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David Kato
On January 26, 2011, David Kato, a courageous gay activist in Uganda, was hammered to death. Three months before, David Kato’s face and address had been blazoned on the front page of a Ugandan tabloid, under the headline, “Hang Them.” To my shame, I had forgotten about David Kato, until I saw an excerpt of a documentary film on the New York Times website.
There are so many injustices in the world; my attention span is too short, and Uganda is far away. It is easy to forget the truth of what John Donne wrote almost 500 years ago: “Every man’s death diminishes me, because I am involved in mankind.”
Occasionally I ask myself, “Why do we do church?” Or more specifically, “why does UUOCC matter?” And today, my answer is: church helps us remember our humanity. It restores us, heals us, challenges us, and holds us in love. It connects us to one another. It involves us in our world. It reminds us that no one of us is an island.
There is a paradox in my answer: the homophobia in Uganda was itself stirred up by fundamentalist American Christian evangelicals. (I want to say, so-called Christians; I am convinced that the Jesus depicted in the Gospels would have stood beside David Kato.)
Religion can bring out our worst and our best.
Unitarian Universalism is not perfect. UUOCC is not perfect. I definitely am imperfect, as are you, as are we all. But imperfectly, we are trying to bring more love, more kindness, and more justice to our selves, our families, our communities, our county, our world. Imperfectly we try to live our principles, whether it be in Trenton, as UUs testify for marriage equality; or Phoenix, where we fight against hate-filled and prejudicial legislation targeting Latinos; or Uganda, where we support the human rights of lesbians, gays, and transgenders and their allies.
We have seven principles that we covenant to affirm and promote in Unitarian Universalism. For me, the most important principles are the first and the seventh:
Undergirding these principles is love. If you are curious about the current Thirty Days of Love campaign, go to standingonthesideoflove.org. The campaign culminates on Valentine’s Day, but I trust our working to become more loving and to stand with those in need of compassion and justice will be ongoing. Standing on the side of love and manifesting loveare what we are called to do, every day
Happy Valentine's Day!
Rev. Betsy Scheuerman is highly
educated, with a B.A., J.D., and M.Div. (Grinnell College, University
of Chicago Law School, and Drew
Theological School). Still, what she values most is the wisdom of the
heart. She says,"the essence of ministry is relational: connection to
self, calling, congregation, community, planet, Wisdom, and Love. And
at the heart of all relationship is Mystery."
Married for 35+ years to a Roman Catholic, and granddaughter of a
Methodist minister, Betsy is passionate about developing interfaith
respect and understanding. Her own family includes not only Roman
Catholics, Methodists, and Unitarian Universalists, but also a Jewish
sister-in-law and a Muslim son-in-law.
Rev. Betsy comes to us after eight years serving congregations in
Morristown, NJ, East Brunswick, NJ, Louisville, KY, and Meadville, PA.
~ in the Holiday
Mall/Aldi's Shopping Center ~
734 Route 37 West | PO Box
5184
(732) 244-3455 Toms River, NJ 08754-5184 info@uuocc.org
