"Dominionism" - an interview with Rev. Erin Walter
Rev. Erin Walter, executive director at the Texas Unitarian Universalist Justice Ministry, and guest editor Rev. Dr. Dan De Leon discuss Dominionism from a Unitarian perspective.
Click here to listen to the podcast.
Some of Rev. Erin’s insights, from the interview:
We’re a non-creedal faith, so the folks in the pew sitting next to you might not believe the same thing about the Divine.
Our faith connections are around principles and values, not so much around creed or dogma. So for us, one of those principles is the interconnectedness of the web of life that we consider us all to be a part of.
I was raised UU, and “dominionism” is really not a word I heard at church.
We meet in a place of community, sustenance, and sustainability for this home.
If all of this is God’s Kingdom, can we treat it as holy? And, what do we have to lose?
Yes, I often just feel incredible awe and gratitude to just be in this world, it’s, it’s amazing.
I hadn’t thought about humankind as being at the top of any living creature hierarchy.
There’s a lot of economic and justice layers to how we make our work choices to reflect our values.
Spiritual tools are really important. One of the things I’m constantly talking about is that we do not fall into despair. We need our joy practices, our spiritual practices, our sustenance practices, to keep us uplifted enough to be doing the work.
We have this balance to strike, of facing the hard work that we have to do and making sure we have support to do the work.
If not us, who?
If there’s one thing that I would hope people across all kinds of political and religious differences could unite around, it would be stewardship of the Earth.
We need to be willing to meticulously make small steps, build relationships one conversation at a time, one meeting at a time, one experience at a time, while also holding this radical, amazing vision of the beloved community we can be building together. We need to see the big, glorious picture while also be willing to have one on one conversations.
What’s your theme song?
Rev. Erin J. Walter (she/her/hers) serves as the Minister & Executive Director for the Texas Unitarian Universalist Justice Ministry, a coach for the anti-racism program Beloved Conversations, and in other diverse ways through her spiritual practices of music and dance. During the COVID-19 pandemic, Rev. Erin has led worship more than 100 times, virtually, for congregations from Florida to Canada. Winner of the 2017 Sermon Award from the Unitarian Universalist Women’s Federation and a former journalist and YMCA director/chaplain, Rev. Erin is the singer/songwriter/bassist for band Parker Woodland and teaches community Zumba over Zoom, for participants of diverse ages and abilities around the world. She is a community minister at Wildflower Church and serves on the advisory board of the SIMS Foundation, and the board of Texas Impact. Find more about her music and ministry at ErinJWalter.com and ParkerWoodland.com.
This piece is part of our Spring 2022 collection, Dominionism.
