Election Reflections.
Steff Werman, Jonathan Mason, Viv Allen, Henri vanRoon, and Kurt Payne share their thoughts on various issues around our upcoming election, with questionmaster Clay Nelson.
or download the MP3
No text this week.
Auckland Unitarian Church © 10 September 2017
Class and Religion
Rev. Clay Nelson
Listen
or download the MP3
Read below, or download the PDF
Rev. clay Nelson © 3 September 2017
When the Unitarians and Universalists were debating whether or not to merge into one association a joke was frequently told. The Universalists were afraid of being swallowed up by the Unitarians. The Unitarians were afraid they would have indigestion.
Like all the best jokes, it revealed layers of truth. In any merger, there is always an element of fear that you will lose your identity. In this case, the Universalists were the smaller of the two parties. Being swallowed up was a realistic fear. For the more powerful Unitarians the fear was how would they absorb the Universalists into the denomination.
This was an issue of classism rarely discussed openly, only joked about. For example, Universalists believe God is too good to damn them. Unitarians believed they are too good for God to damn. Unitarians considered themselves to be of the elite due to their social status. They would have looked upon the Universalists with some disdain, as they were lower down the social ladder. If it had not been necessary for survival, I suspect class differences would have never allowed the merger. Continue reading Class and Religion
#500Now!
Putting up resistance
Rev. Clay Nelson
No video this week.
Listen
or download the MP3
Read below, or download the PDF
Rev. clay Nelson © 27 August 2017
“Neuroscientists tell us that our brain is constantly looking for ways to be more efficient, and habits and routines are one way of achieving that. While following a routine is somewhat antithetical to the idea of being present in the moment, of “being here now,” it does allow us to be in the present moment in a very different way, with a different consciousness, a different awareness.”
Good outcomes from broken homes?
David Hines
Listen
or download the MP3
Read below, or download the PDF
David Hines © 20 August 2017
I saw a surprising Facebook post from my oldest daughter Karen a few weeks ago. It was paying tribute to Aunty Phyll. Now, I didn’t know she had an aunty Phyll so I thought it must have been one of her husband’s aunts, and didn’t reply.
Then a few days later I got another Facebook post, from my youngest daughter Nikki, who lives near Levin. She was asking if I could pick her up from the airport in a couple of days time, to take her to Aunty Phyll’s funeral in Auckland. I was embarrassed because by now I had guessed who Aunty Phyll might be, but I wasn’t be sure. And didn’t like to admit I didn’t know. Continue reading Good outcomes from broken homes?
Preaching a Feminist Gospel
Rev. Clay Nelson
Listen
or download the MP3
Read below, or download the PDF
Rev. clay Nelson © 13 August 2017
As anyone in my line of work knows, there is a vast body of religious humour. Every faith and denomination has theirs. Generally, they are not nasty. They are the kind of jokes we tell on ourselves, self-deprecating humour that reveals something about who we are, including our foibles.
As a Unitarian, I have a rich body of humour to draw upon. For a small denomination, we laugh at ourselves a lot. One that tickles me goes like this: A group of children in a Unitarian religious ed class were trying to determine the sex of a rabbit. “There’s only one way to decide,” said one child, “let’s take a vote on it.” Continue reading Preaching a Feminist Gospel
When is breaking the law a moral imperative?
Rev. Clay Nelson
Listen
or download the MP3
Read below, or download the PDF
Rev. clay Nelson © 6 August 2017
If you grew up in 1950s America as I did, you probably assumed certain things about the world. In particular, the system was fair. It never occurred to me that the system was rigged to reward my privilege of being born white, male, and middle class. My privilege blinded me to the fact that this wasn’t true for everyone.
Until I went to university I only knew one black person my own age. Continue reading When is breaking the law a moral imperative?
Passing the Flame
Rev. Clay Nelson
No video this week.
Listen
or download the MP3
Please accept our apologies for the sound quality this week, and for the absence of the first 3 paragraphs below from the audio recording.
Read below, or download the PDF
Rev. clay Nelson © 30 July 2017
In preparation for this Sunday, when we welcome new members to our congregation, I have been reflecting on what it means to self-identify as a Unitarian and how it has changed. Continue reading Passing the Flame
To whom does a non-theist pray?
Rev. Clay Nelson
Listen
or download the MP3
Read below, or download the PDF
Rev. clay Nelson © 23 July 2017
A journalist assigned to the Jerusalem bureau takes an apartment overlooking the Western Wall—the holiest site in Judaism. Every day when she looks out, she sees an old Jewish man praying vigorously. So, the journalist goes down and introduces herself to the old man. Continue reading To whom does a non-theist pray?