liberation of life." (A Reason for Hope, 58)
Paul Rasor: "While we can and should draw on the resources and insights of other traditions such as liberation theology, liberal theology must speak first to the tradition it serves, which is basically a middle-class religious tradition. We must ask: In what ways are we implicated in the social structures of oppression? What are our various privileges in the current social structures, and how are they connected with, even dependent on, the suffering of others? How might our own practices unwittingly perpetuate the oppressive structures we are seeking to overturn? How can we use our privilege to effect change and alleviate suffering? What are we willing to give up?" (Faith Without Certainty, 163)
Jack Mendelsohn: "The evils of society burn a hole in the soul, say liberationists. We have a gut reaction, a kind of upset that can never been adequately expressed by the liberal's 'decent concern'... If liberalism is to arise from whatever malaise withers it... it must be a liberalism that knows, not just a decent concern for oppression, but a personal experience of it and a profound sense of agony and outrage. In brief, it must be a liberalism ecstatic enough and disciplined enough to celebrate, demand, organize, institutionalize, suffer for, and exult over profound social and individual change." (Being Liberal in an Illiberal Age, 5)
Rebecca Parker: "The liberation of humanness is not simply a matter of casting off an oppressor. It involves re-collecting, re-discovering, and re-engaging powers of the soul that have been silenced, suppressed, split off, or denied by dehumanizing social systems...In our time, the challenge is to form educational programs in our congregations through which people develop their capacities to experience the world critically, and engage in it constructively, for the sake of greater fullness of life for all people." (Essex Conversations, 214)
A PLACE OF WHOLENESS: WORKSHOP 8:
HANDOUT 2: PAN-AMERICAN UNITY — PANEL 2
All rights reserved. Unauthorized public performance, broadcasting, transmission or copying, mechanical or electronic, is a violation of applicable laws. (C) City College of San Francisco. www.riveramural.com
Included in this panel are the following people and scenes. Can you identify them? Which of these relate to freedom and oppression?
A PLACE OF WHOLENESS: WORKSHOP 8:
HANDOUT 3: PAN-AMERICAN UNITY — PANEL 4
All rights reserved. Unauthorized public performance, broadcasting, transmission or copying, mechanical or electronic, is a violation of applicable laws. (C) City College of San Francisco. www.riveramural.com
Included in this panel are the following people and scenes. Can you identify them? Which of these relate to freedom and oppression?
A PLACE OF WHOLENESS: WORKSHOP 8:
HANDOUT 4: ACTION PLANNING
Task What are the specific things you need to do to accomplish your project? | Resources What resources do you need in terms of money, people, and material? | Responsibility Who is primarily responsible for getting this task done? | Due Date When will it need to be done by? |
A PLACE OF WHOLENESS: WORKSHOP 8:
LEADER RESOURCE 1: THREE STORIES OF RELIGIOUS FREEDOM
This story draws from the following sources:
Edict of Torda, from the Ministerial Fellowship Committee Reading List.
King Sigismund, Frances David and Edict of Torda entries from Wikipedia.
Independent Christian Church Unitarian Universalist in Gloucester, MA. History Webpage.
Charles Howe. The Larger Faith: A Short History of American Universalism (Boston: Skinner House Books, 1993)
Unitarian Universalist Association. The UUA and the Boy Scouts of America: A Continuing Struggle for Inclusiveness.
Edict of Torda — 1568
In the 1500s, as the Protestant Reformation rolled across Europe, a young prince named John Sigismund took power in Hungary. He appointed as his court preacher a man named Frances David. David was a religious reformer who had rejected the idea of the Trinity that was an important theological teaching in both the Catholic Church and many Protestant reform movements such as Lutheranism and Calvinism. David believed that there was no evidence in the Bible of a Holy Trinity made up of the Father (God), the Son (Jesus) and the Holy Ghost. Instead, he believed that God was the only divine being, that Jesus was God's human representation on earth, and that there was no Holy Ghost. This belief was known as Unitarianism and David founded the Unitarian Church in Hungary.
Sigismund and David also both believed that there should be an open debate about religious ideas. At his court, Sigismund hosted debates between Unitarian, Catholic, Lutheran, and Calvinist theologians. In 1568, Sigismund also announced what is called the Edict of Torda. The text of this edict is as follows:
His majesty, our Lord, in what manner he—together with his realm—legislated in the matter of religion at the previous Diets, in the same matter now, in this Diet, reaffirms that in every place the preachers shall preach and explain the Gospel each according to his understanding of it, and if the congregation like it, well. If not, no one shall compel them for their souls would not be satisfied, but they shall be permitted to keep a preacher whose teaching they approve. Therefore none of the superintendents or others shall abuse the preachers, no one shall be reviled for his religion by anyone, according to the previous statutes, and it is not permitted that anyone should threaten anyone else by imprisonment or by removal from his post for his teaching. For faith is the gift of God and this comes from hearing, which hearings is by the word of God.
The Edict of Torda was one of the earliest expressions by a European government affirming people's right for religious freedom. Shortly after the Edict of Torda was announced, King Sigismund was forced from power. A more religiously conservative king replaced him and Frances David was put in prison, where he eventually died.
Universalist Church of Gloucester, Massachusetts — 1786
While the American Revolutionary War was fought and the United States was formed, much was changing in the religious landscape as well. At that time in New England, the Congregational church was the dominant church in most cities and towns. In fact, they were state sanctioned and had the ability to collect taxes for the upkeep of their churches. In some towns the parish minister and town mayor were the same person.
In 1779, the first Universalist Church in America was established in Gloucester, Massachusetts, and they called John Murray to be their first minister. However, the members of this church, along with members of other churches in Gloucester, were forced to continue to pay taxes to support the Congregational parish in the town. Members of the Universalist Church and the Baptist Church refused to pay the taxes. In 1782, the town of Gloucester seized property from the Universalist Church for repayment of what they saw as the taxes that were due.
The Universalist Church sued the city so that they would no longer be required to pay taxes to support the Congregational Church. In 1786, the Supreme Judicial Court of the new Commonwealth of Massachusetts agreed and ruled that the Universalists and the Baptists should not be required to pay those taxes. This case helped set the precedent for the separation of church and state, which was eventually enshrined in the United States Constitution's Bill of Rights in 1791.
Unitarian Universalist Association and the Boy Scouts of America — 1992
There has been a long history of Unitarian Universalist young men taking part in the Boy Scouts of America and of Unitarian Universalist congregations hosting Boy Scout troops. However, the Boy Scouts began actively excluding agnostics and atheists as well as gay men and boys from the scouts. In response to this exclusion the Unitarian Universalist Association's Board of Trustees passed the following resolution:
WHEREAS the By-laws of the Unitarian Universalist Association affirm the inherent worth and dignity of every person, and a free and responsible search for truth and meaning; and
WHEREAS the Unitarian Universalist Association Board and numerous General Assemblies have affirmed the rights of gay, bisexual, and lesbian persons to participate fully and equally in the life of their communities; and
WHEREAS the Boy Scouts of America have expressly declared a policy of discrimination against gay scouts and leaders, and have refused to modify that policy even after expression of concern by the Unitarian Universalist Association Youth Office as well as by numerous other individuals and organizations across the United States; and
WHEREAS the National Executive Board of the Boy Scouts of America has recently reaffirmed its policy requiring all boy scouts to affirm a duty to God; and
WHEREAS the Boy Scouts of America have issued written materials which declare the Unitarian Universalist Association to be a chartered organization of the Boy Scouts of America, and have stated that all chartered organizations follow the Boy Scout's ideals, policies, and principles;
THEREFORE BE IT RESOLVED that the Board of Trustees of the Unitarian Universalist Association express to the Executive Board of the Boy Scouts of America its disapproval of the Boy Scout of America's policy of discrimination against gay and atheist scouts and leaders, and further advise the Boy Scouts of America that the Unitarian Universalist Association has not been and is not now a charter organization of the Boy Scouts of America, and ask that all written materials and Boy Scouts of America's records should be corrected immediately to remove any reference to the Unitarian Universalist Association as a chartered organization; and
BE IT FURTHER RESOLVED that the Religion and Life and Love and Help materials have been revised to include educational materials dealing with the conflict between the values of the Unitarian Universalist Association and the Boy Scouts of America; and that the awards be administered by local congregations. The Office of Bisexual, Gay, Lesbian, and Transgender Concerns shall provide additional educational materials about the Boy Scouts of America's objectionable policies on gay scouts and leaders and duty to God with the existing materials; and
BE IT FURTHER RESOLVED that the Unitarian Universalist Association Administration shall utilize the World, REACH packet, and Faith in Action, to inform Unitarian Universalist congregations and others about the conflicts in values between the Unitarian Universalist Association and the Boy Scouts of America; and
BE IT FINALLY RESOLVED that the Unitarian Universalist Association explore possible coalitions with other organizations who share our concern with the Boy Scouts of America's policies to develop effective strategies to seek appropriate changes in those policies.
The practical effect of this resolution is that the Unitarian Universalist Association revised the Religion in Life manual that Unitarian Universalist Boy Scouts follow to earn their religion badge. This revision expressed the Association's opposition to the policies of the Boy Scouts of America. This led to the BSA's withdrawal of its authorization for the Unitarian Universalist Religion and Life manual and badge. The Unitarian Universalist Association's attempts to have the UU Religion in Life award reauthorized failed, and UU Boy Scouts are not authorized to wear the UU Religion in Life badge on their uniforms.
In 2000, the United States Supreme Court upheld the Boy Scouts of America's right to bar gay scouts and scout leaders in the Boy Scouts by a narrow 5 to 4 vote. After this decision, the Unitarian Universalist Association called for a halt to all public funding for the Boy Scouts and the revocation of the Boy Scouts' Congressional charter. Many Unitarian Universalist churches that once hosted Boy Scout troops began to disallow the use of the property for Boy Scout activities while others have stayed involved. Unitarian Universalist young men who are involved with the Boy Scouts still use the Religion in Life manual to earn their religion badge even though it is not officially recognized by the Boy Scouts of America. A young gay Unitarian Universalist who was also an Eagle Scout founded an organization call Scouting for All to fight for a change in policy by the Boy Scouts of America. It is a fight that continues to this day.
FIND OUT MORE
Websites
To further explore the Diego Rivera mural "Pan-American Unity," the City College of San Francisco's Diego Rivera Mural Project (at www.riveramural.com/) has a resource-filled website, including detailed images of the mural.
For more information about the Unitarian Universalist Association's relationship with the Boy Scouts of America you can visit this page: The UUA and the Boy Scouts of America: A Continuing Struggle for Inclusiveness (at archive.uua.org/news/scouts/). It includes history about the relationship, other resolutions that were passed by the General Assembly of the Unitarian Universalist Association, and copies of some of the letters that went back and forth between the two organizations.
Books
Two books that explore liberal and liberating faiths and consider the role of Unitarian Universalism in these two movements are: A Reason for Hope: Liberation Theology Confronts A Liberal Faith by Fredric John Muir (Carmel, CA: Sunflower Ink, 1994) and Black Pioneers in a White Denomination (at www.uuabookstore.org/productdetails.cfm?PC=553) by Mark Morrison-Reed (Boston: Skinner House, 1994).
Charles Howe's book The Larger Faith: A Short History of American Universalism (Boston: Skinner House, 1993) goes into more detail about early Universalist history including the story of the Gloucester Universalists suing for religious freedom.