Eleven Eleven Eleven

Yesterday I was interviewed by the local BGLTQQI oriented magazine about our involvement in justice issues regarding the community.

I realized I am a terrible interview.

I tend to think and talk by digression. Fortunately the interviewer seemed sympathetic enough and I doubt anything horrible will come out of it.

And.

Among the digressions when I showed her our historic Meeting House, I found myself pulled, once again, to the Civil War plaque. It names those who served and those who died in what the plaque calls the war to preserve the union.

There was very little germaine to the interview in that corner of our Meeting House.

But it is one of those spots to which I regularly return.

Unitarian Universalism is not a historic peace church. The names on that wall bear witness to that fact. But our contemporary UU faith is near pacifist. That two of President Clinton’s Defense secretaries were UU is anomalous. I’m aware of one young man who attends our services who is active duty military, but only one…

I do not call myself a pacifist. I believe in self-defense. But I come close to being a pacifist. Because I also believe in unintended consequences.

And…

And I continue to return to that plaque.

I’m firmly convinced the reason for that war, what started it, and what allowed the union forces to gather strength to end it was the abomination of slavery.

All other things are a smoke screen.

It was slavery…

And I don’t think that evil would have passed away for a very long time if that war had been lost.

I don’t know.

But, I do know, later today I’ll be going into the Meeting House and contemplate that plaque one more time…

And…

And…