LETTERS From CAMP Rehoboth |
In Solidarity |
by the Rev. Paul G. Hull |
Few transformations of human behavior are as dramatic as that of John Newman who wrote the hymn "Amazing Grace." Our contemporary sensibilities might make us cringe at the phrase "a wretch like me" in the hymn. Yet John Newman was engaged in one of the most wretched of all human enterprisesslave trading. Newman was captain of a slave ship. While on a slave ship, he read the book The Imitation of Christ by the Medieval Christian mystic Thomas a Kempis who believed that the true Christian should imitate Christ through humility, prayer, inner contemplation of truth, and doing good deeds inspired by love. This book began a religious transformation in Newman. Shortly thereafter, while his ship was floundering in a storm, he gave his life to Christ if he would be spared. He survived. After awhile, he could not tolerate the inhumanity of his work and left the sea for good. He became a minister and wrote the hymn. Truly, an amazing grace transformation occurred to move John Newman the slave trader to John Newman a religious person seeking to live his life from love and grace. The story of John Newman and "Amazing Grace" is important to consider as we consider the injustices still cast on people through racism, sexism, and homophobia all of those attitudes that oppress a people because of their skin color, their sex, their sexual orientation, or their gender orientation. Can then, through the power of religions of love, these prejudices that plague us today be reversed? Can the bigot and homophobic person of today undergo a religious transformation from hate to love as did John Newman? I hope so, for religion at its best calls us all to work for that transformation in ourselves, in others and in society as a whole. During "Equality Begins At Home Week" this March, thousands of people across the country responded to calls to work against hate and for love; a week when people of compassionate hearts and a passion for justicestraights and gays alikeworked for transformation in the way our society treats lesbian, gay, bisexual, and transgender people. And among these people were many Unitarian Universalists adding our liberal religious voices to the calls for an end to hate and a beginning of love and equality. Unitarian Universalists have long led religions in advocating understanding and equality for lesbian, gay, bisexual, and transgender people. Unitarian Universalist ministers have been performing services of union for gay couples for over thirty-five years. In 1970, the General Assembly of the Unitarian Universalist Association passed the first UU resolution opposing discrimination against gay, lesbian, and bisexual people. Since then the General Assembly has passed nine other resolutions in support of programs, rights, and equal treatment for lesbian, gay, bisexual, and transgender people. Despite the strong support of Unitarian Universalists throughout the country, it hasnt always been like that. In 1967, a UU committee published results of a survey of UUs across the continent that revealed that 88 percent of UUs thought that homosexuality should be discouraged through legal means or education, 12 percent thought it should not be discouraged, and 0.1 percent thought it should be encouraged. Since then, UUs have undergone an amazing grace transformation about our attitudes concerning lesbian, gay, bisexual, and transgender people. In 1987, professors of religion and society Wade Clark Roof of University of California and William McKinney of Hartford Seminary published results of a study of mainline American religion. Ninety percent of UUs agreed with the statement "Homo-sexuality [is] not always wrong"by far the highest positive response of the twenty-five American religions surveyed. This reversal of UU attitudes was caused by a willingness to listen to the experiences of gay and transgender people in UU congregations and in society at large with a compassionate heart and an open mindthose defining qualities of transformative religion. True religions of love call their followers to place the pre-conceptions of religious dogma aside and listen with an open mind and loving heart. When this happens, remarkable transformations can arise. Paul Hull is Interim Minister of Unitarian Universalists Southern Delaware which meets Sundays at 10:30 a.m. at the Lewes Middle School on Savannah Road, Lewes, Delaware. |
LETTERS From CAMP Rehoboth, Vol. 9, No. 3, April 9, 1999 |