Wednesday, September 9, 2009

"The arc of the universe is long...

...but it bends towards justice."

I've been comforting myself in these challenging times with that aphorism made famous by Martin Luther King, Jr., who in turn borrowed it from our UU "saint" Theodore Parker. This post at Salon, on the eve of last January's inauguration, may be months old, but for me it's a breath of fresh air right now.

3 comments:

  1. No offense to you is intended here DSD but to me, and I expect a good number of other victims of U*U clergy misconduct of various kinds as well as other as yet unredressed U*U injustices and abuses, Rev. Theodore Parker's famous saying -

    "The arc of the universe is long but it bends towards justice."

    is not very welcome. Genuine restorative justice for myself and other people who have been badly treated by U*U clergy and/or U*Us more generally is long overdue. Quite regrettably the arc of justice in the U*U "Universe" is a rather too long one. . .

    WVC = hrpr

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  2. That it takes a long time for justice to come about is more or less the point of the quotation.

    This is more clear in the original version:

    "I do not pretend to understand the moral universe; the arc is a long one, my eye reaches but little ways; I cannot calculate the curve and complete the figure by the experience of sight; I can divine it by conscience. And from what I see I am sure it bends towards justice."

    If it helps, and it shouldn't, the injustices King speaks of are centuries long, and they have bended toward justice but still haven't reached it, something King knew when he quoted the line, although his paraphrase is less explicit on that point.

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  3. CC said - That it takes a long time for justice to come about is more or less the point of the quotation.

    Do you think I don't know that CC?

    Maybe you can ask the UUA and Unitarian Church of Montreal why thirteen years have gone by and I not only haven't seen anything even remotely resembling justice but have had the initial injustices and abuses that I complained about repeatedly aggravated and escalated by further U*U injustices and abuses *actively* seeking to obstruct justice? Can U*Us say institutional stonewalling and denial?

    How can U*Us repeatedly spout Rev. Theodore Parker's words while passively and/or actively delaying and denying *any* restorative justice to me and other victims of clergy misconduct and other injustices and abuses perpetrated by U*Us?

    Guess what? I do not pretend to understand the moral universe of the U*Us because from where I stand it just plain ain't moral. . .

    The arc of U*U justice is a not only a long one but, so far. . . an all but completely non-existent one in my case. Where's the arc CC?

    My eye reaches a long way and will continue to do so God willing. . .

    I cannot calculate the curve and complete the figure by the experience of sight but I can divine by *my* conscience that the UUA is surely not bending towards justice yet. . .

    :If it helps, and it shouldn't,

    It doesn't. . .

    :the injustices King speaks of are centuries long, and they have bended toward justice but still haven't reached it, something King knew when he quoted the line, although his paraphrase is less explicit on that point.

    I am aware of that but where have U*Us bent towards justice for me? I have yet to see U*Us bend in inch towards justice in my case. Au contraire they keep bending towards further injustices and abuses. Wish me luck when I resume my peaceful public protest in front of the Unitarian Church of Unmentionable next Sunday. I will probably need it. . .

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