I have only been here a few months, but in that time I have been impressed and saddened. Isee most people here trying very hard to be good people, good ministers and making friends. I also see people that are here for other reasons. It doesn't matter what faith you represent. I use the word represent rather than the word belong because we are all ministers here. We belong to these faiths because we have made a committment. A committment to represent the faith of your choice. So when I see people getting angry and ranting, cursing, and threatening I realize that they have no clue at all about what being a minister is all about. We are suppose to be leaders committed to the people of our faith. We owe a responsibility to them to set an example of how to act, speak, and live. It doesn't matter what faith it is eiither, you still have made a committment. the needs of your ministry are more important than your own needs. Tolerance is a must do priority here at ULC. But tolerance has to be given as much as demanded and I see plenty of demands, and quite a lot of non reciprocation. Not only will we be judged as individuals, but our faith will be judged by how we act and represent ourselves. So when you lose control and begin to let anger get the best of you, understand that you are not just hurting yourself, you are hurting your faith, ministry, and even the ULC. It makes us all look bad. When christians quote the bible, don't disrepect them by putting down their holy book. Whern muslims quote their koran, don't put down it either. Some of the belief systems I see here don't have holy books, or they have dissected parts of other books, or even "cherry picking" existing holy books, then so be it. Still respect them and their belief system. We don't have to agree, but we do have to agree to disagree with mutual respect for the individual. Jesus preached love to everyone and for everyone and we all like to talk about that, but how about doing it for real. Can you really love your enemy? It takes work, and thinking a bit outside of the perverbial box. Jesus didn't hate anyone, even the ones that hung him. He felt sorrow for their deeds. he accepted their intentions, and still yet loved them as humans. That's a tall order for us to fill, and I expect that none of us or very few can take it that far, but we should be able to have a discussion about faith without name calling, cursing, and idle threats. That much we can do. Please remember, we owe the ULC repect to represent ourselves and our church in a way that will compliment us here and in public.
