Must Social Change Require a Strict Dogma?

While Unitarian Universalism may be considered a “free faith” in which “every human being needs to be absolutely free to follow his or her own conscience,” it’s still pretty clear here at the UUA General Assembly in Portland, Ore., that you don’t need a dogmatic sets of beliefs to rally around critical causes of the day.

And that’s a relief. On issues ranging from racism to sexual orientation to the genocide in Darfur, UUs are debating, advocating, and joining hands to take action. Here at the UUSC booth, a constant stream of individuals interested in connecting their spirituality with social action have been asking questions, signing our letter to the International Olympic Committee to pressure China to do better on Darfur, and making the choice to join UUSC in our efforts to promote human rights and social justice. UUSC's national cochairs Sarah Karstaedt, Nancy Nowak, Marje Park, and Jack Stiefel have spent hours upon hours manning the Drumbeat for Darfur tables and educating people about our booth's "Kalma Camp," a mock tent that teaches about the daily struggles of Darfur’s internally displaced people.

With all this energy and action, it’s hard not to see this microcosm of the political left and worry just a little bit. Surrounded by workshops ranging from “What the Buddha Really Said about Gender” to “Gaping, Gawking, Staring: Living in Marked Bodies” and “Letters from Young Activists: Today’s Rebels Speak Out,” there’s space for numerous perspectives to be shared here at GA. But the liberal left has often been criticized as being scattered, working on too many issues and changing focus too often, thus failing to do what the radical right has done through institutions such as the Heritage Foundation and the Manhattan Institute which:

“Through the constant repetition and dissemination of conservative policy ideas…[conservative think tanks]…have provided a philosophical underpinning for many of the most important fiscal and social policies developed and implemented over the past 16 years. And in the end, they have succeeded in making 'positive government action in social welfare and economic development policy seem off limits and inappropriate.'"

Perhaps one critical challenge for the left, and for UUSC as an organization working for justice in solidarity with people who face severe oppression and vulnerability, is that achieving human rights requires openness, tolerance, and understanding in a way that appears in stark contrast to the dogmatic agendas of the political right where issues such as sexual orientation are boiled down to “right” and “wrong” and religion is a matter of “believing” or not.

But witnessing the inspiration with which UUs here at General Assembly are taking action on issues like Darfur, it’s hard not to feel that we’re doing something right!