I attend a Unitarian church. I do so because it’s the closest thing to a non-religious church. I am not a religious person (I do not usually believe in God, but I keep an open mind that maybe one..or more..exist). I belong to this church because of the great sense of community it gives me, but I remain an arm’s length away from being too committed, because I do not want to be be labeled or “known” by my religion. I don’t want people to think they know who I am by the religious label I wear, so I wear none.
I’ve never been part of a group of people who are shunned by others. Although I wasn’t the most popular when I was in school, for the most part, I was not ostracized. Catholicism was a very acceptable religion growing up, so I never felt out of place there either. I’m a white woman with western European ancestry…again, I fall into a group that is well accepted. Even as a female, I never felt that I couldn’t do any man could do. So growing up was pretty easy for me.
Then last week, a man went into a Unitarian church in Tennessee and shot people because they were too liberal. That could have been MY church. I could have been one of the ones being shot. It was a weird feeling to think that a group I am involved with could be so hated to someone else. And in fact, the UU church was so hated to the shooter BECAUSE it is actually so accepting of others (I love that about the church!).
Then after the shooting, and email was sent out from the church saying that there would be a special service so that we could “stand in solidarity” with the victim church. I think it’s wonderful to come together to fight the evils in this world, but the minute you gather in the name of “solidarity,” you are somehow saying that one particular group is better than another, or that one person is more valuable than another. People are killed every day, but we, of course, are not having memorial services every day for those people. Why are the UUs who were killed any more special than any of the others? I don’t think there should have been a special service for the victims in that church. I feel that it was a tragedy, absolutely. But I think that every unnatural death is a sad death (I even feel bad for the worst of people sometime when they die or are killed early).
Today, over 100 people were trampled to death at a Hindu temple. Over 100!! But will my church have a memorial service for those people? No. And what about all of the Iraqis who have been killed thus far in the Iraq War? Far more people have died there than died in that UU church, but the UU church shooting somehow shows that more worth is put on the lives of Unitarians than on the lives of folks living outside of our borders. Something is just wrong with that!
Tags: unitarian, universalist, uu, shooting, solidarity
