Reignite

From the Bi Resource Center in Boston . PLEASE POST ! PLEASE DISTRIBUTE! We are preparing for a meeting with Dr. Ruth the famous sex “expert.” Her recent statement in her syndicated column that “Everyone is either straight or gay…there really is no such thing as being bisexual” needs to be refuted. We need your help. We want to bring a large stack of letters from bisexual people to the meeting. We need you to write a brief letter. It will only take 1-2 minutes! (We especially need letters from people who have been bisexual for 2 years or longer to counter her just-a-phase theory.) The letter should say: 1) How long you have been bisexual. 2) If you can identify bisexual feelings you had in childhood, (or anytime before you chose a bi identity) but couldnt put a name to at the time: describe those feelings and say at what age they started. 3) Sign and date the letter. If you don’t feel comfortable signing your whole name feel free to sign your first name only. 4) Feel free to add more i...

01) Being gay is not natural. Real Americans always reject unnatural things like eyeglasses, polyester, and air conditioning. 02) Gay marriage will encourage people to be gay, in the same way that hanging around tall people will make you tall. 03) Legalizing gay marriage will open the door to all kinds of crazy behavior. People may even wish to marry their pets because a dog has legal standing and can sign a marriage contract. 04) Straight marriage has been around a long time and hasn't changed at all; women are still property, blacks still can't marry whites, and divorce is still illegal. 05) Straight marriage will be less meaningful if gay marriage were allowed; the sanctity of Britany Spears' 55-hour just-for-fun marriage would be destroyed. 06) Straight marriages are valid because they produce children. Gay couples, infertile couples, and old people shouldn't be allowed to marry because our orphanages aren't full yet, and the world needs more children. 07) Obvio...

Hopefully one of the signs of emergence in our faith is a commitment to minister to young adults. Becoming relevant to our society is more than young adult ministry, but young adult ministry has to be a big part of it. So we've now launched BUYAN - the British Unitarian Young Adult Network. Here's an article I wrote that should be in the Inquirer very soon. The journey of nine British Unitarian young adults to the Opus conference in Iowa this summer was only the beginning of the process of forming a viable young adult presence in British Unitarianism. Those of us who went on the trip have returned with a lot of ideas, and a renewed sense of confidence in our faith and our ability to work for young people in Unitarianism. During the conference, and subsequent meetings, we have launched BUYAN – the British Unitarian Young Adult Network. It is hoped that BUYAN will act as an overseeing body for national young adult (aged 18 – 35) activities. The exact institutional organisation o...

I have an interview for a job tomorrow. Gulp. My first interview. At least I know my applications haven't been terrible if one place invites me to interview. It's a Teaching Assistant job - maternity cover - which is good because I only want it for this year. Hopefully next year I'll be training for ministry. I've put in my application form and I've visited Unitarian College Manchester where I think I'll train. Fingers crossed all around. I'm now in Birmingham, living with another Unitarian young adult, which is very cool. I'm back at Unitarian New Meeting , which is cool cos they now have a young minister. I'm going to preach there soon. Hey ho.

James Luther Adams said that every Unitarian should be involved in controversial social justice work. I've been thinking about this a lot lately. In America I was impressed by the commitment a lot of people had to working on campaigns. I was also frustrated that in many ways I could not get more involved, because I was not a citizen, a tax-payer or a voter, but only a visitor. So now I'm back in my own country I'm looking for groups to put my time, energy and money into. This has been a bit of a depressing process. I find British society a lot more apathetic politically. Of course there are not so many right-wing nutters in power here, but still there is work to do. I think I should join a political party. I voted Labour in 2001. This year I didn't get to vote because I was out of the country (I did try but never got a postal vote). I think I would really like to vote Green but I think I have to be more compromising and responsible and not vote for a small party. I thin...

The Unitarian faith is, of course, in a period of transition. It's almost a cliché to say so. The most visible change is the change in the way we govern ourselves nationally. The old big Council is going and it's going to replaced by a slim line Executive. This Executive is going to be elected directly by every member of every congregation (at least in theory if everything works out with paperwork). This is quite remarkable. It makes us in the Britain much more democratic than the American UUA which as far as I understand it elects the President at a General Assembly. Not that for us, but a direct postal election for every registered member of a congregation. Hopefully people who are Associate Members of the General Assembly will also be able to vote, but that has yet to be decided. I'm an Associate Member, but I only just joined my church so I will only be able to vote if Associate Members can. I think the change is to be welcomed, although I wish a more spiritual, and les...