Inherent Worth and Dignity
Unitarian Coastal Fellowship
© Rev. Sally B. White
September 13, 2015
1
Inherent Worth and Dignity. There is no creed in Unitarian Universalism
– no prescribed statement of belief that all members must believe in or agree
to. Rather, congregations covenant together to affirm and promote
Principles and Purposes that describe our highest aspirations about how we
will live in the world, and how we will live together. The first principle lifts
up “the inherent worth and dignity of every person.” Today’s is the first in a
series of sermons that will consider how we are called to reflect – and reflect
upon – these principles, in living our lives, and in living together.
Reading:
Unitarian Universalist minister Marilyn Sewell, now retired, once wrote,
“The first principle is our foundation. It speaks of respecting others enough
to never objectify and control them in the service of ideology, however
precious. It encourages people to unfold according to their true and
authentic nature, to live with integrity according to their own heart’s leaning.
… People area accepted as they are, whether they are Christians, Buddhists,
Jews, humanists, atheists, or simply searching. Whether they are straight,
gay, lesbian, bisexual, or transgendered. Whether they are white or people
of color. All have worth and dignity. All are welcome at the table.
The first principle is human-centered. It implies that living on this
earth is the proper focus of our time and attention. Heaven will take care of
itself. “One world at a time,” as Thoreau said. Furthermore, our first
principle strongly implies that we are called to create justice where justice
does not now exist. If all people do have worth and dignity, can we allow
some of them to live with no hope? To allow people to go hungry and
without shelter? To turn our eyes away from discrimination?” [pp. 23-24 in
Inherent Worth and Dignity
Unitarian Coastal Fellowship
© Rev. Sally B. White
September 13, 2015
2
With Purpose and Principle: Essays About the Seven Principles of Unitarian
Universalism, ed. Edward A. Frost.].
Sermon:
A few years ago, I engaged in several conversations over a period of weeks
with a good man who came to our church curious and wanting to learn about
Unitarian Universalism. Among many other things, we talked about the
Principles. Within Unitarian Universalism we emphasize that these
principles are not a creed. What they are, actually, is an explanation of why
UU churches and fellowships and societies come together to form an
Association of Congregations – so that they may pool their resources for the
purpose of affirming and promoting certain common values, certain
principles. [Think Boris, and Natasha, and Woody, and Petrova, and wee
Stanislas working together to harvest that beet. Or not.]
Taken together, the seven Principles constitute a poetic and powerful
statement not about “what we believe,” but rather about what we,
collectively, institutionally, are working for. What, specifically, we (that is,
our congregations), working together, affirm and promote in our common
life and in the world. The very first Principle is the one we read together at
the start of our service this morning: the inherent worth and dignity of every
person.
Inherent Worth and Dignity
Unitarian Coastal Fellowship
© Rev. Sally B. White
September 13, 2015
3
But in everyday conversation, these “principles that we affirm and promote”
these “values that we work for” read a lot like a statement of belief. When
the Principles are translated into language for children, every sentence
begins with “we believe…” (The first one is, “We believe that each and
every person is important.”)
And so, when this good man asked “what do Unitarian Universalists
believe,” part of my answer was a conversation about the Principles.
We got pretty hung up on the first one. “Help me understand,” he asked me.
Do you really think that every person is worthy? What about criminals?
What about murderers? What about Hitler?
What good questions. They open the door to deep theological conversations
– some of which he and I touched on. Mostly, though, we didn’t go that
deep. In the end, he decided not to join the congregation. Probably, it was
more than just this first Principle – but maybe not. Maybe this one was the
deal breaker.
Not everybody, and certainly not every religion, subscribes to such a
radically affirmative concept of human nature. Theologically, the
Universalist strand of our Unitarian Universalist heritage broke from
orthodox Christianity over this very issue. In 1803, Universalists in America
adopted a Profession of Faith that affirmed that God “will finally restore the
Inherent Worth and Dignity
Unitarian Coastal Fellowship
© Rev. Sally B. White
September 13, 2015
4
whole family of mankind to holiness and happiness.” [David Robinson. The
Unitarians and the Universalists. p. 56]. Technically, this statement says more
about the nature of God than the nature of humanity, but the predominant
Christian belief, even today, holds that some human beings are not, and
never will be, worthy of salvation, God’s nature notwithstanding. Only
some people will be restored to holiness and happiness; others will be
condemned to eternal suffering and eternal separation from God.
Later, our forebears focused more on human nature. In 1884, Unitarians
commonly believed “in the growing nobility of man.” [David Robinson. The
Unitarians and the Universalists. p. 121]. In 1935, Universalists raised up “the
supreme worth of every human personality.” [Charles Howe. 1993. The Larger
Faith. p. 104]. These, too, are radical positions, even – or perhaps especially –
in the predominantly Christian milieu of contemporary America.
For in this Western way of looking at the world, life is seen as a study in
contrasts. Ideas, actions, possibilities, choices are either good or they are
bad. This kind of thinking gives rise to the concept of a God who is and
who represents all good. It must then assign all evil to another being – a
devil or a Satan. From this dualism there follows the concept of a heaven on
one hand, and a hell on the other – and never the twain shall meet! And also
there follow questions about how a God who is all-good and all-powerful
can allow (or even cause) bad things to happen to good people. (There is a
whole branch of theology devoted to this so-called “problem of evil.”)
Inherent Worth and Dignity
Unitarian Coastal Fellowship
© Rev. Sally B. White
September 13, 2015
5
And so it is a short step to seeing people, too, as either good or bad; either
worthy or unworthy. Living where we do, when we do, we are primed for
such distinctions. We are primed to ask…how could a “bad” person – a
criminal, a murderer, a Hitler – be worthy? We are, in fact, primed to think
that it is important – even morally and ethically responsible – to maintain
these distinctions. Worthiness and dignity come to be seen as rewards for
being good, rather than as inherent qualities of every person. Blurring the
line between good and evil, between worthy and unworthy, somehow
undermines the virtue of goodness.
One response could be to lift up the word “inherent:” “inherent worth and
dignity.” Inherent means inborn, ingrained, innate, deep-rooted. We could
think of worth and dignity as being present in every person at birth, rooted
deeply in our nature. And we could consider that each person also has free
will, or perhaps fortunate circumstances, or perhaps insurmountable
obstacles, so that as their life unfolds, as they make choices about their
beliefs and actions (or as choices are forced upon them by the circumstances
of their lives), they may live into this inherent worth and dignity, or they
may repudiate it, choosing a path of evil-doing that leads them to crime, to
murder, to becoming a “bad” person. Thus, every person has inherent worth
and dignity –which may or may not come to full fruition, may or may not be
stifled or starved out in the life any given person actually lives.
Inherent Worth and Dignity
Unitarian Coastal Fellowship
© Rev. Sally B. White
September 13, 2015
6
Or, we could look at the world a little differently, looking below the
apparent dualism for a unity at the core of all existence. Imagine that good
and evil, worthiness and unworthiness are not either/or qualities. Imagine
that everything and everyone is an inextricable mixture of both. Imagine
that even God –the highest, truest, deepest that we know – includes darkness
and light, life and death, male and female, blessing and curse, good and
evil, all within Godself. Imagine that the presence of unworthy thoughts,
traits, behaviors makes you not unworthy but rather, human.
This is the teaching of Eastern religions. Taoism sees all existence as
embodying opposites that complement each other in a dynamic that is
interdependent, interconnected, and eternal. Buddhism sees all dualisms as
illusions, artifacts of this world we live in, of these bodies and these minds
that house us in this life. The practice of these religions, then, is the practice
of bringing one’s thoughts and actions into harmony with the harmony that
underlies everything we are, everything we know, everything we do. And
this harmony is not static. In Taoism, everything is ever-shifting, everyflowing. In Buddhism, the universe is eternally changing and we, as we are
intrinsically – inherently – part of the universe, we, too change. Each new
moment is a new opportunity to make a new decision, make a new choice,
change an established pattern of doing, of being.
This is the core teaching of Universalism, which since the eighteenth century
has said that God never, never, never gives up on any person. That no
Inherent Worth and Dignity
Unitarian Coastal Fellowship
© Rev. Sally B. White
September 13, 2015
7
matter who you are, you are held in infinite love. That no matter how many
mistakes you make, as long as you live there is always the possibility for
redemption. This Universalism has drawn into our congregations many who
have come hurting, put off or cast away by religions and by societies that
have called them unworthy, or unacceptable, or abominations.
But our first principle challenges us to affirm and promote that possibility of
redemption not only for you, but also for every other person. Every. Other.
Person. This is radical. This is much harder to accept. And much, much
harder to practice. Unitarian Universalist minister Ken Collier laid it out in
no uncertain terms:
We…are called to affirm the inherent worth and dignity of people
whom we thoroughly dislike, people whom we find obnoxious,
obstreperous, overbearing and frightening; people whom we find
abhorrent and whose beliefs and behavior we find disgusting; even
people who would deny, silence, or destroy us. … “Every person”
includes the people we love and the people we dislike. It includes the
oppressed and the oppressor. It includes the victim and the
perpetrator. It includes the Jews of Central Europe as well as Hitler.
It includes the bully down the street who terrorized us when we were
children. It includes the child molester, the battering husband, the
abusive alcoholic, the drug dealer, the crack house operator, and the
gang members. It includes everyone.” [p. 15 in Our Seven Principles in
Story and Verse.]
Inherent Worth and Dignity
Unitarian Coastal Fellowship
© Rev. Sally B. White
September 13, 2015
8
This is a tall order. For some people, this could be a deal breaker. Maybe
because it just seems irresponsible, or wrong – how can we affirm and
promote the worth and dignity of a child molester, or of Hitler? Isn’t worth
and dignity something you earn, or at least something you can lose through
bad choices, bad behavior? Maybe it’s a deal-breaker because it just seems
too hard. Too hard. And to this, Ken Collier says, “any religion that calls
on me to be respectful where respect is easy, but lets me off the hook when it
is difficult, is not worth bothering with. Such a religion will never challenge
me to grow or deepen or become more fully human. I reject any religion
that does not make me squirm occasionally when I consider my behavior, or
that does not call me to grow toward those things that I need to be.” [p. 16 in
Our Seven Principles in Story and Verse.]
And to this, I say, with Ken Collier, that the ultimate meaning and value of
religion, for me at least, is in the challenge. That I do not succeed every
time or even most of the time – even in being willing to open my heart to
certain people. That just thinking about affirming the worth and dignity of,
say, leaders of ISIS stretches my imagination, and my soul. That I have to
believe that if I cannot live up to this high standard, still I can grow into
doing more than what is easy and comfortable. And that each time I make
the choice to try, and to try harder, then I am somehow changing the balance
in the world; the balance of challenge and need, of bitterness and
compassion, of fear and courage, of judgment and acceptance, of good and
Inherent Worth and Dignity
Unitarian Coastal Fellowship
© Rev. Sally B. White
September 13, 2015
9
evil. Somehow adding my weight to the collective effort to harvest that
giant, sweet beet that will feed us all for days. Somehow living into my own
inherent worth and dignity. That, for me, is all I can do. And that, for me, is
the thing I must do.
Take a moment now, in stillness, in silence, to listen within and without, for
your truth.
The bell will lead us into silence, and music will lead us out.
Bell
Silence
Music
Blessed be and amen.