At the time, I was a Unitarian Universalist.  Proud of being a flaming liberal in a conservative state, I felt the very organic kind of paranoia and token misunderstanding that characterizes any unapologetic leftist in a red state.  

The district I was in needed a representative to visit the yearly young adult conference--the annual meeting of the minds of the movers and shakers of the denomination.  I was 22 at the time and far more idealistic than I was now, but also graced with an intensely pragmatic streak which came from seeing my state turn a frustrating shade of red in every Presidential election I could remember.  What greeted me upon arrival was not peace, love, and understanding.  Rather, I walked into the middle of a hornet's nest.  

The hostility I was greeted with had been fostered by an unfortunate racial dynamic which had transpired a few days before my arrival.  It had been introduced when a white female from somewhere up North (and a very open lesbian, as I recall) had unfortunately presumed that the leader of the Anti-Oppression/Anti-Racism training, an African-American female from Tennessee, was a bellhop.  

Pick up my bags, she'd said, unbelievably.  Well, suffice to say this kind of callous statement didn't go over very well and it trickled over and tainted the entire conference.  

At the time, I wasn't aware this had transpired prior to my arrival, but when I heard of it weeks later, I shook my head in disgust.  Being from the South, let it be known I know better than to do silly things like this.  Nor, is this kind of shockingly racist behavior anything that would even cross my mind.  

It's been beat into my head since birth that racism is not kosher.  Since many Americans assume that racism only exists down here in the South, or at minimum, overtly racist acts happen down here and only here, I have an extreme chip on my shoulder as a direct consequence of that that presumption, which is rooted in stereotype, not fact.  I digress.

At any rate, what had been initially intended to be a helpful discussion that brought submerged racism and oppressive viewpoints into the forefront very quickly became let's hate on whitey .  So here I was with my white face, a male, presumably heterosexual, and graced with a pronounced southern drawl.  Suffice to say no one gave me the benefit of the doubt when I opened my mouth.  

I saw minority-majority politics pushed the forefront.  Affirmative Action on steroids is the best way I can describe the way the conference was led. White males were asked directly not to speak first when meetings were led.
Almost every position of authority was granted to minorities, regardless of their skill or talent level.    

I joked bitterly that if a person was a male to female transgender half Asian, half African-American, he would stand the best chance of winning elective office.  The pecking order was flipped upside down, but the end result was the same.  Instead of putting aside dynamics that kept minorities in shackles, liberal guilt-complex politics came to the forefront. Needless to say I was the low person on the totem pole.  

We were all so young, though.  I can't forget that.  The oldest member of the group was thirty five years old, which is an age that I once saw as ancient, yet now am only a few years away from attaining myself.    

Recently, these conferences have been rescinded by the Unitarian Universalist powers that be, and for good reason, since problems like these were far too commonplace.  The point of me making light of this conference is not to stick it to UUs, or to try to clear my name, but rather to remind all of us that church politics, radical activism, and a lack of irony spell doom for all religious liberals if we do not temper our desire for social reform with a kind of pragmatism and moderation not at all in evidence by the rantings of Reverend Jeremiah A. Wright.  

From the distance of five years, the proceedings appear ridiculous rather than racist.  The wounds uncovered seem indicative of a kind of narcissistic navel-gazing, rather than anything substantial or of much consequence.  But by the mere fact that this happened, I feel as though I can understand the fear of many conservatives when the idea of Barack Obama as President crosses their minds.

They are afraid of this kind of response, which although it is extreme and not likely to occur on any large scale, is rooted in more than just paranoid delusions of the right.

So let's ensure that radical voices are kept at bay and we entertain sensible, rational notions.  Let's not be painted into a corner by GOP scare tactics.  

Here is their fear.