Friday, November 30, 2007

Suffer the Little Children, or The Price of Milk As A Moral Issue

Hello dear readers. I just returned from grocery shopping and had this post in my head while on the way home.

I always base how I feel about the economy by one thing: the price of a gallon of milk. So I guess you can tell I'm not real thrilled about the state of the economy right now.

The cheapest I saw a gallon a milk today was $3.69. $3.69?!?!?!?!?! This is utterly ridiculous. Luckily for me, I only use milk for cooking and a gallon will last me a while. However I know this is not the case for many, if not most, Americans.

All the world's major religions call for showing compassion and remembering the least of these. Milk is one of the few universal foods and is an important part of the human diet. How does $3.69 for a gallon of milk show compassion? Is it remembering the least among us?

In all of my posts about church growth I've always talked about how me need to look at the megachurches and see what they are doing. I'm going to do it again here. Churches that grow talk about bread-and-butter issues, everyday life issues, in a way that those who don't have graduate degrees can understand. And they do it using scripture from holy books. How many UU churches are talking about the price of milk, not as an economic issue, but a moral one? Where are the UU churches that are talking about the bread-and-butter, everyday life issues that people really worry about?

In all the UU talk about social justice, where are the UU activists who are talking about the these issues? (yes I know that there is the UUs for a Just Economy) Are we working with other religious progressives who have been at the forefront with these kinds of issues?

2 comments:

goodwolve said...

I don't actually think milk is essential for the human diet. It is a good source of protein, but there are better sources.

I get your point though... UU's don't talk often about the day to day. We stay in the arena of lofty. We could use a bit more bread and butter conversations.

Real Anonymous said...

I don't think I said that milk was an essential. Although it comes very close. Especially in places where clean water is an issue.

But look at how much in basic cooking needs milk. Most breads need it. Quite a few soups and stews need it.

And since so many animals (and a few plants) provide milk, I think it is as close to an essential as can be.

But I'm glad you got the point of the post.