By Joseph Plummer
UUFSMA Board Secretary
The nineteenth century Unitarian minister Theodore Parker once said, “The moral arc of the universe is long, but it bends towards justice.” Dr Martin Luther King Jr. so often quoted the line, it is often credited to him.
For this Sunday service, UUFSMA Minister Reverend Tom Rosiello borrows the line to provide a context for the U.S. Supreme Court’s recent bending of history’s arc away from justice and to remind participants in the service that Unitarian Universalism celebrates a «right-expanding history.» The court’s ruling stands against Unitarian Universalism’s early years of fighting for human slavery’s abolishment and women’s suffrage, its twentieth century campaigns for woman’s equality, ending segregation and racial discrimination, and decades of championing LGBTQ rights and marriage equality. “As Unitarian Universalists, our theology and principles have always demanded that we stand with the oppressed on the side of love, freedom and equality,” Rosiello says. “In many ways, even with all its struggles and setbacks, the United States too has been ‘a rights expanding nation’.”
Acknowledging that these rights were not won quickly, he observes that American history’s arc had continued to bend towards justice until June 24, when an arch-conservative majority of the Supreme Court overturned the established right of a woman to have an abortion. “This highly unpopular ruling of the high court is the first time in modern history that the Supreme Court has eliminated a well-established right of American citizens,” Rosiello says.
Worse, the concurring opinion of Justice Clarence Thomas invites new plaintiffs to attack other established civil rights and use the Supreme Court’s reasoning against abortion to do so. As do many close observers, Rosiello believes that right-wing activists will respond to Justice Thomas’s challenge and ask the court to strike down lawful rights to contraception, LGBTQ freedoms and marriage equality, the principle of one-person, one-vote, and even fair-labor practices. Unfortunately, many conservative religions will continue to deploy repressive, controlling dogmas and archaic scriptural interpretations in relentless attacks on the rights of women, LGBTQ folks, and others.
As this Sunday’s service leader, Rosiello will examine this assault on rights that most Unitarian Universalists hold dear. Plan to attend his discussion of the Supreme Court’s extremist violation of our faith tradition’s principles and history and learn what Unitarian Universalists must do about it.
Unitarian Universalism is a liberal religion. Our Fellowship welcomes people of all ages, races, religions, sexual orientation, and gender identity. You can see what we are like and enjoy previous services at https://www.youtube.com/. Enter UUFSMA in the search box. UUFSMA donates generously to support nonprofit organizations that provide health, educational, and environmental services for underserved communities in the San Miguel de Allende region. Please support this work by clicking on the website home page Donate button.
To participate in our online Sunday Service, visit www.uufsma.org and click on the Zoom Service button on the home page. If requested, enter password: 294513. Sign-in from anywhere Sunday mornings between 10:15-10:25am. In addition to continuing live Zoom services, UUFSMA has returned to limited in-person Sunday services. Reservations are no longer necessary. Space permitting, guests who show their vaccination card can join the in-person service and be approved for future attendance.
Unitarian Universalist Fellowship Sunday Service
“Losing Our Rights”
Speaker: Reverend Tom Rosiello
Sun, Jul 17, 10:30am
Zoom link: https://zoom.us/j/414604040
Password: 294513
