Podcasts about Theodore Parker

Spiritual congregations have a lengthy tradition of offering critiques of what they believe to be societal ills, and UUs and Humanists are no different. Theodore Parker, John Dietrich, Carl Storm, and Kendyl Gibbons — the last three were settled ministers here at First Unitarian Society — all witnessed deeply challenging times, and offered words of… Read More »We’ve Been Here Before The post We’ve Been Here Before appeared first on First Unitarian Society of Minneapolis.

Send us a textCan a higher moral law truly guide the course of human history?" Explore this profound question as we unravel the timeless journey of freedom, drawing inspiration from Theodore Parker's eloquent words. We navigate through the corridors of ancient empires like Rome and Greece, exposing the futility of attempts to stifle freedom. These grand societies, once mighty, crumbled from within due to their own injustices, serving as stark reminders of the consequences when righteousness is betrayed.Join us as we journey to the cradle of a newborn empire on the Alleghenies, a powerful metaphor for the young United States. Themes of justice, rights, and divine law are woven together, highlighting the essential duties of states to avert suffering. With a reflective lens, we urge vigilance and fidelity to conscience, calling on each citizen to honor the sacrifices of those who came before. This episode serves as both a cautionary tale and an inspiring call to action, reminding us of our shared past and moral responsibilities for the future.Support the showThe American Soul Podcasthttps://www.buzzsprout.com/1791934/subscribe

Dr. Michael Horswell engages in conversation with Dr. Stephen Engle, an award-winning history professor with over 32 years of experience in teaching and writing about nineteenth-century America.This episode of In Conversation delves into Dr. Engle's new book, In Pursuit of Justice: The Life of John Albion Andrew.  Stephen and Dr. Horswell discuss John Albion's one profoundly radical idea: that all men truly are created equal. He championed lost causes, loathed America's racial prejudices, and sought justice for the lowly, even when the fight was wholly unpopular. His story (from the 1830s through the 1860s) places slavery and abolition at the center of America's history and affirms that a life driven by justice and conviction can be timeless.Like Lincoln, his career was a reminder of the national tragedy that ensued from standing up for such beliefs, as opposing factions shaped divergent paths toward their vision of the “more perfect Union” that the founding fathers had charted in the Constitution. Throughout his life Andrew watched as the expanding republic struggled to endure half slave and half free. He recognized that slavery was incompatible with the Christian notion of inalienable human rights (as well as free-market capitalism), yet he lived in a strident era when sectionalism was shaping questions of territorial development and challenging Americans to decide whether God or man had relegated African Americans to human chattel. Slavery's expansion heightened the young idealist's political awareness.When the Civil War erupted just four months into his first term, Andrew considered the conflict not only a contest to restore the Union but also to advance the progress of the human condition in America. He advocated for emancipation during the war and persuaded the Lincoln administration to allow him to raise all-black regiments to fight for the Union and thereby demonstrate African American fitness for citizenship.Andrew spent his life following Theodore Parker's axiom. “I do not pretend to understand the moral universe, the arc is a long one,” said Parker, “my eye reaches but little ways, I cannot calculate the curve and complete the figure by the experience of sight: I can divine it by conscience. But from what I see I am sure it bends towards justice.”  Andrew saw the war as the opportunity to redefine the republic by embracing racial progress by ending slavery and bending the arm of the moral universe. Reverend Martin Luther King, Jr. would repeat Parker' words more than 100 years later in seeking racial justice. Dr. Stephen Engle  has received numerous awards throughout his career including being named a Distinguished Lecturer by the Organization of American Historians, a Fulbright Scholar for a year, a Gilder Lehrman Fellow, and a Huntington Library Fellow. He has lectured extensively in the United States and Germany, has appeared in c-span's Lectures in American History, and most recently lectures for the Smithsonian Institution as a part of the Smithsonian Associates Program. He is widely published in the genre of 19th Century American, having authored numerous books, essays, articles, and reviews including the prizing-winningGathering to Save a Nation (2016) and In Pursuit of Justice: The Life of John Albion Andrew (2023). 

Dr. Michael Horswell engages in conversation with Dr. Stephen Engle, an award-winning history professor with over 32 years of experience in teaching and writing about nineteenth-century America.This episode of In Conversation delves into Dr. Engle's new book, In Pursuit of Justice: The Life of John Albion Andrew.  Stephen and Dr. Horswell discuss John Albion's one profoundly radical idea: that all men truly are created equal. He championed lost causes, loathed America's racial prejudices, and sought justice for the lowly, even when the fight was wholly unpopular. His story (from the 1830s through the 1860s) places slavery and abolition at the center of America's history and affirms that a life driven by justice and conviction can be timeless. Like Lincoln, his career was a reminder of the national tragedy that ensued from standing up for such beliefs, as opposing factions shaped divergent paths toward their vision of the “more perfect Union” that the founding fathers had charted in the Constitution. Throughout his life Andrew watched as the expanding republic struggled to endure half slave and half free. He recognized that slavery was incompatible with the Christian notion of inalienable human rights (as well as free-market capitalism), yet he lived in a strident era when sectionalism was shaping questions of territorial development and challenging Americans to decide whether God or man had relegated African Americans to human chattel. Slavery's expansion heightened the young idealist's political awareness.When the Civil War erupted just four months into his first term, Andrew considered the conflict not only a contest to restore the Union but also to advance the progress of the human condition in America. He advocated for emancipation during the war and persuaded the Lincoln administration to allow him to raise all-black regiments to fight for the Union and thereby demonstrate African American fitness for citizenship.Andrew spent his life following Theodore Parker's axiom. “I do not pretend to understand the moral universe, the arc is a long one,” said Parker, “my eye reaches but little ways, I cannot calculate the curve and complete the figure by the experience of sight: I can divine it by conscience. But from what I see I am sure it bends towards justice.”  Andrew saw the war as the opportunity to redefine the republic by embracing racial progress by ending slavery and bending the arm of the moral universe. Reverend Martin Luther King, Jr. would repeat Parker' words more than 100 years later in seeking racial justice.  Dr. Stephen Engle  has received numerous awards throughout his career including being named a Distinguished Lecturer by the Organization of American Historians, a Fulbright Scholar for a year, a Gilder Lehrman Fellow, and a Huntington Library Fellow. He has lectured extensively in the United States and Germany, has appeared in c-span's Lectures in American History, and most recently lectures for the Smithsonian Institution as a part of the Smithsonian Associates Program. He is widely published in the genre of 19th Century American, having authored numerous books, essays, articles, and reviews including the prizing-winningGathering to Save a Nation (2016) and In Pursuit of Justice: The Life of John Albion Andrew (2023). 

“The Arc of the Universe” Sunday, August 28, 10:50 am, Worship Service Livestream August 28th is the 59th anniversary of the 1963 March on Washington for Racial Equality. Its keynote address by Reverend Martin Luther King Jr. has become the most famous speech in modern history. Echoed in his remarks that day were the paraphrased words of an early Unitarian minister, Theodore Parker; that the arc of the moral universe bends towards justice. Earlier this summer, the remarkable achievement of the Webb telescope began challenging humanity to look deeply into the past in order to make sense of today and what is to come. Indeed, in so many ways, we won't ever create the future of our dreams without understanding the past. Join us as we explore Dr. King's inspiration in the words of a radical Boston minster, how those words convinced a cultural icon to continue to go "where no man had gone before" and finally, how we're learning, through science, that there is indeed an arc in the universe and that it bends towards truth. Richard Davis-Lowell, Guest Preacher; Rev. Vanessa Rush Southern, Senior Minister; Katrina Walter, Flautist; Charmian Stewart, Violinist; Nancy Munn, Pianist; Richard Fey, Songleader Jonathan Silk, Communications Director; Joe Chapot, Live Chat Moderator; Remigio Flood, Sexton; Kelvin Jones, Sexton; Amy Kelly, Flowers; Linda Messner, Head Usher; Ralph Fenn, Les James, Tom Brookshire, Zoom Coffee Hour

“The Arc of the Universe” Sunday, August 28, 10:50 am, Worship Service Livestream August 28th is the 59th anniversary of the 1963 March on Washington for Racial Equality. Its keynote address by Reverend Martin Luther King Jr. has become the most famous speech in modern history. Echoed in his remarks that day were the paraphrased words of an early Unitarian minister, Theodore Parker; that the arc of the moral universe bends towards justice. Earlier this summer, the remarkable achievement of the Webb telescope began challenging humanity to look deeply into the past in order to make sense of today and what is to come. Indeed, in so many ways, we won't ever create the future of our dreams without understanding the past. Join us as we explore Dr. King's inspiration in the words of a radical Boston minster, how those words convinced a cultural icon to continue to go "where no man had gone before" and finally, how we're learning, through science, that there is indeed an arc in the universe and that it bends towards truth. Richard Davis-Lowell, Guest Preacher; Rev. Vanessa Rush Southern, Senior Minister; Katrina Walter, Flautist; Charmian Stewart, Violinist; Nancy Munn, Pianist; Richard Fey, Songleader Jonathan Silk, Communications Director; Joe Chapot, Live Chat Moderator; Remigio Flood, Sexton; Kelvin Jones, Sexton; Amy Kelly, Flowers; Linda Messner, Head Usher; Ralph Fenn, Les James, Tom Brookshire, Zoom Coffee Hour

In the decades before the Civil War, Americans appealed to the nation's sacred religious and legal texts – the Bible and the Constitution – to address the slavery crisis. The ensuing political debates over slavery deepened interpreters' emphasis on historical readings of the sacred texts, and in turn, these readings began to highlight the unbridgeable historical distances that separated nineteenth-century Americans from biblical and founding pasts. While many Americans continued to adhere to a belief in the Bible's timeless teachings and the Constitution's enduring principles, some antislavery readers, including Theodore Parker, Frederick Douglass, and Abraham Lincoln, used historical distance to reinterpret and use the sacred texts as antislavery documents. By using the debate over American slavery as a case study, Jordan T. Watkins traces the development of American historical consciousness in antebellum America, showing how a growing emphasis on historical readings of the Bible and the Constitution gave rise to a sense of historical distance. The post (Reuploaded) Maxwell Institute Podcast #147: Slavery, Sacred Texts, and Historical Consciousness, with Jordan Watkins appeared first on Neal A. Maxwell Institute | BYU.

In the decades before the Civil War, Americans appealed to the nation's sacred religious and legal texts – the Bible and the Constitution – to address the slavery crisis. The ensuing political debates over slavery deepened interpreters' emphasis on historical readings of the sacred texts, and in turn, these readings began to highlight the unbridgeable historical distances that separated nineteenth-century Americans from biblical and founding pasts. While many Americans continued to adhere to a belief in the Bible's timeless teachings and the Constitution's enduring principles, some antislavery readers, including Theodore Parker, Frederick Douglass, and Abraham Lincoln, used historical distance to reinterpret and use the sacred texts as antislavery documents. By using the debate over American slavery as a case study, Jordan T. Watkins traces the development of American historical consciousness in antebellum America, showing how a growing emphasis on historical readings of the Bible and the Constitution gave rise to a sense of historical distance. The post Maxwell Institute Podcast #147: Slavery, Sacred Texts, and Historical Consciousness, with Jordan Watkins appeared first on Neal A. Maxwell Institute | BYU.

The Rev. Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr.(1929-1968) quoted the Unitarian minister, Theodore Parker (1810-1860) when we said “the Arc of the Universe is long but it bends toward justice.” Our UU communities have long embraced a commitment to taking this long journey towards building a more just, peaceful and loving world. Our young adults incorporate the quest for justice and inclusion into their spiritual lives; hear their words on this connection.

In the decades before the Civil War, Americans appealed to the nation's sacred religious and legal texts - the Bible and the Constitution - to address the slavery crisis. The ensuing political debates over slavery deepened interpreters' emphasis on historical readings of the sacred texts, and in turn, these readings began to highlight the unbridgeable historical distances that separated nineteenth-century Americans from biblical and founding pasts. While many Americans continued to adhere to a belief in the Bible's timeless teachings and the Constitution's enduring principles, some antislavery readers, including Theodore Parker, Frederick Douglass, and Abraham Lincoln, used historical distance to reinterpret and use the sacred texts as antislavery documents. By using the debate over American slavery as a case study, Jordan T. Watkins traces the development of American historical consciousness in antebellum America, showing how a growing emphasis on historical readings of the Bible and the Constitution gave rise to a sense of historical distance.-Jordan T. Watkins is an assistant professor of church history and doctrine at Brigham Young University. Previously, he was a coeditor at The Joseph Smith Papers Project.

Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr., on many occasions used a modern revision of the words of abolitionist minister, Theodore Parker, when he told us, "The arc of the moral universe is long, but it bends toward justice." In today's episode, we join our guest host, Brian Fox of Fox Brewery in West Des Moines as we seek to understand just what we mean by social justice and what the role of music is in that search. More specifically, what role did music play in our own lives to help us develop at least some sense of morality in regard to social justice. Heavy topic, but a great discussion...after the first three beers had disappeared. Please consider visiting Fox Brewery (103 South 11th St. / West Des Moines, IA) and chat it up with Brian and his patrons. We're sure you'll enjoy the visit. As always...thanks for listening.Feel free to enjoy the companion Spotify playlist for this episode. You can find it right here:spotify:playlist:0Wy5NbmaDLihItA3lzs3RR

Speach by Theodore Parker. 1848.--- This episode is sponsored by · Anchor: The easiest way to make a podcast. https://anchor.fm/appSupport this podcast: https://anchor.fm/lincoln-ledger1/support See acast.com/privacy for privacy and opt-out information.

It should come as a surprise to no one that the media we consume is polluted by misinformation and disinformation. Podcasting is part of that media mix, which means that podcasting has a similar level of misinformation and disinformation propagating through the podosphere. Though I’m reticent to assign blame and am quite aware that correlation does not equal causation, there’s an argument to be made that the perceived increase in falsifiable claims in podcasting and all forms of media is due, at least in part, to a privileged class feeling threatened. There may not be (and there isn’t) a smoky dark room where monied old white men decide what podcasts get the most attention. But there are organizations with a vested interest (and power, and money, and influence) in keeping the status quo the status quo, if only to profit from others who also want the world to remain static. Or roll backward. And once again, podcasting is not immune. When those threatened have a podcast, they shout louder. They become more reactionary. And willingly or unwillingly, they perpetuate the misinformation and disinformation. It’s in their immediate financial interest to do so.  There's an old saying attributed to Theodore Parker (https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Theodore_Parker) that I, like many before me, am going to bastardize for my own purposes. Here it is: “The arc of the moral universe is often crooked, but it bends towards justice.” That means that bad things happen. There are setbacks. New atrocities will be dreamed up and inflicted upon groups of people. Yes, those things are true. But when examined in totality and on a long enough timescale, things tend to get better. Not all at once. And not for all people. Sometimes it takes years, decades, or centuries. But the trend towards justice does seem to exist. And so while podcasting currently has (and always has had) a fair amount of misinformation and disinformation in it, and a fair amount of privileged class members feeling threatened by changes they are just now picking up on that have been rolling through society for some time; it is (or will be) trending towards justice. There’s a growing movement inside the podcasting landscape working to curtail the misinformation and disinformation that permeates our medium. They certainly won’t make any friends with the privileged class, but they aren’t trying to make friends. They’re taking a stand against the misinformation and disinformation often disguised by the privileged class as “opinions” or “just asking questions”. They're stepping up saying, “No, we won’t be a part of this”. They're banding together and taking their grievances up the ladder, trying to convince shareholders and stakeholders why misinformation and disinformation is damaging to the platform and organizational brand. And they’re seeing results.  (https://www.instagram.com/p/CFSYnUFA8Fb/) The activism we’re seeing in podcasting isn’t going away. This trend towards responsibility is a grassroots effort that will continue, as it has been continuing. So what are you going to do about it? I see one of three choices you have to make. You can help. You can help straighten the crooked path. You can actively fight the spread of misinformation and disinformation by simply not spreading it on your show. You can speak up when others in your sphere of influence fall short of that. You can work to change podcasting for the better. You can get out of the way. Not everyone has the stomach for fighting. We need lots of podcasters making great content that has nothing to do with “the fight”. So yes, you can choose to not engage and step out of the way.  You can get run over. The purveyors of misinformation and disinformation aren’t going to stop. But those actively fighting it will get better in their ability to detect falsehoods. They’ll be better equipped with more options to take action against shows and hosts who continue to distribute misinformation. So sure, you Support this podcast

Evolve 360 Cheli Shell Show | Sacred Contract of America – Part 2: Sins of America In part 2 series on the Sacred Contract of America, Soul sisters, Cheli Grace & Shelley Devine discuss the Sins of America and their impact on the people of our nation. Also mentioned in the show: Caroline Myss Martin Luther King Theodore Parker Abigail Adams Harriet Tubman Quock Walker William Cushing Elizabeth Freeman King George III Thomas Jefferson Alexander Hamilton (Federalist Papers) James Madison John Adams George Washington Marquis De Lafayette James Buchanan Gabriel Prosser Nat Turner Abraham Lincoln Tiokasin Ghosthorse Archetypes mentioned: Victim / Victimizer Prostitute Saboteur Child (orphan) King Aristocrat Rebel Visionary Mystic Entrepreneur / Philanthropist Mother Pioneer Slave / Master Judge Please SHARE and tell your friends. Thank you!!

More than a century ago, the Unitarian minister Theodore Parker evoked the image of the moral arc of the universe bending toward justice. How does that powerful image inform our justice work today? Listen to Rev. Linda Hart Green speak on “bending the arc.”

Today we celebrate the one of the 19th century’s top orchidologist and the birthday of a man who used his wealth to purchase an American garden treasure. We'll learn about one of the most prolific female plant collectors and the florist who shocked London with her floral displays. Today’s Unearthed Words feature a beloved American poet and children’s book author celebrating her 93rd birthday. We Grow That Garden Library™ with a book that helps us grow edibles indoors - a great topic for January. I'll talk about a garden item that can help define the look of your garden space, and then we’ll wrap things up with the birthday of a master storyteller who incorporated descriptions of real and fictitious plants in his landscapes. But first, let's catch up on a few recent events. Subscribe Apple | Google | Spotify | Stitcher | iHeart Curated Articles How to make a small garden feel more spacious | Blog at Thompson & Morgan “If you can hone down the style of your space in terms of colors & style, keep the number of different materials used to a minimum and pare down your planting palette, you’ll find the overall look is more coherent and pleasing to Colombian Botanist Risking His Life To Preserve Nature's Memory | @IBTimes From @IBTimes The botanist Julio Betancur is a 59-year-old, a biologist, university professor and "collector of bromeliads -- which include the pineapple, Spanish moss and queen of the Andes -- says it's worth taking the risks so his country can 'know about' its biodiversity. "Every time I take a botanical sample it's like writing a page in the book of our forests," he said. In the future, once the vegetation has disappeared from somewhere, people "will know what species lived there at a certain time and with that will reconstruct the natural history of this territory." Now, if you'd like to check out these curated articles for yourself, you're in luck, because I share all of it with the Listener Community in the Free Facebook Group - The Daily Gardener Community. So, there’s no need to take notes or search for links - the next time you're on Facebook, search for Daily Gardener Community and request to join. I'd love to meet you in the group. Important Events 1796 Today is the birthday of the Scottish artist, naturalist, and ornithologist William MacGillvray. He once walked 838 miles from Old Aberdeen to London in order to visit the natural history museum there. Along the way, MacGillvray documented all the flora and fauna he encountered. You can read about it in a book by Dr. Robert Ralph called A Walk to London. It’s a brilliant read. (Btw, In his journal, MacGillvray also kept a tally of all the whiskeys he drank on the way to London!) At the bottom of every day he would right his miles walked that day, the total miles walked, and the number of whiskies drank. Here’s one humorous account from September 11, 1819: “As I have no Botanical accounts for my readers tonight I shall try to patch up a story somehow or other...My readers will recollect that I came here on a dark night, wet and weary. At the door I met a woman of whom I am required if I might stay all night. Like other honest women of her kind she thought fit to scrutinize my exterior in order to regulate her conduct by the result. So a candle was held to my face, and adore then opened for me. The results of my examination was not favorable to me as I was informed that I would be obliged to sleep with a man to whom she pointed in bed, and as I grumbled told me to reconsider the matter.” MacGillvray was a Professor of Natural History at the University of Aberdeen from 1841 until his death. He founded the Zoology Museum, which still houses some of his specimens. The MacGillvray warbler is named after MacGillvray. 1884 Today is the anniversary of the death of the Austrian botanist and monk Gregor Mendel. He pioneered the study of heredity when he gave peas a chance. In all seriousness, he discovered the basic principles of heredity through experiments with peas in his garden at the Augustinian monastery he lived in at Brno in the Czech Republic. During a seven-year. In the mid-1800s, Mendel grew nearly 30,000 P plants Dash taking notes of their height and shape and color. This work resulted in the laws of hereditary heredity. And Mendel came up with genetic terms that we still use today like dominant and recessive genes. 1896 Today is the birthday of the botanist and prolific plant collector Charles Austin Gardner. Gardener was born in England, but his family immigrated to Australia in the early 1900’s. Gardener had a tremendous love for plants and landscape painting. During his 20s he received painting intruction and encouragement from the Landscapeape painter JW Linton and the wildflower painter Emily Pelloe. He created a impressive herbarium with Nearly 10,000 specimens specimens from all over Australia. He helped start the Western Australian naturalist Club. And although he had become a repository for information about Western Australian Flora, he never did publish a book on the Flora of Western Australia. in part because he didn't work well with other botanists it is much more of an individual list. He received a number of honors and medals for his work but Macho his much of his information about Australian plant geography and distribution and plant biology was lost when he died. Today in Tammin in Western Australia, there is a Charles Gardner Memorial that is surrounded by over 50 species of native wildflowers. There's also a Charles Gardner National Park I was named in his honor. 1945 Today is the 75th birthday of the American botanist Alwyn Howard Gentry. Gentry's life was tragically cut short when his plane crashed in fog into a forested mountain during a treetop survey in Ecuador. At the time, Gentry was just 48 years old and he was at the peak of his career Dash A towering figure in tropical biology and ranking among the world's leading field biologist. He also was the senior curator at the Missouri Botanical Garden. Theodore Parker the third was also on the plane with Gentry. Parker was a world expert ornithologist. Parker's fiance survived the crash and she told a reporter that Gentry and Parker had survived the crash but without immediate medical attention and remaining traps in the wreckage of the plane they died the following morning. Gentry and Parker both died doing what they loved Gentry recognized the powerful pull of the rainforest, writing: "The Amazon is a world of lush green vegetation and abundant waters, has inspired naturalists, fortune hunters, dreamers, explorers and exploiters" According to conservation International Gentry had collected more specimens then any other living botanist at the time. A staggering 70000 plants. To this day, botanist ReliOn Gentry's Guide to the Woody plants of Peru for understanding neotropical and tropical plants. Unearthed Words Here are some verses about the beginning of the new year: January is here, with eyes that keenly glow, A frost-mailed warrior striding a shadowy steed of snow. — Edgar Fawcett, American poet (1847-1904) Janus am I; oldest of potentates; Forward I look, and backward, and below I count, as god of avenues and gates, The years that through my portals come and go. –Henry Wadsworth Longfellow, American poet (1807–82) Time has no divisions to mark its passage, there is never a thunder-storm or blare of trumpets to announce the beginning of a new month or year. Even when a new century begins it is only we mortals who ring bells and fire off pistols." — Thomas Mann, The Magic Mountain Anyone who thinks that gardening begins in the spring and ends in the fall is missing the best part of the whole year. For gardening begins in January with the dream. — Josephine Nuese Grow That Garden Library A Garden Miscellany by Suzanne Staubach The subtitle to this book is: Turn Your Home Into a Year-round Vegetable Garden - Microgreens - Sprouts - Herbs - Mushrooms - Tomatoes, Peppers & More. Great Gifts for Gardeners baotongle 100 pcs Plant Clips, Orchid Clips Plant Orchid Support Clips Flower and Vine Clips for Supporting Stems Vines Grow Upright Dark Green $6.49 These clips are high quality. .They are non-toxic and eco-friendly. You can use it for outdoors and indoors plant. They are suitable for small and medium sized plants. These plant clips hold stems and delicate flowers securely, non-slip, provide great and steady support for plants to grow upright and towards sunlight. Can be used to tomato support, orchid, vine or seedlings. Just clip the stem to bamboo stakes, tomato cage or anything that can provide support. Today’s Botanic Spark 1946 Today is the birthday of the guitarist, singer, songwriter and co-founder of Pink Floyd, Syd Barrett. After his immense success with Pink Floyd, Sid released to solo LPS and then disappeared into a self-imposed 30 year exile where he spent most of his time painting and gardening. Before his life with Pink Floyd he'd attended the camberwell art school and one of the pieces he is still remembered for is a still life of dried flowers that he had created with watercolor. Sid died of cancer at the age of 60 In 2006. Before he died, Sid was a patient at Addenbrooke's hospital in Cambridge. In 2017, following his death his friend the sculptor Stephen Pyle and a garden designer named Paul Harrington were working to install the Syd Barrett Garden at the hospital. Stephen’s sculpture of Sid shows him riding on his bicycle - hands-free - with a guitar in one hand and artist brushes in the other

Alisa Herr is the CEO and founder of Unity Digital Agency. Grounded in the principles of sustainability, community, and social equity, Unity is a digital agency for mission-based organizations. Alisa is also co-host of the Podcast, Arc Benders. The name "Arc Benders" is inspired by the quote from Theodore Parker, "the arc of the moral universe is long, but it bends towards justice," which was made famous by Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr. Heart Stock is a production of KBMF 102.5 Fm and is underwritten by Purse for the People.

It is said that “The Journey of a Thousand Miles Begins with One Step”. Once we join hands and hearts in common endeavour, there will be no limit to what we can achieve together. 1 Welcome by Gordon Ritchie 0:00 2 Prelude “Be Ours a Religion” by Theodore Parker and Thomas Benjamin 1:46 3 Opening Words “In Our Circle Again” by Shari Woodbury 2:52 4 Kindling the Chalice “Take from Life Its Coals” by Laurel S. Sheridan 5:04 5 Hymn of the Month “One Flame” 5:32 6 Children's Recessional “Guide You on Your Way” 8:19 7 “The Edge” by David O. Rankin, read by Susan Lynch 9:54 8 Hymn 168 “One More Step” 11:51 9 “Let Us Make This Earth a Heaven” by Tess Baumberger, read by Karen Mills 13:34 10 Hymn 86 “Blessed Spirit of My Life” 15:27 11 Sharing Our Abundance, Child Haven International 17:03 12 “Strong Is What We Make Each Other” by Mary Grigolia 18:08 13 Receiving the Offering 19:36 14 Reflection “The Journey of a Thousand Miles” by Gordon Ritchie 20:10 15 Hymn 123 “Spirit of Life” 33:46 16 Meditation in word “A Prayer for the Faithifiers” by Hilary Allen 34:57 17 Meditation in song “Prayer of the Children” by Kurt Bestor 36:03 18 Hymn 131 “Love Will Guide Us” 39:47 19 Responsive Reading “Affirmation of Hope” by Loretta F. Williams 41:14 20 Thanks to volunteers 42:49 21 Postlude “There Is Peace” by Jim Papoulis 43:53 22 Extinguishing the Flame “Go Your Ways” by John W. Brigham 48:28 23 “Carry the Flame” 48:38 UCE - https://www.uce.ca/ Facebook Group - https://www.facebook.com/groups/41659071349/ Facebook Page - https://www.facebook.com/UnitarianChurch/ YouTube - https://www.youtube.com/user/EdmUnitarian Twitter - https://twitter.com/UnitarianUCE Instagram - https://www.instagram.com/unitarianuce/ SoundCloud - https://soundcloud.com/user-189401827/

The arc of the moral universe is long, but it bends towards justice.- Dr Martin Luther King, Jr (after Theodore Parker). 1964, Middletown, Connecticut.Something a little different this week! In an essay in 1853, Theodore Parker set up ideas on social responsibility, justice, conscience, and the nature of God reflected in human beings that still resonate today. The quotation made famous by Dr King, is actually a paraphrase from this essay, in which Parker critiques both church and state to present the gospel of a human Jesus bringing good news to the rest of humanity. Read transcriptRead more »

This is the first episode of the See Joy Podcast!  3:43 -Dictionary.com definition of joy https://www.dictionary.com/browse/joy 3 :51 -Oxford dictionary definition of joy https://www.oxfordlearnersdictionaries.com/definition/american_english/joy 4 :06 -My Definition of Joy https://www.instagram.com/p/BvMLJERApp0/ 4:53 - Martin Luther King Jr paraphrasing Theodore Parker https://quoteinvestigator.com/2012/11/15/arc-of-universe/ 5:04 - Another Round episode with Ta-Nehisi Coates https://soundcloud.com/anotherroundwithhebenandtracy/episode-29-whats-on-your-reparations-tab 5: 22 - Murphy’s Law explanation https://people.howstuffworks.com/murphys-law.htm 6:13 - The Four Humours Test https://ipfs.io/ipfs/QmXoypizjW3WknFiJnKLwHCnL72vedxjQkDDP1mXWo6uco/wiki/Four_temperaments.html 9:41 -  Modern Habits That are Terrible but we praise https://soundcloud.com/crackedpod/5-mainstream-health-habits It’s the first topic in the conversation, it is fairly long 10:18 - Reference about how lack of sleep leads to disease https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC4548518/ 17:12 -  What is iGEM? https://igem.org/About 19:53 -  “I felt like a working girl” -  I don’t think it sounded right in the recording... 20:02 - The project I was part of - http://2018.igem.org/Team:Exeter 23:20 - Subway safety advice https://www.tracysnewyorklife.com/playing-it-safe-in-new-york-subway/ 24:13 - Proverbs 17:17 https://www.biblegateway.com/passage/?search=Proverbs+17%3A17&version=NIV   25:24 - A great podcast Marbie’s Kitchen was recommended by my homie Jodie https://podcasts.apple.com/gb/podcast/marbies-kitchen/id1438265220 26:22 -  I’d like to think that voice was reminiscent Dr Doofenschmirtz https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=6piv99N-WP4 27: 44 - Episode coming soon… (update when it comes out) 28:20 - M.E.P - maximum enjoyment purposes , P.E - personal enjoyment 29: 28 - Shakshuka https://downshiftology.com/recipes/shakshuka/ 29:43 - A solid bossa nova playlist https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=2lhxvpmldek 30:00 -Aromatherapy and muscles https://www.healthline.com/health/fitness-exercise/essential-oils-for-sore-muscles#takeaway 30:27- My view 31:56 - https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=OPs_8MkTwCo 32:40 - Shopping psychology - how a confusing layout gets you to buy https://www.telegraph.co.uk/news/uknews/8278010/Ikea-layout-intended-to-confuse-shoppers.html 33:15 - My instagram https://www.instagram.com/morayo.baking/ 33:45 - 41:13 -I’m melting reference https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=aopdD9Cu-So 44:10 - Don’t you worry bout a thing - Stevie Wonder https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=zywDiFdxopU 45:28  - Don’t let your gift take you where grace cannot keep you 48:28 - Knuck if you buck https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=9saEpqhBP5M 51:25 - Yoooo, this sound change is wild - idek how this happened 51:48 - http://morayopodcast.libsyn.com/ https://podcasts.google.com/?feed=aHR0cDovL21vcmF5b3BvZGNhc3QubGlic3luLmNvbS9yc3M https://podcasts.apple.com/gb/podcast/see-joy/id1451726095 https://open.spotify.com/show/1lo2YMJVO9UfaEFQFbPMaQ?si=UKYIQBk4TP-cAV8CiEXbew 51: 56 -  Morayobaking.com coming soon... 52:00 - https://www.instagram.com/morayo.baking/n      Like what you heard? Leave a review on iTunes or share the podcast with your friends. Follow @morayo.baking on Instagram to see new creations. Subscribe to the Morayo mailing list for exclusive content and be the first to hear about new things coming up:http://eepurl.com/gf9DeP  Morayobaking.com - coming soon!

Boston abolitionists rallied in response to the Fugitive Slave Act, ushering in an era of more active resistance that we chronicled in episodes 15-17. This week, we’re spotlighting the role that Theodore Parker, a radically liberal Unitarian minister, played in securing the safety of self-emancipated African Americans and inciting the city to oppose slavery with violence if necessary. Show notes: http://HUBhistory.com/112

Aired Tuesday, 21 August 2018, 5:00 PM ESTCultural Evolution As Inevitable Reality – Hope Without “Hopium”An Interview with Jim Kenney, Author of “Thriving In the Cross-Current”“Of course Jesus believed in evolution. Otherwise he would have said, ‘Now don’t do a thing until I get back’.” — Swami BeyondanandaThere’s a famous quote from Martin Luther King inspired by the writings of the American minister and transcendentalist Theodore Parker, “The arc of the moral universe is long, but it bends toward justice.”Of course in these days where the very present arc of the immoral universe seems bent on injustice, some skepticism is understandable. This week’s Wiki Politiki guest, author and cultural educator Jim Kenney would say that his studies of cultural evolution indicate that our current “shituation” is an eddy in a river flowing relentlessly toward greater awareness and interdependence, a “cross-current” in the course of evolution, which ultimately only flows in one direction.Kenney, who’s been recognized for decades as a leader in the global movement for intercultural understanding, calls his stance “reality-based hope” that the arc of our cultural (and spiritual) evolution is moving us closer to the Golden Rule, and further from the “rule of gold”.As an activist promoting and cooperative action among the world’s religious communities, he had a major role in the two largest interreligious gatherings ever held, the 1993 and 1999 Parliaments of the World’s Religions (Chicago and Cape Town). He was global director of the Parliament from 1995 to 2002; and, in 2002, he founded the Interreligious Engagement Project, helping global interreligious communities address critical planetary issues.Kenney is also the co-founder and executive director of Common Ground, an adult educational center offering a wide range of programs on the great cultural, religious, philosophical, and spiritual traditions and their implications for every dimension of human experience. He is also co-founder and coeditor of Interreligious Insight: A Journal of Dialogue and Engagement and, from 1988 to 2009, was consulting editor and a regular contributor to Conscious Choice, an alternative-living magazine based in Chicago.For over thirty years, Jim has lectured widely on political, social, religious, and cultural issues. Over the past decade, his research and writing have focused on cultural evolution: how human societies adapt—sometimes dramatically—to a changing world. Thriving in the Crosscurrent is the pinnacle of that work.As we come to realize that the attention-grabbing “current events” are really “cross-current events” in a much longer and deeper narrative, we can take actions today that will release our ship of state from the current dangerous eddy, and empower the “sea change” that will help us SEE CHANGE in our lifetimes.Please join us for this surprising and inspiring conversation about our evolutionary “humanifest destiny” this Tuesday, August 21st at 2 pm PT / 5 pm ET. http://omtimes.com/iom/shows/wiki-politiki-radio-show/Or, find us on the Wiki archives on Wednesday: http://wikipolitiki.com/archives/How you can support Wiki Politiki — A Clear Voice In The “Bewilderness”If you LOVE what you hear, and appreciate the mission of Wiki Politiki, “put your money where your mouse is” … Join the “upwising” — join the conversation, and become a Wiki Politiki supporter: http://wikipolitiki.com/join-the-upwising/Go ahead, PATRONIZE me! Support Wiki Politiki monthly through Patreon!

Simon Tam likes to quote Martin Luther King Jr.’s famous line — paraphrased from transcendentalist Theodore Parker’s earlier statement — that “the arc of the moral universe is long, but it bends toward justice.” That said, Tam likes to add that the arc doesn’t bend on its own. It takes courageous individuals willing to stand up for their rights for justice to be achieved. Tam can now add himself to the list of those who bore the cost of standing up for their rights — and found justice. Yesterday, the Supreme Court of the United States unanimously ruled in Matal v. Tam that the First Amendment prohibits the United States Patent and Trademark Office from denying trademark registration for the name of Tam’s rock band, The Slants, because it allegedly “disparages” Asians. The PTO didn’t care that Tam, the founder of and bass player for The Slants, is himself of Asian descent — as are all the band members — or that Tam picked the name to celebrate Asian heritage, not disparage it. On today’s special “extra” episode of So to Speak, we speak with University of Washington School of Law scholar Ronald Collins and FIRE Justice Robert H. Jackson Legal Fellow Zachary Greenberg about the decision. We also feature an April interview we conducted with The Slants about the case at FIRE’s Philadelphia office. To close out the show, The Slants perform two acoustic songs for your listening pleasure. www.sotospeakpodcast.com Video: https://youtu.be/iqr6l-mEGCA Follow us on Twitter: twitter.com/freespeechtalk Like us on Facebook: facebook.com/sotospeakpodcast Email us: sotospeak@thefire.org Call in a question: 215-315-0100

"A New Season” Isaiah 2:1-5 The word that Isaiah son of Amoz saw concerning Judah and Jerusalem. 2In days to come the mountain of the Lord’s house shall be established as the highest of the mountains, and shall be raised above the hills; all the nations shall stream to it. 3Many peoples shall come and say, “Come, let us go up to the mountain of the Lord, to the house of the God of Jacob; that he may teach us his ways and that we may walk in his paths.” For out of Zion shall go forth instruction and the word of the Lord from Jerusalem. 4He shall judge between the nations, and shall arbitrate for many peoples; they shall beat their swords into plowshares, and their spears into pruning hooks; nation shall not lift up sword against nation, neither shall they learn war any more. 5O house of Jacob, come, let us walk in the light of the Lord! Today I feel a need to offer a confession. My confession is centered around my use of my smartphone. It all started innocently, when I switched to using my smartphone as my alarm clock when my bedside alarm clock went on the fritz. My morning routine changed as a result. The alarm goes off. I silence it. Since it is now in my hand, I google the UCC daily devotion and spend a minute or two reading it. Feeling good that I began the day on a positive spiritual note, I then hit my news app. and for the next 10-20 minutes or more I spend reading the morning news. I had not thought about this change in my routine until I read an editorial in The Christian Century written by the editor, Peter W. Marty 1. He wrote the following, “Ever since I started using my smartphone as a morning alarm clock, my wake-up habits have shifted. Instead of engaging in prayer to open my day – once a regular feature of my rising…I check the news. When I lean over the edge of the bed to shut off the alarm, I notice my screen displaying news alerts that arrived overnight. Of course I click on them, wondering what I might have heroically saved in the world had I stayed up all night…I’m consumed by the news.” Then he asks the question, “Do we actually consume the news, or does the news consume us? Either way, it’s hardly a noble activity.” He goes on to quote Alain de Botton, a British-based philosopher and author of The News: A User’s Manual. Marty writes that, “de Botton believes that in contemporary culture, news has largely replaced religion as “our central source of guidance and out touchstone of authority.” The news – not scripture, tradition, or inspired ritual – informs how we handle suffering and make moral choices….It makes us more shallow than we may want to admit.” If he is correct, I am challenged by this thought. The last thing that I want to become is more shallow. My fear is that he may very well be correct. The ten or twenty minutes that I spent scanning the news feeds was time not spent in prayer or reading a devotional. And I must admit there is little in the news that is edifying or life altering, whereas time spent in prayer or reading spiritual writings is almost always edifying and life altering. Martin Luther King, one time quoted Theodore Parker, a Unitarian Minister from the early part of the 1800’s. In a sermon calling for the abolition of slavery Parker said, “The arc of the moral universe is long, but it bends toward justice.” I would like to think that as a moral person I am participating in this arc of the universe. My morning rituals certainly do not appear to be bending me in that direction. So today on this first Sunday of Advent, the first Sunday of a new Christian year, if you are like me, spending precious time of your day responding to all of the chirps and vibrations coming from your smartphones, time that takes you and me away from participating in the bending of the arc of the universe, let us take this time to stop and reflect on who we have become. One thing that I suspect has happened to us as we spend more time being consumed by the news, is that we are less hopeful about the future. The more we read and watch armed conflicts, whether they be in Syria or Afghanistan, or the more we hear of another black youth or police officer killed here in the United States, the less likely we are able to connect with the vision that Isaiah was casting, that of a world where they shall beat their swords into plowshares, and their spears into pruning hooks; nation shall not lift up sword against nation, neither shall they learn war any more. Sadly a vision that cannot be imagined is a vision that will never come into being. My fear is that we are a generation that is losing its imagination. For instance, when I was an early teen, the Vietnam was came to an end. Our country went for almost the next 15 years without involvement in war. By the time I was 30 years old, I had lived half of my life in peace time. Compare that time to my oldest son who was born in 1990. He is now 26 with no memory of a time when we have not been at war. His whole generation has not experienced a time of peace. We now have a generation for the first time in memory that cannot imagine what peace can be like for they have no experience of it. What cannot be imagined is not likely to become a reality. Isaiah’s prophetic words call us to reclaim our imagination. The prophet’s words are so graceful, so haunting, so expressive of our deepest yearnings that they have been etched into a wall called the “Isaiah Wall.” This wall stands in the park opposite the United Nations. It serves as a public reminder to the leaders of the nations of this world of the vision of the “Beloved Community,” a community where peace reigns and where there is justice for all people. There are many in this world that have lost the ability to imagine such a world that Isaiah envisions. In a reflection on peace and justice, Mary Hinkle Shore suggests, "even skeptics have to admit that justice, safety, and widespread prosperity have a better chance of resulting in peace than injustice, danger, and disparity of wealth" (New Proclamation Year A 2007-2008). So as we enter this season of Advent, a season that gives us four weeks to prepare to receive God’s gift to us, a gift that changed the world, a gift that lived Isaiah’s vision into being. It is a gift that challenges us to take the vision of a peace and justice filled world and to live it into being. So let us prepare by setting aside those things that distract us from participating in that great arc as it moves toward justice. Let us become like the 100 year old woman who on the occasion of her birthday, when she was being interviewed by a reporter and asked, Do you have children?” She responded, “Not yet!” Or let us be like a little farm girl on her 12th birthday, who got up before dawn and ran out to the barn. She had asked her parents for a pony and was hoping that it would be there. She flung open the barn door, but in the dim light, could see no pony, only mounds of horse manure. Being an optimist she declared, “With all of this manure around, there must be a pony in there somewhere.” Young or old, let us use this time that is given to us to and let us “walk in the light” of which Isaiah speaks. Do not allow the distractions of this world, whether they be the constant news alerts pinging on our phones, or facebook posts, or cute cat videos, cause us to lose our way. Let us keep our eye on that vision that Isaiah cast and for which Jesus lived and died. Let us find ways, whether as individuals or as a community of faith to continue to bend the arc toward justice and toward peace. Let us make that commitment as we enter this season of Advent, a season whose purpose is for us to prepare our lives for Christ to find a home. The arc awaits our bending… 1Peter W. Marty, “Consumed by the News,” The Christian Century, November 23, 2016, p. 3.

Intro Hi and welcome to Books Between - a podcast to help teachers, parents, and librarians connect kids between 8-12 to books they’ll love. I’m your host, Corrina Allen - a 5th grade teacher, a mom of two hopeful girls, and  - and here. With you.  And doubling down on everything that is good in this world. On being that champion for books and for readers and an unflinching advocate for all children. Today is Monday, November 21st, 2016 and this is Episode #11.   I’m breaking with our typical format this week to talk with you a little more personally. I’ll be honest and say that I don’t quite feel ready yet to go back to business as usual. The past two weeks have given us all a lot to think about. Issues and concerns that maybe were on a back burner are now front and center.  Goals of kindness, truth, empathy, acceptance of diversity - all values that seemed to be winning, suddenly appear newly threatened.  And yes - I know now how naive I was to think that.   During this time of intense national division, it seems appropriate to pause, to reflect, to reassess, and ultimately to set some new priorities. During the last episode, I talked about the novel Children of Exile and how the utopian city had founding principles based on the best human philosophies. And the one that I keep mulling over is the Martin Luther King, Jr. quote “The arc of the moral universe is long, but it bends toward justice.”     And actually, MLKs quote is paraphrased from words spoken 100 years earlier by abolitionist Theodore Parker.  And right now, I echo Parker’s sentiment when he said of that moral arc “I cannot calculate the curve.”   But, the version of that quote that I like best, the one that spurs me on now, is President Barack Obama’s from his 2008 speech commemorating Martin Luther King Jr’s March on Washington. He said, “The arc of the moral universe may bend towards justice, but it doesn’t bend on its own.”   So as I think about myself as an educator and as a mom, I am asking myself some questions.   How can I, as a reading advocate, work to bend that arc?   What do I need to change within myself? And how can I help children see beyond their bubble and into the lives of others in a way leads them to empathy and action? It’s going to be hard work, but here are a few ideas and few places to find inspiration:   First - we adults should read books that make us a little uncomfortable. We need to take a look within and ask ourselves, what pieces of the human experience have I overlooked? Seek out other perspectives, share those books with friends, and be vocal about what you are learning from them. Over the last week, I’ve been compiling lists of adult memoirs and nonfiction that will start to help me better understand the point of view of folks not like me. This week that started with reading Between the World and Me by Ta-Nehisi Coates. I’m hoping for new insight for myself and to pass along to the children in my life.   Second - find your reading crew. And gather to inspire each other and sometimes push each other to think in new ways. Now, I’m in a women’s book club with some close family members. We’ve been meeting for 10 years. Last month, my sister-in-law recommended the YA novel, Challenger Deep by Neal Schusterman. I don’t often have time to read much Young Adult and I never would have picked it up myself, but reading that novel has forever changed the way I view mental illness. And helped me to have more patience and compassion. Third - help your children and students find their reading crew. Connect kids with other readers and help them discover their own reading community. A friend of mine hosts a monthly children’s read aloud at her Little Free Library right in her front yard. Parents and kids gather on a blanket and she reads aloud books connected to gender equality or prejudice or whatever topic seems most needed at the time. It is incredible.   Fourth - be a champion for diverse books.  Donate to the We Need Diverse Books campaign (I’ll link to that in the show notes) and truly commit to including more diverse titles in your library or home. And not only putting them on the shelf, but  enthusiastically book talking them. And if you can, donate some titles to needy schools or your local libraries. And a final thought - if you want inspiration, if you want a testament to how incredible the kidlit community is, check out two things: 1. The hashtag #hugsfromkidlit and#2 The Declaration in Support of Children at thebrownbookshelf.com The statement begins with the following: Children’s literature may be the most influential literary genre of all. Picture books, chapter books, middle-grade and young-adult novels all serve the most noble of purposes: to satisfy the need for information, to entertain curious imaginations, to encourage critical thinking skills, to move and inspire. Within their pages, seeds of wisdom and possibility are sown. Therefore we, the undersigned children’s book authors and illustrators*, do publicly affirm our commitment to using our talents and varied forms of artistic expression to help eliminate the fear that takes root in the human heart amid lack of familiarity and understanding of others; the type of fear that feeds stereotypes, bitterness, racism and hatred; the type of fear that so often leads to tragic violence and senseless death. As of today, November 21st, it is signed by over 600 children’s book authors and illustrators. I’ll link to to the full statement on the shownotes -  it’s worth reading in its entirety and please consider supporting them. Let me just read you the final paragraph.   With paintbrushes and pens in hand, we, the undersigned, will continue to press toward the goals of equality, justice, and peace. We will write. We will draw. We will listen to the children. We invite you to join us. In the words of Ella Baker, “We who believe in freedom cannot rest.” https://thebrownbookshelf.com/2016/11/14/a-declaration-in-support-of-children/ And I will simply add, that if we want to bend that moral arc we have to pull on it with all our might. And harness our strengths and our passions to work joyfully toward equality and justice.   Closing Thank you so much for spending some time with me this week. You can get a full transcript of this show with links to any books and resources I talked about today by going to BooksBetween.com/11 which will take you to our home at All the Wonders where you can immerse yourself in everything that is positive and inspiring in the world of children’s literature.   Thank you again and we will be back in two weeks!  

Today's podcast (Episode 48) is dedicated to Martin Luther King. Many people attribute Dr. King with establishing the concept of the arc of the moral universe. But it actually was derived from a sermon by 19th century Unitarian minister Theodore Parker, whose works MLK read and admired. This particular sermon dealing with justice and the moral universe can be found in the book 10 Sermons of Religion by Theodore Parker, from which today's podcast has been adapted. Spiritual Podcast Excerpt: I find that justice is the object of my conscience, fitting that, as light the eye and truth the mind. There is a perfect agreement between the moral object and the moral subject. Finding it fits me thus, I know that justice will work for my welfare and that of all humankind. Look at the facts of the world. And you will see a slow but continual and progressive triumph of what is right. I do not pretend to understand the moral universe. The arc is a long one; my eye reaches but a little way. I cannot calculate the curve and complete the figure by the experience of sight. But I can divine it by conscience. And from what I see, I am sure it bends towards justice.....

In 1841, Unitarian minister Theodore Parker preached a sermon entitled, "The Transient and Permanent in Christianity," considering what was an important foundation of the faith, and what was changeable. This Sunday Rev. Christina will explore what is transient and what is permanent in our own Unitarian Universalism (hint, a lot is transient!)-- This sermon topic was purchased at the fall auction by Ken Apfel and members of Christina's Committee on Ministry.

Theodore Parker once said (and Martin Luther King, Jr. made it famous), "the arc of the moral universe is long, but it bends towards justice." We will explore the arc of the moral universe and the question of commitment, love, and marriage. This Sunday, get a sneak preview of the Dignity Players' performance 8, a staged reading of the award-winning production chronicling the landmark California case Perry v. Schwarzenegger.

Theodore Parker spoke of the “transient and permanent” in religion.  What did he mean?  How can our understanding of his words help us to have a more generous spirit?

The Universalist theologian Theodore Parker is evaluated from his historical significance to both the Universalist movement in Muncie, Indiana and the United States today, as well as how his ideas were expressive to the country as a whole.

In this 127th episode of CS, titled “Then Away,” we give a brief account of the rise of Theological Liberalism.In the previous episodes, we charted the revivals that marked the 18th and 19th centuries. Social transformation is a mark of such revivals. But not all those engaged in the betterment of society were motivated by a passion to serve God by serving their fellow Man. At the same time that revival swept though many churches, others stood aloof and held back from being carried away into what they deemed as “religious fanaticism.”As Enlightenment ideas moved into and through the religious community, some theologians shifted to accommodate what had become the darling ideas of academia. Instead of becoming outright agnostics, they sought to wed rationalism with theology and arrived at an amalgam we'll call Theological Liberalism.Not to be outdone by Revivalists transforming culture through the power of The Gospel and a conviction they were to be salt and light in a dark and decaying world, Liberalism developed what came to be called The Social Gospel; a faith that emphasized doing as much, if not more than, believing.The name most associated with the Social Gospel is Walter Rauschenbusch. He began pastoring a Baptist church in New York in 1886. It was there that he came face to face with the desperate condition of the poor.  He joined the faculty of Colgate-Rochester Theological Seminary, where over the course of 10 years he wrote 3 books that were hugely influential in promoting the Social Gospel.Someone might say at this point >> You've used that phrase a couple of times now. What's ‘The Social Gospel'?”The Social Gospel was a movement among Protestant denominations in the early 20th century, mainly in the United States and Canada, but a limited expression in Europe. It addressed social problems with Christian ethics. Its main targets were issues of social justice like poverty, addiction, crime, racism, pollution, child labor, and war. Advocates of the Social Gospel sought to implement that line in the Lord's Prayer that says, “Your Kingdom Come, Your will be done, on Earth as it is in Heaven.”Advocates of the Social Gospel were usually post-millennialists who believed the Second Coming would not occur unless humanity rid itself of injustice and vice. The leaders of the movement were largely connected to the liberal wing of the Progressive Movement.The Social Gospel movement peaked in the early 20th century. It began to decline due to the trauma brought about by WWI, when the ideals of the movement were so badly abused by world events. A couple of under-pinnings of theological liberalism are the Brotherhood of Man and the innate goodness of human beings. WWI conspired to prove the lie to both assumptions and create doubt in the minds of millions that humans are good or could be a brotherhood.Though Rauschenbusch's early theology included a belief in original sin and the need for personal salvation, by the time he'd written his last tome, he regarded sin as an impersonal social ill and taught that reform would arrive with the demise of capitalism, the advance of socialism, and the establishment of the Kingdom of God by human effort. His views were accepted by such prominent spokesmen as Shailer Matthews and Shirley Jackson Case of the University of Chicago.Rauschenbusch's impact was combined with other developments in liberalism during the 19th century. Unitarianism had made deep inroads into mainline denominations under the leadership of William Ellery Channing and Theodore Parker. Channing's sermon “Unitarian Christianity” in 1819, deserves credit for launching the Unitarianism movement.Another influential figure of the 19th C was Horace Bushnell. He published Christian Nurture in 1847, arguing that a child ought to grow up in covenant with God, never knowing he was anything but a Christian. This was contrary to the Pietist emphasis on having a datable conversion experience. Bushnell's ideas of growing a child up from birth in a covenant of grace had a huge impact on Christian educators for generations.In addition to Theodore Parker's support of Unitarianism, he introduced German biblical criticism into American Christianity. By doing so, the way was opened for Darwinian evolution and the ideas of Julius Wellhausen. Wellhausen was one of the originators of the Documentary Hypothesis, which forms the core of much of modern liberal scholarship on the Bible to this day.These influences led to a creeping theological liberalism based on the twin postulates of the evolution of religion and a denial of the supernatural. In their place emerged the idea of the Fatherhood of God, the Brotherhood of Man, and the establishment of God's Kingdom as a natural outcome of evolution.Three German scholars were also central to the development of Theological liberalism: Schleiermacher, Ritschl, and Harnack.Friedrich Schleiermacher adapted the ideas of Existentialism to Christianity and said that the core of faith wasn't what one believed so much as what one FELT, what we experience. Religion, he urged, involved a feeling of absolute dependence on God. For Schleiermacher, doctrine hung on experience, not the other way around. Today, a mature Christian might counsel a neophyte, saying something like, “Don't let feelings control you.” Or, “We need to evaluate our experiences by God's Word, not the other way around.” Schleiermacher would disagree with that. In his view, experience VALIDATES doctrine. Feels are key. A Faith that isn't felt is no faith at all, he maintained.Albert Ritschl claimed Christ's death had nothing to do with the payment of a penalty for sin. He said it resulted from loyalty to His calling of bringing about the Kingdom of God on Earth, and that it was by His death that He could share his experience of Sonship with all people, who would then become the vehicle and means by which the Kingdom could be constructed. The practice of a communal religion was of vital importance to Ritschl because Christ best shared Himself through the community of the Church. Ritschl's impact on other scholars was great.Probably the most affected by Ritschl's works was Adolf Harnack. Harnack regarded the contributions of the Apostle Paul to the Gospel as a Greek intrusion on the Christian Faith. His goal was to get back to a more primitive and Jewish emphasis that centered on ethical imperatives as opposed to doctrine. As a professor in Berlin in 1901 he published his influential What Is Christianity? This focused on Jesus' human qualities, who preached not about Himself but about the Father; the Kingdom and the Fatherhood of God; a higher righteousness; and the command to love.The views of these three German scholars came ashore in America to further the liberal ideas already underway.If Theological Liberalism with its Social Gospel were a reaction to the Revivals of the 18th and 19th centuries, those who'd been revived were not going to sit idly by as that liberalism grew. They responded with a movement of their own.Charles Briggs, a professor at Union Theological Seminary in New York, was put on trial before the Presbytery of New York and suspended from ministry in 1893 for promulgating liberal ideas. Henry Smith of Lane Seminary in Cincinnati was likewise defrocked that same year, as was AC McGiffert for holding and teaching similar views. Other denominations had heresy trials and dismissed or disciplined offenders. The most famous conflict of the 20th century concerned Harry Emerson Fosdick, who in 1925 was removed as pastor of First Presbyterian Church of New York City to became an influential spokesman for liberalism as the pastor of Riverside Church.Roman Catholicism wasn't immune to the impact of theological liberalism and reacted strongly against it. Alfred Loisy, founded Roman Catholic Modernism in France, but was dismissed in 1893 from his professorship at the Institut Catholique in Paris. He was further excommunicated in 1908. The English Jesuit George Tyrrell was demoted in 1899 and died out of fellowship with the church. Liberalism invaded American Roman Catholicism. To silence the threat, Pope Pius X issued the decree Lamentabili in 1907, and in 1910 he imposed an anti-modernist oath on the clergy.In contest with Liberalism, Evangelicals had a number of able scholars during the latter part of the 19th and early part of the 20th centuries. Charles Hodge defended a supernaturally-inspired and inerrant Bible during his long tenure as professor of biblical literature and theology at Princeton. AA Hodge carried on his father's work. In 1887, BB Warfield followed Hodges as professor of theology. Fluent in Hebrew, Greek, modern languages, theology, and biblical criticism, Warfield staunchly defended the inerrancy of Scripture and basic evangelical doctrines in a score of books and numerous pamphlets. In 1900, the scholarly Robert Dick Wilson joined the Princeton faculty, and J Gresham Machen [Mah khen] arrived shortly after. In 1929, when a liberal realignment occurred at Princeton, Machen and Wilson joined Oswald Allis, Cornelius Van Til, and others in founding Westminster Theological Seminary. Other scholars could be mentioned, but these were some of the most prestigious.This movement came to be known as Fundamentalism; a word with a largely negative connotation today as it conjures up the idea of wild-eyed religious fanatics who advocate violence as a means of defending and promulgating their beliefs. Christian Fundamentalism was simply a theologically conservative movement that sought to preserve and articulate classic, orthodox beliefs on the essentials of the Christians Faith. They were called Fundamentals because they were regarded as those doctrines essential to the integrity of the Gospel message; things that had to be believed in order to be saved.Fundamentalism was largely a reaction to Theological Liberalism which appeared to many Evangelicals to be taking over the colleges and seminaries. Liberalism wasn't popular with the average church-goer. It founds it's base among academics and those training clergy. But evangelical leaders knew what began in classrooms would soon be preached in pulpits, then practiced in pews. So they began the counter-movement called Fundamentalism.Since Theological Liberals had already managed to co-opt the chairs of many institutions of higher learning, they cast their Fundamentalist opponents as uneducated and unsophisticated nincompoops. Knuckle-dragging theological Neanderthals who couldn't comprehend the complexities of higher criticism and the latest in theological research. That image has, for many, become part and parcel of the connotative meaning of the word Fundamentalist today. And it's grossly unfair since those early Evangelical scholars who shaped the Fundamentalist movement were some of the brightest, best-educated, and most erudite people of the day.