with Hon. Nikki Kaye
Nikki was going to speak to us today specifically on the wider community reaction to the Chinese community as a result of Covid-19. Events have overtaken that and this talk now covers broader issues around Covid-19.
Sunday Talks
“Everything you think is wrong” day…
A reflection on the Christchurch massacre
with Rev. Clay Nelson
Read below or download the PDF
Clay Nelson © 15 March 2020
I’m sure that not long ago I thought there was no such day as “Everything you think is wrong” day to celebrate. I was wrong. I have no idea who comes up with these days, and no one knows who came up with this one or why on this date, March 15. My guess is the Ides of March was chosen because Julius Cæsar thought Brutus was his friend right up to the moment the knife entered his back.
So how does one celebrate this faux holiday? According to the anonymous founder this is a day to avoid making decisions, and by all means avoid saying “I think”. It is also a good day to spend time contemplating everything we don’t know or think we do, but don’t. We can take time to laugh at ourselves for things people used to think were true but aren’t.
Continue reading “Everything you think is wrong” day…What are we waiting for? — the pitfalls of respectability
with Rachel Mackintosh
Read below or download the PDF
Rachel Mackintosh © 8 March 2020
The seeds of International Women’s day were sown the year my grandmother was born. In 1908, 15,000 women marched through New York City demanding shorter working hours, better pay and the right to vote. It was the Socialist Party of America who declared the first (US) national women’s day a year later.
The idea to make the day international came in 1910, at an international socialist conference of working women in Copenhagen. An attendee called Clara Zetkin suggested it and the100 women present from 17 countries unanimously agreed. The first international celebration was in 1911, in Austria, Germany, Denmark and Switzerland.
Continue reading What are we waiting for? — the pitfalls of respectabilityWhat is the appeal of Fascism?
with Rev. Clay Nelson
Read below, or download the PDF
Opening Words are by James Luther Adams
The Meditation is ‘Attic’ by Jill Sobule.
Closing words are by Assata Shakur
Clay Nelson © 1 March 2020
I’m not sure what inspired me to focus on today’s topic. It may have been spending too much time in the dystopian world of Gilead watching The Handmaid’s Tale or reading the news from my birth country just to cheer me up. Or it could be that fascism by any other name is finding new life around the world. We should not be oblivious.
Continue reading What is the appeal of Fascism?Curiosity may be harmful to cats, but how about to Unitarians?
with Rev. Clay Nelson
Read below, or download the PDF
Clay Nelson © 23 February 2020
Being a curious sort, I wondered what the origin of “curiosity killed the cat” was. The reference is from a Ben Johnson play, Every Man in his Humours, only he said, “care’ll kill a cat.” In his use of care, he meant worry will kill the cat. The play is thought to have been performed in 1598 by The Lord Chamberlain’s Men, a troupe of actors including William Shakespeare. Shakespeare was no slouch when it came to appropriating a memorable line and it crops up the following year in Much Ado About Nothing: “What, courage man! what though care killed a cat, thou hast mettle enough in thee to kill care.”
Continue reading Curiosity may be harmful to cats, but how about to Unitarians?