Someone on Facebook just sent me this to look at.

https://revdennismccarty.com/the-gadfly-molehill/

So let’s get into it! The statements from that blog entry will be in red and my responses will be in blue.

The UUA has two candidates running by petition against the UUA Nominating Committee’s candidates for UUA Board of Trustees this year, as well as a protest happening outside the General Assembly, as announced by the Fifth Principle Project. The Fifth Principle Project is an organization not directly affiliated with Unitarian Universalism, but dedicated to changing the course of the UUA.

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Looking at the Fifth Principle of UUism, we read:

“The Right of Conscience and the Use of the Democratic Process Within Our Congregations and in Society at Large”   Which I totally affirm. So these critics are implying that the current leadership are not following this Principle. Really?

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The Fifth Principle Project, in announcing the protest, says that the UUA has taken an “authoritarian, and anti-liberal turn.” ……“Personally attacking and silencing dissenters rather than engaging their ideas – openly rejecting the need to even read their words before publicly condemning them. Condemning disagreement as “harm” to people of marginalized identities. Officially censuring and disfellowshipping ministers for expressing dissent.” 

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This does sound terrible! Can they back these claims up?

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First, the statement about “rejecting the need to even read their words” is the key to understanding this whole first claim. It is referring to a letter signed by ministers after the publication and distribution of a book, The Gadfly Papers, by its author, the Rev. Dr. Todd Eklof at the General Assembly in Spokane in 2019. The Rev. Dr. Eklof and his supporters claimed (mostly falsely) that the ministers signing the letter about his book had not read it.

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I already addressed this issue.

Another fight in reddit over Rev. Todd Eklof’s publicity stunt of 2019

Eklof wasn’t punished merely for writing a dissenting book. That was absolutely his right. However:

<snip>(It was his trying to jam the book witout prior notice to the UUA down the collective throats of the 2019 General Assembly attendees, which  could have caused the entire GA to be disrupted – D H) Continue reading →