Comments on: Manufactured dissent and fake authenticity

By: Scott Wells

Scott Wells — Sat, 05 Jan 2008 14:59:18 +0000

Steve, do you have any information about those revivals? The Universalists I’ve studied uniformly hated revivalism. So much so that the one Universalist minister I found that did hold them got the hairy eye-ball from his colleagues, as reported in denominational papers.

On the other hand, through the nineteenth century, and lasting in Texas to the Depression, Universalists couldn’t say no to an extended doctrinal debate — Presbyterians and Methodists were favorite opponents — often lasting several days.

By: Steve Caldwell

Steve Caldwell — Thu, 03 Jan 2008 04:46:36 +0000

Actually, Universalists in my district were doing tent revival meetings 100 years ago.

Perhaps this style of worship is a part of our shared heritage.

By: chutney

chutney — Wed, 02 Jan 2008 21:03:09 +0000

We didn’t come from that wing of Protestantism. It’s probably fair to say we even rejected it outright.

By: Steve Caldwell

Steve Caldwell — Mon, 31 Dec 2007 23:49:49 +0000

Regarding Peacebang’s comments on her district’s “revival” conference, the congregation I belonged to when we lived in Prairie Star District did a Humanist revival worship service as a workshop.

The sermon title was “Believe and Be Damned” — the central point of sermon was that uncritical belief in anything leads to danger. The lay leader in our small South Dakota congregation was the daughter of a Congregationalist minister and she had re-written lyrics for the revival camp meeting songs of her childhood.

Given my UU background and experience with a non-Christian revival worship service, I would say that this was not a “totally inauthentic coopting of Christian language” for two reasons.

(1) Unitarian Universalism arose out of Protestant Christianity and has historical roots within it. Since this history is a shared heritage for Christian and non-Christian UUs, it’s not an inauthentic cultural misappropriation issue.

(2) With Christianity’s past historical association with colonialism and imperialism, I don’t think that borrowing of Christian forms by a group that has roots within the tradition doesn’t carry the “cultural imperialism baggage” that it does when one borrows from Islam, Buddhism, etc.

I’ll have to dig up a copy of the re-written lyrics for “Standing on the Promises,” “I Saw the Light,” and other songs that we used for the worship for posting on my blog.

Just my $0.02 worth here …

By: PeaceBang

PeaceBang — Thu, 27 Dec 2007 15:18:02 +0000

Given that our UU district is holding a “revival” conference in 2008, I just appreciate your pointing out that “Revival” without some kind of belief in the holy spirit/God is totally inauthentic coopting of Christian language, and it makes me stabby. I’m sure that revival will smack of worshiping ourselves, and I dread it.

By: Bill Baar

Bill Baar — Mon, 24 Dec 2007 13:16:23 +0000

Protest has to be effective, or at least stand a realistic chance to be effective, for it to count as dissent to me.

That’s a heck of a criteria… some of the most noble dissent is for a lost cause.

By: chutney

chutney — Sun, 23 Dec 2007 21:20:34 +0000

Protest has to be effective, or at least stand a realistic chance to be effective, for it to count as dissent to me. And "anything is possible" doesn't count as a realistic chance. True dissenters flirt with danger, and their actions provoke a change of heart in the powers-that-be. True dissent is creative and innovative. Picket signs, giant puppets, and "hey-hey ho-ho" haven't been creative or innovative for decades. What makes a dissent manufactured is, one, when it is knowingly feckless and, two, when it becomes a hobby. (I mean "manufactured dissent" in the sense of "faux dissent.") It may be important to the protesters, but why does their hobby deserve everyone's attention? Why should fellow liberals be negatively judged for ignoring protests that are obviously going to fail? Why do I owe them any more respect than I owe this? My hobbies are important to me. I think my blogging, to pick one hobby, sometimes has a prophetic edge to it, and I do it because I hope it might lead to change. (It's been changing-making for me personally.) But you don't have to think blogging is as important as I do to be a responsible person.

By: Christine Robinson

Christine Robinson — Sun, 23 Dec 2007 20:45:42 +0000

Protests don’t matter until they do matter. They start to matter when they become a movement. Starting a protest in hopes that it will become a movement is to protest in vain. You have to start a movement (or join a movement) and then protest.

By: h sofia

h sofia — Sun, 23 Dec 2007 18:08:56 +0000

I don’t disagree with you in principal, but it’s interesting to me when people say protests don’t matter. To them, maybe. But to say they don’t matter at all. Who is to say that? And haven’t people always said that?

By: Boy in the Bands » Blog Archive » The alternative to getting all worked up

Sun, 23 Dec 2007 17:03:46 +0000

[…] If you’ve not read Dan Harper’s blog or Chutney’s blog lately, you really ought to see (respectively) “Problem solved, or denominational politics” and “Manufactured dissent and fake authenticity.” […]