Better-Than UUs?

There's a subtle danger when people try so hard to be good. That danger is pride, and its flip-side is judgement.

Some of this is probably projection, but not all, I think.

I drive into the parking lot at AUUF and have a hard time finding a place to park the Silverado among all the Subarus. Usually I wind up parking down the block, on the street. I often wonder to myself, "How many of these UUs judge me for what I drive?"

The thought that usually follows this question is a gleeful, "Wouldn't they feel awful about their self-righteousness if they knew why I drive a Silverado?" Pick-up trucks with extended cabs and so-called "suicide doors" are one of the few options for drivers who need to stow a wheelchair without assistance. It's a tension between principles one and seven. Principle one: "The inherent worth and dignity of every person." Principle seven: "Respect for the interdependent web of all existence of which we are a part."

In traditional theology, there is a continuum between divine grace and personal responsibilty. There are churches whose emphasis on human depravity and divine providence is so strong that church members lose all sense of personal empowerment and responsiblity. They give up all efforts to make this a better world, and in the worst case scenario, they give up all personal standards of behavior, choosing to "sin boldly."

On the other end of the scale are the UUs. From what I've read, and some comments I've heard at AUUF, it seems to me that sometimes UUs fall right off the personal responsibility end of the scale. They try so hard to make this a better world that they get burned-out and disillusioned when their efforts don't lead to results quickly enough. In their weariness they fall into bad habits of scorn and judgement of those who are not "trying hard enough."

And so I come around to the title of this post, and its double meaning. First meaning: sometimes UUs think they are better than everyone else. Second meaning: a warning to myself that my outsider's point of view runs the risk of becoming a judgemental critique in itself.

Principle three comes in handy here: "Acceptance of one another and encouragement to spiritual growth in our congregations."