A Unitarian Universalist Sends Rudy Davis Seven Principles And Six Sources

When Kent Hovind was facing a new trial in 2015, I dubbed the ragtag group that came out to support him the Hovindicators.  The most visible was Rudy Davis, who turned his youtube channel pretty much into all free Kent Hovind, all the time.  I really liked Rudy's manner of presentation and admire the way he states his beliefs and what he bases them on.

When it comes to the content of his beliefs, I sometimes have serious issues and back in July I did a response to his video "Eight death penalty offenses once righteous judgement comes back to America"

It struck me as something of a dystopian nightmare.

Rudy responded to my piece soon afterwards

With some qualifications, that would reduce the body count, he allowed that I had pretty well captured the essence of his piece.  There are a couple of things he said about me that are worth me qualifying a bit. One is that he thought somebody must have brought the piece to my attention.  As it happens, I regularly check Rudy's channel just as I do Kent Hovind's although I don't watch that many of the videos, but some I find irresistible.

Then there is the matter of "retarded".  The biggest impression I ever made on Rudy apparently is when, while interviewing Kent Hovind, I asked Kent to not call people he disagreed with "retarded".  Rudy thinks that given that Kent was in prison surrounded by all this inappropriate language and behavior, it was kind of silly to chide him about that and I was too caught up in political correctness.  Although, I get his point, I actually think that I was giving Doc Dino good advice, as the use of that term in that way can really grate on the nerves of people who have or know kids with special needs. I'm glad to say that I think Hovind has dropped that term from his armory.  Now if we could just get rid of the vaseline, but that might be too much to ask.

More significantly and now we get to the buried lede. Rudy gave a pretty accurate assessment of my belief system as it relates to the bible. "Peter thinks we can learn from all the knowledge of the world" as opposed to Rudy's world view which holds the Bible, particularly the King James translation, as supreme.  It happens that I favor the King James translation, but that is just because it sounds so, you know, biblical.  Regardless, Rudy could not remember the term I used to describe myself, so I thought I would fill him in.  It is Unitarian Universalist. Unitatarian Universalism is non-creedal.  Rather than write a personal essay, I would like to share with Rudy what we have that passes for official. You can find more on UUA.org. Here we go

There are Seven Principles

1. 1st Principle: The inherent worth and dignity of every person;
2. 2nd Principle: Justice, equity and compassion in human relations;
3. 3rd Principle: Acceptance of one another and encouragement to spiritual growth in our congregations;
4. 4th Principle: A free and responsible search for truth and meaning;
5. 5th Principle: The right of conscience and the use of the democratic process within our congregations and in society at large;
6. 6th Principle: The goal of world community with peace, liberty, and justice for all;
7. 7th Principle: Respect for the interdependent web of all existence of which we are a part.

And Six Sources

• Direct experience of that transcending mystery and wonder, affirmed in all cultures, which moves us to a renewal of the spirit and an openness to the forces which create and uphold life;
• Words and deeds of prophetic women and men which challenge us to confront powers and structures of evil with justice, compassion, and the transforming power of love;
• Wisdom from the world's religions which inspires us in our ethical and spiritual life;
• Jewish and Christian teachings which call us to respond to God's love by loving our neighbors as ourselves;
• Humanist teachings which counsel us to heed the guidance of reason and the results of science, and warn us against idolatries of the mind and spirit;
• Spiritual teachings of Earth-centered traditions which celebrate the sacred circle of life and instruct us to live in harmony with the rhythms of nature.

So Rudy's characterization is accurate, if not complete. 

There is a directory that would allow Rudy to find the nearest congregation if he wanted to find out more.  It would be nice if he restrained himself from using the terms sodomite and fudge packer during the visit - just kidding.

Regardless, I like Rudy's style of presentation and admire his concern for people in prison.  I'd really enjoy a line by line reaction to the principles and sources, but i realize he has other concerns.

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Peter J Reilly is a Unitarian Universalist with fond feelings for his Catholic roots and a certain affection and admiration for Evangelicals including Young Earth Creationists.

Kent Hovind's Big Splash In The Conecuh County Pond

Wedding Bells

The big news in Hovind land this week, is Kent's upcoming nuptials with Mary Tocco and the resulting controversy since they are both divorced.  I'm passing much in the way of commentary on that other than to mention a reassuring note that I got from Ernie Land in response to my concern about another woman getting caught up in Kent Hovind's tax misghegas:

Mary has a pre-nup and will file separate. She can run the for profit, if she so chooses, and I expect her to remain third party to the Ministry.

Legal News Coming Soon?

I had asked Ernie whether Kent's new adviser Brady Byrum might be open to an interview.  Ernie indicated most likely not.  He did update me on the latest in that department, though:

The Ministry is really preparing for a battle that will include UCC and also next round will be defended with vigor. Here are some codes for your insight and also let you see some of what Brady is finding in Congressional archives on the codes.

What followed was a lot of stuff about the definition of a church, rules about starting a church audit and exemptions from withholding for duly ordained minister. I find the connection to Kent's situation kind of tenuous, but we'll see what they come up with.  He closes with.

As you can see a can of worms is soon to be opened on the Judge and DOJ for their fraudulent actions. And the future looks like we get to introduce the DOJ to a case they will wish they never brought and one that will remind them of the Scientology case, but the nice thing is their Attorneys paved the way with recent rulings.

We'll just have to wait and see on that.

Arguing With A Man Who Buys Ink By The Gallon

What I find of most interest is Jim Allen's response to Kent Hovind's video attack and the subsequent actions of his supporters. Here is the latest from The Monthly View of Evergreen Alabama

I've been a bit preoccupied the past couple weeks. 

In case you haven't heard, it seems Kent Hovind, aka "Dr. Dino" took exception to our July Issue, and with the assistance of one of our County Commissioners, Johnny Andrews, produced a video that's gone somewhat viral in Mr. Hovind's fundamentalist circles.  

It's certainly run the course through political circles in Conecuh County.
The Hovind Effect I wrote about has come to roost in Conecuh County, and the predictions I made concerning Hovind's presence here have come true. It didn't take long. 

As a result of the video, or as part of the attack, several of my advertisers have been harassed by Hovind's people, and I've received threatening emails and a couple of letters.
I've been working with law enforcement concerning this matter - and will continue to do so. 

Hovind said he wants this newspaper shut down. 

That's not going to happen. 

As for the video itself, what Commissioner Andrews says in this video is completely untrue. Neither myself nor this newspaper endorsed the proposed landfill outside Repton.
Mr. Hovind's performance in front of his followers goes a long way towards proving what has landed in Lenox is indeed a cult. 

If the conduct displayed in this video, and the blatant attack on this newspaper by Hovind and his people, is his example of "fine upstanding Christians," then a lot of people have been led down the wrong path. And perhaps, as it turns out, by the wrong man. 

All I can say is stay tuned. This can only get more interesting - and indeed it already has. Hovind may already be paying a price for his unjust attack on this newspaper and on me personally. 

I've always said God gave me this newspaper. But people from around here know that.

Now to review the bidding on this, it is worth noting that Jim Allen wrote a pretty ominous piece about Hovind without visiting Pearl Lane or talking to Hovind. It is also worth noting, though, that Allen's article cited primary sources in outlining the baggage that Hovind brings to Conecuh County.

It strikes me that Hovind's response was rather ill-advised. Nothing prevented him from taking a drive up to Evergreen and speaking with Allen, as far as I can tell.  Instead he found a local politician who has some sort of conflict with Allen.

Now Conecuh at over 800 square miles is not a small town geographically, but with a population in the vicinity of 13,000, I think it is likely that the politics has a small town flavor to it.  Factions can be based on ancient grudges about how somebody behaved when they were on the high school basketball team. A newcomer is best advised to defer taking sides until, they have lived there - oh a couple of decades maybe.

Kent could have let the local people make a decision about him after a period of time in which he had a chance insofar as possible to be a good neighbor. If he wanted to prove Allen wrong about his cult concerns, he could have reached out magnanimously.  Instead he or some of his supporters are attacking Allen and to some extent making Allen's case for him. So the county will likely end up with a pro-Hovind and an anti-Hovind faction with the newspaper in the hands of the anti-Hovind faction.
And the rest of the Hovindology community will break out the popcorn, as we await the next edition of the Monthly View.

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Peter J Reilly has a limited amount of time to devote to Hovindolgy.  He sends his regards to Mary and Kent on their upcoming nuptials.