Finally A UU Who Hears, Listens and Understands. . .

The following email message arrived in my inbox today.

I am deleting the person's name to protect them from possible reprisals by their fellow UUs.


Hey Robin,
I have read and re-read your response to my blog...and
your negative experiences with Unitarian church. I was
surprised and a bit shocked to read what you had
experienced, and it's taken me some time to decide how
to respond. I am sorry that your experience with UUism
has been so negative. I know that is Not what the vast
majority of UU's are about - they wouldn't be
committed to the principles of understanding
everyone's worth and dignity and treating everyone
with compassion if that were true. So it's too bad
there is a UU minister there who is Not being true to
those ideals. And I would say they are hard to live up
to and live into every day. It is a continual
challenge to treating everyone I encounter with
dignity and compassion...but that is my practice.

At any rate, I hope that you have felt heard and
again, it is Not okay to be treated the way you were,
Especially by a minister.

in faith,
XXXXX

XXXXX


Here is my private email response to him or her, typos, HTML errors and all -


Hi Xxxxx,

Thanks for your private email response.

Thanks also for not "memory holing" my post to your blog.

You are in fact one of the very few UUs who have clearly acknowledged that I should not have been treated the way I was, especially by a minister.

Regrettably the vast majority of the UUs that I know do not seem very committed to the principles of understanding everyone's worth and dignity and treating everyone with compassion. "If that were true" as it were this ongoing conflict would have ended years ago in a manner that actually lived up to UU principles, especially that principle which calls for justice, equity and compassion in human relations.

This ongoing conflict is not just about a single UU minister that should not have treated me the way that I was treated by him.

It is about a Unitarian Church board and whole congregation that should not have treated me the way that I was treated by them.

Search - "Robin Edgar" Unitarian Church of Montreal

It is about at least one UUA President who should not have treated me the way that I was treated by him.

Search - "Robin Edgar" President Buehrens

It is about at least one Ministerial Fellowship Director who should not have treated me the way that I was treated by her.

Search - "Robin Edgar" "Diane Miller"

And it is about a whole lot of other abusive UUs who should not have treated me the way that I was treated by them in their insensitive and outright hostile responses to my online protest.

I do feel heard by you and I do feel that you have also sensitively and responsibly listened and understood what I have to say.

Unfortunately, as the above links clearly demonstrate, I have been most certainly been "heard" by many other UUs, including many UU clergy and some top level UUA and CUC officials, who have neither responsibly listened to, nor sensitively understood, what I had to say to them. These UUs, the vast majority of the UUs that I know, have willfully chosen not to take the responsible steps that are necessary to create peace. These UUs have chosen to deny me any justice, any equity or indeed any genuine compassion in their human relations with me. Sadly these UUs have inspired me to come up with the following saying -

Regrettably it is all to human to be inhuman. . .

Needless to say that "bon mot" has a much broader application but it is truly a shame that it was inspired by my being treated by most of my fellow UUs in a manner that was callous and insensitive at best and outright hostile and abusive at worst.

Thanks for hearing, listening, and understanding,

Robin Edgar

Comments

Robin Edgar said…
Well it looks like my HTML code worked better on The Emerson Avenger blog than in the email I sent.
Robin Edgar said…
Well sort of. . .

Here's the original "flying eye" symbol and its cosmic origin.
Robin Edgar said…
By the way. . . If you are the same anonymous poster who insinuated that I am insane on Philocrites' blog a while back you should read this Emerson Avenger thread with resurrects the posts that Philocrites "memory holed" and provides some additional pertinent commentary.
Anonymous said…
Another for ya flying eye image.

And it is about a whole lot of other abusive UUs who should not have treated me the way that I was treated by them in their insensitive and outright hostile responses to my online protest.

Whatever injustice you feel you have suffered does not give you any right to be an obnoxious twit on every UU website you can find. If you have had hostile reactions it is because your behavior is irksome.
Robin Edgar said…
A warning to those who might be offended by rather crude sexual imagery. The link contained in the above comment by anonymouse goes to an image that might offend you. Suffice it to see that anonymouse is "projecting" the fact that he, or indeed she. . . is what is commonly known as a "dick" aka "prick".

I do not "feel" that I have suffered injustices and abuses from UUs I most certainly have been subjected to very real and very obvious injustices and abuses that so far have never been responsibly redressed by UUs. As far as I am concerned the wholesale failure of the UU religious community to responsibly redress my own serious grievances, to say nothing of a variety of other UU internal injustices and abuses, gives me plenty of justification to do some vigorous whistle blowing on any and all UU websites and internet forums etc., especially to those websites, lists, forums, blogs or other posts whose themes and topics ostensibly deal with injustices, abuses, and hypocrisy etc.

Sorry but I usually only get "irksome" after someone has given me reason to be irksome. If I post a legitimate comment to a UU forum and it is promptly censored and "memory holed" I will as a rule become quite "irksome" by reposting to the forum that censored my comment. I was, and still am. . . subjected to plenty of insensitive and outright hostile reactions from UUs, including you anonymouse. . . for doing nothing more than freely and openly sharing my monotheistic religious beliefs that are informed by a profound revelatory religious experience and plenty of subsequent rational assessment of the revelatory experience itself and broader monotheistic theology. I did nothing to provoke Rev. Ray Drennan's malicious attack on me. It arose directly from his "fundie" atheist anti-religious intolerance and bigotry. I am no more responsible for Rev. Ray Drennan's hostile and abusive attack on me and my religious beliefs and practices than I am responsible for his angry and intolerant, indeed outright bigoted. . . public attack on the Roman Catholic state funeral of former Canadian Prime Minister Pierre Elliot Trudeau.
Anonymous said…
I will freely admit I am being hostile, but it has nothing to do with your montheistic beliefs. I have heard some beliefs that do not resonate with me, but I would not mock anyone for that. It is your obnoxious trolling that irks me. And I mock your beliefs because you tick me off.

Oh, and in regards to the image. You really set yourself up in a losing situation. Visitors now know that links on this site are crap (though hard to outdo your original crap). Leave the crap, the site stinks the worse. Memory hole it, make yourself a liar. Thanks for the open invitation to shit on your parade.
Robin Edgar said…
Anonymouse said - I will freely admit I am being hostile,

Thanks for freely admitting that you are being hostile. That is more than Rev. Ray Drennan or any number of other UUs ever did. . .

: but it has nothing to do with your montheistic beliefs.

Of course not. . .

: I have heard some beliefs that do not resonate with me, but I would not mock anyone for that.

Of course not. . . However Rev. Ray Drennan and no shortage of other "fundie" atheist UU "Humanists" would and did. . .

: It is your obnoxious trolling that irks me. And I mock your beliefs because you tick me off.

That's your own lame excuse and conscientiously stupid rationalization. . .

: Oh, and in regards to the image.

What image prey tell?

: You really set yourself up in a losing situation.

I don't think so. . . The Emerson Avenger blog is in several very winning positions in Google right now. . . Just Google - abusive clergy misconduct - and click on the 'I'm Feeling Lucky' button. . . I suggest that you speak for yourself and other UU losers. . .

: Visitors now know that links on this site are crap (though hard to outdo your original crap).

None of the links are "crap". Some links are very useful and other links on this blog are a veritable work of art. . .

: Leave the crap, the site stinks the worse.

I will freely admit that I am raising a very public "stink" about Unitarian Universalist injustices, abuses and hypocrisy. ;-) Wake up and smell the. . .

: Memory hole it,

Unitarian Universalists are not supposed to engage in "wishful thinking" at least according to this highly misleading if not outright fraudulent UU tract. . .

: make yourself a liar.

You and other conscientiously stupid UUs wish. . .

: Thanks for the open invitation to shit on your parade.

You're most welcome Anonymouse.

My pleasure. . .

Sincerely,

Robin Edgar
UU shitdisturber
Anonymous said…
Tell ya what you obnoxious troll. Why don't you do us all a favor and hold your breath until those Google search terms actually show up at Google Zeitgeist. Not that a lack of oxygen to your brain would make much difference.

Hey, I just had a profound revelation. The symbol of Robin Edgar in the universe is a black hole. Something so dense nothing of substance can escape it.
Robin Edgar said…
Clearly the obnoxious Anonymouse troll doesn't know when to give up. . .

: Why don't you do us all a favor and hold your breath until those Google search terms actually show up at Google Zeitgeist.

Is that a death wish Anonymouse? Sorry to disappoint you but I have no intention to hold my breath until those Google search terms actually show up at Google Zeitgeist. I don't expect that they likely will. OTOH They are search terms that UUs, and indeed some non-UUs. . . may well use at one time or another and I am gratified that my postings about those various subjects will almost certainly be seen and read by people using those search terms.

: Not that a lack of oxygen to your brain would make much difference.

My brain is doing just fine thank you. The last time I did an IQ test it was in the mid 130's. Not exactly MENSA material but well above average intelligence.

: Hey, I just had a profound revelation. The symbol of Robin Edgar in the universe is a black hole. Something so dense nothing of substance can escape it.

Well not much in the way of Unitarian Universalist injustices, abuses or hypocrisy etc. etc. that I know about can "escape" the "image tarnishing" "black hole" of a pertinent Google search. . .
Anonymous said…
Here's a word for you:

ANONYMOSITY

I miss Czechoslovakia...
Robin Edgar said…
An interesting synthesis of the words anonymous and animosity perhaps?

How appropriate. . .