Minilogue February 2010

Standing on the Side of Love

By the Rev. Bruce Johnson

At last year’s General Assembly in Salt Lake City, the Unitarian Universalist Association launched a public advocacy campaign called, “Standing on the Side of Love” (SSL, pronounced “Sizzle”), designed give witness to our belief in the inherent worth and dignity of every person, and the transformative power of love. At that time, it was a rallying cry on behalf of immigrant workers and their families; it has also been widely used to express support for the full equality of gay, lesbian, bisexual, and transgender citizens. Local congregations are encouraged to use the resources of the campaign in response to any issue that calls forth the energies of love when the core principle of “the inherent worth and dignity of every person” is threatened.

At our ministers’ conference in Ottawa last November, the Rev. Meg Riley, Director of Advocacy and Witness at the Unitarian Universalist Association, made it clear that this was not meant to be just another marketing slogan, or a public relations strategy (like the ill-fated “Uncommon Denomination” campaign). In fact, she said, part of what makes this approach so effective is that it appeals to a broad range of people who are not UUs, but who share many of our values, and therefore helps us to build coalitions across denominational boundaries. People just seem to “get it,” said Meg, when they are invited to take a stand “on the side of love.”

The campaign has a website http://www.standingonthesideoflove.org/, with lots of resources and inspiring stories. One of the current initiatives is an invitation to “re-imagine Valentine’s Day” as an opportunity to share the “good news” of our religious tradition.

Love is not some warm and fuzzy, soft and sentimental nice feeling. It is, instead, what Martin Luther King called “the supreme unifying principle of life,” recognized as such by all the world’s religious traditions. In a world where the power of fear and anxiety seems to hold sway, the liberating and transforming power of love is something we can, and should “stand for.”