I agree with Jim. It is patronizing of whites to defend the interests of non-whites because it assumes non-whites are too clueless and powerless to stand up for themselves. Thus it's about whites assuming a position of power over the terms of the dialogue and the "struggle." White elites are becoming the helicopter parents of everyone else.
Don't agree there is such a thing as "white". However, people of North West European ancestry do not have more power, intelligence or "privilege" than others.
It is extremely arrogant and egotistical for self identified "whites" to keep claiming to have more "privilege", "power", "supremacy" than others.
During colonial imperialism Europeans went around the world saying that they had to save, civilize and help others; whom Europeans looked down upon with "pity", "condescension", "patronization" and "pretentiousness". Many Europeans genuinely wanted to help but lacked the understanding to do so. European efforts to help often lead to net harm.
Why do many people of North Western European ancestry appear to have made no progress or even regressed compared to North West European imperialists of the 1500s, 1600s, 1700s, 1800s and early 1900s?
My comment was meant as sardonic, trying to highlight the irony that those who are quickest to condemn supposed "white privilege" are often those who engage in their own definition of it. White people claiming to speak on behalf of non-whites certainly meets nearly any definition of "white privilege" I've encountered.
So it was supposed to be a bit of clever wordplay, only perhaps I missed the clever. ;-)
I know the educated, affluent elite white people pushing these ideas mean well, but the ideas are so rigid, ugly, condescending, bizarre, harmful and divisive -- so counter to everything we know about human growth and flourishing -- and it seems as if a child could see that.
This is not how we build a happier, better world for all. Or for anyone. How are so many people so oblivious to it?
Many of these "educated, affluent elite white people" are useful idiots being played by much smarter and more sinister forces.
Do their thought leaders really mean well? How can they possibly believe that their ideas and suggested policies would "help" the people they say they want to help?
Why are they trying to colonize the minds of "oppressed" peoples with inferiority complex to damage self confidence and keep them down? Why are they claiming some groups of people don't have power?
A fascinating read--essential, really. I've never been a member of a UU congregation, but I've occasionally attended services here in Oxford, MS and found it to be a genuinely welcoming community with an ecumenical approach that makes a space for all-comers. What this article makes abundantly clear is that the church is profoundly troubled on the national level, its spirit of tolerance turned sour--I hate to say corrupted, but maybe that word is needed--by a hunger to manifest righteousness on the racial front that has generated profound intolerance and dogmatism. After reading this article, I went searching for even more of the story, and came across a 2018 article in Tablet that fills in a few more pieces of the puzzle--including the fact that the Beacon Press, ground zero for a certain hard progressive perspective, is a part of the UU church, and the fact that Robin DiAngelo and Tim Wise have been regular speakers at UU congregations. I'd urge those who enjoyed Cycleback's article as much as I did to read the Tablet article as well: https://www.tabletmag.com/sections/news/articles/beacon-unitarians-joseph-keegin
This whole situation is very disheartening. I practically grew up in the UU Church (Pacific Unitarian Church in CA). I fondly recall my gatherings and outings with the PUC YRUU group in the 1980s. My UU experiences even inspired me to attend seminary. I completed my studies at Pacific School of Religion, which is part of the Graduate Theological Union. While there I also attended classes at the UU seminary Starr King School of Ministry. I eventually wandered away from the UU Church, but it has always held a special place in my heart. I hope it will come through this trial fairly intact, perhaps even renewed.
I have been following you on FAIR and interested in your perspectives, so I'm interested to learn of your UU background. I was a UU minister beginning in 1980, one of the few women then, but recently became one of two UU ministers "cancelled", basically defrocked due to wrong thinking --- eight years after retirement! It is heartbreaking to see the work of a lifetime flushed down the toilet and so many good people hurt by it. It is disheartening to see so many people I once admired no longer living what once were our common values. I am hoping the church can recover, but I am not optimistic. Too many have either left or are keeping their head down and congregations are being profoundly hurt. I am doing a Go Fund Me to see if I can challenge the defrocking --- done in secret without normal due process.
That is so very unfortunate Kathryn. I attended Pacific Unitarian Church in Palos Verdes as a youth. It was such a wonderful experience. Then I moved to San Diego where the Owen-Towle's we're co-ministering. Again, it was a wonderful experience. I do recall seeing a shift with UUA from being non-dogmatic and non-creedal while a student at Pacific School of Religion when I took a class at Starr King School of Ministry. It was a simple shift by adopting the UUA’s Principles and Purposes. They're not inherently flawed, but easily manipulated to wield over people.
The UU church was a haven for me in early adulthood in the 90's. Had considered returning for the sake of finding community, but this explains why my visits to different congregations over the past 15 years never felt right, so I didn't return. Just purchased your book!
I grew up attending UU services and having some great discussions. Sad to see people so thoroughly abandon or refuse to fight for their espoused principles. You can't value the inherent dignity and worth of every human being while simultaneously assigning value to them based on the color of their skin or other immutable characteristics. What I find most egregious is that the pretense of their authoritarian attitudes and actions is that they are fighting for the oppressed. Ha! This bullshit is perfectly aligned with the ideology of the ruling class that oppresses the entire western world. I would go tell them how ridiculously stupid they've become, but they still require an N95 mask to attend my local congregation. No thanks, may they enjoy their long slide into total irrelevance.
Just a minor point on the drop in UU membership from 2020-2022. COVID had a profoundly negative effect on church attendance and membership nationwide. The data from the next two years will be interesting if they reflect continuing declines, but unless they are normed against other denominations the 2020-2022 data tells us little.
I have been following the crashing membership in UU churches for a number of years. David knows me under my real name. The drop in membership and RE attendance began 9 years before COVID, but well into the current attempts to radically restructure UUism. Another key issue is the wholesale UU embrace of trans gender delusional confusion, which drives parents away who do not want their children caught up in this pernicious evil.
The UUA report from 2020 (Pre-Covid numbers) reported the largest annual drop in membership in 23 years, and the largest RE (children in Religious Education) drop in 49 years.
I used to go to a Unitarian church and I agree with your analysis. The Congregational United Church of Christ has become the same way. My Mom is a member. Their goal is indoctrination while claiming to be all-inclusive and open minded. They are totally intolerant of different viewpoints.
Thank Dr. Cycleback for such an eloquent and well-researched piece of analysis. I can only hope that the more liberal, and thoughtful members of the UUC will re-group and ward of infiltrators, which is difficult to do. We're seeing the "march though the institutions" at every level of society. Have you seen the documentary "Better Left UnSaid" from Canadian filmmakers Jaimungal and Amila?
Understandable question! The Journal of FBT does not have any racial criteria whatsoever for its contributors. Rather, we publish items by anyone, so long as we think the items will be of interest to people racialized as black and to any who might share their interests.
Thanks for the response. So, in other words, not necessarily thoughts shared by Freedmen and women. But thoughts from wherever, shared in hopes to shape the thoughts of Black folk?
I appreciate you dealing with my questions. I hope to not offend along this journey, but to understand and hopefully share my thoughts, as a Free Negro. In peace...
"thoughts from wherever, shared in hopes to shape the thoughts of Black folk"
We might say, instead of "shape the thoughts of black folk," something like "make heterodox perspectives on topics of concern to black folks and those who care about them available to all." Or something along those lines.
Amen! Thanks be to God! Because, as you know: Black people are only supposed to think within the box established for them! Lol.
So almost more “Free-ING Black Thought”?! 🤣
A very necessary thing. Thanks for the dialogue.
I go a bit further & say freeing the mind won’t get Black people as far as we need to go. For, while the body will only go as far as the mind allows: the mind will go no further than the soul allows. And the Souls of Black Folk remain subjugated to a Eurocentric paradigm.
Check out what happened at First U Church in Mpls. Many members left and pulled funding. Over the years, people were encouraged to leave either explicitly or implicitly.
Well, that's what you get for denying European-Americans, and Europeans at that, their right to self-determination, freedom of association and the legitimacy of ethnic group identity.
Guess who's responsible for "critical" studies. You might say it's "a culture of critique".
The Anglican vicars I have spoken to here in England in recent years also seem to be infected with CRT. The silver lining here is that the Anglican church has been theologically diverse for a long time, from evangelicalism to Anglo-Catholicism. So there aren't mechanisms for dogmatic pronouncements to be made or for forcing people who disagree out of congregations. The only fundamental belief that we all share seems to be that the head of the church has to be the reigning monarch!
That's a sad article. When an institution embraces CRT, the only options are to embrace it zealously or keep a safe distance until it runs its course.
It's not a world-view that can easily be held lightly and energy spent remonstrating sincerely with its adherents is likely wasted as CRT is a controlling ideology that clouds thinking and closes people off to reasonable challenge i.e. cultish.
This is particularly sad for a long-standing church or community group because of the relationships involved.
White elites claiming to defend the interests of non-whites is the ultimate white privilege.
I agree with Jim. It is patronizing of whites to defend the interests of non-whites because it assumes non-whites are too clueless and powerless to stand up for themselves. Thus it's about whites assuming a position of power over the terms of the dialogue and the "struggle." White elites are becoming the helicopter parents of everyone else.
How is it "white privilege"?
Don't agree there is such a thing as "white". However, people of North West European ancestry do not have more power, intelligence or "privilege" than others.
It is extremely arrogant and egotistical for self identified "whites" to keep claiming to have more "privilege", "power", "supremacy" than others.
During colonial imperialism Europeans went around the world saying that they had to save, civilize and help others; whom Europeans looked down upon with "pity", "condescension", "patronization" and "pretentiousness". Many Europeans genuinely wanted to help but lacked the understanding to do so. European efforts to help often lead to net harm.
Why do many people of North Western European ancestry appear to have made no progress or even regressed compared to North West European imperialists of the 1500s, 1600s, 1700s, 1800s and early 1900s?
My comment was meant as sardonic, trying to highlight the irony that those who are quickest to condemn supposed "white privilege" are often those who engage in their own definition of it. White people claiming to speak on behalf of non-whites certainly meets nearly any definition of "white privilege" I've encountered.
So it was supposed to be a bit of clever wordplay, only perhaps I missed the clever. ;-)
I think it’s very clever!
Wow! Well put!
“The Evergreen Church of Perpetual Offense”!
That sums it up.
I know the educated, affluent elite white people pushing these ideas mean well, but the ideas are so rigid, ugly, condescending, bizarre, harmful and divisive -- so counter to everything we know about human growth and flourishing -- and it seems as if a child could see that.
This is not how we build a happier, better world for all. Or for anyone. How are so many people so oblivious to it?
Many of these "educated, affluent elite white people" are useful idiots being played by much smarter and more sinister forces.
Do their thought leaders really mean well? How can they possibly believe that their ideas and suggested policies would "help" the people they say they want to help?
Why are they trying to colonize the minds of "oppressed" peoples with inferiority complex to damage self confidence and keep them down? Why are they claiming some groups of people don't have power?
A fascinating read--essential, really. I've never been a member of a UU congregation, but I've occasionally attended services here in Oxford, MS and found it to be a genuinely welcoming community with an ecumenical approach that makes a space for all-comers. What this article makes abundantly clear is that the church is profoundly troubled on the national level, its spirit of tolerance turned sour--I hate to say corrupted, but maybe that word is needed--by a hunger to manifest righteousness on the racial front that has generated profound intolerance and dogmatism. After reading this article, I went searching for even more of the story, and came across a 2018 article in Tablet that fills in a few more pieces of the puzzle--including the fact that the Beacon Press, ground zero for a certain hard progressive perspective, is a part of the UU church, and the fact that Robin DiAngelo and Tim Wise have been regular speakers at UU congregations. I'd urge those who enjoyed Cycleback's article as much as I did to read the Tablet article as well: https://www.tabletmag.com/sections/news/articles/beacon-unitarians-joseph-keegin
Always good to see your name, Adam! Hope all is well.
This whole situation is very disheartening. I practically grew up in the UU Church (Pacific Unitarian Church in CA). I fondly recall my gatherings and outings with the PUC YRUU group in the 1980s. My UU experiences even inspired me to attend seminary. I completed my studies at Pacific School of Religion, which is part of the Graduate Theological Union. While there I also attended classes at the UU seminary Starr King School of Ministry. I eventually wandered away from the UU Church, but it has always held a special place in my heart. I hope it will come through this trial fairly intact, perhaps even renewed.
I have been following you on FAIR and interested in your perspectives, so I'm interested to learn of your UU background. I was a UU minister beginning in 1980, one of the few women then, but recently became one of two UU ministers "cancelled", basically defrocked due to wrong thinking --- eight years after retirement! It is heartbreaking to see the work of a lifetime flushed down the toilet and so many good people hurt by it. It is disheartening to see so many people I once admired no longer living what once were our common values. I am hoping the church can recover, but I am not optimistic. Too many have either left or are keeping their head down and congregations are being profoundly hurt. I am doing a Go Fund Me to see if I can challenge the defrocking --- done in secret without normal due process.
That is so very unfortunate Kathryn. I attended Pacific Unitarian Church in Palos Verdes as a youth. It was such a wonderful experience. Then I moved to San Diego where the Owen-Towle's we're co-ministering. Again, it was a wonderful experience. I do recall seeing a shift with UUA from being non-dogmatic and non-creedal while a student at Pacific School of Religion when I took a class at Starr King School of Ministry. It was a simple shift by adopting the UUA’s Principles and Purposes. They're not inherently flawed, but easily manipulated to wield over people.
I hope you're successful in your challenge!
The UU church was a haven for me in early adulthood in the 90's. Had considered returning for the sake of finding community, but this explains why my visits to different congregations over the past 15 years never felt right, so I didn't return. Just purchased your book!
I was a UU for twenty years and resigned because of exactly the changes described here.
Me too
I grew up attending UU services and having some great discussions. Sad to see people so thoroughly abandon or refuse to fight for their espoused principles. You can't value the inherent dignity and worth of every human being while simultaneously assigning value to them based on the color of their skin or other immutable characteristics. What I find most egregious is that the pretense of their authoritarian attitudes and actions is that they are fighting for the oppressed. Ha! This bullshit is perfectly aligned with the ideology of the ruling class that oppresses the entire western world. I would go tell them how ridiculously stupid they've become, but they still require an N95 mask to attend my local congregation. No thanks, may they enjoy their long slide into total irrelevance.
Just a minor point on the drop in UU membership from 2020-2022. COVID had a profoundly negative effect on church attendance and membership nationwide. The data from the next two years will be interesting if they reflect continuing declines, but unless they are normed against other denominations the 2020-2022 data tells us little.
I have been following the crashing membership in UU churches for a number of years. David knows me under my real name. The drop in membership and RE attendance began 9 years before COVID, but well into the current attempts to radically restructure UUism. Another key issue is the wholesale UU embrace of trans gender delusional confusion, which drives parents away who do not want their children caught up in this pernicious evil.
The UUA report from 2020 (Pre-Covid numbers) reported the largest annual drop in membership in 23 years, and the largest RE (children in Religious Education) drop in 49 years.
Funny how the new "Anti-Racism" subscribes to the "one drop rule" of the old racism.... Hmmmmm.
I used to go to a Unitarian church and I agree with your analysis. The Congregational United Church of Christ has become the same way. My Mom is a member. Their goal is indoctrination while claiming to be all-inclusive and open minded. They are totally intolerant of different viewpoints.
Thank Dr. Cycleback for such an eloquent and well-researched piece of analysis. I can only hope that the more liberal, and thoughtful members of the UUC will re-group and ward of infiltrators, which is difficult to do. We're seeing the "march though the institutions" at every level of society. Have you seen the documentary "Better Left UnSaid" from Canadian filmmakers Jaimungal and Amila?
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=RX0J_nIaIHE
I’m new to this publication. So please forgive me. Yet, why is a white person writing for the “Journal of Free BLACK Thought?”
Understandable question! The Journal of FBT does not have any racial criteria whatsoever for its contributors. Rather, we publish items by anyone, so long as we think the items will be of interest to people racialized as black and to any who might share their interests.
Thanks for the response. So, in other words, not necessarily thoughts shared by Freedmen and women. But thoughts from wherever, shared in hopes to shape the thoughts of Black folk?
I appreciate you dealing with my questions. I hope to not offend along this journey, but to understand and hopefully share my thoughts, as a Free Negro. In peace...
You're not offending in the slightest!
This is about right:
"thoughts from wherever, shared in hopes to shape the thoughts of Black folk"
We might say, instead of "shape the thoughts of black folk," something like "make heterodox perspectives on topics of concern to black folks and those who care about them available to all." Or something along those lines.
Amen! Thanks be to God! Because, as you know: Black people are only supposed to think within the box established for them! Lol.
So almost more “Free-ING Black Thought”?! 🤣
A very necessary thing. Thanks for the dialogue.
I go a bit further & say freeing the mind won’t get Black people as far as we need to go. For, while the body will only go as far as the mind allows: the mind will go no further than the soul allows. And the Souls of Black Folk remain subjugated to a Eurocentric paradigm.
Check out what happened at First U Church in Mpls. Many members left and pulled funding. Over the years, people were encouraged to leave either explicitly or implicitly.
Well, that's what you get for denying European-Americans, and Europeans at that, their right to self-determination, freedom of association and the legitimacy of ethnic group identity.
Guess who's responsible for "critical" studies. You might say it's "a culture of critique".
The Anglican vicars I have spoken to here in England in recent years also seem to be infected with CRT. The silver lining here is that the Anglican church has been theologically diverse for a long time, from evangelicalism to Anglo-Catholicism. So there aren't mechanisms for dogmatic pronouncements to be made or for forcing people who disagree out of congregations. The only fundamental belief that we all share seems to be that the head of the church has to be the reigning monarch!
That's a sad article. When an institution embraces CRT, the only options are to embrace it zealously or keep a safe distance until it runs its course.
It's not a world-view that can easily be held lightly and energy spent remonstrating sincerely with its adherents is likely wasted as CRT is a controlling ideology that clouds thinking and closes people off to reasonable challenge i.e. cultish.
This is particularly sad for a long-standing church or community group because of the relationships involved.