All Lives Do Not Matter

A Letter to My CUUPS Sisters and Brothers,

The title of this letter is bound to cause some discomfort. Such a statement, if held as true within our culture, shatters many of the beliefs in fairness and justice that we were all reared embracing.

Let me invite you to sit with that discomfort for a moment. Imagine that your experience of life is fully reflective of the above statement. In this moment of reflection attempt to accept that there are people who are trapped in the reality that our culture behaves in ways that prove daily that All Lives Do Not Matter.

A young mother sends her pre-teen off to school each day in fear that he will be assaulted, killed or arrested based on the attributes that he was born with. Imagine with me this fear, apply it to your children or grandchildren, and sit with the discomfort, the sadness and the terror.

In our nation people of color are being killed and jailed in alarming numbers. Most persons of color in the criminal justice system face penalties more than three times as harsh as whites for the same offence.

Please stay with me here because I am about to use a phrase that has many in our country developing a defensive posture. It is exactly because “All Lives Do Not Matter” that the #BlackLivesMatter movement is so important. For generations cultural norms have been passed along to Americans that perpetuate a system that devalues people of color.

As a white American I am very uncomfortable with this situation, my inner being so wants to accept the myth that with hard work, a great attitude and a little luck everyone can succeed in our nation. Of course I want to deny a system that gives me an unfair advantage, after all I worked for everything I have.

After several high profile killings of young men of color the #BlackLivesMatter movement was born. The realities of how inner city police departments treat people of color were broadcast to the world. Desperately, Police Public Information Officers began to spin the news in ways that discredit the messenger in order to not face the reality of policing in America.

For White Americans it seemed that a full on assault on our most cherished public servants was occurring. Talking heads attempted to convince us that to be pro #BlackLivesMatter was to be anti police. Nothing could be further from the truth, the movement simply calls for police departments to live their creed “To Serve and Protect” without regard for race.

Recently, a couple of assaults on police officers have been used to whip up fear that our nation is turning on its’ police officers. In fact, assaults on police have been trending down nationally for five years, a pattern which is continuing in 2015.

Still uncomfortable? So am I, just as my grand parents had to face their discomfort with inter racial marriage in order to manifest a more just world, so must we sit with our discomfort and continue to work for a day when Black Lives Do Matter as reflected by our collective culture.

The Covenant of Universalist Pagans will soon be considering a national statement concerning social justice and support for the #Black Lives Matter movement. The statement is listed below this letter, I urge you to support this statement. Please join me in accepting that our collective discomfort is a clear indicator of why this statement is so important. Empathy is a reflection of understanding, may we collectively understand how important this statement is to the very values we hold as CUUPS members.

Respectfully submitted for your consideration,

Rev. Peter Dybing

The Covenant of Unitarian Universalist Pagans, Inc., affirms the intention of all members and friends to be in solidarity with those seeking justice and an end to violence. We are called to dialogue, action and maintaining a “a strong voice” to end systematic dehumanizing of anyone due to race, religion, or the prejudicial thinking we put between ourselves and others. We honor all members of the human family on our beloved planet called Earth.

We, the members of CUUPS, Inc., are witnesses and call on members and friends to act as partners in the work to create more justice in our broader communities.

We wish to express our deep sadness and outrage in the wake of the numerous and ongoing deaths of black and brown people. None of us can be truly safe or free when some lives have value and others don’t. The sacred value of a human life is not superficial.

We must each find the way in which our own gifts meet the need of the world. For some that will be participating in protests on the streets. For some that will be supporting the protesters through concrete or emotional means. For some it will mean writing and talking. For some it will mean getting educated further about unlearning racism. For some it will mean doing research into root causes or effective ways to create more justice; or creating safe spaces for the anger and rage and violence within to be expressed and released. For others it will be providing training and learning opportunities for others. In particular, we call on every white person to boost the voices of people of color, to renew soul searching for the dimensions of your own white privilege, to find the ways you are called to interrupt the culture of racism, and to take action.

Those of us who look to earth-based or Pagan spiritual sources have particular resources to offer. We offer the soul-enriching connection to earth. We offer ritual and pageantry. We offer theo/alogies of celebration of difference. Whatever the shape of your calling, follow it. Let us remain faithful to the work that must be done and dedicate ourselves to building a world where injustice is only a memory. We urge all siblings in the human family to return to the sacred sources that feed our deepest selves and remind us that we are beloved children of the divine, woven into one tapestry. Our world can be a better one. We must do the difficult work to make it so. #BlackLivesMatter