DiscoverUU.com: Web traffic has steadily doubled over the last six months

DiscoverUU’s web traffic has doubled reliably over the last six months.

This is good news!

Please feel free to recommend any changes you’d like to see (or even better- to help make happen). Tips to new, hot, and happenin’ UU bloggers are also greatly appreciated.  Blogging UU ministers always have a free pass to the site as well. Just send me your RSS feed.

FYI: We need a webmaster.

DiscoverUU is a nonprofit UU organization dedicated to promoting the ideas and ideals of UUism in society. Please consider a donation: here.

We have web master fees, bandwidth fees, etc. Just a few dollars WOULD go a long way toward helping this site to continue to grow, develop, and promote a space for a living and diverse UU presence on the explosive and limitless medium of the worldwide web. When you find a good article, please continue to share this site with your friends.

Sincerely,

Aaron Sawyer

DiscoverUU Founder

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UU AFFIRMATION

I believe in my right to search for the good, to choose it for myself, and hold it in my heart.

I affirm this right in you as well.

Together we share in the joy of community, the power of reverence, and the responsibilities of freedom.

This is the promise of my heart extended to you, as we walk on separate paths, together.

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Visit DiscoverUU.com for UU News, plus the best minister blog posts and sermon podcasts.

Barack Obama introduced by UU Presidential Candidate: Rev. Peter Morales

UU Presidential Candidate Peter gave the opening invocation at a campaign stop for Barack Obama earlier this week in Golden, CO.

This is a great event and a good reminder for us that the future UU President will be more than a voice within our tiny community, but perhaps a powerful voice on the national stage.

As a UU, I am very proud that this happened. I fully expect us to make it happen again whomever our new leader is.

To visit Morales’ web page, please go to DiscoverUU.com or click here.

To visit Hallman’s web page, please go to DiscoverUU.com or click here.

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UU AFFIRMATION

I believe in my right to search for the good, to choose it for myself, and hold it in my heart.

I affirm this right in you as well.

Together we share in the joy of community, the power of reverence, and the responsibilities of freedom.

This is the promise of my heart extended to you, as we walk on separate paths, together.

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Visit DiscoverUU.com for UU News, plus the best minister blog posts and sermon podcasts.

Keith Olbermann’s (former) Religion: Unitarian Universalism

Easy to have missed this sleeper during all the General Assembly hubbub…

Keith Olbermann discussed his UU roots…

From UU World:

MSNBC “Countdown” host Keith Olbermann mentioned his Unitarian upbringing in an interview with actors Jason Bateman and David Cross. When Cross jokes that he and Bateman are getting married in a Unitarian church in California, Olbermann responds: “Oh, good! I was raised in that faith. “

It doesn’t sound like Keith’s been to a Unitarian Universalist church in a while, though as he continues on to SLAM our churches for our lack of attention to the nurturing/healing power of community…  something I blogged about here.

Olbermann’s quote continues: “…there’s just a lot of political talk, there’s no actual religion involved there. Okay, that’s going to get me in trouble with my ancestors.”

Mentions like this from Olbermann – even in an unflattering light- seem to be growing more and more obscure. Rather than being the ‘political church’ or the ‘believe anything you want’ church (we are neither), we need to focus our message into an affirming statement of strength.

All UUs agree on the necessity of the personal journey toward understanding truth, love, and compassion. We choose to describe this belief, however in the negative: a lack of creeds.

See the below UU Affirmation. I think UUs are more accurately defined as the ‘church of personal growth’. Or the ‘religion of choice’. All that’s missing is our ability to embrace the language and embody the spirit more fully.

Considering his feelings on the church he attended, we can forgive Olbermann for straying. The latest UUWorld Magazine discusses the shocking percentage of UU’s that are not members of any church.

A quick look at the numbers reported through UUWorld:

Two previous national surveys, in 1990 and 2001, reported the number of self-identified Unitarians at three times the official UUA count at the time. In 2001, ARIS estimated 629,000 Unitarian Universalists.

and

The UUA’s 1,018 congregations in the United States counted just over 158,000 members in 2006.

Fortunately, the current foremost topic debated by the UUA Presidential Candidates is growth. Take part in your views on how to grow our powerful and important (but tiny) religion of UUism here.

Find out more about Unitarian Universalism and its Seven Principles here.

Hat tip to UUWorld for the video of Mr. Olbermann:

http://www.msnbc.msn.com/id/22425001/vp/25357209#25357209

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UU AFFIRMATION

I believe in my right to search for the good, to choose it for myself, and hold it in my heart.

I affirm this right in you as well.

Together we share in the joy of community, the power of reverence, and the responsibilities of freedom.

This is the promise of my heart extended to you, as we walk on separate paths, together.

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Visit DiscoverUU.com for UU News, plus the best minister blog posts and sermon podcasts.

UU connections? Traveling across Arizona, Utah, Colorado

Fellow UU’s. I’ll be traveling from Los Angeles, California to Lincoln, Nebraska. I’ll start my trip on July 21st and end a few days later.

Let me know if I should be stopping anywhere, seeing anyone, or doing anything. I’ll not be alone, as my 8 year old pug will travel with me. Alas, I don’t trust him to share in the driving duties.

My first stop will be in Phoenix, AZ.

As an informal announcement: I’ll be getting my masters in Direction of Stage and Screen from University of Nebraska, Lincoln for the next three years. Afterward, my wife and I intend to return to Los Angeles.

-Aaron

My wife is attractive when…

…she hops on Metro and rides with me on her bicycle through downtown Los Angeles dodging homeless, street vendors, wandering souls, and true artists. We connected last night to the pulse of the city, to the life of the streets, and to that which is strongest in each other.

We bid on a Shepard Fairey series of signed original prints.

I hope we get them.

Response to “A Pet Peeve I Have About Our denomination” by CUUMBAYA

I’d like to have a friendly respond to a post on the excellent blog CUUMBAYA titled “A Pet Peeve I Have About Our denomination” about my home-made UU advertisement on youtube which references famous UU’s (Unitarians and Universalists.)

Read the CUUMBAYA post here.

See the advertisement here.

I’d love if CUUMBAYA would respond back in a little cross-blog dialog. I posted an abbreviated comment similair to the below on CUUMBAYA.

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Thanks for the shout-out, Joel.
My reasoning that UUs should embrace our celebrity ancestry is that this lore brings validity, inspiration and identity to an obscure, nebulous, and dying religion.  (admit it) :<  It’s easier to attend “The church of Thomas Jefferson” than it is to go to “some hippie church some weirdos started in the woods.” Am I right?

Also, I do object to using the term ‘denomination’ to describe UUism. Denomination of what? While Christians comprise a large portion of our membership, we’ve clearly outgrown our Christian ancestry and do not formally identify as a Christian organization in any modern UUA documentation I’ve seen.

So that’s why I think UU’s should do it, and do it loudly and proudly. We love or evolving, democratic religion and are proud of our principles and the fruits they have brought to the world. Of course Susan Bee Anthony doesn’t share a mind with Henry David Thoreau, but nor do you and I.

However, after writing all of this, I’m not sure you object to such references because it’s backward-looking (a worthy objection), or if you feel modern UU’s have no right to claim them ‘on our team’.
How do we identify UUs?

It comes down to how you define UUism. Here are some ways to tie a person to a religion.

1. Self-identification

2. Active or former church membership

3. Theological pairing

To me, it seems you conditionally need two of the three.

#1 and #2 being extended to our Unitarian and Universalist brethren. (I argue)
#1 also being extended to those unable to attend the church of their choice due to location, etc.

#2 being taken from those who may identify as UU, but represent the opposite of our ideals (like, what if Hitler was UU?) (I know of no one like this and am proud to have so few stains in our past.)

For #3, we should remember and rejoice in the fact that ours is a democratic and evolving religion. We need to have understanding for our ancestor’s short-comings, and remember that most UUs have many healthy theological transitions throughout their lives.
Referencing the free-thinkers who attended the churches of our ancestry is no different than other religions who’s ancestors also shared very different views on the interpretation of their religion.  Still, I think you’ll see a consistant theme when reviewing famous UUs: bold, mature, loving thought. I’ve been arguing that the ONE CREED of UUism is CREEDLESSNESS. Read here.

We cast a large net. I’m fine with that. If more people accepted this principle, we’d have more UUs.  I dream of a day when people stop shrugging their shoulders and say “I don’t know. Agnostic?” when asked about religion.

“UU. I’m a UU.” That’s the answer I prefer. It both frees them and ties them to community, thought, and love.

Thanks for the post, CUUMBAYA. I’d love to hear your thoughts.

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UU AFFIRMATION

I believe in my right to search for the good, to choose it for myself, and hold it in my heart.

I affirm this right in you as well.

Together we share in the joy of community, the power of reverence, and the challenge of freedom.

This is the promise of my heart extended to you, as we walk on separate paths, together.

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Visit DiscoverUU.com for the best UU minister blog posts, sermon podcasts, and UU News.

A Crude Awakening- Peak Oil

I just watched the documentary A Crude Awakening: The Oil Crash.

And WOW. See it. Period.

I know UU’s tend to be in the middle and upper levels of income (though I’m certainly not in that crowd!) So, consider yourself warned!

Stock market prices assume a cheap and ready supply of oil for each company. The film makes the compelling case that we’ve already reached peak oil– the point at which “the maximum rate of global petroleum production is reached, after which the rate of production enters its terminal decline.”

Essentially the logic presented is that the gold standard on which our economy was built, was replaced with oil dollars. When it becomes more expensive to create, ship, and package products, old business models will no longer work. We’re literally burning the currency by which our economy is based.

If your retirement depends on the long term performance of the stock market- and therefore a never ending supply of cheap fuel, I’d consider an investment strategy more in line with UU values.  You don’t want your personal future dependent upon the success of those same practices you rail against on the weekend: war, imperialism, pollution, unchecked consumption, etc.

Many of you may know that I ride my bicycle to work. You may also be aware of my perpetual poverty, though many apsects of my life have been charmed.

TODAY LIVE! Watch the UUA Presidential Candidates speak at UUA

Today. Saturday, at 6:45 – 8:00 p.m. EST  (3:45-5:00 p.m.  PST) the  UUA Presidential Candidates’ will address the UUA in a forum with Rev. Dr. Laurel Hallman and Rev. Peter Morales.

     Hallman & Morales

Click HERE for  Live Video on Windows Media Player (High Bandwidth) (Low Bandwidth)

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UU AFFIRMATION

I believe in my right to search for the good, to choose it for myself, and hold it in my heart.

I affirm this right in you as well.

Together we share in the joy of community, the power of reverence, and the challenge of freedom.

This is the promise of my heart extended to you, as we walk on separate paths, together.

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Blood for oil- Mission A-freakin!-ccomplished

From the New York Times:

BAGHDAD: Four Western oil companies are in the final stages of negotiations this month on contracts that will return them to Iraq, 36 years after losing their oil concession to nationalization as Saddam Hussein rose to power.

Exxon Mobil, Shell, Total and BP — the original partners in the Iraq Petroleum Company — along with Chevron and a number of smaller oil companies, are in talks with Iraq’s Oil Ministry for no-bid contracts to service Iraq’s largest fields, according to ministry officials, oil company officials and an American diplomat.  [break]

The no-bid contracts are unusual for the industry, and the offers prevailed over others by more than 40 companies, including companies in Russia, China and India. [break] It is not clear what role the United States played in awarding the contracts; there are still American advisers to Iraq’s Oil Ministry.

The first oil contracts for the majors in Iraq are exceptional for the oil industry.

They include a provision that could allow the companies to reap large profits at today’s prices: the ministry and companies are negotiating payment in oil rather than cash. [break]

“These are not actually service contracts,” Benali said. “They were designed to circumvent the legislative stalemate” and bring Western companies with experience managing large projects into Iraq before the passage of the oil law. [break] While the current contracts are unrelated to the companies’ previous work in Iraq, in a twist of corporate history for some of the world’s largest companies, all four oil majors that had lost their concessions in Iraq are now back.

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Update: I grow tired of having to clarify the difference between supporting the troops and supporting the mission given to the troops….

I respect and honor the soldiers who put their lives at risk to protect and defend America.  Soldiers do not decide their mission and are not responsible for the decisions of those above them. Remembering that men and women have died and continue to die for this mission honors those soldiers by weighing their lives against the value of the objectives they are duty bound to fulfill. To question the objective is to weigh it against the value the soldier. Soldiers are worth more than this.

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The above story tells the tale of exactly WHO decided Saddam needed to be overthrown even though it was America that put him in power. It was a “twist of corporate history.” Certainly Saddam was a horrible dictator, one of many. But with so many in America opposed to the war and this administration, who’s calling the shots in America?

This seems to have been the choice before us.

This:

Or This: 

I want my electric car.

Best Father’s Day Speech Ever

Check it out.

It would be much easier for Obama not to address this issue. I admire his ability to dive into the heart of a matter and speak intelligently and courageously, whether or not you agree with each and every one of his points.

Family is certainly a major factor in a person’s growth, maturity, and spiritual connectedness to self and others.