Forums for January
January 2--You don’t think that. Barnhouse criticizes a “particularly crappy combination of sweetness and meanness [that has] been coming at me from church people since I was eight years old. There was a line to toe; there was a circle of approved thoughts and behaviors within which to stay if you were to be a member of the group in good standing. If it looked as though you were about to stray, the enforcers descended with that exact tone: ‘Oh, you don’t think that,’ they would say with a tinkling laugh.” (UU World, Fall 2010, page 19) What experiences have you had with “enforcers” of approved thinking and behavior in religious communities? Do you ever find yourself tempted to become an enforcer in your UU community?
January 9--The Spoils of Happiness. In 1974, Robert Nozick, a precocious young philosopher at Harvard, scooped “The Matrix”: Suppose there were an experience machine that would give you any experience you desired. Super-duper neuropsychologists could stimulate your brain so that you would think and feel you were writing a great novel, or making a friend, or reading an interesting book. All the time you would be floating in a tank, with electrodes attached to your brain. Should you plug into this machine for life, preprogramming your life experiences? [...] Of course, while in the tank you won’t know that you’re there; you’ll think that it’s all actually happening [...] Would you plug in?
January 16--Playing God. Barnaby Feder describes an emergency room encounter during his hospital chaplaincy training. “He’s on life support, but I’m not sure exactly what that means,” the daughter of an elderly patient tells him. “I feel like I’m being asked to play God.” Feder responds, “Maybe it would help if you can think of this as being given the gift of playing God. Is there anyone who loves him more, who cares more about doing the best thing for him, than you?” Would you find this a helpful response if you were in a similar position? (“The Gift of Playing God,” page 14)
January 23--Home. Religions’ common ground? Dan Harper reviews three books that ask whether all religions have something in common at their core. He argues that it may be more productive to recognize the essential differences between religions. “With a deeper understanding of our differences, we can begin to understand how to coexist peacefully, and then figure out how to work with other religions to make the world a better place. In short, we can start with religious education and head straight to social justice, without getting bogged down in the bottomless swamp of metaphysical speculation.” (“Do All Religions Share a Common Thread?” UU World, Fall 2010, page 60) Does interfaith work depend on finding a shared kernel in the different religions, or can we find common ground in other ways? Does Unitarian Universalism depend on the idea that all religions are fundamentally the same?
January 30--Comes down to money. At a recent Forum, the comment was made that “it always comes down to money.” Is money a means to transcend everyday suffering and despair? Yet we’ve also observed that people in poor parts of the world are as happy as anywhere else. Why can’t it “come down to something else?” Perhaps the UU values of love, compassion, tolerance, and respect?
January 9--The Spoils of Happiness. In 1974, Robert Nozick, a precocious young philosopher at Harvard, scooped “The Matrix”: Suppose there were an experience machine that would give you any experience you desired. Super-duper neuropsychologists could stimulate your brain so that you would think and feel you were writing a great novel, or making a friend, or reading an interesting book. All the time you would be floating in a tank, with electrodes attached to your brain. Should you plug into this machine for life, preprogramming your life experiences? [...] Of course, while in the tank you won’t know that you’re there; you’ll think that it’s all actually happening [...] Would you plug in?
January 16--Playing God. Barnaby Feder describes an emergency room encounter during his hospital chaplaincy training. “He’s on life support, but I’m not sure exactly what that means,” the daughter of an elderly patient tells him. “I feel like I’m being asked to play God.” Feder responds, “Maybe it would help if you can think of this as being given the gift of playing God. Is there anyone who loves him more, who cares more about doing the best thing for him, than you?” Would you find this a helpful response if you were in a similar position? (“The Gift of Playing God,” page 14)
January 23--Home. Religions’ common ground? Dan Harper reviews three books that ask whether all religions have something in common at their core. He argues that it may be more productive to recognize the essential differences between religions. “With a deeper understanding of our differences, we can begin to understand how to coexist peacefully, and then figure out how to work with other religions to make the world a better place. In short, we can start with religious education and head straight to social justice, without getting bogged down in the bottomless swamp of metaphysical speculation.” (“Do All Religions Share a Common Thread?” UU World, Fall 2010, page 60) Does interfaith work depend on finding a shared kernel in the different religions, or can we find common ground in other ways? Does Unitarian Universalism depend on the idea that all religions are fundamentally the same?
January 30--Comes down to money. At a recent Forum, the comment was made that “it always comes down to money.” Is money a means to transcend everyday suffering and despair? Yet we’ve also observed that people in poor parts of the world are as happy as anywhere else. Why can’t it “come down to something else?” Perhaps the UU values of love, compassion, tolerance, and respect?
posted by Donna | 3:01 PM
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