04/19/2026
One of the things that separates the Unitarian Universalist theology from the mainline Christian groups that it grew out of is that we do not teach fear.
We teach curiosity and we teach wonder. We teach acceptance and communication. It is a fundamental part of being a UU that you accept that everyone deserves to be heard, that every injury deserves to be healed, and how every person deserves to feel pride and respect. History's greatest heroes and worst villains were all just human beings.
We need to remind ourselves of this, from time to time, when bad things happen in our lives, our neighborhoods, or our nation. We do not fear divine wrath and we do not curse others. We seek to understand, because understanding will allow us to solve our problems and prevent the next disaster; allow us to reach out to that broken person and begin to heal them before they lash out. We cannot catch every one of them, either before or after their attack, but we can try to understand and learn from the experience.
All people are looking for love, acceptance, and for the world to value their contributions. Most of humanity's painful events spring up from people who feel that the only way to get respect is to demand it; to take it by force.
Almost no one sees themselves as the villain of their own life story.
