Why good UU leaders should find UUYA! hot L6EP4E

^L6FDAK:Revision 1857 -2010.08.01pst0413 (~100% complete 1st draft):

= Why good UU leaders should find UUYA! hot (and want to endorse their local chapter)

Contents —Read for a quick full-picture of what's here

1. L6FFEG: The situation & problem: effectively no single young adults within UU
2. L6FEZ0: Our organization UUYA! aims to really fix that. Indeed, it’s the best solution I’ve heard of.
1. L6FZ8V:What's wrong at core: seeing the catch-22.
2. L6GN6M: Why the catch-22? How single young adults think
3. L6FZAX:Unraveling the catch-22: First and foremost, gather young adults separately and typically-online and from the full county.
4. L6FZJO: But sometimes the only way to get something done is to do it yourself, especially for pioneers.
5. L6FNZ7:The 17+ benefits of UUYA! include:
6. L6FF52:In my mind, that's pretty hot! —Especially given the serious problem.
7. L6FF63: But have you heard some negative words against me or our group, as from someone you would trust?  Expect to!
3. L6FFVU: And the concept really works!  For instance,
4. L6FFXH: About me the founder
1. L6FYBO: Why do I do it?  For other young adults and future generations.
2. L6FG04: Who am I? I'm a 10-year UU-advocate, from about 2000 when I first discovered UU.
5. What role am I planning for myself in this organization? Is my goal to meet other young adults, or what?  No, my primary goal is to get it growing on its own then move on to other things.
6. L6GTPG: A number of local UU leaders now actively resisting, and not really saying why??!
7. L6G4YO: Concluding thoughts
8. “KVA16I: Document Background & History”
1. L6EP4E: 2010.07.30pst2212 I DestinyArchitect “created & own this document”.

1. ^L6FFEG: The situation & problem: effectively no single young adults within UU

1. ^L6FZP8: In virtually all 12 UU congregations I've seen over the last 10 years (11 in Orange or LA County), single young adults are painfully the most under-represented demographic (almost none or zero there), especially single ones.  Every single young adult I've met is upset by this, without exception, even if they are the 1 in hundreds which choose to stay. And for all the rest, no matter how much they like UU principles & values & traditions, they will immediately leave over this pivotal flaw.
2. My report L2MYPI(Unitarian Universalism (UU) is inclusive & cool!) goes into considerable detail & analysis of this situation & problem.
   

1. ^L6FEZ0: Our organization UUYA! aims to really fix that. Indeed, it’s the best solution I’ve heard of.

   “Now that's what I call UU young adult spirit! --Brave happy young adults, from a variety of backgrounds, showing up for UU services (UU Fullerton) even when they are the only & first young adults there! --WAY TO GO, guys!”

1. ^L6FZ8V:What's wrong at core: seeing the catch-22.

1. ^L6FF01:From being a UU advocate for 10 years now (ever since I heard of it), I've found the lack of young adults at UU congregations to be a catch-22: Young adults will only stay if there are quite a number already there-- which our UUYA organization really addresses.  How? Well, to deeply understand, you first want to ask Why:
   

2. ^L6GN6M: Why the catch-22? How single young adults think

1. ^L6GQE9:You can skip to the next section on what the fix is, but to really understand why it works (indeed why it's implied) you need to understand this section, How Single young adults think.
   
2. ^L6GN89: More than any other demographic, young adults, especially single, are all about networking: "It's not what you know, but who you know", "It's not what's happening but who's going." And "It's not how good it is but what's popular".
1. ^L6GNWT: This makes sense as this demographic:
1. ^L6GNZ8: is now being sent out into life on his/her own, so most needs to establish connections with each other in order to survive
2. ^L6GNZN: has just spent the last 13 to 17 years in school, so is used to being around hundreds or thousands of people just like them (same age & single).
2. ^L6GO0X:Consequently, we can deduce the 2 key things which keep single young adults far away from UU:
   
1. ^L6GO2B: First, single young adults must be kept in notable groups. The healthy the single young adult will not be comfortable in any group, especially social, where the majority of people are not like them (also single young adults, about the same age).  Moreover, this situation will be intolerable if he/she is alone in this situation (because there are no single young adults they can closely bond with) else because their ratio drops below say 6%. In either of these cases, you drop below what I call "a critical mass of single young adults" so they will take off.
2. ^L6GOHN:Second & similarly, unless acting out or crippled, the single young adult avoids "fringe" things because the are, by definition, unpopular (and remember, "It's not how good it is but what's popular").  And since 1 in 8000 religious people are UU -of the major religions, UU's the bottom, UU is EXTREMELY fringe.  Consequently, for most single young adults, they'd need to see dozens or hundreds of others like them into UU before they would even think twice about it; and while we can try to pretend UU is not fringe (I say "There's over 1000 congregations"),  mostly still true; fortunately, there are about say maybe 5% who are willing to forgo this, and by slowly gathering this tiny minority were they ca be seen as actively participating together, we may have hope to start attracting the rest. So we have to start by taking the single young adults accepting of fringe.
   
3. ^L6GPHN: "Open-minded" & even progressive & liberal are not problems: maybe 75% of urban/suburban California single young adults think of themselves this way, and it feels the ratio is increasing.
   
3. ^L6GNIY: Also the young adult, especially single, is likely least into morals, as religion. Why? Because they've had that shoved down on them by their parents until now, and so now they're free and all about throwing away these constraints and discovering on their own what's really important.  Now yes UU is quite in line with this thinking (finding your own moralities), but that connection won't occur to the newcomer the moment they hear UU falls under "religion" as most religions are the opposite here). So the "R" word (religion) will scare off most especially the single young adult. However, I would guess in urban/suburban California today there are about 20% of single young adults willing to consider the "R" word.
4. ^L6GPAD: Putting these 4 key conclusions together, this means that given we can make sure that single young adults can be kept in notable groups, this means about 5% (accepting fringe) * 75% (open-minded) * 20% (open to religion) = .75% or 1 in 133 single young adults would be open to a UU young adult group if done right.  That's very discouraging but still possible.  And it's 60x better than the 1 in 8000 religious people are UU reality which UU presently has.

3. ^L6FZAX:Unraveling the catch-22: First and foremost, gather young adults separately and typically-online and from the full county.

1. ^L6GQNV: our group uses a trick I’ve seen no one else pioneer:
   
2. ^L6FF2V: This is an idea I came up with in about 2000 when I first discovered UU but saw young adults fleeing (there are virtually no young adults at the UU congregation, and when one shows up, s/he looks around, sees no others, so naturally takes off).
   
3. ^L6FZFU: Our organization uses a combo of key tricks, to gently unravel the catch-22 (via "incubation" then "hatching") carefully shaped in accordance to the  rules (above) on How a single young adult thinks.
1. ^L6GMED: Incubation. It first gathers young adults...
1. ^L6GMHM: separately where they can always see and be with mostly all other mostly-single young adults (what they want and are comfortable with)
1. ^L6GRV6: this is essential: if the young adults can't feel they can start from and retreat to their "home" (of mostly young adults and mostly single), if they don't feel they have such a home with UU (at least in the beginning), then then they won't stay and so won't grow up there; instead they will leave to find some other "home" where they can feel safe and grow.
2. ^L6GSBC: In other words, single young adults need a "home" they can turn to (of mostly young adults, mostly single) where they can grow up in until they are ready to leave "home" and go out into the big world on their own.
   
2. ^L6GMKC:From across the county.  Each chapter draws from the largest driving distance realistic (the county) to reach most young adults (capable of considering this most fringe religious thinking, and also to pool resources: one group serving a larger area)
   
3. definitely online  (which young adults are most comfortable with, and to manage the group list)
1. ^L6GQW2: since
1. ^L6GQY9: physical will always be impossible at times and
   
2. ^L6GQYM: online it's easy to collect and group all the young adults together (building a big separate group)
   
2. ^L6GQYX: via:
   
1. ^L6GMMC: at least an email/messaging list, and 
   
2. ^L6GQZR: ideally using the latest online social networking (Facebook, Meetup, etc) which young adults (above all) adore.
4. ^L6GMQ3:physically whenever possible (these must be events outside the typical UU services & events (to be separate) unless a solid critical mass can be acheived)
   
2. ^L6GR9E: Hatching.  Once a solid critical mass of interested young adults can be gathered for an area with a UU congregation, they do one or more event(s) at the congregation as a group (such as attend a Sunday service, followed by a fun afternoon activity -- or participation in a congregation's social justice action followed by a shared meal) and NOW they feel safe & comfortable & supported --NOT the first & only person on the dance floor surrounded by all sorts of people not their age in a fringe religion they probably never heard of before.
   
4. ^L6FZHN: Step by step:
1. ^L6FF37: A young adult (especially single) coming to a UU congregation is ideally told (before the panic of seeing virtually no young adults there sets in) “Oh, yes, we have young adults! Check out http://Meetup.com/UUYA-US-CA-OC” and indeed there the young adult sees plenty of young faces and joins.  Or a UU-curious young adult just discovers us online to begin with and joins (you might not think that would happen, but we actually get about 1/2 of our members that way, since young adults are generally the most web-savvy).
2. ^L6FF3F: The online group does fun in-person activities where the young adults can be with others like them. And once enough young adults can be gathered near a particular physical congregation, one of the events is they visit the congregation as a group, and then are not alone.
3. ^L6FF3W: And if they like it, they become members.  And soon enough the congregation has a stable tight group of young adult members!
   
5. ^L6FF41: And the congregation has to put almost no effort out to get it: just direct young adults who come visit to the website and ideally encourage & help them to sign up.
   

4. ^L6FZJO: But sometimes the only way to get something done is to do it yourself, especially for pioneers.

1. ^L6FSJQ: Well for years I passed around this idea to many UU congregations; “Hey, I'll come to your congregation if you have a lot more young adults (instead of say 4 to 0). And in fact here's how you can get them... ”; but, but like friends of the Little Red Hen, no one wanted to do the work. So eventually in 2009 October I decided to bite-the-bullet and do the work myself. And that's how UUYA! was born, and indeed in many ways its potential goes well beyond my original expectations...
   

5. ^L6FNZ7:The 17+ benefits of UUYA! include:

1. ^L6FO0I: Unique & clever: really designed to match the needs & thinking of single young adults -- see details above
   
2. ^L6FP6O: Especially designed for the many UU congregations (4 out of 5 in Orange County) which, like UU Fullerton, have few or no young adults.
3. ^L6FO8O: Pleasingly Inexpensive: no need to hire paid staff as some other UU congregations have resorted to.  Indeed no costs (besides <$25/mo web & phone # hosting per county)
4. ^L6FV1B: Features a parent organization with any number of chapters (one per county)
   
5. ^L6FOAJ: Potentially fully scalable (to to any number of counties, indeed internationally)
   
6. ^L6FO34: Web-savvy & makes full use of latest Web 2.0 social networking technology  (which young adults especially love)
   
7. ^L6FO64: Hosted by the best, most popular, and & most trusted web technologies: Since our beginnings our chapter(s) have been hosted by Meetup.com, the world's most-advanced leading provider of online local group management since ~2004, with over 70K local groups like us worldwide! And with technology scaling to groups of over 3000 people! (I'm also a member of http://Meetup.com/Got-OC which is over 3000) And for additional young adults, we plan to host chapters on Facebook, too. And 
   
8. ^L6FQCR: Thanks especially to Meetup, our chapters can be and are-designed-to-be automatically-running, else highly self-running and fully "grass-roots": everyone is invited to participate, even in the management, and anyone might later or soon become a leader or even the top-leader. There is no one point of weakness: anyone, even the top leader, can leave and the group can still run. Furthermore, members can and do automatically join online and themselves recruit plus host group events & discussions themselves; if done properly as we aim to, all the top leader does is supervise plus, when needed, represent the group, and members may never even meet the top leader and that's perfectly fine & expected. And the group is automatically self-advertized on the web and especially to the millions of other Meetup members.
   
9. ^L6FR8H:Going well beyond most all other online groups, “We're a proud follower & endorser of Universal Rules & Guidelines for Meetup.com L2PFGY!”, a standard set of rules & guidelines for good conduct (similar to the Better Business Bureau) which goes well beyond the terms-of-service Meetup or Facebook or similar (and even mention UU Principle #1).
   
10. ^L6FRTA: Thanks to a huge amount of work on my part, all our rules & guidelines are published on the web and in writing, even those beyond the Universal ones just mentioned: most notably, see our International parent organization.
    
11. ^L6FS2M: From the start, we've been a transparent organization. I don't want http://Meetup.com/UUYA-US-CA-OC *nor any site) to be private, and the only reason it has recently been that status is to stop UU District's Young Adult rep from trying to take down our site, apparently having been misinformed about us) 
    
12. ^L6FOAW: Like a franchise, every chapter is mostly self-running (being based on the above top technologies plus written early standards)
    
13. ^L6FTQ6:Pooling resources as much as possible, making the formerly rare or impossible both possible and even widespread! Running a young-adult group for a congregation is typically a real part-time or full-time job. But
1. ^L6FTYB: Since each chapter is county-wide (so covers say 5 congregations) this divided up the load considerably, plus it allows that group to have events on its own of essentially all young adults (fun plus essential to bootstrap the process, as explained above) plus “each chapter draws from the largest driving distance realistic (the county) to get most young adults to this most fringe religious thinking”.
2. ^L6FU3K: Since each chapter is following a written, published template with all the details worked out (see above), like a franchise, this makes setting up and running a chapter MUCH easier, plus generally insures better & uniform standards between chapters.
   
14. ^L6FP85: Also sells young adults on UU online  Young adults especially love online & social networking, and indeed over half of our members have been introduced to you UU and joined our group simply thanks to our young adult website! Thus they become sold on UU before just showing up unprepared to a UU congregation (where, if not warned and assured before-hand that there are other young adults, they would almost always flee (after 1 service) seeing no other young adults there).  I never anticipated this benefit originally but it has been a pleasant surprise. I guess because of our website and other good work above: so far, for about 15 of our young adult members, finding & enjoying our website was their first introduction to UU!
    
15. ^L6FVZG: Detailed online photo & profile of every member, with a number of key UU background questions --indeed our member profiles exceed those typically done by many UU congregations I've seen. For samples, see http://Meetup.com/UUYA-US-CA-OC/members such as the profiles on the members below.
    
16. ^L6FUCU: Pioneers a membership criteria specification for a young adult group which allows all ages to be included (as per the UU value of valuing and including everyone) and indeed never excluded anyone when he/she arbitrarily reaches a certain numerical age (indeed rather suggests including him/her as a supporter), but still focuses on young adults with a pioneering definition for young adults.  See the membership criteria within our organization definition.
    
17. ^L6FUUW: And not just a dream, not just an idea, but built AND proven.  As you can see from our 1st chapter's website, it's real: it's been around for 9 months now, is pretty much 100% documented (everything in writing), has built up 24 members (local UU Young Adults & Supporters - some from your own congregation), has logos, pictures, & business cards, and and has had 28 meetings. It even has an International parent organization defined (with logo) of which the Orange County chapter is the first test case. See the quick tour on our first chapter's about About page. Plus we've had a number of successes; just one brief one is mentioned below.
    

6. ^L6FF52:In my mind, that's pretty hot! —Especially given the serious problem.

7. ^L6FF63: But have you heard some negative words against me or our group, as from someone you would trust?  Expect to! 

1. ^L6FZQE: And let me know what was said.
   
2. ^L6G0JH: As typically all it takes is one trusted person to abuse his/her trust with enough slander, indeed that is what has happened.
   
3. ^L6G0JP: And “if even the US White House failed to “first carefully ask both sides” and so was easily fooled in the recent Shirley Sherrod case (and by just some opposite-party blogger post from someone not even within their organization!), then sadly it doesn't surprise me that quite a few local UU leaders could be so easily fooled as well” —see Expect pioneers to have enemies; UUYA! &I are no exception L6ANYN. 

    
   




2. ^L6FFVU: And the concept really works!  For instance,

1. “Our young adult members Ian, Bashful, & Destiny attending UU Fullerton, JUST AFTER we worked our butts off trying to persuade UU Fullerton's top leaders to endorse this our fine group, UU* YOUNG ADULTS! of OC, the rare (and fine) UU group for young adults --You'll notice I'm smiling _as best I can_, Bashful is really tired (see her comment [“omg i look hella tired”]), and Ian --after having been UU Fullerton's ONLY regularly-attending young adult for seemingly the last 12 years-- is NOT smiling now. We then rushed off to try to persuade [another UU congregation]... and that was worse...”

   ^L6FDZ4: To take just the most recent example, 2010.07.25(Sun):
   
1. ^L6FEI0 Ian was the seemingly-only young adult regularly attending at UUCF; and he had been doing it for a long time: 12 years, there since age 9. So he was understandably pleased to hear of us (UU Young Adults of OC) when I first arrived at UUCF about 5 weeks ago UUCF, and delightfully after a few weeks he joined our group (Ian's profile)! now; but, even more impressive, he came to our meetings with the leadership of UU Fullerton and with another UU congregation and was proponent of our group --I was impressed!
   
2. And also an unexpected surprise, another young adult visiting UUCF, Crystal, a bubbly & charming gal coming with her grandmother, was about to take off afterwards, seeing virtually no other young adults there as is typical for young adults at UU services, but then on hearing of our young adult group and meeting other young adults with it (myself and Ian), changed her mind, joined our group (including also on our website), and, rather impressively, also joined Ian & me in support of our group at the two congregations.
   
3. And the 3 of us went to lunch and to Starbucks at the fine places Ian selected; also Ian was pleased to meet Crystal (another YA at UUCF) and visa-versa, and Crystal also was delighted to discover Meetup.com (where our group has been hosted) and, being new to the area, the next day joined several other local Meetup groups helping her find other local friends & support leads being new area.  And I could share other tales.  The short is, while it is just a sample day, the concept really works!
   
4. ^L6FEIH: But there is opposition to UU & UU-curious having a fine young adult group, and ironically the worst of it sometimes comes from existing UU leaders. In fact the only thing that discouraged me (and especially Ian and Crystal) was the lack of enthusiasm and sometimes even resistance they saw from church elders (from both congregations' leaders) as far as having this a young adult group: no one seemed to say what all 3 of us had hoped for & were expecting, as "Yeah, that sounds wonderful; we really need some action in supporting our young adults, and this is already built and working".
   
1. ^L6FEJQ: Instead
1. ^L6FEK8:His own congregation's leaders mostly just brought up "problems & why it shouldn't be now" issues (not to say these didn't have validity, but the 3 of us could see there wasn't much enthusiasm to balance); and
2. ^L6FEKK: the other congregation's board said "You've got only 7 minutes to talk", then refused to say a word about what they thought of it ("If we need to talk with you, we'll contact you.") and mostly just scowled at us: it upset Crystal so much that afterwords she said "I wish I had just scowled back at them!"; and it rendered Ian speechless until afterwards when he privately spouted off some harsh but understandable words about their attitude that I won't repeat); and needless to say, even I was shocked with the attitude.
   
2. ^L6FEM5: Recently having had a bit more experience in unfortunate church politics since I founded the group, I was saddened that Ian & Crystal  --newcomers to trying to have a young-adult group at UU-- were having to experience this. I could see their disappointment with the church elders in the lack of needed support; but, I was very proud of them as they kept their spirit up, though the next day I could see Ian especially got burnt out after it began sinking in -- the politics involved in convincing church elders to back his & our needs (probably also thinking, as I first did, also being a young adult, that when the idea of a young adult group was brought up in my faith, that my faith would be there to back me).  I really knew and felt what they were going thru in their disappointment and encouraged them and thanked them for continuing to stay strong.
   

3. ^L6FFXH: About me the founder

1. ^L6FYBO: Why do I do it?  For other young adults and future generations.

1. ^L6FGRN: Obviously starting a novel young adult group, especially for UU which has virtually no young adults and is sometimes even resistant to change that, is a ton of work.
   

1. ^“L6B5V7: Moreover, I'm an MIT computer geek by training, so playing politics and anticipating who might act nefariously is definitely not my strong suite. ” (Needless to say, I've learned a lot so far!)

2. ^L6GSXA: So I’ve been asked “Why do I do it?  You’re not even getting paid for it, in fact you’re doing it for free and spending your own money for the hosting fees. So what benefit to you get?”
   
3. ^L6FYE1: Well, as I wrote one UU young adult who asked me, “The same benefit a solider gets from dying in battle if the mission calls for it (I’m also a US military officer in the reserves). The same benefit MLK got from preaching racial equality: he knew he might get killed for it; but look what he accomplished!
   
4. ^L6FYEG: So why do I do it?  Because it's the right thing to do: UU's got top concepts, notably better than all other major religions, but scores pretty much last in terms of having young adults.  So we've got to do something about it!  For me it's probably not going to pay off (personally, as well as liking to hang around other young adults, I feel most at home among international people, often non-white, often Asian, and that's even more impossible to find in UU), so for me it's probably not going to happen in time. But for others and future generations, that's why I'm doing it.”
   

2. ^L6FG04: Who am I? I'm a 10-year UU-advocate, from about 2000 when I first discovered UU.

1. ^L6FYUD: —Please visit that link for details.
   
2. ^L6FYFC: But also being a single young adult with the typical networking needs of such group, UU is of little use to me if there aren't a lot more other young adults there -- meditation & music I get most anywhere, and philosophy I can get via Google. So most other single young adults smart enough to appreciate what UU offers are also smart enough to leave it.
   
3. ^L6FYGI: So, call me a fool, but the difference with me is, at enormous cost to me, I give UU a chance to fix itself: in fact, I will even develop the fix. And I all do is hope UU will be smart enough to take that fix, else get a fix better. As virtually no single young adult will tolerate UU in its present state, certainly not where serious networking can be done effectively elsewhere by over 99% of single young adults.
   

3. What role am I planning for myself in this organization? Is my goal to meet other young adults, or what?  No, my primary goal is to get it growing on its own then move on to other things.

1. ^L6FYM1: I'm a pure pioneer, pure innovator: I give something to the world then move on to coming up with new stuff.
   

2. ^L6FWU3: So my goal is what I stated above: to get done something which is really needed and long over-due; mostly because I started it, and I increasingly see it as a good & very needed thing, so then it needs to be finished.  And as soon as I find  someone qualified to run the first chapter, I'll hand it off, so then I can concentrate on getting other chapters running plus support from the national & international level; plus have time do lots of other projects I enjoy doing plus work I need to do: this project has taken up far too much time.
   

3. ^L6FWW5: When I came up with the idea almost 10 years ago, my first goal was as one would guess, to meet other young adults, especially single like me.  Yes, at UU I didn't see any, and yes (as I said above) “personally, as well as liking to hang around other young adults, I feel most at home among international people, often non-white, often Asian, and that's even more impossible to find in UU”, but I figured this idea could make the biggest and dramatically better inroads to fix this, and I absolutely believe it can.
   

4. ^L6FY8P: BUT, foolish me, I vastly underestimated how hard this or any young adult solution for UU would be -- yes, if it was very needed but still NOT getting done, there were reasons, and once I began doing it I was going to discover those reasons, and big time!  For at that time I never imagined how hard it would be to get a UU young adult group started:

1. ^L6FX41: high resistance from outsiders (young adults generally stay clear of religion, and most definitely a fringe religion) but also

2. ^L6FX4P: resistance to change from within UU.  Sadly including, as the idea was really good, unfortunately notable efforts to sabotage the idea, by one UU powerful leader and the others he directly or indirectly tricked, as detailed by Expect pioneers to have enemies; UUYA! &I are no exception L6ANYN, and which I'm still having to deal with.
   

5. ^L6FXZR: Consequently, it's taking about 100x more work that I originally estimated; and even though I do it (and do it for free), it's still taking several times longer to build things up.  So I figure, by the the time UU leaders plus those new to UU get a clue to how cool a group this is and support it and build it up, I will no longer be a young adult! Sadly I will still have had to find most of my own young adult networking from other sources.  So, as I wrote, “for others and future generations, that's why I'm doing it.”  

1. ^L6GTPG: A number of local UU leaders now actively resisting, and not really saying why??!

1. ^L6GU7X: On top of all the other challenges, this is the last thing we need.  And it makes it several times more difficult, and destroys all all the fun.
2. ^L6GTW1: "Not really saying why?" causes this to be much worse (I don't know what's wrong) and notably conflicts with UU Principles #1 & #2, so these UU leaders are not being good and especially not living up to their title as a UU leader.
3. ^L6GTQ7:And it's  true.
1. ^L6GU9R: As of 2010.07.25, all 5 OC UU congregations each suddenly each that they weren't endorsing us, each in a bizzar and different way, with no reasons which seemed to make much sense or was repeated, but very much looking like they were making excuses for something they weren't talking about.
   
4. ^L6GTSH: Why is it happening?  I don't know for sure because the leaders aren't talking. However my best guesses are:
1. ^{L6GYHM: L6GTUK:} And I need to say it exactly coincideds with the situation in detailed by Expect pioneers to have enemies; UUYA! &I are no exception L6ANYN ; it exactly coincides with that and that explains it well.
1. ^L6GZ7B: And if it is true, what was done to me & our group would be arguably worse than the treatment of Shirley Sherrod : Yes she was told to resign, but it was over in a few days and apologized. At least she didn't have to go thru now 2 months of mystery with various groups wrongfully shunning her and it just getting worse with no real explanation why.
   
2. Because I'm not a member at the congregations I'm presenting it at?  Because they don't want the Facebook/Meetup?  No, that wouldn't explain the degree of bizzarness.
5. ^L6GZPM: although I would very much like to have church endorsements,
1. ^L6GZQS: as I explained to District, I would agree with local UU leaders it would seem we would only at most need District level endorsement to operate since we’re county-wide and operate independently of any congregation (although perhaps District's reason is they want someone they know to oversee locally). Plus,
2. ^L6GZS6: and see next point
6. ^L6GZUI: disclaim affiliation with the UU name
   
1. ^L6GZXM: We've now done that (as of 2009.07.29~)
2. ^L6GZYO: It seems we wouldn't need endorsements and can go about our own business.
   
7. ^L6H03C: don't even feature the UU name?  -- I hope we don't have to.
1. ^L6H04Y: We certainly do not have to use the UU name when we reach out to open-minded young adults asking moral and spiritual questions. UU does not have all the answers.
2. ^L6H07R: As an independent, unaffiliated organization, we would simply continue to offer young adults open-minded religious alternatives to the conservative "rock concert" religion which these days is attracting tens-of-thousands of 18 to 30-appearing folks to fundamentalist/evangelical churches, UU is not the only open-minded option available. But I think it is the best.

2. ^L6G4YO: Concluding thoughts

1. ^L6G2Y3: How has UU performed for & served young adults, as say compared to the conservative religions?  —say right here in Orange County?  Well in 2006 and last year 2009, the Harvest Festival (preaching semi-conservative Christianity to young adults) filled Anaheim Stadium three-days in a row(!) (and Aug 6-8 plans to do it again), whereas 4 of 5 UU congregations in Orange & LA Counties not only lack a young adult program, they have virtually no young adults. Well UU YOUNG ADULTS! Intl. is all about changing that; support us.
   




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3. “^KVA16I: Document Background & History”

1. ^L6EP4E: 2010.07.30pst2212 I DestinyArchitect “created & own this document”.

1. “^L2MXTP:Confidentiality & Copyright: This document is copyrighted & could be confidential; specifically the document's owner(s) require all having this document abide by LoveRules.Info ownership & access rights (on LoveRules.Info About) with no exceptions unless its owner(s) state otherwise below or here:” no exceptions now.
2. “^KVA3T1:Initially formed by: copying as directed” Writely doc KUJWXV http://docs.google.com/Edit?docid=0AX07OJ9W4BnBZGM2dnN4ZHdfMjQ3Nzk2Mzd4Zms “Revision 1190 -2010.07.28pst1759 (~100% complete 4th draft)” to new Writely doc L6EP4E https://docs.google.com/Doc?id=dc6vsxdw_323g3gzpthm.
3. “^KVA3VQ:Motive at creation:”  And after writing this for for a few emails (see below) I decide to consolidate it here.
   
4. “^KVA3WV:Title at creation: desiring name”[Why wise UU leaders should find UUYA! hot]; “renamed to” title[Why wise UU leaders should find UUYA! hot L6EP4E].
5. “^KVA579:Initially Published-at URL:” http://Blogger.LoveRules.info/2010/07/l6ep4e.html
2. ^L6EQYC: Move to here the relevant content of UU YOUNG ADULTS! of Orange County for UUCF! L6912V.
3. ^L6FM5R:Considered titles:

1. ^L6FMFP: “Why wise UU leaders should find UUYA! hot” - present title; Lucy found this dull and weak with "should"
   

2. ^L6FM8K:

   “UU leaders missing golden social networking opportunity” suggested by Lucy, but I found it too critical & accusatory especially if said in a title;

3. ^L6FMAC:

   “UUYA! is hot —UU leaders, take note” --Lucy found this one too self-serving;

4. ^L6FMHS: “Why good UUYA! leaders should find UUYA! hot”; "good" is more comprehensive than "wise" and what the YA's feel about the leaders and including it still provides a slight motivational edge, so rename it to this: title[Why good UU leaders should find UUYA! hot L6EP4E].
   

   
   
5. title q[UUYA! is hot —UU leaders, take note]  
   

 

L6EP4E

[^L4NJCR:>your id]Revision 1190 -2010.07.28pst1759 (~100% complete 4th draft):
[>Your pic]

header stuff

Contents —Read for a quick full-picture of what's here

1. “KVA16I:Document Background & History”
1. L6EP4E: 2010.07.30pst2212 I DestinyArchitect “created & own this document”.

1. 
   
2. 
   
3. 
   

---

4. “^KVA16I:Document Background & History”

1. ^L6EP4E: 2010.07.30pst2212 I DestinyArchitect “created & own this document”.

1. “^L2MXTP:Confidentiality & Copyright: This document is copyrighted & could be confidential; specifically the document's owner(s) require all having this document abide by LoveRules.Info ownership & access rights (on LoveRules.Info About) with no exceptions unless its owner(s) state otherwise below or here:” no exceptions now.
2. “^KVA3T1:Initially formed by: copying as directed” Writely doc KUJWXV http://docs.google.com/Edit?docid=0AX07OJ9W4BnBZGM2dnN4ZHdfMjQ3Nzk2Mzd4Zms “Revision 1190 -2010.07.28pst1759 (~100% complete 4th draft)” to new Writely doc L6EP4E https://docs.google.com/Doc?id=dc6vsxdw_323g3gzpthm.
3. “^KVA3VQ:Motive at creation:”  And after writing this for for a few emails (see below) I decide to consolidate it here.
   
4. “^KVA3WV:Title at creation: desiring name”[Why wise UU leaders should find UUYA! hot]; “renamed to” title[TBA].
5. “^KVA579:Initially Published-at URL:” TBA
2. .

Expect pioneers to have enemies; UUYA! &I are no exception L6ANYN

^L6AOB9: Revision 924 -2010.07.31pst2212 (~100% complete 1st draft):
Expect pioneers to have enemies; UUYA! &I are no exception L6ANYN

(UUYA!=Unitarian Universalist YOUNG ADULTS! International, most notably our 1st chapter Orange County)

“Hi, I'm Dan. ... and I want to let you know that, after you've been starting your group as long as you have, 9-months, and been doing good work and putting your heart & soul into it, nefarious characters will now be surfacing from under the woodwork and will try to undermine you.” —quote from a regular UU Anaheim attendee and soon notable supporter of UUYA!

Contents —Read for a quick full-picture of what's here

1. L6AY04: Synopsis: Always first carefully ask both sides. And since most people fail to, then remember: Expect pioneers to have enemies; UUYA! is no exception.
2. L6AWXW: The abstract: synopsis of all the key points.
3. L6B243: Reality for the pioneer: nefarious characters awaiting
4. L6AX0K: The short story
5. “KVA16I:Document Background & History”
1. L6ANYN: 2010.07.28pst1757 I DestinyArchitect “created & own this document”.

1. ^L6AY04: Synopsis: Always first carefully ask both sides. And since most people fail to, then remember: Expect pioneers to have enemies; UUYA! is no exception.

2. ^L6AWXW: The abstract: synopsis of all the key points.

1. ^L6AWZ2: As you can see by my idea (gathering local young adults online until a critical mass can be reached), plus by its extensive website and real online group, since 2009.10 I've done a bit of work and have been a bit pioneering in UU.
   
2. ^L6AWZC: But, as with most all pioneers & hard-workers, such work & accomplishment stirs nasty envy in a few, and so enemies — especially someone doing the same kind of work—who sees or fears that his/her own ideas and power may be bested —  and so may work against the pioneer and what s/he builds —and in hidden ways; and UUYA! & I are no exception.
   
3. ^L6AWZK:So please expect to hear some wrongful talk against me and/or our group from people you would think you could just trust —But don't be fooled by it. And don't let a person repeating the misinformation to you be fooled, either. Instead, ask him/her “Have you asked (the accused) their side of the story?” and even if the reply is “Yes, I have” don't automatically believe it. In other-words, be unlike the US White House and NAACP, who were tricked 2010.07 into condemning Shirley Sherrod simply because they forgot what nearly every adult knows but way-too-often fails to do (even the US White House): always first carefully ask both sides.  Much like Shirley Sherrod, I & UU YOUNG ADULTS! International have nothing but good to offer.
   

4. ^L6B5V7: Moreover, I'm an MIT computer geek by training, so playing politics and anticipating who might act nefariously is definitely not my strong suite.
   
5. ^L6B5MC: I'm just here to help via my innovations —indeed nothing pleases me more; so thinking like some envious ego-holic (to know what triggers them and how to beat them) is generally the last thing on my mind, why I got attacked and tricked myself. So, as a pioneer, my advice to you in hindsight is: “Expect pioneers to have enemies.”  I need to start remembering that more than anyone else! (Though you can please remember it, too!)
   

3. ^L6B243: Reality for the pioneer: nefarious characters awaiting

1. ^L6B1BD: Reality for the pioneer is remarkably summarized by Dan in the amazing way I met him. Somehow UU-newcomer Dan just-knew what had been happening to me from the moment he saw me (when I briefly announced to his UU congregation that I was running this young adult group for 9 months), as...
   

1. ^L6B1EC:He walked up to me afterward and effectively said “Hi, I'm Dan. I can see you spearheading this young adult group for Orange County, as for congregations like ours which don't have one, and really putting your heart and soul into it; and I want to let you know that, after you've been starting your group as long as you have, 9-months, and been doing good work and putting your heart & soul into it, nefarious characters will now be surfacing from under the woodwork and will try to undermine you.”

2. ^L6B1HM: to which I said to him “Are you psychic?! In fact that was what just happened to me again this week. Did you know me or my group for before?!” and 
3. he^L6B1IP: replied “No, you just remind me of myself 4 years ago — and I went thru it 4 years ago; it's what generally happens whenever someone really tries to do something good & new: if it looks like it's starting to work, someone will come and try to undermine you.”



4. ^L6AX0K: The short story

1. ^L6ATON: Have you heard of us before? :-)  If so, please share with me what you've heard, good, or bad. Yes, bad:
   
2. ^L6ATM8: Expect to hear some trash against me & our group, as we are pioneers.
1. ^L6AX5P: And our design seems to even be good enough to, rather shockingly, stir up some nasty envy from another local UU young adult leader in the county with considerable influence, someone paid to do the job, whose career it is to do the job, which we’ve done for free and “just for fun” and arguably quite a bit better.
    
2. ^L6GFLJ: But I was just trying to help people coming up with this.  And for the first 8 months I received mostly nothing but the go-ahead and encouragement from all 4 of my closest UU congregations. For instance,
1. ^L6GFR3: the UU minister at at an Orange County congregation I had been attending for nearing 2 years complimented me on the group and asked me to be his congregations' Young Adult coordinator.
2. ^L6GFRJ: The minister of another local congregation actually joined our group himself had was semi-reliably working with me having me build and host weekly events at his congregation, designed to his and another board member's specification.
3. ^L6GFVI: The young adult staff member at at yet another UU congregation spotted our group on her own and was one of the first to join, and became our most active online supporter supporter, posting several ideas and eventually wanting to be our point-of-contact and "recruiter" at that congregation and posted and volunteered to host a number of event ideas.
   
4. ^L6GGHO: The young adult coordinator of a forth congregation, plus his partner and a few of their members, also joined. And all their top leadership well knew of us.  And their members liked us, and a few that found out joined, and at times were curious of us and wanted to know of our events. But usually the young adult coordinator would not let them know of us; I thought that this was for some legitimate reason, as maybe we hadn't met some UU standard, but the reason never materialized, indeed it was starting to become clear they didn't have any written rules for their group, but often just whatever the young adult coordinator felt like.  But in the meantime we still abundantly praised their group and promoted most all their young adult activities to our members; but never once was the favor returned, also per the wishes of that young adult coordinator.  Yes he carefully read our website, he was our biggest reader by far, seemingly studying every aspect.  But instead of being thrilled that we were obviously helping find and create more UU young adults (as was also his mission --hint, hint), he always was nothing but critical, almost always finding things to criticize and CCing as many people as possible on it; except where it seemed one time his job description forced him to cooperate with us.  There were quite a few warning signs that something wrong was simmering with him, but, based on his title & achievements, like everyone else, I dismissed that and trusted he wanted the best for us.  Boy was I wrong!
1. ^L6GH16: I was just there to help people.  I never imagined seeing it as as competition (between young adult groups).  “We’re all UU, aren’t we?” And this guy was minister in training.
5. ^L6GH5B: Nor did it occur to me that there might be a problem with my using the words "Unitarian Universalist" since there wasn't: we emailed all 5 county UU congregations when we opened, and none of the many UU leaders who knew of us, including the many working us that I mentioned, none of them ever mentioned any problem with the name. So I never imagined this later being used (maybe unknowingly be perpetrators) as covert "justification" to enact further sabotage.
   
6. ^L6GHBI: So for first 8 months this nefarious character fooled me, too; I had no idea of his underbelly -  he fooled everyone. 
   
3. So finally when it started registering with me that he really wasn’t up to good regarding us and I privately called him on it (and email sent 2010.05.30 21:16), he responded the next day...
   
1. ^L6AXPY: starting with secretly & vindictively slandering us!, targeting our best members & other local UU leaders, abusing his title & trust to trick them into believing something was wrong & quitting our group: by covertly doing his absolute best to destroy us and shut us down!
2. ^L6AXQC: —which was then quickly furthered (instead of undone) by those “UU” who employed him especially once I showed them I that had the hard proof that their employee had done it!  Said the top leaders effectively “We won’t admit to anything of what he did, but we will now orchestrate behind your back for 4 churches to suddenly decide not to endorse you”;  “and”, added the president, “if you ask any questions of this, as what happened or what he or we did, we’ll make it so now you’re the problem.”  —Well, I guess it shouldn't be a surprise as “Where there’s smoke, there is fire”.
   
4. ^L6AXQU: But it’s still shocking, and tragically un-UU (or let us hope!), and did tremendous damage to our group: after having reasonable support from 4 congregations for months, we suddenly officially had endorsement from none; plus even seriously tainted District against us! —unless the young adult facilitator of District (the next level above) somehow routinely wants to shut down young adult groups -- and without even looking at them)  And all I did was write 1 private email to this guy, a minister-in-training, detailing to him (in writing) his clearly-routine mistreatment of us which I had experienced and then ending it “So cut the BS, man:  What's the chip on your shoulder?”  So...
   
1. ^L6B3LU: -What an ego! —to then, in reply, covertly do everything possible to destroy us. Indeed one of my lessons is to take-cover (instead of plan for the best) when directly confronting any powerful hypocrite, maybe especially if he's made his goal in life to think of himself as a member of the cloth); being a man, I'd probably receive a warmer reception from evangelist Ted Haggard telling him to “Stop making passes at me”. And...
   
2. ^L6B488: -What abuse of power & mismanagement, to want to cover things up and not bother with the other person's story, which UU should never tolerate!
   
5. ^L6AXS6: So expect to hear some trash against me & our group, likely with the underlying goal to put us out of operation. For it's not speculation: from the date of my private email (2010.05.30) to present (2010.07.29), the aforementioned nefarious characters, all local UU leaders you would expect to trust (hey, I did, too) have done an excellent job of turning our group & me into a Shirley Sherrod case, and sadly most UUs they touch seem to swallow their poison hook-line-and-sinker.  For if even the US White House failed to “first carefully ask both sides” and so was easily fooled in the recent Shirley Sherrod case (and by just some opposite-party blogger post from someone not even within their organization!), then sadly it doesn't surprise me that quite a few local UU leaders could be so easily fooled as well (though it very much disappoints me!) —indeed it was my mother, a Unitarian from birth, who came up with this parallel.
   
3. ^L6BTO2:But, much like Shirley Sherrod, I & UU YOUNG ADULTS! International have nothing but good to offer.
   
4. ^L6BTNP: So tell & ask me if you hear anything negative: 
1. ^L6GJ60: Get everyone on the same page seeing the truth. 
   
1. ^L6GHQS: Interesting that Google Search[Bible OR Qur'an quotes slander] finds quite a few quotes in the Bible and Qur'an against gossip and slander; for instance, Proverbs 11:9 says the same thing semi-cryptically: “With their words, the godless destroy their friends, but knowledge will rescue the righteous.” The Qur'an counsels: "When ye welcomed it with your tongues, and uttered wit your mouths that whereof ye had no knowledge, ye counted it a trifle. In the sight of Allah it is very great."(24: 15)" [>>Not sure how to put in this link for the Islamic quote: http://www.skepticsannotatedbible.com/quran/24/ lvp]
   
2. ^L6GJ8V: So carefully ask & tell the source if you hear anything negative --about me, UUYA!, and everything in life-- especially before you believe it or repeat it, and, most especially, before you act upon it!^L6C2V4:
3. ^L6GJA7: As without such integrity, we all suffer, becoming conduits for rumors and falling prey to envy, slander, & manipulation.

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1. “^KVA16I:Document Background & History”

1. ^L6ANYN: 2010.07.28pst1757 I DestinyArchitect “created & own this document”.

1. “^L2MXTP:Confidentiality & Copyright: This document is copyrighted & could be confidential; specifically the document's owner(s) require all having this document abide by LoveRules.Info ownership & access rights (on LoveRules.Info About) with no exceptions unless its owner(s) state otherwise below or here:” no exceptions now.
2. “^KVA3T1:Initially formed by: copying as directed” Writely doc KUJWXV http://docs.google.com/Edit?docid=0AX07OJ9W4BnBZGM2dnN4ZHdfMjQ3Nzk2Mzd4Zms “Revision 1190 -2010.07.28pst1759 (~100% complete 4th draft)” to new Writely doc L6ANYN https://docs.google.com/Doc?id=dc6vsxdw_316fb727chh.
3. “^KVA3VQ:Motive at creation:” Since even the White House recently failed big-time with “first get both sides-of-the-story”, people need forewarning of trash talk. And after writing this for for a few emails (see below) I decide to consolidate it here.
   
4. “^KVA3WV:Title at creation: desiring name”[UU YOUNG ADULTS! —Expect pioneers of good to have enemies]; “renamed to” title[UU YOUNG ADULTS! —Expect pioneers of good to have enemies L6ANYN]; problem: this the subject UUYA! might be interpreted as the "enemy" as well as the "pioneer", it's not clear.
   
5. “^KVA579:Initially Published-at URL:” http://Blogger.LoveRules.Info/2010/07/l6anyn.html
2. ^L6APDP: Title: new title [Expect pioneers of good to have enemies; UU YOUNG ADULTS! is no exception.]
3. ^L6ARKG: Title: I propose instead q[UU YOUNG ADULTS! is a great example] but Lucy says this plus q[good ] are too strong & instead let the reader infer him/herself, so Lucy rewrites to title[Expect pioneers to have enemies; UU YOUNG ADULTS! is no exception] but this won't fit so title[Expect pioneers to have enemies; UUYA! is no exception L6ANYN].
4. ^L6ARYB: Move to here the relevant content of UU YOUNG ADULTS! of Orange County for UUCF! L6912V.
5. ^L6AXU1: Copy in content from email to Ruth sent 2010.07.25(Sun,pst)04:04.
6. ^L6AXWP: Copy in content from email to Jim sent 2010.07.23(Sun,pst)18:02.
7. Copy in content from email to Dan 2010.06.11(Sun,pst)15:23
8. ^L6C0DR: Lucy recommends the edit “Always first [carefully ask>look into ] both sides.”: While I see some merits in this, I don't like it as it seems people could easily say “I “looked into” both sides based on what I already know/assume” but “asking” (even if just “ask yourself”) requires more activity.
9. Title: Since I cover things as “Expect to hear some trash against me & our group”, renamed to include me, title[Expect pioneers to have enemies; UUYA! &I are no exception L6ANYN].

   .
   

L5ZO5I

^L5ZPEA: Rev1 -2010.07.22pst1955 (~1% complete 1st draft): [>Your pic]

header stuff

Contents —Read for a quick full-picture of what's here

1. “KVA16I:Document Background & History”
1. L5ZO5I: 2010.07.22pst1928 I DestinyArchitect “created & own this document”.

1. 
   
2. 
   

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3. “^KVA16I:Document Background & History”

1. ^L5ZO5I: 2010.07.22pst1928 I DestinyArchitect “created & own this document”.

1. “^L2MXTP:Confidentiality & Copyright: This document is copyrighted & could be confidential; specifically the document's owner(s) require all having this document abide by LoveRules.Info ownership & access rights (on LoveRules.Info About) with no exceptions unless its owner(s) state otherwise below or here:” no exceptions now.
2. “^KVA3T1:Initially formed by: copying as directed” Writely doc KUJWXV http://docs.google.com/Edit?docid=0AX07OJ9W4BnBZGM2dnN4ZHdfMjQ3Nzk2Mzd4Zms “Revision 1176 -2010.07.22pst1923 (~100% complete 4th draft)” to new Writely doc L5ZO5I http://docs.google.com/Doc?id=dc6vsxdw_314g5dbnrfq.
3. “^KVA3VQ:Motive at creation:” In completing https://secure.uua.org/clf/join/questionnaire.html again my "Additional Comments" are just to much to fit in the box and could be better presented here.
   
4. “^KVA3WV:Title at creation: desiring name”[Destiny Architect's app to CLF.UUA.Org (UU Church of the Larger Fellowship)]; “renamed to” title[TBA].
5. “^KVA579:Initially Published-at URL:” http://Blogger.LoveRules.Info/2009/12/kujwxv.html
2. .