27.0°

If you've driven by the historic church at Fifth and Main streets this week, you may have noticed the big banner stating "Standing on the Side of Love" and wondered what that means. Read on and you'll find out.

At its annual meeting last summer in Salt Lake City, the Unitarian Universalist Association kicked off a year-long program called Standing on the Side of Love (SSL, pronounced "Sizzle"). SSL is a public advocacy campaign, sponsored by the UUA, promoting respect for the inherent worth and dignity of every person, one of the seven basic principles we subscribe to. We believe that no one should be dehumanized through acts of exclusion, oppression, or violence because of their identities.

You may remember that our Tennessee Valley Unitarian Universalist (UU) Church was attacked by a gunman on July 27, 2008, because the gunman objected to its liberal views and its affirmation of GLBT people. Following that tragedy, the courage and love demonstrated by Tennessee UUs was a powerful testament to our faith. Living out our values of respect and inclusion, UUs across the country can play a role in challenging exclusion, oppression, and violence in our local communities and in our nation by adopting some of the programs offered by SSL..

The goals of the campaign are (1) to elevate and focus Unitarian Universalism's voice in the public square, to influence public attitudes about the worth and dignity of all, and (2) to mobilize quick and effective responses to incidents of exclusion, oppression, or violence based on intolerance of people's identities.

The Juneau UU Fellowship is proud of the fact that we have long supported the struggle of minority populations to obtain equal justice in our society. In recent years that struggle has focused on those with different sexual orientations, such as the GLBT community. Our congregation provides financial and other support for the Pride Chorus and the local chapter of PFLAG, and has been certified as a Welcoming Congregation by the UUA.

Standing on the Side of Love is a core statement of UU belief in the power of love and our commitment to living our values. The slogan has been used effectively in describing our challenges to exclusive marriage policies. We want to build on that success to open a larger umbrella under which many people, both Unitarian Universalists and others, can take action in a broad range of arenas where people are excluded, oppressed, or attacked based on real or perceived identities.

An important part of the SSL campaign is the effort to engage other religious and community organizations in the work. All program materials are designed to invite maximum participation from interfaith and community partners. SSL has its own Web site, www.standingonthesideoflove.org, separate from that of the UUA. It also has a presence on Facebook, Twitter, and YouTube. Youth and young adults are among the most enthusiastic participants in all creative work for justice and SSL is no exception.

The SSL program and work is but one manifestation of an aspect of Unitarian Universalist theology that I find maintains my dedication to its principles. And while UU's may no longer be considered Christian by most Christian churches, we are not very far from our Christian roots in our theological approach to social justice. Those familiar with James 2 will recognize the words "What good is it my brother and sisters, if you say you have faith but do not have works? Can faith save you? ... Show me your faith apart from your works, and I by my works will show you my faith."

As Thomas Jefferson said, I don't care how many gods you believe in or even if you believe in god. I just care about whether you are a good neighbor. And Standing on the Side of Love is about being a good neighbor to all our good neighbors, not just those who share certain attributes we have chosen to call "normal."

As for the banner itself, this banner is owned by our regional organization and is on a tour of the region's congregations. We were the first to fly it and next week it will go to Mt. Vernon, Wash., to be displayed by the Skagit Valley UU Fellowship. If we are successful in completing our purchase of the old church at 5th and Main in the next two months, we will purchase our own SSL banner to display at appropriate times. It is a statement that in its broadest sense reflects a way of life that we all should follow and most of us first learned about in Sunday School when we were taught the basics of Jesus' teachings.

• Dave Dierdorff is a member of the Juneau Unitarian Universalist Fellowship.