UU drama
So while I was busy having a life this summer, instead of my usual cyber-life, a little flame-battle on the UU blog-o-sphere flaired up. http://uuawo.blogspot.com/2007/07/you-cant-make-this-stuff-up.html includes a link in the comments to one of the more popular UU blogs, Chalice Chick, in which she says the washington interns should be fired for calling the christian right "rediculous" and for sarcastically referring to the Bush administration's "infinite wisdom," because this was disrespectful to UU Republicans and in general, not following her vision of being on the path to a better world. This is why it frustrates the hell out of me when I'm accused of being too PC when I talk about respecting women, blacks, and other oppressed groups. I think we should bring back the more broad use of the term, meaning to speak more out of concern for one's own appearance and alliances rather than being honest about your opinions. As Molly Ivans used to say, "Make the rediculous look rediculous!"
Really what it comes down the weirdness of audience and the Internet. Normally, our words have an understood context. Political writing for a commie newspaper would be different than a mayoral candidate's speech in the basement of a republican-identified church. There is a big difference between singling out and sneering in the face of a fellow church member during coffee hour, saying "You! You and your kind are intollerant and rediculous!" vs. making a general statement on an internet political blog." Or perhaps a better analogy would be speaking about the bush administration in front of a congregation which is already having conflicts between Bush supporters and Bush bashers. However audience on the Internet is a very maliable thing. Anyone could be in the audience. But as a conservative friend of mine likes to say, "we are all entitled to speak our opinion," and in general conservatives do speak more freely than liberals, and as a result, liberals find ourselves without leadership. But back to the point of representing UUs and the UUA, we must not confuse the good way to be PC, which is welcoming to all people, and the bad way of being PC which is not challenging eachother on political ideas and affiliations. Political groups, lables, or "identies" are not permanent! If they were, political discourse would always and only be preaching to the choir, with minds already made-up without thinking through various perspectives and view points. UUism must progress to a place where it is ok to voice political opinions -exasporated, emotional, and otherwise- without worrying that it might alienate some UUs who don't agree. The answer is not to censor the blogs of our church lobbiests. That can only change in the brick-and-morter church, in the interactions of church members.
Finally, and most importantly, I am very disturbed by Chalice Chick's absolute lack of respect for these interns. The UUA Washington Office for Advocacy Internship is a fantastic responsibility and oppertunity. It is considerably overlooked and underappreciated. But CC's intent to make fun of them, to her calling for their dismissal, saying they are being nasty and being assholes - it strikes me as incredibly backwards. To hold such a high standard for being welcoming in the unlikely only remotely possible impressions given to unusual members of our denomination or unlikely prospective members reading a blog which is hardly ever read by anyone, because it might be the straw which turns them off to the religion entirely, and yet in this direct situation, from one blogger to another, already within the same religious family, the same age-range, the same gender - where is the love? When you KNOW they are definitly reading what you say, and care about what you say, and consider you to be exactly who they should be looking to for guidance on how to do their job representing you, then that is when you throw respect to the wind, and with no appreciation for any part of that relationship you have with them, say hurtful and coldly critical words that serve little to encourage them to listen to your way of thinking. Where is the love?