[UUPoly-L] HERESY AND POLYAMORY -- SERMON

["Ken Haslam" <haslamk@gmail.com>]

Sorry for the length of the post.

Here is my sermon on Heresy and Polyamory.  Note that I did not spend
a lot of time on Polyamory and it seemed to be a smaller pill to
swallow which went down more easily.

IMHO sermons should just touch on polyamory to  introduce to concept
of consensual multipartnering as most of the congregants don't know
anything about it and it really pushes boundaries in the vertical
world.  The sermon should then be followed up in a month or so by a
discussion group on Polyamory with lots of time for questions and
answers.  And I strongly recommend asking for some written questions
for those too embarrassed to ask directly.

You are free to reproduce but please credit it (mistakes and all) to
me.   NO IT IS NOT COPYRIGHTED.

Note to those at UUPA and the UU Poly list.   If you think this is
worth putting up on the UUPA web site you have my permission to post.
I will also send it along to the president and secretary of UUPA
directly.

Ken Haslam

IT IS HARD BEING A HERETIC

A SERMON GIVEN TO UNITARIAN UNIVERSALISTS OF THE CHESTER RIVER,
CHESTERTOWN, MD.   BY KENNETH R. HASLAM MD

20 MAY 2007

Start by quoting Aldous Huxley's famous aphorism: "All great truths
began as heresy."

  And Unitarian Universalists have a long history of seeking the
truth  as well being heretics.   Today's sermon is about heresy.

SHOW BLACK TEE SHIRT HERE PURCHASED AT GENERAL ASSEMBLY:

HERETIC (IN LARGE PRINT) FOLLOWED BY A BACKGROUND OF A COUPLE OF DOZEN
FAMOUS HERETICS….


The mission of UUCR

The mission of the UUCR is
to foster liberal religious
ideals through public
worship, study, service, and
fellowship; to provide a
public forum to address
religious, ethical, and moral
issues; to support
individual freedom of belief
and caring human
relationships; to become an
intentionally diverse
community; and to engage
in promoting a just and
humane social order.

(Ad lib a statement about having mission statements and not always
paying attention to them.)



ON OCTOBER 26, 1553 A BRILLIANT SCHOLAR DIED IN THE FLAMES. HE WAS
TRULY A RENAISSANCE MAN AT THE TIME OF THE RENAISSANCE.   HE DIED FOR
WHAT HE BELIEVED AND HIS LEGACY HAS LED TO YOU AND ME BEING IN THIS
UNITARIAN UNIVERSALISTS FELLOWSHIP TODAY.
THE FOLLOWING DESCRIPTION OF HIS DEATH IS UNASHAMEDLY PLAGIARIZED AND
ADAPTED FROM THE BOOK ""OUT OF THE FLAMES BY LAWRENCE AND NANCY
GOLDSTONE PUBLISHED IN 2002 AND SHOULD BE REQUIRED READING FOR ALL
UNITARIAN UNIVERSALISTS.
	"HIS SHABBY APPEARANCE BELIED HIS STATUS AS ONE OF EUROPE"S LEADING
GEOGRAPHERS, PHYSICIANS, AND THEOLOGIANS AND HIS CRIME WAS PUBLISHING
A BOOK THAT REDEFINED CHRISTIANITY IN A MORE TOLERANT AND INCLUSIVE
WAY

AT THE TIME OF THE INQUISITION TORTURE AND CRUELTY WERE NO STRANGERS
TO SIXTEENTH CENTURY JUSTICE.  THERE WAS A STRICT HIERARCHY OF
PUNISHMENT, FROM RELATIVELY PAINLESS TO THE GRUESOMELY AGONIZING
DEPENDING ON THE SEVERITY OF THE CRIME.  BUT OF ALL THE PUNISHMENTS,
THE VERY WORST WAS TO BE BURNED ALIVE.  THE CONDEMNED WAS SUBJECTED TO
PROLONGED, HORRIBLE AND UNENDURABLE PAIN. AND THIS WAS RESERVED FOR
THE MOST TERRIBLE OF ALL CRIMES  – HERESY.
	HERESY WAS ESPECIALLY LOATHED BECAUSE IT PUT NOT ONLY THE SOUL OF THE
HERETIC IN MORTAL JEOPARDY, BUT ALSO THOSE OF THE OTHERWISE INNOCENT
PEOPLE INFECTED BY THEIR TEACHINGS.   THE HERETICS TEACHINGS HAD TO BE
WIPED AWAY BY BURNING THE MAN AND  BURNING THE BOOKS.  BOOKS, BTW,
WERE THE INTERNET OF THE 16TH CENTURY.  KNOWLEDGE AND HERETICAL IDEAS
COULD NOW BE EASILY TRANSPORTED TO THE NEXT VILLAGE IN THE SADDLEBAG
OF A HORSE.
	FOR THIS SOCIAL EVENT THAT WAS THE 16TH CENTURY EQUIVALENT OF NASCAR
RACES THE STAGE WAS A STAKE AND PYRE MADE OF FRESH, GREEN WOOD WITH
NEWLY CUT BRANCHES WITH THE LEAVES STILL ATTACHED.   THEY SAT THIS
INTELLIGENT BUT RECALCITRANT HERETIC DOWN ON A LOG AND CHAINED HIM TO
A POST.  HIS NECK WAS BOUND WITH A THICK ROPE AND ON HIS HEAD THEY
PLACED A CROWN MADE OF STRAW DOUSED IN SULPHUR.  CHAINED TO HIS SIDE
WAS WHAT WAS THOUGHT TO BE THE LAST AVAILABLE COPY OF HIS HERETICAL
BOOK,  DE TRINITATIS ERRORIBUS OR ON THE ERRORS OF THE TRINITY  -- HIS
EXPLORATION OF WHY HE THOUGHT THE HOLY TRINITY, A FABRICATION OF MEN,
WAS JUST SO MUCH BS.  ALL REMAINING COPIES OF THIS BOOK WERE THOUGHT,
WRONGLY, TO HAVE BEEN DESTROYED AND SO ALL HIS HERETICAL IDEAS WERE TO
BE BURNED ALONG WITH THE MAN.
	THE FIRE WAS LIT.  NOW GREEN WOOD DOES NOT BURN EASILY, IT BURNS
SLOWLY AND UNEVENLY AND SMOKES AND SPUTTERS.  HE WAS ROASTED SLOWLY,
AGONIZINGLY CONSCIOUS THE ENTIRE TIME WITH SULFUR DRIPPING INTO HIS
EYES FOR A FULL HALF HOUR.   HE WAS HEARD TO SAY "POOR ME WHO CANNOT
FINISH MY LIFE IN THIS FIRE",   "OH GOD, OH GOD" HE SCREAMED AND HIS
ASHES COMMINGLED WITH THOSE OF HIS HERETICAL BOOK—ON THE ERRORS OF THE
TRINITY.

AND SO DIED MICHAEL SERVETUS. HIS CRIME WAS HERESY.



SHOW TEE SHIRT PURCHASED AS GENERAL ASSEMBLY HERE
SERVETUS ON  FRONT,   "CELEBRATING 45O YEARS OF HERESY" ON THE BACK.

SHOW BOOK OUT OF THE FLAMES HERE
ON HERESY

	IT IS DAMNED HARD TO BE A HERETIC.  NOT A PLEASANT LIFE.  BUT
HERETICS SEEM TO BE DRIVEN BY A SPIRIT THAT, AS YOU HAVE JUST HEARD,
SOMETIMES CAUSES THEIR DEATHS.  THE STRENGTH OF BELIEF AND NEED TO
PASS ON WHAT THEY BELIEVE TO BE THE TRUTH CAN BE A POWERFUL GOAD TO
DEFY SOCIETY AND CONFRONT THOSE WHO CONSIDER THEMSELVES EXPERTS AND
ALSO HAPPEN TO BE IN CONTROL.

HERESY CAN ALSO GET YOU SHUNNED OR  BANISHED.


	LETS MOVE AWAY FROM BURNING GREEN WOOD PYRES AND TAKE AN INTELLECTUAL
LOOK AT HERESY.

SO WHAT IS HERESY?


IN ITS SIMPLEST FORM HERESY MEANS "CHOICE".

THERE ARE SEVERAL DEFINITIONS BUT ONE IS:  THE HOLDING OF AN
UNORTHODOX OPINION THAT IS IN CONFLICT WITH ESTABLISHED OR TRADITIONAL
THEORY.  WELL, GEE, WHAT IS ORTHODOX.   IT IS DEFINED AS "FOLLOWING
THE ESTABLISHED OR TRADITIONAL RULES OF SOCIAL BEHAVIOR, A PHILOSOPHY
OR A FAITH".

 THERE ARE SOME WHO SAY ORTHODOXY IS JUST "COMMON SENSE".   A FOR -
INSTANCE OF COMMON SENSE IS "THE STARS AND SUN MOVE ACROSS THE SKY AND
SO THE EARTH STANDS STILL AND THE HEAVENS MOVE".   IT JUST MAKES
PERFECT SENSE OR COMMON SENSE – ALL YOU HAVE TO DO IT LOOK.

AN ORTHODOX STATEMENT OFTEN BEGINS WITH  "WELL, EVERY BODY KNOWS……….
BEWARE SOMEONE WHO SAYS  "EVERYONE KNOWS"…

ORTHODOXY IS RIGHT THINKING.   IT IS WHAT WE LEARN FROM OUR PARENTS,
AND FROM OUR TEACHERS, AND FROM FATHER TIMOTHY.   IT IS THE RIGHT WAY
OF DOING AND THINKING ABOUT THINGS.

AND BTW  ""WE HAVE ALWAYS DONE IT THIS WAY" IS ANOTHER EXAMPLE OF
ORTHODOX THINKING.


	HERESY CANNOT EXIST WITHOUT ORTHODOXY.  AND THERE IS NO RIGHT
THINKING UNLESS THERE IS WRONG THINKING.   SO ORTHODOXY AND HERESY
MUST GO HAND IN HAND.  PROBABLY THE POPE AND MARTIN LUTHER THOUGHT OF
EACH OTHER AS HERETICS.   AND AS DID JOHN CALVIN WHO BURNED MICHAEL
SERVETUS

	WE ALL GROW UP BEING TAUGHT THE RIGHT WAY TO THINK AND THE RIGHT WAY
TO ACT.  AND FOR MANY THERE IS NO OTHER WAY TO DO IT.   YOU JUST
ALWAYS DO THE RIGHT THING AND YOU THINK THE RIGHT THOUGHTS.  THINKING
WITHIN THE  BOX  -- IT IS NICE AND COMFORTABLE IN THAT BOX, AND WHEN
FOLKS COME ALONG AND ASK YOU TO BECOME UNCOMFORTABLE BY THINKING OUT
OF THE BOX YOU REBEL.  YOU CAN REBEL BY DENYING, DISCREDITING,
REINTERPRETING OR JUST PLAIN OLD FORGETTING THE NEW AND UNCOMFORTABLE
THOUGHTS.

	THERE IS ALWAYS SOME HERETIC OUT THERE WHO THINKS DIFFERENTLY AND
THANK GOD FOR HERETICS, FOR WITHOUT HERETICS I BELIEVE THERE WOULD BE
NO PROGRESS IN THE WORLD.  THEY ARE THE IRRITANTS THAT KEEP PEOPLE ON
THEIR TOES AND THEY ARE THE GUYS AND GALS ORTHODOX THINKERS WISH WOULD
JUST GO AWAY.   THEY ARE THE TROUBLEMAKERS AND THOUGHT LEADERS AND THE
VISIONARIES.   THOSE PESKY HERETICS ARE THE CAUSES OF SOCIAL AND
SCIENTIFIC CHANGE.

THINK OF HERESIES AS DARWINIAN MUTATIONS.  HERESIES ARE THOUGHT
MUTATIONS AND THESE MUTATIONS INTRODUCE NEW IDEAS INTO SOCIETY. THEN
NATURAL SELECTION CAUSES THESE NEW IDEAS TO TAKE HOLD OR DIE OUT IF
THEY JUST DON'T WORK.  WITHOUT MUTATIONS OF THOUGHT – HERESIES --
THERE IS NO EVOLUTION OF ANY KIND.

	LETS TAKE A LOOK AT A FEW OF MY FAVORITE HERETICS AND SOME OF THEIR IDEAS.

JUST 5 YEARS AFTER POOR MICHAEL SERVETUS PROVIDED AN AFTERNOONS
ENTERTAINMENT GIORDANO BRUNO WAS BORN.  HE CAME ALONG ABOUT THE TIME
THE CATHOLIC CHURCH WAS HAVING REAL TROUBLE WITH THE LIKES OF MARTIN
LUTHER AND THE GROWING PROTESTANT MOVEMENT CALLED THE REFORMATION.
BRUNO LIKED THE IDEAS OF COPERNICUS  WHO THOUGHT THE EARTH REVOLVED
AROUND THE SUN.  CAN YOU IMAGINE ANYTHING AS CRAZY AT THAT?  BRUNO
SUGGESTED THAT, CAN YOU IMAGINE, EVERY STAR IN THE SKY WAS A DISTANT
SUN AND EVEN MORE HERETICAL, WAS THAT EACH STAR HAD ORBITING PLANETS.
NOW I WILL ADMIT IT ONLY TOOK 450 YEARS TO DISCOVER THAT AT LEAST SOME
OF THOSE STARS IN THE HEAVENS DO INDEED HAVE ORBITING PLANETS, BUT YOU
HAVE GOT TO GIVE HIM CREDIT FOR BEING A THOUGHT LEADER OF HIS DAY.
WHAT REALLY IRRITATED THE ORTHODOX THINKERS WAS THAT HE THOUGHT THE
UNIVERSE WAS INFINITE.   AND IF THE UNIVERSE WAS INFINITE, JUST
EXACTLY WHERE COULD GOD LIVE SINCE CHRISTIAN ORTHODOXY INSISTED THAT
THE CREATOR IS DISTINCT FROM HIS CREATION.  BRUNO THOUGHT THAT GOD
DWELLS EVERYWHERE AND THEREFORE COMMITTED THE HERESY OF PANTHEISM.
AND TO MAKE MATTERS WORSE HE THOUGHT SERVETUS WAS RIGHT – THE TRINITY
WAS AN ERROR IN THINKING.   THE INQUISITION HAD DESIGNS ON HIS BODY
AND CARDINAL BELLARMINO HAD HIM ROASTED IN 1600. AND BTW, CARDINAL
BELLARMINO WAS DECLARED A SAINT IN 1930.

GALILEO SAW MOONS GOING AROUND JUPITER AND DEMONSTRATED BEYOND DOUBT
THAT WE LIVE IN A HELIOCENTRIC UNIVERSE AND IT GOT HIM HOUSE ARREST
	
	NOW SOME OF YOU HAVE HEARD OF JESUS OF NAZARETH  --   AN OBSCURE
JEWISH HIPPIE LIBERAL HERETIC.
THE ORTHODOX THINKERS OF THE DAY TAUGHT THAT RIGID CONFORMITY WITH
JEWISH LAW WAS PARAMOUNT BUT
JESUS DISAGREED.  HE TAUGHT INSTEAD THAT NOTHING WAS MORE IMPORTANT
THAN THE LOVE OF GOD AND THE LOVE OF YOUR NEIGHBORS. THE LAWS SHOULD
BE VIOLATED IF THEY INTERFERED WITH ONES ACTING LOVINGLY.  JESUS
CHALLENGED ORTHODOXY AND SO PROVIDED ANOTHER AFTERNOON OF
ENTERTAINMENT FOR THE LOCAL POPULACE.  THIS HERESY 2000 YEARS AGO LED
TO A WORLD WIDE RELIGION.

.

DIANNE TURPIN [A CONGREGANT] REMINDED ME OF THE FOLLOWING UU HERETIC
-- RALPH WALDO EMMERSON.
EMMERSON LIVED IN THE MID 1800S AND WAS AN ESSAYIST, PUBIC SPEAKER,
SCHOOL MASTER, AND UNITARIAN MINISTER.  EMERSON OUTRAGED THE CHRISTIAN
UNITARIAN COMMUNITY WITH HIS BELIEFS THAT WHILE JESUS WAS A GREAT MAN,
HE WAS NOT GOD: HE REJECTED THE HISTORICAL MIRACLES OF JESUS;  AND HE
PREACHED THAT MORAL INTUITION IS A BETTER GUIDE TO THE MORAL SENTIMENT
THAN RELIGIOUS DOCTRINE.   AT THIS TIME SUCH STATEMENTS WERE UNHEARD
OF AND CERTAINLY NOT WELCOMED.  FOR THIS, HE WAS DENOUNCED AS AN
ATHEIST, A POISONER OF YOUNG MEN'S MINDS, AND A HERETIC.

FORTY YEARS LATER HIS POSITION HAD BECOME STANDARD UNITARIAN DOCTRINE.

"Do not go where the path may lead; go instead where there is no path and
leave a trail."
-	Ralph Waldo Emerson



EVEN OUR OWN REV. DAN HIGGINS IS IN MY OPINION, A BIT OF A HERETIC
HAVING RUN AFOUL OF CHRISTIAN CHURCH POLITICS AND CIVIL RIGHTS ISSUES
AND JUMPED THE FENCE TO BECOME A UNITARIAN UNIVERSALISTS MINISTER.

	NOT   ALL HERESY IS THEOLOGICAL AND BEING A PHYSICIAN I WILL BRIEFLY
MENTION A COUPLE OF MEDICAL HERETICS.
	THE FIRST IS IGNAZ SIMMELWEISS, AN OBSTETRICIAN IN VIENNA IN THE
MIDDLE 1800S.  HE THOUGHT THAT WASHING YOUR HANDS AFTER DOING
AUTOPSIES AND BEFORE DOING PELVIC EXAMINATIONS OF MOTHERS WHO HAD JUST
GIVEN BIRTH WAS A GOOD IDEA.  THROUGH THIS SIMPLE ACT OF HANDWASHING
HE MARKEDLY DECREASED CHILDBED FEVER AND DEATH BUT THE ORTHODOX
PHYSICIANS OF THE DAY REJECTED HIS HERETICAL IDEAS ON HANDWASHING AND
IT WAS A GENERATION BEFORE THE GERM THEORY CAUGHT ON AND DOCTORS BEGAN
TO WASH THEIR HANDS AND USE RUBBER GLOVES.
IGNAZ EVENTUALLY DIED IN AN INSANE ASYLUM. HOW MANY WOMEN DIED OF
PUREPERAL FEVER BECAUSE IGNAZ WAS A HERETIC AND HIS ADVANCED THINKING
WAS REJECTED BY THE MEDICAL COMMUNITY?

	WHEN I WENT TO MEDICAL SCHOOL BACK IN THE DARK AGES OF THE 1950S THE
ORTHODOX THINKING OF THE DAY WAS THAT THE INSIDE OF THE STOMACH WAS
STERILE. EVERYONE KNEW THAT GERMS COULDN'T LIVE IN THE HIGH ACID
ENVIRONMENT.  PERIOD. IN THE 1980S A COUPLE OF GUYS FROM AUSTRALIA,
BARRY MARSHAL AND J. ROBIN WARREN, DISCOVERED GERMS ACTUALLY DOING
QUITE NICELY IN THAT ACID ENVIRONMENT  AND WERE PROBABLY CAUSING
ULCERS.   AND, YOU KNOW WHAT, NOBODY BELIEVED THEM.  OF COURSE THEY
WERE RIGHT.  BTW THOSE TWO HERETICS WON THE NOBEL PRIZE IN MEDICINE IN
2005.

IT IS IMPORTANT TO POINT OUT HERE THAT SIGNIFICANT SOCIAL CHANGE OFTEN
SEEMS TO TAKE A GENERATION OR TWO TO BE ADOPTED –20 TO 40
YEARS—SOMETIMES YOU JUST HAVE TO WAIT FOR ALL OLD ORTHODOX THINKERS TO
DIE OFF.

THERE IS A PRESENT DAY HERESY THAT IS, IN MY OPINION, JUST ON THE
VERGE OF GAINING WIDER SOCIAL ACCEPTABILITY.  IT HAS BEEN AROUND IN
ITS MODERN FORM FOR SOME 20 TO 30 YEARS AND, WITH THE HELP OF THE
INTERNET IS SPREADING WORLDWIDE.

 THE SOCIAL CHANGE I AM TALKING ABOUT IS CALLED POLYAMORY.

THE WORD POLYAMORY IS NOW PART OF THE ENGLISH LANGUAGE HAVING BEEN
ADDED TO BOTH THE MERRIAM WEBSTER AND OXFORD ENGLISH DICTIONARIES IN
2006

THE OED DEFINES POLYAMORY AS:
POLYAMORY, N.

1)	THE FACT OF HAVING SIMULTANEOUS CLOSE EMOTIONAL RELATIONSHIPS WITH
TWO OR MORE OTHER INDIVIDUALS, VIEWED AS AN ALTERNATIVE TO MONOGAMY,
ESP. IN REGARD TO MATTERS OF SEXUAL FIDELITY;
2)	THE CUSTOM OR PRACTICE OF ENGAGING IN MULTIPLE SEXUAL/EMOTIONAL
RELATIONSHIPS WITH THE KNOWLEDGE AND CONSENT OF ALL PARTNERS
CONCERNED.



IT WAS WITH GREAT TREPIDATION I GAVE ONE OF THE FIRST SERMONS TO ANY
UNITARIAN UNIVERSALIST CONGREGATION  ON POLYAMORY IN OUR QUAKER
MEETING HOUSE SOME 6 YEARS AGO. THIS MOVEMENT HAS GROWN AND THERE IS
NOW A 401C3 ORGANIZATION (TAX DEDUCTABLE RELIGIOUS EDUCATIONAL
ORGANIZATION JUST LIKE THIS FELLOWSHIP) ""UNITARIAN UNIVERSALISTS FOR
POLYAMORY AWARENESS WITH SEVREAL LOCAL CHAPTERS,  OVER A HUNDRED DUES
PAID MEMBERS AND SEVERAL, ALBEIT CLOSETED, UU POLYAMOROUS CLERGY.

THIS HERETICAL MOVEMENT IS NOW, THANKS TO THE INTERNET, WORLDWIDE IN
MOST OF THE WESTERN NATIONS AS WELL AS ONE OR TWO MIDDLE EAST
COUNTRIES.

SO WHAT IS THE ORTHODOXY/HERESY THING HERE?

  ORTHODOX THINKING IS THAT WE ARE SUPPOSED TO MARRY OUR CHILDHOOD
SWEETHEARTS, HAVE BABIES, AND LIVE HAPPILY MONOGAMOUSLY TILL DEATH DO
US PART 60 YEARS LATER.    THE REALITY IS THAT WE DON'T. THE REALITY
IS SOME MARRY, DIVORCE, CHEAT, CHANGE PARTNERS, PRACTICE ADULTERY,
SERIAL MONOGAMY, AND ON AND ON. ORTHODOX THINKING SAYS WE ARE SUPPOSED
TO LOVE ONLY ONE. YET WE KNOW THAT SOME PEOPLE PRACTICE MULTIPLE
PARTNERING.  MULTIPLE PARTNERING IS THE ELEPHANT IN THE LIVING ROOM
THAT WE JUST WON'T RECOGNIZE OR TALK ABOUT.  IN POLITE SOCIETY THERE
IS A CONSPIRACY OF SILENCE ABOUT MULTIPARTNERING.

AS I LIKE TO SAY:   LISTEN CAREFULLY TO WHAT PEOPLE DO.



THE HERESY HERE IS THAT, IN CONTRAST TO ORTHODOX THINKING,
POLYAMORISTS RECOGNIZE, EMBRACE, AND ACCEPT OUR TRUE HUMAN BEHAVIOR
AND TRY TO INCORPORATE THIS BEHAVIOR INTO THEIR LIVES IN A VERY OPEN
AND HONEST WAY. AUTHENTICY, HONESTY AND COMMUNICATION IN SEX AND
RELATIONSHIPS ARE THE MAIN PRINIPLES OF POLY THOUGHT. POLYAMORISTS
BELIEVE THAT LIVES LIVED WITHOUT DECEIPT AND WITHOUT REPRESSION OF
THOUGHTS ARE MORE HEALTHY AND IN THE LONG RUN LEAD TO STRONGER AND
HAPPIER RELATIONSHIPS AND AUTHENTIC LIVES.

POLY FOLKS ARE STRONG BELIEVERS THAT EACH OF US SHOULD CHOOSE OUR OWN
PATH IN FORMING OUR FAMILIES, FORMING RELATIONSHIPS, AND BEING
AUTHENTIC IN OUR SEXUALITY.  AND YES, POLYAMORISTS BELIEVE THAT YOU
CAN LOVE MORE THAN ONE.

TRADITIONAL MONOGAMY IS WHAT WE HAVE LEARNED.   IT IS ALL THAT WE
KNOW.  THE HERESY OF POLYAMORY REQUIRES A LOT OF THINKING OUT OF THE
BOX.  IT SUGGESTS THAT THERE ARE MANY PATHWAYS TO BUILDING LOVING
RELATIONSHIPS.

I PREDICT THAT THIS MODERN HERESY WILL BE MUCH BETTER UNDERSTOOD AND
ACCEPTED IN ANOTHER GENERATION.  WE JUST HAVE TO WAIT FOR ALL THE OLD
TIME ORTHODOX THINKERS TO DIE.

[SHOW TEE SHIRT PURCHASED AT UU GA:

FRONT:  "UNITARIAN UNIVERSALIST DIVERSITY"   "NOT ALWAYS EASY, NOT
ALWAYS OBVIOUS;  BUT ALWAYS WORTH THE EFFORT."

BACK:   "SOME OF MY BEST FRIENDS ARE BOTH UU AND POLYAMOROUS"..

.

I WILL FINISH UP WITH A SHORT LOOK AT UNITARIAN PRINCIPLES AND HOW
THEY RELATE TO HERESY.


THE INHERENT WORTH AND DIGNITY OF EVERY PERSON  --  HERETICS ARE
PERSONS.  ALTHOUGH YOU DO NOT AGREE WITH THEIR THINKING, USE THE
HERETIC AS LEARNING EXPERIENCE.  ASK THEM TO EXPLAIN THEIR HERESY. AS
A UNITARIAN UNIVERSALIST HERETIC, YOU DO HAVE THE OBLIGATION TO HEAR
OUT THE HERETIC AND MAKE A FULL FAITH ATTEMPT AT UNDERSTANDING. YOU
CAN CHOOSE TO TAKE IT OR LEAVE IT

A FREE AND RESPONSIBLE SEARCH FOR TRUTH AND MEANING  --  NEVER FORGET
THAT ONE OF OUR PRINCIPLES REQUIRES US TO ASK QUESTIONS AND SEEK THE
TRUTH.  AND THIS REQUIRES THAT WE LEARN OF INDIVIDUAL (AND HERETICAL)
TRUTHS AS WELL AS THE ORTHODOXY OR SOCIALLY ACCEPTIBLE TRUTHS.

WHEN DEALING WITH HERETICS, ALWAYS ATTEMPT TO HAVE A DIALOGUE THAT
LEADS TO UNDERSTANDING AND NOT A DEBATE THAT TENDS TO POLARIZE.


I'LL CLOSE WITH A QUOTATION FROM SCHOPENHAUER

ALL TRUTH PASSES THROUGH THREE STAGES.
FIRST, IT IS RIDICULED.
SECOND, IT IS VIOLENTLY OPPOSED.
THIRD, IT IS ACCEPTED AS BEING SELF-EVIDENT.

IT TAKES A HERETIC TO START THE PROCESS GOING.


	
Kenneth R. Haslam MD
20 May 2007