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Differences aren't divisive until someone chooses to make them so. The problem is not that someone is different, but that their difference is held against them.



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Rev. White's sermon "Science Is Real" is now online! View at tinyurl.com/Sermon031818, or download the podcast on iTunes.

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Happy (official) Spring!


Traditional Flower Communion blessing by Norbert Capek. Happy Spring!
Photo: Heather Michaels, used with permission
Design: Lori Stone Sirtosky

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Our website is back! IAmUU.org is up and running, but we're already thinking about what comes next...

The I Am UU project has always been about helping to make Unitarian Universalism easier to understand and share, but how we do that has always been in flux. With social media platforms prioritizing video, we need to once again rethink how we fulfill our core mission.

What do you all think? How can we help you? Is your idea something you and your congregation would support financially? Or is the I Am UU project going to remain a side quest?

(photo of your admin delivering a sermon last year bc Fb)



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Thoughts and Prayers are meant to strengthen and support action, not to replace or supplant it. We have to do the actual work.



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So...



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The I Am UU project is run by a nonbinary Religious Educator.



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I am having feelings about continuing to create content and viewership for Facebook and Meta.

The company is factually bad for our country and the health of many of its users. They don't produce the content that we all come here for, but there is no compensation for those of us who do make the site worth coming to. And now they are getting involved in politics in ways that disturb me.

But, part of the point of the I Am UU project has always been to make it easy to share Unitarian Universalism and to make Liberal Religion more visible on the internet, and for a lot of people, "Facebook" is the internet now.

We welcome the thoughts of our community on the issue.



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“Ours is not the task of fixing the entire world all at once, but of stretching out to mend the part of the world that is within our reach. Any small, calm thing that one soul can do to help another soul, to assist some portion of this poor suffering world, will help immensely”
~ Clarissa Pinkola Estés



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Stewardship isn’t, in reality, about money. The money is a tool of stewardship, a way to measure it, but real stewardship is the intention. Stewardship is about the desire to change the world for the better.


In our culture, “Money” is a form of measurement; the time and energy you spend throughout the week is translated into dollars. Dollars are then spent to pay for work; buying the time a…

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If you like what we post, you can almost literally buy more of it by supporting this ministry financially.

The more support we get, the more time we can spend on this and the better tools we can afford to use.

The links are on our Website (if we put them here, it makes the robot angry).

https://iamuu.org/about/can-get-involved/#gifts



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Just a reminder that our admin and founder, Thomas Earthman - SJC, does preach as well as leading workshops on outreach, communication, and faith development.

If you are interested in an engagement for the summer, it is not too early to get in touch!



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Imagine a television with no stations...

Without pages like this one, Facebook is a blank high-tech bulletin board. And it makes money selling ads based on our content and keeps all that for themselves. So we need your help...


Imagine a television with no stations. Without pages like this one, Facebook is a blank high-tech bulletin board. And it makes money selling ads based on our content and keeps all that for themselv…

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Folks, we are at the point where the I Am UU project either needs to become as active as we've ever been, or we need to shut down. We cannot continue to keep operating this project as a part-time effort.

That choice is up to you.

https://iamuu.org/i-am-uu-news/can-we-keep-i-am-uu-on-line/



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Unitarian Universalism isn't a structure, but a set of tools and a place to build with them. It is up to you to make something with what we offer.

https://iamuu.org/being-uu/monday-mediation-free-faith-assembly-required/



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Conservatives cannot get that a lack of creed is not the same thing as "you can believe anything you want", but despite what you may have seen on Facebook, your neighbor probably is NOT a Unitarian Universalist.


I’ve recently seen people share this post from December 2019 written Jonathan Tjarks and shared in several places: The mistaken premise of the article is that because Unitarian Universalism d…

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Our last blog post really stirred up some feelings in ways we did not expect. Mostly because the thing that people grabbed onto is something we've said many times. It was the focus of several blog posts and mentioned in several others. It's something foundational. It's something that our clergy and professional religious educators learn as the basis for all of our work...

"Are you telling me that being UU isn’t only being in ethical and philosophical alignment but must include active participation in a congregation?"

Yes. Yes we are. And we've been saying it all along.

Covenantal religion requires covenant. It's inseparable and practically tautological.

Membership is a choice we make over and over, not a right granted once and carried forever. Our Principles cannot be lived in isolation, and so you have to be a UU to actually be UU.

So, let's focus on why that's a problem and see if we can solve it.



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So, the question keeps being asked:

"What makes one a Unitarian Universalist?"

Since all definitions are exclusive, in order for Unitarian Universalism to have any definition, it must exclude some people. So, who gets to make that decision? What is the cut off?

Officially, the definition is "Someone who is a member of a UU Congregation." Membership is defined by the congregation and anyone who meets the responsibilities is in.

What other definition is there that actually has meaning, but is somehow less "exclusive" than this?



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A number of people felt strongly enough about Thomas saying that he was burned out to reach out via email, which is a strange way to respond to that message.

That said, most such replies were quite positive and supportive. Most of those messages of support came from UU Professionals, and it was actually nice to hear from my colleagues on this.

The I Am UU page will stay up for now, but I do not know when or If I will actually be posting more content. It still takes time and energy that I don't feel good about giving right now. I do feel a little better than last night, so we'll see where that goes.

I will not be taking further questions at this time.



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There is a discussion in the I Am UU Community group about what the future holds for the I Am UU Project. We invite all the people following this page to add their thoughts, but ask that they be phrased to be constructive and/or encouraging.



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Members(hip) Matters: In a post written before the events of late last week, Thomas intended to continue the discussion of membership in Unitarian Universalism...


Editor’s Note: Today’s post was written before the events of last week on our Facebook Page. I will write more about all of that, maybe as soon as this week, but for now, this was the f…

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Quick post only to say that Thomas is posting on the public figure page, Thomas Earthman - SJC .

I'm still working out what comes next for this page. If you have constructive feedback or encouragement to share, please go to the I Am UU Community to add to that discussion.

Photo for the robot...



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It is not faith that is divisive, but pride.



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It is time to announce that this page will not be updated any longer. The group will become "We Are UUs", and the website will stay up so you can link to the hundreds of posts and pages there. This page stays up, so you can link to the work published here, but it will not be updated any longer. New UU content will be shared to the group, and more general encouragement, inspiration, and thoughts on justice and governance will be on my Public Figure page, Thomas Earthman - SJC



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Friends and followers, the time has come...

This page will stay up, but Thomas will not be posting here any longer. Don't unfollow just yet; we're working on some things that could be pretty cool...

The website will still be up, but we are thinking of a redesign and maybe changing the focus of it.

The We Are UUs Facebook group has changed names but will remain active and under my administration.

If you want to follow Thomas as a community minister, social media creator, and general encourager, you can do so by following Thomas Earthman - SJC. Yes, I know that I am leaving a lot of fans of this page behind, but I want the people who choose to be there.



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One more post to say that I am going to take down the I Am UU shop at the end of June. I might put some of the designs up somewhere eventually, but I make no promises at this point.


IAmUU is an independent artist creating amazing designs for great products such as t-shirts, stickers, posters, and phone cases.

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Purchase links are in the description for each shirt. Thank you for whatever support you can give, even just a share with your UU friends.


When this happens, it's usually because the owner only shared it with a small group of people, changed who can see it or it's been deleted.

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We had someone steal our logo to sell shirts to our community, so we're putting this up for now.

Thomas is still posting new content on a new page under his own name, if you miss that sort of thing.

We're not posting to this page anymore and still figuring out what comes next. The website remains up, and we do still have a RedBubble shop if you want merch that isn't stolen.

If you see someone offering to sell you this image, please report the comment so we can remove and block them.



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I am working a degree in Communications now, and this page is not currently being updated. It will remain, and eventually it will be something slightly different than what it was. Until then, I enjoy being able to see the "Memories" and I hope you do, too. I usually share them in the group, "We Are UUs"



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My gratitude for the community that built up around this work is beyond my ability to express today.

Breaking my hiatus to say, "Thank you".



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