“We will Transform the World by our Liberating Love”
Opinion
by Rebecca A. Pace
“We will transform the world by our liberating love.” These glorious words are the last sentence of the proposed Purposes clause, in Article II of our UUA bylaws, up for a vote for approval at the 2023 General Assembly. (To see a side-by-side comparison of the current Article II and the latest proposal, click here.) It sounds like a wonderful idea, but what does it really mean?
There is a school of thought that the purpose of religion is not to reach the individual soul, but is to change society, to raise up the oppressed. This concept is called Liberation Theology. I see liberation theology in another part of the proposed revision to our bylaws, the Justice Value. “We covenant to dismantle racism and all forms of oppression within individuals and our institutions. We are accountable to each other for this work.”
The 2020 publication, Widening the Circle of Concern: Report of the UUA Commission on Institutional Change, suggests “our congregations must center themselves in the communal….” (Note 1) The new UUA style of Liberation Theology appears to attack individualism and “freedom of belief” as self-centered. According to the UUA Commission on Institutional Change, focusing on our First Principle, the inherent worth of an individual (individualism) is incompatible with collective work for social change.
The UUA workshop entitled Compass, Navigating the Paths to Liberation Together, which I attended in December 2021, illuminated the goal of the Article II Study Commission. The stated purpose of the workshop was to collect input for the Commission’s work. However, the Commission clearly had their version of liberation theology already in mind when they designed the workshop. Liberation terminology was often used by the speakers while denigrating individualism.
In his Sunday homily, at the Compass webinar, former UUA President Rev. William G. Sinkford said:
“Are we called to be a liberal religious movement whose first principle and priority is the empowerment and protection of the individual, or are we called to become a liberating faith…? Can we accept the changes that will be needed in ourselves and in this faith if UU is to become liberating with the power to help us all get free?”
We are not talking about liberating love, in the sense that we give ourselves and others the freedom for a personal search for truth and meaning. No, The Report by the Commission on Institutional Change calls for centering the communal for theological exploration. (Note 2) This liberating love defines church as a social justice action collaborative.
In the Justice Value, we are bound to the work of liberation. “We covenant to dismantle racism and all forms of oppression within individuals and our institutions. We are accountable to each other for this work.” The UUA Board began implementing the accountability teams at the May 9, 2022 UUA Board of Trustees meeting. (Note 3) Team members are drawn from marginalized identity groups associated with the UUA. The accountability teams are charged with enforcing the Values Covenants at the leadership and congregational level.
The process of reshaping our UU governance—and our Principles, the fundamental underpinning of our faith—is going on now. In the current draft, the Seven Principles and Six Sources are replaced by completely revised Values and Inspirations. A new draft will be released in January. In late winter, General Assembly mini-assemblies will start to consider and finalize the draft to be presented in June. Final adoption of any changes to Article II must be voted on and approved at General Assemblies in 2023 and 2024.
Please become familiar with the issues. If you would like more information or resources, so you may explore the issues yourself, let me know. I would be happy to share additional material and videos with you.
My fellow Heritage Board members and I want to know what you think about the proposed Article II.
To see other opinion essays by Rebecca Pace regarding the UUA proposed changes, click here.
Note 1: Widening the Circle of Concern: Report of the UUA Commission on Institutional Change, Unitarian Universalist Association, Boston, 2022, page 46. Or online at https://www.uua.org/uuagovernance/committees/cic/widening/congregations-communities, in the subsection “Backgrounds and Trends.” For a PDF version of the full printed document, go to: https://huuc.net/pdfs/widening_the_circle-text_with_covers.pdf
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Note 2: Widening, p. 10, or online at
https://www.uua.org/uuagovernance/committees/cic/widening/theology in the subsection “Backgrounds and Trends.”
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Note 3: “Board of Trustees MEETING: May 9, 2022, 7:00 pm Eastern Time,” Unitarian Universalist Association, Appendix starting on the third page of the minutes, https://www.uua.org/files/2022-07/bot_min_05092022.pdf
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January 2023.
