Labor Day weekend is a special time in our house because it is my DH birthday. He celebrated 42 years on Saturday with a quiet family barbecue and the addition of a new electronic device into the fold: Satellite radio! It was day filled with silly Ho-Ho cakes (yes this is a cake made of HO HO's and ice cream layers), hamburgers, episodes of Weeds, and family fun.
These festivities did not stop us from attending church. Now that my Sparkly Girl is the babysitter she attends every Sunday. She was stunned that they paid her even though no children attended. Pleased, but stunned.
The service was given by a long time member and a lovely gentleman. He was a scholar and is rather humble about his intellectual prowess, but he is quite the researcher and writer. His topic was UU History. He, of course, brought both the Unitarian and the Universalist histories from their beginnings in Ancient Greece or Rome up to the merger of the denominations. (I note here that my father voted to not merge.) It was, by far, an academic exercise until he said this:
"We are a denomination that has a background in Christianity and we should not devolve into Humanism."
Well, those are fighting words in my house.
We are proud to be Humanists. We do not see that as a de-evolutionary process. Granted, my anti-Christian stance would not be popular in most congregations, but at a UU Church I expect that there is an understanding that we are standing in the presence of Humanists. Just as I wouldn't bash our Christian friends openly (OK I roll my eyes at each mention of God in a hymn) I expect the same kindness when you are in the pulpit.
Again, like the sheep we are, we just sat there and said nothing. A silent humanist sheep. Baa.
