Freethinker Solidarity Day

We've got that word "freethinker" up in the name; a word with an interesting history.
It is an old and honored word which generally means rejection of religious dogma.
The term would apply to the founders of the Unitarian movement, who rejected religious dogmas such as the trinity and the divinity of Jesus. They created a "church" where members were free to decide for themselves without dogma dictated from above. Modern Unitarian Universalist congregations include an assortment of liberal theists, pantheists, deists, agnostics and atheists. Congressman Pete Stark, the only member of Congress to acknowledge being an atheist is also a Unitarian.

Calling them Unitarian Universalist "Churches" is something of an historical artifact. Many congregations are called Fellowship's. The one on Franklin in San Francisco calls itself "The First Unitarian Universalist Society of San Francisco". Atheists are welcome, not as prospective converts like with evangelicals, but as fellow freethinkers. They are not about blind faith; you are expected to use your mind.

I'm not a Unitarian myself, but I've been thinking for a while now of checking out my local "Fellowship" to see what it's like. They seem to have preserved some of the good aspects of "church": the community, the humanist values, without the bad: religious dogma.

After reading the news of an unbalanced individual worked into a froth by hate rhetoric walking into a UU church in Knoxville, Tennessee, and firing at people with a shotgun, after reading about the brave people who stopped him, I'm feeling it's time to show some solidarity with the Unitarian Universalist movement.

These are the people brave enough to prominently advertise "Gays Welcome" in the bible belt. These are people whose charity is not some supernatural edict, but Humanist values that arise from within. These are Humanists. These are Freethinkers.

And there are people who would shoot them down.

I listed the location of this meetup at a prominent Unitarian Universalist location in San Francisco because Meetup requires a specific location. I'm not suggesting everyone go to that particular one. I'm suggesting that everyone find their nearest local Unitarian Universalist meeting this Sunday and show up in solidarity.

I'm going to my nearest local UU meeting. If they pass the plate, I'll even put in something in honor of Greg McKendry who stopped a shotgun blast to protect others.

Here's a link to help you find a UU location in the Bay Area:

http://www.uua.org/ab...

I turned off "Maybe" for this RSVP.
Nobody is going to be checking who went and who didn't.
RSVP "Yes" if you like this idea and are going to do it.