Remember the Future

[Davidium]

Hello all!

This weekend, I had the honor of facilitating a service at the UU Fellowship here in Galveston by J.P. Demeritt. He holds a Master's degree in "Studies of the Future" and his sermon was quite provoking today.

What he discussed was the need for us to take charge of our vision of the future, and begin to systematically develop it... and to be able to organize those who believe in a positive, affirming, and equality based view of the future to work to make it happen.

In other words, to really develop a vision of how we would like the future to be, instead of just stumble into the future that will develop otherwise.

I had never thought of the future really as something it is necessary to create. I guess I have always viewed it like I view the past... something that simply is. But it is not....

I have invited JP to take a look at this thread, and he may even chime in. But I was curious about your thoughts? Can we set a vision of the future, and then how would we work towards it? Is there a framework we can use to build that vision?

JP suggested the 7 Principles of the UUA as the framework for such a positive, affirming vision of the future... but I wanted to put the question to those who were not UU's. Could you feel moved by a vision based upon those principles( for such and effort would need go well beyond the UUA)...

Here they are...

Unitarian Universalist Association Principles


Quote:We, the member congregations of the Unitarian Universalist Association, covenant to affirm and promote:
• The inherent worth and dignity of every person.
• Justice, equity and compassion in human relationships.
• Acceptance of one another and encouragement to spiritual growth in our congregations.
• A free and responsible search for truth and meaning.
• The right of conscience and the use of the democratic process within our congregations and in society at large.
• The goal of world community, with peace, liberty and justice for all.
• Respect for the interdependent web of all existence of which we are a part.


So, what do you think? Could this form the basis of a dynamic and energetic vision of the future that could motivate people... maybe if it were fleshed out into a compelling story of what such a world might be like?

Do you think trying to form such a vision would be useful in making a better world?

I told JP about how much your inspiration means to me, as it has always helped me to better understand my own thougths (even when I disagree with you!)

So, what say you? And Lilith, think about a "Project" affiliate, like the 7th Principle Project, dedicated to creating and then promoting such a vision. ... Does that idea speak to you?

Yours in faith,

David

 

[lilithu]

What he discussed was the need for us to take charge of our vision of the future, and begin to systematically develop it... and to be able to organize those who believe in a positive, affirming, and equality based view of the future to work to make it happen.

In other words, to really develop a vision of how we would like the future to be, instead of just stumble into the future that will develop otherwise.

Yes!! I completely agree! :jiggy:

JP suggested the 7 Principles of the UUA as the framework for such a positive, affirming vision of the future... but I wanted to put the question to those who were not UU's. Could you feel moved by a vision based upon those principles( for such and effort would need go well beyond the UUA)...

Here they are...

Unitarian Universalist Association Principles


Quote:We, the member congregations of the Unitarian Universalist Association, covenant to affirm and promote:
• The inherent worth and dignity of every person.
• Justice, equity and compassion in human relationships.
• Acceptance of one another and encouragement to spiritual growth in our congregations.
• A free and responsible search for truth and meaning.
• The right of conscience and the use of the democratic process within our congregations and in society at large.
• The goal of world community, with peace, liberty and justice for all.
• Respect for the interdependent web of all existence of which we are a part.


So, what do you think? Could this form the basis of a dynamic and energetic vision of the future that could motivate people... maybe if it were fleshed out into a compelling story of what such a world might be like?

Well I'll be blunt, as I always am, and say that principles 2-6 do nothing for me. It's not that I object to them, on the contrary, but I find them to be too secular (ie- already widely accepted) and really just a natural extension of the first principle. If one affirms the inherent worth and dignity of every person, then of course one affirms justice, acceptance, freedom, democracy, etc, etc. For me, it is only the first and seventh principles that carry any religious weight.

I am told that the order of the principles was not planned and just thrown together. If so, I think that haphazzard ordering was divinely inspired. Only the first and last have any theological content. The ones in the middle basically elaborate logical extensions of the first. And the last brings our princples full circle, giving a reason for why the first is true. Every person has inherent worth and dignity because we are all interconnected. If we value one, we value all.

If I were to base our vision of the future on something that would motivate people to help create a better future, I would base it on those two.

I told JP about how much your inspiration means to me, as it has always helped me to better understand my own thougths (even when I disagree with you!)

What disagreements would those be? It must be the contrarian in me. Other people only want to hear what agrees with their thoughts. I want to hear the differences. And I think it's fine that we have differences. Better than fine, good.

So, what say you? And Lilith, think about a "Project" affiliate, like the 7th Principle Project, dedicated to creating and then promoting such a vision. ... Does that idea speak to you?

Honestly, it's 3am and I can't comprehend what a project affiliate would be. I like the 7th principle project, but I think it cheapens the meaning of the 7th principle to focus solely on environmentalism. Still, one has to focus somewhere if one is going to act. If we're going to link this to specific projects, then I take back what I said about the other principles. They are far more concrete and conducive to projects. Let me sleep on this.

 

[Green Gaia]

I like the 7th principle project, but I think it cheapens the meaning of the 7th principle to focus solely on environmentalism.

I agree, even though environmentalism is very important to me. "Respect for the interdependent web of all existence of which we are a part" to me means not only the living Earth; plants, animals, air, water, but also our interconnectedness to all other humans as well. We are a human family and what happens to all people across the Earth should be our concern. Of course, as you mentioned this ties back in with the first principle, "The inherent worth and dignity of every person." We should concern ourselves with the inherent worth and dignity of every person because we are part of an interdependent web of all existence.

I've been thinking a lot about the 3rd principle, "A free and responsible search for truth and meaning," and what that means to me and to UUism as a whole. But I'm not ready to post my thoughts on that just yet and that may well be another thread.

Amy