Sermon copyright (c) 2025 Dan Harper. As delivered to First Parish in Cohasset. The sermon as delivered contained substantial improvisation. The text below may have typographical errors, missing words, etc., because I didn’t have time to make any corrections.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
The first reading was the poem \u201cDemocracy,\u201d written in 1949 by Langston Hughes (not available online due to copyright restrictions).<\/p>\n\n\n\n
The second reading was a transcript of a 1989 interview with novelist, poet, and jazz musician Gil Scott-Heron. The interviewer was documentary filmmaker Skip Blumberg.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
\u201cI think that the Black Americans have been the only real die-hard Americans here, because we\u2019re the only who have carried the process through\u2026. Everyone else has sort of skipped stages. We\u2019re the ones who marched, we\u2019re the ones who carried the Bible, we\u2019re the ones who carried the flag, we\u2019re the ones who tried to go through the courts — and being born American didn\u2019t seem to matter. Because we were born American but we still had to fight for what we were looking for.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n
The third reading is from \u201cHaitian Migrants Who Found Safety at UUA Headquarters in Boston Share Their Stories,\u201d a story in the most recent UU World magazine. In this story, the author interviews two refugees from Haiti.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
\u201cIn Chile Rodrick met Angela, who was studying to be a nurse in Haiti but, like he, left in search of a better life\u2026. Rodrick found work, and they were able to afford a car. But someone tried to steal their car, and in the process of stopping the crime Rodrick was stabbed twice. At that point, they decided to head to the United States\u2026. Asked why they chose the United States, Rodrick answered, \u2018The reason we chose America is to get stability that\u2019s missing in other countries.\u2019\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n
If you come here regularly on Sunday mornings, you may have noticed that for the past couple of months I\u2019ve been mentioning democracy nearly every week. For us Unitarian Universalists, democracy has become an important religious principle.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
Placing religious importance on democracy may sound strange. Our society tends to assume that all religions are like Christianity, and because several branches of Christianity are hierarchical, our society tends to assume that all religions are hierarchical and non-democratic.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
We Unitarian Universalists, on the other hand, are devoted to democracy. Democracy is a core spiritual value for us Unitarian Universalists. We don\u2019t have a hierarchy, and instead connect with other Unitarian Universalist congregations in the United States through a democratically-run association, the Unitarian Universalist Association. Similarly, we connect with other Unitarians and Universalists throughout the world through a democratically-run organization called the International Unitarian\/Universalist Collaboration.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
Operating under democratic principles helps our leaders to stay in close communication with those they are leading. And while we may trust our leaders, we are constantly evaluating them in our minds to make sure they are adhering to our shared goals and values. We want leaders to remain accountable to the people they\u2019re leading, and we want leaders to be accountable to our highest values.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
This springs from our deeply held beliefs about the nature of human beings. We know that individual human beings are limited beings. Any human being is capable of making mistakes. That is to say, all human beings are fallible — I\u2019m fallible, you\u2019re fallible, our leaders are fallible. But when we come together in democratically-run groups and hold each other accountable for our actions and beliefs, we can help correct each other. Our dream is that if come together in community, together we can move toward a world of truth and goodness.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
That\u2019s the basic theory of democracy: no one person has all the answers, but if we work together maybe we can move towards truth and goodness. In practice, democracy does not chart a direct path towards truth and goodness. The history of Black Americans provides an excellent case study of how American democracy has not followed a direct path straight to truth and goodness.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
This is what Langston Hughes was expressing in the first reading this morning, the poem titled \u201cDemocracy.\u201d Hughes wrote that poem in 1949, at a difficult time for Black Americans. During the Second World War — which was ostensibly a war for democracy, and against fascism — Black American soldiers served with honor and distinction in both the European and the Pacific theatres. Here at home, Black women took jobs in war-related industries to help further the war effort. Yet once the Second World War was over, Black Americans continued to experience the same discrimination they had been subjected to prior to the war. When Black Americans pointed out this contradiction, some White Americans acknowledged this was true, but counseled Black Americans to wait a little longer and eventually they would gain the equality they felt they deserved in a democracy. When Hughes heard White Americans suggest that he wait for true equality, he wrote:<\/p>\n\n\n\n
I tire so of hearing people say,
Let things take their course.
Tomorrow is another day.
I do not need my freedom when I’m dead\u2026.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
By 1949, Langston Hughes and many other Black Americans had grown tired of waiting for the equality promised by the Declaration of Independence. Nor did they take comfort in suggestions that they help vote in candidates who were sympathetic to their cause; especially since a great many Black Americans effectively weren\u2019t able to vote at that time.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
However, Black Americans had long used other democratic methods to affect public policy. Beginning in the early years of the twentieth century, the National Association for the Advancement of Colored People, or NAACP, used the democratic right of freedom of the press. Elected political leaders were not addressing the epidemic of lynchings of Black Americans, so the NAACP sent journalists to investigate. We think disinformation is a new phenomenon, but disinformation about lynchings was incredibly widespread a hundred years ago. To counter disinformation, the NAACP published verifiable facts in their own periodicals, and presented those facts to elected leaders. It took decades, but gradually they were able to reduce the number of lynchings. And the NAACP was able to run their own news outlet because of another democratic right, the right of free association. By banding together and growing a large organization, Black Americans and their White allies were able fund their own journalists, and to make their views heard in the cacophony of a mass democracy.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
In the two decades after Langston Hughes wrote that poem, Black Americans continued to use a variety of democratic methods to make their views known. During the Civil Rights struggle of the nineteen fifties and nineteen sixties, Black Americans used the right of free association to rally together to demand the rights that were legally due them. They used the free press to get the truth out the discrimination they faced, not just in the South, but here in the North as well. They used the courts to seek judicial redress, and while they lost many court battles, they also prevailed in such landmark cases as Brown vs. Board of Education.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
It is worth noting that all of this democratic activity was supported by voluntary associations like the NAACP. These were not lone individuals taking their individual case to the courts, but rather groups of people working together in concert. So, for example, there\u2019s this myth that Rosa Parks acted on her own when she refused to give up her seat for a White woman on an Alabama bus. But she was not working alone. She was part of a much larger movement. She was helping the NAACP with a larger strategy when she refused to give up her seat. Because she was part of a local movement that, Black Americans were able to band together to boycott the Montgomery city buses for the year after her arrest, and this year-long organized boycott forced political leaders to end segregation on city buses.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
Democratic change does not come about though heroic individualism. Democratic change comes about as a result of people coming together, and working together. We are constantly told that the most important thing in a democracy is to vote, but this is false. Voting represents the absolute minimum effort an individual can make in a democracy. This is not to say the right to vote is unimportant — it is important, and everyone should have the right to vote. But if your only democratic effort is to spend fifteen minutes twice a year casting your vote, and maybe another couple of hours a year attending town meeting, you as an individual shouldn\u2019t expect to have much of an impact.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
Yes, your vote matters — but it only matters when you exercise your other democratic rights and responsibilities. This is what Gil Scott-Heron was getting at in the second reading. I\u2019m going to read that second reading for you again, in its entirety, because I think it\u2019s so important. Gil Scott-Heron said: \u201cI think that the Black Americans have been the only real die-hard Americans here, because we\u2019re the only who have carried the process through\u2026. Everyone else has sort of skipped stages. We\u2019re the ones who marched, we\u2019re the ones who carried the Bible, we\u2019re the ones who carried the flag, we\u2019re the ones who tried to go through the courts — and being born American didn\u2019t seem to matter. Because we were born American but we still had to fight for what we were looking for.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n
People say we\u2019re facing a crisis in democracy. I feel that crisis has come about because too many people have reduced their participation in democracy to the absolute minimum of voting, and nothing more. Too many Americans like their comfort more than they like democracy. We Americans have kind of abandoned democracy. We are comfortable sitting at home, so we stay at home. Fewer and fewer Americans belong to groups where cooperate with other people.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
Now if you\u2019re here in the Meetinghouse this morning, you get to pat yourself on the back because you made the effort to get out of the house, and schlep down here, and attend this service. But honestly, the service itself isn\u2019t all that important; what\u2019s actually important is that we came down here to meet with like-minded people and work on projects together. We\u2019re here participating in a democratically run organization. We\u2019re actually doing democracy, in a small way, just by being here.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
And those of you who are watching the livestream, you also get to pat yourself on the back. You made the effort to stay off social media for an hour, to not play video games for an hour, and participate in this community. That might not seem like it\u2019s important, but it is. We count the number of people who log on to our livestream each week, and it makes a difference for First Parish to be able to say you\u2019re another person who\u2019s part of this democratically-run organization. Just as the NAACP relied on support from members at a distance, so do we.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
The NAACP offers a good example for us to follow in this crisis in democracy. The NAACP is a voluntary association; it consists of people who freely associate together in a democratically-run organization to support each other and to affect public policy. The NAACP is a specific type of voluntary association: it has a national coordinating body, and it has local face-to-face groups that meet regularly. That\u2019s actually the same organizational structure we Unitarian Universalists have. This is an especially powerful way for individuals to join together to affect public policy. Other examples of federated voluntary membership associations include the NAACP, the League of Women Voters, the American Civil Liberties Union, the National Rifle Association, the Democratic Party, the Republican Party, and so on. You might not agree with the politics of these example organizations, but you have to admit that each of them has been effective in its own unique way. And each of these organizations actually serves to strengthen democracy, by amplifying the voice of individuals in a mass democracy where they might otherwise be lost in the noise.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
(Obviously, there are also ways to participate more directly in government. Some of us have the necessary skills to serve on town boards, run for elected office, and so on. But not everyone can fill these roles, which is why I\u2019m emphasizing participating in voluntary associations.)<\/p>\n\n\n\n
Two days from now, we\u2019re facing an especially divisive presidential election. (Our congregation is divided, by the way; we have both Republicans and Democrats.) The way the polls are running, no matter who wins, roughly half the electorate will be unhappy with the results of the election.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
So what should you do if your side loses on Tuesday?<\/p>\n\n\n\n
Well, I\u2019ve heard people say all kinds of things. But I suggest we listen to the opinion of a recent Haitian immigrant, as we heard it in the third reading this morning:<\/p>\n\n\n\n
\u201cAsked why they chose the United States, Rodrick [the recent immigrant] answered, \u2018The reason we chose America is to get stability that\u2019s missing in other countries.\u2019\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n
Remember, this is a Black man speaking, someone who knows full well that there continues to be racial discrimination against Black men here in the United States. But Rodrick also understands that there is a stability here in the United States. Our democracy that may be in crisis, but our democracy remains surprisingly robust. Much of that robustness comes from our freedom to associate, from our ability to create vibrant organizations that help affect public policy.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
If your preferred candidate loses in the coming week, rather than ranting and raving on social media (or in person), I suggest that you exercise your democratic right to participate in a voluntary association. Instead of ranting and raving, go join the local branch of the League of Women Voters — there\u2019s a branch in Hingham, and a branch in Plymouth. Go join the Brockton branch of the NAACP. Or if you already belong to some group that influences politics locally and nationally, rededicate yourself to that group, and then go join another group. Mourning the loss is a waste of time; get organized instead.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
If your preferred candidate wins in the coming week, once again, please stay off social media. Beyond that, even if your candidate wins, you still need to exercise your democratic right to participate in a voluntary association that influences politics locally and nationally. Our problems are not going to go away just because your one presidential candidate wins this one election. Celebrating victory is a waste of time; get organized instead.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
Gil Scott-Heron said of his fellow Black Americans, \u201cwe were born American but we still had to fight for what we were looking for.\u201d That has actually been true of all Americans. Democracy is never a finished product. We have always had to fight to keep our democracy. Human beings have always been fallible beings, and because we constantly make mistakes, we constantly have to fight for our ideals. Democracy is hard work, and it is never-ending work. The outcome of the upcoming election isn\u2019t going to change that, no matter who wins.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
I hope you can hold on to that thought during this anxious time. Don\u2019t let the anxiety get you down. Hold on to the thought that you can freely associate with others, and you can continue to work for accountability and democratic change no matter what the outcome of the election. Remember Rodrick who came here because it\u2019s so much better here than in his country. Hold on to our highest democratic ideals. Continue to work for those high democratic ideals.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"
Sermon copyright (c) 2025 Dan Harper. As delivered to First Parish in Cohasset. The sermon as delivered contained substantial improvisation. The text below may have typographical errors, missing words, etc., because I didn’t have time to make any corrections. Readings The first reading was the poem \u201cDemocracy,\u201d written in 1949 by Langston Hughes (not available […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[114],"tags":[77],"class_list":["post-1820","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-religion-in-society","tag-democracy"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.danielharper.org\/archive\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/1820","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.danielharper.org\/archive\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.danielharper.org\/archive\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.danielharper.org\/archive\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.danielharper.org\/archive\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcomments&post=1820"}],"version-history":[{"count":1,"href":"https:\/\/www.danielharper.org\/archive\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/1820\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":1821,"href":"https:\/\/www.danielharper.org\/archive\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/1820\/revisions\/1821"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.danielharper.org\/archive\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fmedia&parent=1820"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.danielharper.org\/archive\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcategories&post=1820"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.danielharper.org\/archive\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Ftags&post=1820"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}