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.