Bark Not, Want Not

In a secret Unitarian initiation rite, you get your new first name, `Lee'. Lee Marty Blum, Lee Harriet Miller, Lee Sheila Lodge. That explains it.

As a Unitarian I must say I am deeply... amused by the AP. If Helene isn't a Unitarian in the making I'll eat my secret codebook. Seriously, though, I would say the actual congregation was split down the middle on B, personally I was on the negatory side. But to get three Unitarians to agree on anything is like herding cats so no surprises there.

All hail the mighty Chalice!

I'm an Ordained Minister in the Unitarian church. All you need is a working email address.

A favorite Unitarian joke:

A little Unitarian Universalist girl was sitting on the curb in front of her house with a sad look on her face. An older lady happened upon her and asked her why she looked so sad. The girl replied, "My kitty cat died."

The older woman, trying to be helpful, said to the little girl, "I know you're sad, but right now your kitty cat is with Jesus."

The girl crinkled her nose for a second and replied, "What would Jesus want with a dead cat?"

Sounds like major religious prejudice and hatred on the part of Nick to me. Or maybe deep-seated envy derived from a lack of influence on the local election and small body parts.

Presumably, "the Queen is dead, long live the Queen" refers to the ascendance of the ancient Mrs Flacks who did her damndest -and successfully! - to defeat Measure B and to make sure there would be no cooperative communication with the heights limit people. However, she who laughs last, laughs best....

"What would Jesus want with a dead cat?"
-- Binky

LOL, best laugh I've had all day! Second best was AP's tongue-in-jowl take on the local power of Unitarianism.

I'm still of the opinion Van Wolfswinkel's support for Measure B was more a convenient way to confuse the voters than anything else. I'd opine it partly worked (I'd also love to know how many septuagenarian SBNP subscribers voted for Hotchkiss and Self). Measure B might have been closer to the heart of Randy's buddy and campaign coordinator, John Wallace (the guy who didn't want the proposed 3-story mixed-use project at the 76 Station on Olive Mill Rd).

FightWoo: With all due respect, the vast majority of Unitarian Universalist churches do not recognize ordination by the Universal Life Church (which is not affiliated in any way with the Unitarian Universalist Association). To become an ordained Unitarian Universalist minister or reverend requires at least a Master's of Divinity from an accredited university.

As to the article, it's definitely entertaining! As an organization, the Unitarian Universalists in America do not answer to a central authority. We are democratic, and all policies are dictated by a majority vote. Each congregation is given a number of votes based on its membership and is asked to vote on policies as opposed to submitting to a central authority.

I'm wondering if they were all Southern Baptists, would a church/state issue be raised.

I'm a registered Libertarian and you mentioned that we don't like each other but you failed to point out that we hate ourselves.

If Libertarians and Unitarians joined forces, would they be Loonytarians?

Does any of this matter in the long run with regard to day-to-day life in Santa Barbara?

"In a secret Unitarian initiation rite, you get your new first name, `Lee'. Lee Marty Blum, Lee Harriet Miller, Lee Sheila Lodge. That explains it."

What happens if Lee Moldaver joins the Unitarian Church?

No problem: His name would be Lee Lee, similar to Ling Ling or Lang Lang. And there's Lee Bill Hackett; Ooops, that's right, that democratic group kicked him out of their church, uhhh, society a couple of years ago.

I can't believe no one has mentioned this:

http://www.sfgate.com/cgi-bin/article...

Hope the wrapped link works. Definitely puts our local cabal in context....

Excellent! Perhaps Lou Dobbs leaving CNN was a plot hatched by Unitarian Jihad? I'm still waiting for the coffee & cookies invite.

"And there's Lee Bill Hackett; Ooops, that's right, that democratic group kicked him out of their church, uhhh, society a couple of years ago."

I didn't know about this. Tell me more please.

Yup, Lee would become Lee Lee Moldaver, if he isn't already. It's a secret, more secret than Malcolm Little's name change, or, Lee Robert Lee or Lee Lee Harvey Oswald.

"It's a secret, more secret than Malcolm Little's name change"

"X" marks the spot!

" I'm an Ordained Minister in the Unitarian church. All you need is a working email address."

FightWoo: You are a liar. (or you are unintentionally mistaken and, if that is the case, I apologize for calling you a liar and ask you to please make sure you have your facts right before you make false statments such as this one.)

I am a lifelong Unitarian Universalist and at one point looked into going into the ministry myself. You must receive a MDiv degree from an accredited and recognized institution in order to be an ordained Unitarian Universalist Minister. In addition to the degree, you must go through an extensive process (which can take years) before you are ordained.

No one is ordained in the "Unitarian Church," they are ordained by the Unitarian Universalist Association.

The author of the article should have at least done a google search on 'Unitarian' before writing this piece. The headquarters of the UUA is in Boston, MA and not Vermont. There is no supreme leader with Pope-like authority and a large majority of UU congregations do not even call themselves 'Church,' many use the term 'fellowship,' 'covenant,' or 'society.'

I am sure that there are many cities across the country, both large and small, where the Mayorship for the past 100+ years has been held by protestants.

There is no Unitarian party. The idea of a homogeneous political agenda, viewpoint or ideology among UU's or UU congregations goes against the very core belief of UUism.

There is no such thing as a card-carrying Unitarian. It is not a political party or special interest group. There is no requirement that you hold a certain dogmatic view, donate a certain percentage of your salary or vote in a certain way in order to be a Unitarian Universalist. I do not remember the last time that I attended a UU service but I am just as much a UU as someone who attends weekly.

This article reminds me of an article that I read years ago which claimed that Unitarians have no right to protest war because they do not serve in the military. Both authors had not done their research and had their facts totally wrong (Though this article was not written with the malice that the other article was) I found that other article especially interesting as I was in the U.S. Marine Corps at the time and new the son of the UUA President at that time who was in the service as well.

So, finally, I will step down off of my soap box and stop writing. I do not understand this article and wish to express my disappointment in the misrepresentation of Unitarian Universalism by the author who i feel, based on this article, has the research skills of a second grader. For even a second grader knows how to look up basic facts on Google or in Wikipedia.

ABC 123....don't worry, you'll get it one of these days.