Seven Questions about proposed Article 2 Revisions
A big thank you to everyone who participated in the Article 2 Revision workshops. Great conversation and in-sights came out of both meetings. One exercise that we engaged in was a Question List during these workshops, with the promise that I would share them with the congregation. I think that these Questions could be helpful for all of us. So here they are:
Q. What is the purpose of the proposed Article 2 Revision?
A. We are a Living Tradition that has intentionally built methods for changing and updating our movement into our very identity. The founders of Unitarianism, Universalism, and Unitarian Universalism all saw the way that antiquated religions could hold themselves back by getting over attached to ancient inscrutable texts that could not be criticized or updated. Because we didn't want to fall in that trap, we wrote a process for re-examining Article 2, our foundational identity statements, into our bylaws. Every 15 years, an Article 2 Study Commission is formed to re-examine Article 2 and see if changes are needed. These proposed revisions come out of this mandate as part of our process as a movement. The votes at General Assembly will indicate whether these changes are something that we UUs really need to stay current at this time.
Q. Is there something wrong with our current Principles?
A. Not really. This proposed revision is an engagement in our living tradition process (see the above answer). A lot of the wording from the Principles is actually contained in the proposed revision. There will be a link to the full wording in the Article 2 Study Commission Report: I encourage you to take a good look at it if you’re curi-ous. There have been two areas that people have identified as shortcomings in the Principles that are addressed in the proposed revisions. First, that “Love” isn’t mentioned in our Seven Principles at all. Second, that the Principles aren’t really oriented toward what we do or actions that we take. One of the goals of the proposed revisions were to address those two points.
Q. How is this related to Eighth Principle Work?
A. The proposed revisions to Article 2 may be trading the Seven Principles for these new proposed values, but the language of the Eighth Principle is very much in these proposed values in the revision. The language of the Eighth Principle reads “ we covenant to affirm and promote: journeying toward spiritual wholeness by working to build a diverse multicultural Beloved Community by our actions that accountably dismantle racism and other oppressions in ourselves and our institutions” In the proposed revision, we see that under the value of Justice, we have a lot of the same language: “Justice. We work to be diverse multicultural Beloved Communities where all thrive. We covenant to dismantle racism and all forms of systemic oppression.” The similar wording is inten-tional, the proposed Article 2 revisions are doing the same work as the Eighth Principle.
Q. The “Inclusion Clause” of the Proposed Revisions has largely remained unchanged but has added “especially those with historically marginalized identities.” If the goal is to be inclusive, isn’t that enough? Why add “especially” any special group?
A. This line appears to be added because of the difference between what we say we believe and what we actually do. During the surveys and the cottage meetings that led to the development of these proposed revisions, peo-ple of color and transgender people expressed that there have been times and places where they have not felt included or welcomed in all Unitarian Universalist spaces. This line is an acknowledgement that we are com-mitted to overcoming those obstacles and inequities in our movement as a whole.
Q. What happened to the Sources?
A. Instead of a list of six sources, we now have an “Inspirations” section that reads “As Unitarian Universalists, we use, and are inspired by, sacred and secular understandings that help us to live into our values. We respect the his-tories, contexts and cultures in which they were created and are currently practiced. These sources ground us and sustain us in ordinary, difficult, and joyous times. Grateful for the religious ancestries we inherit and the diversity which enriches our faith, we are called to ever deepen and expand our wisdom.” I believe that this statement is trying to encapsulate the intention of the six sources list while making it even broader. The statement is essentially saying “everything” is a source, which is something that is probably very apparent in the way I use pop-culture in a lot of my services. I do, however, find a lot of value in naming specific sources and am sad to see it absent from the proposed changes.
Q. Are these mutually exclusive options?
A. Yes and No. They are mutually exclusive in that only one is going to be named in the legal document of the Unitarian Universalist Association bylaws. And whichever one is named there will probably get the most common use, especially as time marches on. However, that is the only way that they are mutually exclusive. We just said that “everything” is a source, and that would include older and newer statements of UU identity. Personally, I plan on continuing to draw on the Principles, Sources and Values in our continued work here regardless of whether the vote favors the Principles and the Values.
Q. Will any of this change or limit what you can do as a minister?
A. Absolutely not, not even a little. See the above answer! We are a free church with a free pulpit. We govern ourselves at the local church level. And our longstanding traditions support that the minister is free to speak how they see fit from the pulpit.
I hope this is helpful to you! Remember, that this is not a decided thing, but is voted on at General Assembly this year, and if it passes, it will be voted on at the next General Assembly as well. We would like for you to provide feedback to our delegates. Please use this link to provide feedback for Holston Valley UU’s delegates so that they can represent you at General Assembly https://forms.gle/ijbX5TBsLafZztL87
And here’s the full report of the Article 2 Study Commission, which includes the full language of the proposed revision, as well as an explanation of their processes. https://www.uua.org/files/2023-02/article-II-study-report-2021-23.pdf