The Abolitionists
PBS is running a three part series on "The Abolitionists" starting this evening in Miami.
The ideas related to abolition of slavery among the Unitarians and Universalists have evolved.
The following is from the UU website:
The debate about slavery in the United States proved contentious within both Unitarianism and Universalism. While some of the country's leading abolitionists were women and men who identified as Unitarian or Universalist, each of the young denominations struggled to articulate a unified stand. Churches in the Southern states felt the stresses acutely, because their congregational membership was drawn from both the North and the South and their ministers were most often Northerners. In the North, too, Unitarians and Universalists took a variety of positions on slavery, and some prominent Unitarians and Universalists debated on the national stage. For example, John Quincy Adams, a Unitarian, stood up against the agreement that kept Congress from debating slavery. In 1850, another Unitarian, President Millard Fillmore, signed the Fugitive Slave Law, reviled by most Unitarians in the North. Unitarian John C. Calhoun, Vice President under both John Quincy Adams and Andrew Jackson, defended slavery, predicting chaos and hardship for both black and white people in the South, were slavery to end. The debate stretched over decades and generations as people changed their stances.
Millard Fillmore, President said in a letter to Daniel Webster; ""God knows I detest slavery, but . . . we must endure it and give it such protection as is guaranteed by the Constitution till we can get rid of it without destroying the last hope of free government in the world."
Not very heroic, but those were the times. As South Carolina debates removing the Confederate Battle Flag from the state grounds it is clear to me that we still have a lot of work to do on this and many other cultural issues and the balancing act that continues to evolve.
Just ask the clerk in Kentucky whose job it is to issue marriage licenses and by way of his religion now wants ignore the Supreme Court Decision that allows same sex marriages because it conflicts with his personal beliefs, how he is going to satisfy his conscience and keep his job.
Or in the very sectarian world of Uber versus the licensed cab drivers of the world. To maintain that Uber is just a computer application is a fantasy.
It is extremely hard to reconcile some positions these days but change does happen. Please remember that women only gained the right to vote in the United States in 1920, less than 100 years ago. If you want to wait for any majority to grant a civil right it's going to be a long wait. As Faulkner said about the past. The past isn't dead. it isn't even past.
The ideas related to abolition of slavery among the Unitarians and Universalists have evolved.
The following is from the UU website:
The debate about slavery in the United States proved contentious within both Unitarianism and Universalism. While some of the country's leading abolitionists were women and men who identified as Unitarian or Universalist, each of the young denominations struggled to articulate a unified stand. Churches in the Southern states felt the stresses acutely, because their congregational membership was drawn from both the North and the South and their ministers were most often Northerners. In the North, too, Unitarians and Universalists took a variety of positions on slavery, and some prominent Unitarians and Universalists debated on the national stage. For example, John Quincy Adams, a Unitarian, stood up against the agreement that kept Congress from debating slavery. In 1850, another Unitarian, President Millard Fillmore, signed the Fugitive Slave Law, reviled by most Unitarians in the North. Unitarian John C. Calhoun, Vice President under both John Quincy Adams and Andrew Jackson, defended slavery, predicting chaos and hardship for both black and white people in the South, were slavery to end. The debate stretched over decades and generations as people changed their stances.
Millard Fillmore, President said in a letter to Daniel Webster; ""God knows I detest slavery, but . . . we must endure it and give it such protection as is guaranteed by the Constitution till we can get rid of it without destroying the last hope of free government in the world."
Not very heroic, but those were the times. As South Carolina debates removing the Confederate Battle Flag from the state grounds it is clear to me that we still have a lot of work to do on this and many other cultural issues and the balancing act that continues to evolve.
Just ask the clerk in Kentucky whose job it is to issue marriage licenses and by way of his religion now wants ignore the Supreme Court Decision that allows same sex marriages because it conflicts with his personal beliefs, how he is going to satisfy his conscience and keep his job.
Or in the very sectarian world of Uber versus the licensed cab drivers of the world. To maintain that Uber is just a computer application is a fantasy.
It is extremely hard to reconcile some positions these days but change does happen. Please remember that women only gained the right to vote in the United States in 1920, less than 100 years ago. If you want to wait for any majority to grant a civil right it's going to be a long wait. As Faulkner said about the past. The past isn't dead. it isn't even past.
Comments
Post a Comment