Reddit mentions: The best unitarian universalism books

> If I weren’t out here every day battling the white man, I could spend the rest of my life reading, just satisfying my curiosity—because you can hardly mention anything I’m not curious about. -Malcolm X


Most Helpful For Me:

-The Alchemist by Paulo Coelho (Fiction)


Uplifting Inspiration:

-Life Lines: Holding On (and Letting Go) (Beacon Press)

-The Age of Reason by Thomas Paine ($0.99 ebook)

-The Jefferson Bible: The Life and Morals of Jesus of Nazareth ($0.99 ebook; Beacon Press)

-A Call to Action: Women, Religion, Violence, and Power by former Pres. Jimmy Carter

-How Should We Live?: Great Ideas from the Past for Everyday Life

-The Art of InterGroup Peace (Free PDF ebook.)

-Place, Not Race: A New Vision of Opportunity in America (Speaks of the pitfalls of college affirmative action, yet, the lessons apply beyond that as well; Beacon Press.)


Philanthropy/Social Enterprises:

-The Moral Measure of the Economy

-To Uphold the World: A Call for a New Global Ethic from Ancient India (Buddhist-inspired governing/economics; Beacon Press)

-A Force for Good: The Dalai Lama's Vision for Our World

-Our Day to End Poverty: 24 Ways You Can Make a Difference

-The Power of Partnership: Seven Relationships that Will Change Your Life

-Toxic Charity: How the Church Hurts Those They Help and How to Reverse It

-Charity Detox: What Charity Would Look Like If We Cared About Results by the author of Toxic Charity

-Inspired Philanthropy: Your Step-by-Step Guide to Creating a Giving Plan and Leaving a Legacy


Self-Care:

-Trauma Stewardship: An Everyday Guide to Caring for Self While Caring for Others

-This Is Where You Belong: The Art and Science of Loving the Place You Live

-Everyday Spiritual Practice: Simple Pathways for Enriching Your Life (Skinner House Books)


Children:

-Critical Lessons: What our Schools Should Teach

-Mind in the Making: The Seven Essential Life Skills Every Child Needs

-Three Key Years: Talk - Read - Play - Sing To Support & Help Every Child in America (Free PDF ebook.)


Nature/Wildlife:

-The Ten Trusts: What We Must Do to Care for The Animals We Love by Jane Goodall & Marc Bekoff

-The Souls of Animals by UU Rev. Gary Kowalski

-Biomimicry: Innovation Inspired by Nature

No need to appologize! We are all, ah, "a mess." It's the human condition. :) Also these mental health issues doctors love to slap on us are just clouds of symptoms they parcel out for treatment purposes. They are not what makes us, and they certainly aren't as separate from each other as we might think. Well let us look at the things you can change:

• Exercise: You certainly need to move more. It will help your mental health and physical health. I also manage PTSD, depression, anxiety, and ADHD as well as hypothyroidism. Not working out makes everything ten times worse and makes me feel awful. It isn't a cure but it does help me center myself and can be a sort of active meditation. Without it, there is no outlet for my anxiety and my ADHD becomes so intense I cannot concentrate for the life of me. I have found getting a fitbit that reminds me to move every hour helps me get up and stretch during the work day. I have a desk job so I understand. If you are a college student, might your college have a rec center included with your tuition? I would look into it. If not, Planet Fitness is $10 a month, air conditioned, often open 24/7, and totally worth it. I go at night to avoid crowds and because my work schedule is pretty different than most. Even just walking for 30-45 minutes a day you will feel better.
  
  
• Diet: Carbs are fine, they are just calorie dense. A weight loss diet is based on calories in vs calories out, and your body doesn't care too much where they are from. Getting an app that helps you count calories is great. For example, I am 5'2" and without activity my baseline calorie need is about 1400-1500 calories. To lose weight, I have to eat at a deficit and eat about 1100-1200 calories a day. When I work out I can add another 100-150 calories or so. Your doctor can help calculate what deficit you should be eating at. If your thyroid is under treated, it will take a higher deficit. The closer you get to your target weight the harder it will be. I am bout 10 lbs from my target so it's exceptionally hard for me to get there right now >_>.
  
  
• Medication: this takes forever to get right. I am sorry to hear metaformin did this to you. I know a lot of women that it helped with their PCOS and when/if you ever want children it might help you overcome fertility issues and be worth the side effects. Certainly it is not for every day with you if it gives you digestive issues. Also, what is your current thyroid treatment getting your levels to? Are you sure you are in the right range for you?
  
  
• Mindfulness: Just throwing this out here, but there is scientific, practice based evidence that mindfulness meditation helps people suffering from depression, anxiety, and ADHD manage their symptoms. Doing guided meditations may seem frustrating at first, but if you stick with it it could help you. It is certainly a good self care practice. Simply taking time for you and your needs every day is well worth it.
  
  
• Therapy. A good course of CBT or DBT therapy administered by a professional can help you restructure your current thinking pattern into a more productive, less self defeating pattern. If you want to try a work book first, there are many on amazon. It is something you need to be consistent with, however, and decide you want to try. If you are reluctant at all to try therapy it will not work. I found myself in a bad place, and at a breaking point I made the decision to put my ego aside and get help. There is a stigma in this country/society that really should not exist. A lot of depression and anxiety can be managed better by therapy, but people would rather just turn to a pill. However, a pill does nothing to treat our self destructive thinking patterns and medicine is not advanced enough to really have the answers. Good treatment often requires you to do the work (but the drugs can help you while you do that work) and challenge yourself. A good therapist is worth their weight in gold.

This book has been suggested a few times so I finally got around to reading it. I think it has some good information in it. I'm only about halfway through it, but I like it so far.

Time Management for System Administrators

Other books would be any of the social books like "How to influence people", "7 healthy habits..." Etc.

I haven't read this one yet, but It has been suggested to me if you plan to go more into management/leadership Start with Why

Other books that have I have ear marked due to being mentioned:

• The Devops Handbook
  
• The Practice of System and Network Administration
  
• The Practice of Cloud System Administration
  
• Cognitive Behavioral Therapy - This one might have been a joke, but as someone who has dealt with depression and burnout on the job. I think this could be beneficial.
  
• How to win friends and influence people
  
• How to win friends and influence people in the Digital Age
  
  Also, do a search for "Books for IT Professionals" to find a lot of other suggestions.

you can't go wrong with the Tao Ti Ching by Lao tzu. I have a book that I find a pretty good reference even though it is more religiously oriented called "The Worlds Wisdom" by Philip Novak. It has primary texts from almost every major religious group. With the overlap between eastern religion and philosophy you can get a feel for a lot of the eastern philosophical ideas by reading the sections on confucianism, buddhism, and taosim which are the big three in the east.

http://www.amazon.com/The-Worlds-Wisdom-Sacred-Religions/dp/0060663421/ref=sr_1_sc_1?ie=UTF8&qid=1405714358&sr=8-1-spell&keywords=the+worldswisdome

This doesn't sound like a truly open mind and heart to me. When he hears marginalized people (where he puts marginalized in scare quotes) asking him to listen to their viewpoints, he thinks he's being silenced completely. He sounds like he's against being asked to be mindful of his privileges and of the way his actions come across to others and the harm they may cause others.

I am still completely baffled that there's backlash against the idea that we should be more inclusive, that we should listen to voices that are often pushed to the margins, and that we should strive to understand the systems that benefit us that others don't have the benefit of.

​

>get ready to be told that:
>
>Disagreement is injury
>
>Books can be condemned by people who haven’t read them
>
>People can be condemned for expressing “hurtful” ideas
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>Those of us who don’t meet the accepted definition of “marginalized” should be silent to leave more “room” for the marginalized
>
>The UU Ministers’ Association can define the meaning of “responsible” in the Fourth Principle about a “free and responsible search for truth and meaning.”
>
>The UU Principles and Sources need to be examined and revised in favor of something more “covanental”
>
>We who are white need to be careful not to welcome persons of color too warmly into our congregations lest they think “our” means white (a “microaggression”)
>
>The UU hymnals need to be scoured for any references that might not be all-inclusive enough (like Standing on the Side of Love)
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>If we don’t like something, it’s part of the white supremacy culture
>
>We all need to read White Fragility by Robin DiAngelo even though it makes sweeping generalizations not backed by research
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>We should not bother reading books like The Gadfly Papers by Rev. Dr. Todd Eklof and The Self-Confessed “White Supremacy Culture” by Dr. Anne Larson Schneider because some people’s feelings might be hurt
>
>White people need to acknowledge their “privilege” and their “benefit” they get from racism and white supremacy

I agree..."worship" is widely understood to imply something that isn't really applicable in a UU context (no matter what the "powers that be" in the UUA say about reclaiming religious terminology).

We can look over every time a Minister says "worship" or refers to "God" or "Jesus" and pretend we didn't hear when he says "prayer" or contort ourselves or define "holy" and "spirit" in a way that does not strike a discord with us...but we would be avoiding the problem, acquiescing to the recent trend of christianization of UUism with our silence. This trend tends to come from the elites in the movement, and especially many key Ministers. You can help by resisting this creeping christianity and help regain the balance that once flourished at the heart of UUism.

Sounds like you may have a pretty severe case of depression. I notice someone else asked if you were seeing a therapist and you said you can't afford it. If you could figure out a way to do it I think it would really help. But if you can't then maybe you could get a book on "Cognitive Behavioral Therapy" (CBT). This book can help you retrain your negative thought patterns. I participated in a group CBT and it really helped me a lot. Then maybe as you go through the book you could discuss some of the things you've learned here on r/Christianity. OR... you would be welcome to PM me with your thoughts and questions!

The 7 Principles aren't values statements. They are part of a covenant and are how we attempt to move through the world.


I recommend checking out this book before engaging in further conversation: https://www.amazon.com/Purpose-Principle-Principles-Unitarian-Universalism-ebook/dp/B005KL7X9K


(disclosure: I'm related to the editor)

I'm a total asshole normally, but I can clarify:

The UUA and the UUMA (the governing organization and minister organization respectively) of the Unitarian Universalist religion have embraced Robin DiAngelo's approach to understanding race relationships in the United States. The idea behind this has typically been referred to as "Critical Race Theory". It is derived from the post-modern critical approach used by Harvard law professors to pick apart and change laws.

DiAngelo's approach states the following:

1. A white person is inherently racist
   
2. Denying that fact is racist
   
3. IF you accept that you're racist, and try to ask for help - you aren't doing it right, and are racist
   
4. IF you shy away from even having the conversation, then you're racist
   
   That's what is generally known as a Kafka Trap. The denial of the charge is proof of the charge. It's also circular reasoning. As a result, the UUA has started calling the Unitarian Universalist church a "White Supremacist Organization".
   
   Yes. The UUA, one of the most liberal churches in the United States is the equivalent of the KKK in the minds of the UUA. They deny that, but most are hearing it that way.
   
   And this is going beyond race relations. It's embracing the full spectrum of intersectional oppressions. Who is allowed to speak is based off the "Oppression Calculus" - gay? one point. Trans, Queer, Black? 1,000 points! YAY!
   
   If you read r/TrueOffMyChest, you'll see all those posts regarding lesbians hating on the LGBTQ communities on here. Some are saying that the posts are fake - but in the UU church? Those are actual debates being had. It isn't a joke.
   
   At our recent GA (General Assembly) a minister wrote a book ("The Gadfly Papers" - here). This book has resulted in a total firestorm. You can google it, but a good summary can be found by Rev. Scott Wells.
   
   What is sad, is that - in general - your average UU supports things like fighting racism. The minister who wrote the book, Rev. Todd Eklof, actually has a successful history of fighting for generally liberal positions (gay marriage, prison reform). However, he has been labbled a bigot, a racist, and been formally censured by the UUMA for his "bad" beliefs. His bad belief is that the anti-racism model proposed by DiAngelo isn't working and we should find better tools to combat racism.
   
   That's it.
   
   As a note, the UU church has dealt with pedophiles, abusive ministers and more - and never given a public censure like they did to Eklof. Writing a book, however, was worthy of a public censure.
   
   In a religion founded on the right to read (See: "Edict of Torda" - here).
   
   Back to the OP.
   
   In 1995, if you had asked me to go to a UU church I would have enthusiastically told you yes. Now I'm not certain. Is the church "liberal"? No, not any longer. My concern is that if the OP is classically homosexual, i.e. male with a male partner, or female with a female partner - they'll be generally seen as "supporting hetnormative and oppressive sex organ preference". I want to say I'm kidding but that's a direct quote from a queer trans minister who was at May Memorial right here in Syracuse. Edit to add: That these attitudes are also directed at trans people who want to just live their life. It's very sad - hence why I said fetish. Any variance will result in you being treated like a fragile religious idol - you aren't welcome for you as an individual, you'll be welcome for you as a symbol of a group - and if you deviate from your supposed groups "opinions" you'll be shunned as if it was discovered the idol actually had been made unclean. Your group identity is more important than yourself as an individual - and now, you as a person do not matter - only your group matters. And I don't think that's right. Liberalism was founded on the ideal of the individual - being trans or gay or black or Hispanic are certainly important qualities of the individual, but they do not subsume the individual. Two trans people, two gay people, two black people, two Hispanic people can all hold different beliefs and ideals. It doesn't make them less in their quality as people. But in the UU church today, it does.
   
   So yeah, go but 1) I'd recommend First UU over May Memorial, and 2) be VERY careful with what you say - any deviation from the anti-racist DiAngelo work WILL get you labeled as an alt right firebrand on par with Trump and Hitler. No, I'm not joking. If you want to learn more check out both r/UUReddit for the pro-UUA camp, and r/UUnderstanding for my take (DISCLAIMER: I'm a mod at UUnderstanding).
   
   However, I'd start with the Rev. Scott Wells. I'm biased. He actually doesn't like the Gadfly Papers, but also doesn't like how Eklof was treated. He also is much closer to the action and gives better insights into the sausage making processes within the UUMA.

i think discipline alone is a bad idea to add onto depression - you need to adresse the depressive thoughts in the first place, not just repress them so you can get work done. otherwise you risk burning yourself out. depression sucks the energy out of you - discipline will suck even more energy out of you, and you will be stuck in an endless loop of trying to be disciplined, failing because your depression takes over when you burn out and then trying again. you need to adress the depression head on. look into CBT self-help - this and this book have good reviews. by learning to restructure your negative thoughts, your behaviours will change. you will be able to control yourself more, and thus also study more, if that's what you want to. ultimately it takes work though.