North American Unitarian Association

For a number of years the UUA/CUC encouraged members and congregations to participate in seasonal celebration of the 7 Principles. The featured image (above) from the Unitarian Church of Edmonton, shows their attempt to celebrate the first day of Chalica in years past.

The Web archive retrieves an announcement of  Chalica from an old UUA site

Chalica is a week-long celebration of Unitarian Universalist Principles. The holiday first emerged in 2005 out of a wish to have a holiday organized around Unitarian Universalist values. Chalica begins on the first Monday in December and lasts seven days. Each day, a chalice is lit and the day is spent reflecting on the meaning of that day’s principle and doing a good deed that honours that principle.

However, this celebration and application of the Seven Principles doesn’t go well with an agenda to eliminate these principles. Thus, the UUA website now states:

In 2005, Chalica emerged out of a well-intentioned desire to have a new winter holiday organized around Unitarian Universalist principles. In the years that followed, however, UUs began voicing discomfort that this created holiday—celebrated over the course of seven days—felt like a harmful appropriation of holidays like Kwanzaa and Hanukkah.

In anti-oppression spaces, it’s often said that “When you know better, you do better.” Out of respect for faith traditions and people who have been historically marginalized, we encourage Unitarian Universalists to refrain from engaging in Chalica-related activities—and to use these new understandings to help us recognize appropriation.

The NAUA has to some degree attempted to stay “above the fray” in these current efforts to revise or to eliminate the UU Principles and Sources by leadership within the Unitarian Universalist Association.  This is largely an internal debate within the UUA, from which the NAUA stands apart (at least for now).  However, the recommendation of the UUA to cancel this celebration because of cultural misappropriation is both mind-blogging and instructive to many current and former Unitarian Universalist members.

Unitarians are proud of the ways in which we have respectfully incorporated ideas and practices that serve to enrich and diversify our beliefs and practices. I think of the Tibetan bells that call us to meditation during  many services.

It is challenging to think of any worthy idea or practice that hasn’t been passed down and improved through diverse cultural and geographic use and development.  Even under western law, ideas cannot be copyright – only the expression of the idea. Taking this example, if Chalica bears resemblance to Kwanzaa and Hanukkah, it demonstrates the value Unitarians hold for many ideas and practices from these cultures and countries. As long as these ideas support and nourish our members while enhancing and instantiating our liberal religious values –  they are embraced.

We hope you keep our principles, values and ideas alive and flourishing on this threshold of our major Festive season.  And of course we gratefully acknowledge these diverse cultures, traditions and beliefs that enrich our faith.Text of post

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