Exploring the foundations and implications of equity as a spiritual and religious value. Where does our commitment to equity come from? What might a commitment to equity look like in our individual and communal lives?
Just Equity
Rev. Joe Cleveland
February 25, 2024
The other day I had the pleasure of walking downtown. It was a bright, sun-shiney day, and the cafe I walked into had some big windows that let all that light in. I had an appointment with someone and found their table – it was right in the sunlight. I took off my winter coat and scarf and sighed as I settled into a seat in the sunshine. I smiled across at my companion. I was then asked to explain what Unitarian Universalism is.
I don’t know how you react when someone asks you to explain what Unitarian Universalism is, but this is bread and butter to me. It is an excellent dreamy latte and chocolate chip cookies to me.
You might have developed a reply to this. But just in case you are looking for strategies, I thought before I dive headlong into my sermon, that I might offer up a little strategy.
Pig. Jet. Love.
It’s not great, maybe, but maybe it’s something that is easy to remember.
I have teased you all and myself that we don’t have the 7 principles and 6 sources memorized. And I’ve reassured us all that that’s ok because they are going away/
Except that’s a lie. The 7 or 8 UU Principles and the 6 UU Sources are not ever really going away. They have described who we are and will continue to be a reference point. Since when did anyone limit themselves to only the text in a group’s bylaws to describe and explore what that group is about? What might happen this summer is that delegates from UU congregations like ours may vote to approve new language for the UUA’s bylaws. And some of that language is pig jet love.
Just to be clear: neither the word “pig” nor the word “jet” is in the new bylaws language. They are a silly mnemonic that I will replace at the drop of a hat if you’ve got a better one! But for now, it helps me to remember values we can rightly say are at the heart of Unitarian Universalism.
Pig. Jet. Love.
P — Pluralism. I — Interdependence. G — Generosity. J — Justice. E — Equity. T — Transformation. Love is for Love.
This summer I hope UU delegates vote for pig jet love.
Last summer was the first time delegates could vote on this language. Individuals were invited to submit amendments and revisions and there was a ton of debate in this online space that was set up for us to discuss and debate all these amendments. You know how some apps for exercise or productivity will give you badges when you’ve reached milestones? I got a virtual badge for being one of the most active participants in that online discussion!
The proposed language and several amendments were approved last summer. A commission charged with the task incorporated all that language and amendments together and offered what it called a “final” version of the proposed language, except that language isn’t final either. There are several amendments that we will be voting on. This time, in order to get on the agenda, an amendment had to have the sponsorship of at least 15 certified member congregations. As far as I know at the moment, there are four amendments that have achieved that level of support and will be on the agenda to be voted on. Of the four, two of them are about the E in “jet” for Equity.
We Unitarian Universalists care a lot about equity.
I’m not going to go through all the details about what the amendments are right now. But if both pass and if pig jet love gets approved, here’s what it’ll say about Equity:
Equity. We declare that every person is inherently worthy and has the right to flourish with dignity, love, and compassion.
We covenant to use our time, wisdom, attention, and money to build and sustain fully accessible and inclusive communities. Equity calls us to listen, understand, respect, and respond to one another.
Equity is one-word shorthand for one of the most strongly held UU convictions. Elandria Williams, former co-Moderator of the UUA who died when she was just 40, put this conviction this way:
We are worthy
Not because of what we produce
But because of who we are
We are divine bodies of light and darkness
You are not worthy because of what you offer,
not because of what is in your mind, not for the support you give others,
not for what you give at all
We are worthy and are whole just because [. . .]
We fill in the blank after that ‘just because’ in different ways. We are inherently worthy because we all come from God and carry God in us. We are inherently worthy because science tells us that we are all made of starstuff. We are inherently worthy because otherwise we start playing God deciding who has worthiness and who doesn’t.
Worthiness is not something you have to earn. It is something that you have to respect. Inherent worthiness does not mean that no person can ever be guilty of anything. It doesn’t mean immunity from accountability. It means just the opposite, in fact. If everyone has inherent dignity that has all sorts of implications for how we act with one another and with ourselves.
Equity is about how we regard one another. I went to a college that is sponsored by a Benedictine abbey, and the monks there would tell me that the basic rule of their order was to treat everyone as you would treat Jesus. When a guest comes, Christ comes, and so hospitality is a central value for Benedictines. Equity is expressed in the Hindu practice of namaste, of greeting another with reverence. The sacred in me greets the sacred in you.
More than just being hospitable, valuing equity means valuing inclusion. A concern for equity is part of what is calling this congregation to make a new home for itself that will be fully accessible, unlike the building we’re in right now. Equity as a spiritual value calls us to be actively invitational and inclusive. Pig Jet Love is only one section of the bylaws article that is being voted on this summer. There’s another section that is called “Inclusion.”
Systems of power, privilege, and oppression have traditionally created barriers for persons and groups with particular identities, ages, abilities, and histories. We pledge to replace such barriers with ever-widening circles of solidarity and mutual respect. We strive to be an Association of congregations that truly welcome all persons who share our values. We commit to being an Association of congregations that empowers and enhances everyone’s participation, especially those with historically marginalized identities.
We commit to empower and enhance everyone’s participation… Thinking about that phrase, the images that contrast equity with equality come to my mind. Equity doesn’t mean treating everyone exactly the same. If everyone deserves equal access, that will almost necessarily mean that you have to do different things with different people. Instead we would have to listen to people, hear what they need, and act on that. I could invite everyone to a peanut butter and jelly sandwich lunch, treating everyone the same way I treat myself, every day, and that could be a disaster. Someone’s probably got a nut allergy. And others are going to be gluten intolerant. If I value equity, and I do, I am going to have to be flexible, and I’m going to have to assume that the experience and needs of others are different from my own.
Saying that brings me back to a lunch I was enjoying in a lunchroom at Tuskegee University in Montgomery, Alabama. The other guy at the table with me was a lawyer with the Navy’s Judge Advocate General corps. He was a Black man who grew up in the South. We were talking about the police. I told him that my mom had told me when I was a kid that if I ever got lost, I should look for a police officer and they would help me. He laughed and said his mom said if he was lost and he saw a police officer, he should get the heck outta there!
The systems of power, privilege, and oppression in our society create vastly different life experiences and situations depending on race, economic situation, gender, physical mobility, and on and on. They create hurt and suffering. We need to be able to hear and see and feel that, recognize and acknowledge that. Equity calls us to listen, understand, respect, and respond to one another. Equity calls us to encounter one another with humility and even reverence. Equity is a value that UU’s feel deeply.
Maybe this is why the report released this past week by the Office of the Attorney General of New York State feels so significant. The report, released this past Tuesday, details the actions of Saratoga Springs elected and appointed officials and the Saratoga Springs Police Department in response to protests and Black Lives Matter activists in 2021. It details how the First Amendment rights of Saratoga Black Lives Matter activists—especially Black BLM activists—were systematically violated. It details a vindictive official policy of arresting, surveilling, and targeting BLM activists in order to silence them because the officials didn’t like what the activists were saying. Instead of taking the concerns of BLM activists and their allies seriously and treating them with respect, officials violated their own city and police department rules with a callous disregard for the well-being of these members of the Saratoga Springs community.
When I was asked by Saratoga Black Lives Matter to join them at a press conference they held Thursday, and I had congregational meetings that conflicted with it, members of the Board and of the Shared Ministries Committee rescheduled or released me from those meetings. They felt it was so important for me and, through me, the congregation, to show our support. I was glad and honored to attend and to be asked to speak in support of Saratoga BLM at the press conference. Members of the Board and the Social Justice Team and I are in the process of drafting a public statement about the report from the Office of the Attorney General based in our commitment to equity.
As a deeply felt spiritual and religious value, equity calls to us. Equity calls us to listen, to respect, and to empower one another. It calls us to justice, to the practice of inclusion, and to help one another flourish with dignity, love, and compassion. Equity as a spiritual value calls us to receive one another with reverence.
The sacred in me acknowledges the sacred in you. May we all open our hearts, minds, and spirits to the sanctity and worthiness of one another.
Amen. Namaste. Pig jet love.
Topics: Equity