The Meaning of Charity

The next three talks will focus on the "theological virtues": faith, hope and charity. Western and Christian philosophy and theology posed the moral life as fulfilled in these three spiritual virtues. "The Meaning of Charity" is the theme for October. Charity, today, almost has a negative connotation. It is understood as a private virtue - privileged individuals giving monetary donations. But, a deeper look at the old idea of charity reveals a social meaning to the word. Charity is the necessary virtue for democracy, and should be understood as fundamentally social in character. It's about our commitment and generosity to one another - the way we care for one another in community. Charity is not about private giving of the privileged; it's the virtue that links our common lot together as one body. The presence or absence of "charity" defines the quality and character of any community more than it defines the character of an individual. 

The Virtue of Hospitality: Becoming and Being a Welcoming Community

The Virtue of Hospitality:  Becoming and Being a Welcoming Community By David Saetre

The Meaning of Salvation

Speaker: David Saetre "The Meaning of Salvation" 
Easter Sunday Service, speaker David Saetre, Northland College Chaplain and Humanities professor. David will offer an inter-faith exploration on themes of new life and renewal. This will also be the last in his year-long series on "reconstructing theology": essential themes from the Judeo-Christian traditions. In David's own words, the series has been a theology for skeptics, exploring some of the difficult ideas from the Western religious traditions. 

The Easter service will focus on the idea of salvation. Noting that salvation derives from the Latin root, salus, meaning to be safe and sound, this meditation will explore what that might mean not only in the context of Easter, but in the everyday world of our lives. The world often seems unyielding and dangerous. Here, one finds a word of hope and encouragement. Finally, we look to the Universalist side of the UU heritage, which defined salvation in terms of a final acceptance and healing for all humankind. 
David W. Saetre 
College Chaplain and Assistant Professor of Religion, Northland College 
"The opposite of faith is certainty, not doubt." David 

Morality, modernity, and the Holocaust

Paul Schue will speak on the question morality, modernity, and the Holocaust. He will address what the Holocaust has to say about morality in modern industrial societies, and how we can change the way we think about morality to better respond to future crises in the modern world.

Prof. Schue has a Ph.D. in modern European history from the University of California, Irvine, and has been teaching history, including courses on the Holocaust, at Northland College since 2001.

Sin and Redemption

David Saetre--Is it possible to talk about our existential experience of brokenness and alienation, without falling into the abyss of judgmental moralism. Is that what sin really signifies? Is it possible to imagine life's surprising capacity for renewal and hope, redemption, without appealing to supernatural causes? The words sin and redemption lead us down into those depths of our human experience as few other words can.

Standing on One Foot: 3,000 years in 20 minutes

David Seigler presents, "Standing on One Foot: 3,000 years in 20 minutes." What can be said in twenty minutes about the world's oldest monotheistic religion? Plenty, and in using twenty minutes to do so David Siegler will take at least nineteen minutes more than one of Judaism's greatest rabbi's thought necessary.

The Great and the Small

In our society, bigger is usually seen as better. We've got big business, big boxes and big portions. I'm reflecting on the role of the small congregation in the life of the church. What does it mean to be a small group working for social justice? How can we nurture this still, small voice?

A.J. Galazen is a queer, nonsectarian, vegetarian, Aquarian, Buddhist, Taoist, Humanist, Unitarian Universalist theologian. He has spoken for over twenty years on issues of social equality and religious freedom, and is currently pursuing the Unitarian Universalist ministry at United Theological Seminary of the Twin Cities.