Forums for June
June 5--mmigration. Rodney Franz shares in this forum on immigration as one of the significant divisive issues we face today. Many people have very strong emotional reactions the issue. The article by UU President Rev. Peter Morales reflects one point of view.
Another decidedly different point of view is reflected a facebook exchange which I will share at the forum. My initial comment was in reaction to several choice statements made by Kansas legislators during this past session. “Give me your tired, your poor, your huddled masses yearning to breathe free… Unless, of course, you have "olive" skin, and speak Spanish. Then we will hunt you for sport from helicopters.” Somewhere, we have lost our direction. It clearly touched a nerve with some of my Facebook "friends." What kinds of merits does each point of view have? What sort of considerations and values might be brought to bear to help resolve this issue? Is a balance between the conflicting views possible? Or even desirable?
June 12--No forum. Smoky Hill River Festival. http://www.riverfestival.com/salina/
June 19--Justice. C. L. writes “My dictionary has several definitions; 1. Just conduct, fair dealing 2. Fairness, rightness, correctness 3. Well founded reason, rightfulness, lawfulness 4. Just treatment, deserved reward or punishment 5. Trial and judgment by process of law 6. The exercise of power and authority to maintain what is just and right.” Michael J. Sandel, a philosophy professor at Harvard, has written a book on justice which is essentially derived from his lectures to students. We hope to examine some of his principles and if time allows, show a small portion of one of his DVDs of lectures to students.
June 26--Viewpoints and Beliefs. No matter how free of dogma we imagine ourselves to be as independent, thinking people, I, at least, constantly search for that one viewpoint, person, or group I think will finally provide certainty for my "belief" or understanding of life. However, as Sharon Salzberg says in her book Faith: Trusting our own Deepest Experience, "It is a common assumption that faith deepens as we are taught more about what to believe; in Buddhism, on the contrary, faith grows only as we question what we are told, as we try teachings out by putting them into practice to see if they really make a difference in our own lives. The Buddha himself insisted, 'Don't believe anything just because I have said it. Put it into practice. See for yourself if it is true.'"
Our search for a safe harbor of a belief or world-view may yield one, or several, that seem impregnable or "solid as a rock." The rub is that "Placing ourselves in a position of privilege--beliefs are treasured commodities and we are the proud owners -- implies that we alone possess the earth, the Truth." Others who don't share our views, even if we look kindly on them, remain "the other." To transcend this difficulty, when we find common cause with some leader, be it Jung, Obama, Rep. Marcy Kaptur of Ohio, Ken Kesey, Eliot Spitzer, a keenly insightful psychic, (name your own here), their vision and ours must be constantly tested.
Please come to the forum with at least one example of a viewpoint, person, or group with whom you have been (or are) in great solidarity, but found it/they didn't "test out." Given that, how do you maintain your own center, day to day, on an ongoing basis? What practice do you employ to keep yourself on track? What experiences have you had with feeling unable to cope, and what gurus or ideas have pulled you from the flames--if only for today? Since it's story-telling time, we will make a special effort to make sure everyone is heard, if they so desire.
Another decidedly different point of view is reflected a facebook exchange which I will share at the forum. My initial comment was in reaction to several choice statements made by Kansas legislators during this past session. “Give me your tired, your poor, your huddled masses yearning to breathe free… Unless, of course, you have "olive" skin, and speak Spanish. Then we will hunt you for sport from helicopters.” Somewhere, we have lost our direction. It clearly touched a nerve with some of my Facebook "friends." What kinds of merits does each point of view have? What sort of considerations and values might be brought to bear to help resolve this issue? Is a balance between the conflicting views possible? Or even desirable?
June 12--No forum. Smoky Hill River Festival. http://www.riverfestival.com/salina/
June 19--Justice. C. L. writes “My dictionary has several definitions; 1. Just conduct, fair dealing 2. Fairness, rightness, correctness 3. Well founded reason, rightfulness, lawfulness 4. Just treatment, deserved reward or punishment 5. Trial and judgment by process of law 6. The exercise of power and authority to maintain what is just and right.” Michael J. Sandel, a philosophy professor at Harvard, has written a book on justice which is essentially derived from his lectures to students. We hope to examine some of his principles and if time allows, show a small portion of one of his DVDs of lectures to students.
June 26--Viewpoints and Beliefs. No matter how free of dogma we imagine ourselves to be as independent, thinking people, I, at least, constantly search for that one viewpoint, person, or group I think will finally provide certainty for my "belief" or understanding of life. However, as Sharon Salzberg says in her book Faith: Trusting our own Deepest Experience, "It is a common assumption that faith deepens as we are taught more about what to believe; in Buddhism, on the contrary, faith grows only as we question what we are told, as we try teachings out by putting them into practice to see if they really make a difference in our own lives. The Buddha himself insisted, 'Don't believe anything just because I have said it. Put it into practice. See for yourself if it is true.'"
Our search for a safe harbor of a belief or world-view may yield one, or several, that seem impregnable or "solid as a rock." The rub is that "Placing ourselves in a position of privilege--beliefs are treasured commodities and we are the proud owners -- implies that we alone possess the earth, the Truth." Others who don't share our views, even if we look kindly on them, remain "the other." To transcend this difficulty, when we find common cause with some leader, be it Jung, Obama, Rep. Marcy Kaptur of Ohio, Ken Kesey, Eliot Spitzer, a keenly insightful psychic, (name your own here), their vision and ours must be constantly tested.
Please come to the forum with at least one example of a viewpoint, person, or group with whom you have been (or are) in great solidarity, but found it/they didn't "test out." Given that, how do you maintain your own center, day to day, on an ongoing basis? What practice do you employ to keep yourself on track? What experiences have you had with feeling unable to cope, and what gurus or ideas have pulled you from the flames--if only for today? Since it's story-telling time, we will make a special effort to make sure everyone is heard, if they so desire.
posted by Donna | 12:10 PM
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