The 8th Principle of Unitarian Universalism

The proposed 8th principle of Unitarian Universalism states: “We, the member congregations of the Unitarian Universalist Association, covenant to affirm and promote: journeying toward spiritual wholeness by working to build a diverse multicultural Beloved Community by our actions that accountability dismantle racism and other oppressions in ourselves and our institutions.”

The 8th principle was conceived by Paula Cole Jones, a lifelong UU who believes that Unitarian Universalism needs to expand beyond our current seven principles to make space for true, deeply multicultural beloved community. She discussed and workshopped this idea with Bruce Pollack Johnson and others in their region, and the 8th principle was created. It has been formally adopted by a number of UU congregations, and some people are working for it to be adopted by the whole denomination.

A common response to this proposed principle is, “Why is it even important that we ‘affirm and promote’ any of that? Don’t we already do that? It seems easily summed up in the other principles.” Some say that it feels like we are lifting up one group of people, and leaving others to think that they are less worthy, because about 400 years ago, their ancestors did something bad to the ancestors of others. In other words, some think: why can’t we just let it go and move forward?

I have heard this and more hurtful responses to the 8th principle. As a Black Unitarian Universalist, those responses mostly make me sad.

How do I even begin to be in community and talk about who I am and how I see the world when conversations about race are often so laden in shame, anger, bewilderment? We all seek to protect ourselves from feeling bad, and questioning that which causes discomfort can be a tool to shield ourselves from that feeling. Often, we (including myself) as UUs live in the ‘whys.’ We are a community of seekers. Perhaps it’s even built into our principles.

Yet only asking why allows us to disconnect our brains from our emotions—the perfect out. I am not saying that we should never ask why. Rather, we should not only ask why but also ask how, who, what, and when. Only then can we get a more holistic answer.

Read the 8th principle to yourself again. How does it feel in your body when you take in those words? Check in with yourself—what are you noticing? Track that. Now, how does it feel in your body when you read just a tiny segment of my experience living as a UU? Track that, too. Are you surprised, or does this feel familiar or expected? I know that in my body, I have often felt discombobulated as I have struggled to build an understanding of this faith that has both created a space in which I can belong, and has also disregarded me, covertly asking me to live small to fit in.

I can’t live small. I have to live authentically, and in living authentically, I know that it is my job to offer love and compassion. It’s my job to speak my truth.

If we are to create a beloved community we need to know that everyone won’t agree on everything and that’s okay. It is in those times that we circle around each other to build a better community: a community in which we are all seen and valued.

The truth is that people of color are tired. We are so tired of holding the fragility of white people to be able to be in community with white people. We are already holding so much. I am asking white people to hold what is yours.

Conversely, from speaking to my white allies, I know that some white people are tired. They are tired of getting it wrong. They are tired of trying to do the right thing and having it be the wrong thing. Some are even tired of being responsible for their siblings who are unwilling to do the work. Can you hold that, too?

Recently, a CLF member commented that they were sorry that they missed a recent worship service, and that it was probably one of the only services this year that can’t be turned into shaming old white men. Ouch.

In response, I was reminded again of our community. A community that holds the dichotomy of me, stumbling upon this racial aggression and of the person who posted it, who seems to feel so unsettled by the work of the UUA to eradicate white supremacy that they feel personally attacked. Then I thought about my kids who have been raised UU since birth. I thought of how even in their church home, they have inherited this dichotomy in the only faith they have ever known. This is a complex ity that is lived in and through our congregations every day. How do we begin to heal this divide? How do my children and this person live in the same space and both feel valued?

Some people believe that we already have that and nothing needs to be done. I hold them in compassion, too. I continue to draw the circle wide with the 8th principle, and I invite you to do the same. I invite you to do the work of understanding and account ably dismantling racism, because until we all do this work, we cannot be liberated. Until we all do this work, we cannot maintain safety in our congregations. Until we do this work, we cannot heal our denomination. No matter how difficult it is to do, we must do this work.