Sermon today by a member of the UU UNO.
Today's sermon at the Unitarian Universalist church was given by a guest speaker, a man who works as part of the UU UNO, a non-government organization (NGO) that works with the United Nations. Their vision: "A peaceful, just and sustainable world community as called for in the UN Charter." The UU UNO does this because UU's believe in the inherent worth and dignity of all human beings, a set of values the United Nations shares, so Unitarian Universalism is a religion uniquely qualified to be a leader in the United Nations, where other religions just follow.
The man who spoke was personally involved in bringing LGBT human rights and civil rights into the spotlight at the UN. He talked a lot about that. He also talked about how the United States had failed the UN and broke the UN charter on numerous occasions, which is especially odd when you consider that the US was fundamental in founding the UN, and not only signed the UN charter but also drafted it to begin with. He went on to talk about how there were a number of UN resolutions like the one fighting against child labor and in favor of a number of child-related rights, and a resolution opposed to violence against women. I don't remember which one, exactly, but one of those two resolutions had been signed by every country in the world except for the Congo and the United States. And I don't think the US signed either of those resolutions.
I wish I had a transcript of the sermon, because I know I'm doing a crappy job of relaying this information. The man's sermon was so good, it got a standing ovation. I don't think most sermons there even get much of a *sitting* ovation, so that says a lot about the quality of his speaking.
It was a long sermon, so long that despite the fact he talked very fast, it was well after noon before we got out of there. But like I said, an excellent sermon. This week's collection was being shared with the UU UNO, too.
Oh, also, he seemed to have his notes on an iPad or something similar, since he kept looking down at something that was shining light back at him, and touching it in a manner suggestive of touching a touch-screen to scroll down.
There were also several songs on the organ. I love the organ music. :-)
The reading before the sermon also was good; it was a speech by Martin Luther King Junior given to the UN, which condemned the US's violation of the UN charter when they attacked Vietnam. So much of it was cogent to today, that like the sermon guy mentioned, all you had to do was change some names and figures and it could be delivered today. For instance, the speech said something like $315 dollars was spent for every Viet Cong soldier killed, while only $50 was spent on every American who was poor, and most of that $50 was salary for people who weren't themselves poor. The sermon guy said that all you'd have to do was increase the number for Iraqis or Afghanis killed, and decrease the number spent on the poor in the US. HOLY FUCKING FUCK WHAT IS WRONG WITH THIS COUNTRY???
This was cross-posted from http://fayanora.dreamwidth.org/1052132.html
You can comment either here or there.
The man who spoke was personally involved in bringing LGBT human rights and civil rights into the spotlight at the UN. He talked a lot about that. He also talked about how the United States had failed the UN and broke the UN charter on numerous occasions, which is especially odd when you consider that the US was fundamental in founding the UN, and not only signed the UN charter but also drafted it to begin with. He went on to talk about how there were a number of UN resolutions like the one fighting against child labor and in favor of a number of child-related rights, and a resolution opposed to violence against women. I don't remember which one, exactly, but one of those two resolutions had been signed by every country in the world except for the Congo and the United States. And I don't think the US signed either of those resolutions.
I wish I had a transcript of the sermon, because I know I'm doing a crappy job of relaying this information. The man's sermon was so good, it got a standing ovation. I don't think most sermons there even get much of a *sitting* ovation, so that says a lot about the quality of his speaking.
It was a long sermon, so long that despite the fact he talked very fast, it was well after noon before we got out of there. But like I said, an excellent sermon. This week's collection was being shared with the UU UNO, too.
Oh, also, he seemed to have his notes on an iPad or something similar, since he kept looking down at something that was shining light back at him, and touching it in a manner suggestive of touching a touch-screen to scroll down.
There were also several songs on the organ. I love the organ music. :-)
The reading before the sermon also was good; it was a speech by Martin Luther King Junior given to the UN, which condemned the US's violation of the UN charter when they attacked Vietnam. So much of it was cogent to today, that like the sermon guy mentioned, all you had to do was change some names and figures and it could be delivered today. For instance, the speech said something like $315 dollars was spent for every Viet Cong soldier killed, while only $50 was spent on every American who was poor, and most of that $50 was salary for people who weren't themselves poor. The sermon guy said that all you'd have to do was increase the number for Iraqis or Afghanis killed, and decrease the number spent on the poor in the US. HOLY FUCKING FUCK WHAT IS WRONG WITH THIS COUNTRY???
This was cross-posted from http://fayanora.dreamwidth.org/1052132.html
You can comment either here or there.