In honor of the 12 Days of Trial, AUReform.com had prepared a piece about the conflicts in the early Church during the days of Constantine and Nicaea, specifically focusing on the often dishonest and violent roles played by the Roman and Alexandrian-Athanasian factions.

However, in the context of recent media focus on anti-Catholic rhetoric by certain Evangelical leaders, this blog post on ancient conflicts seemed almost to align itself with those who would demonize the entire Roman Church as “The Great Whore.”

So, offering an ecumenical antidote to recent sectarian vitriol, let us instead simply assert that AUR and RCC both honor the Emperor Constantine, albeit in different ways and for different reasons.

Although AUR believes that the difference between Unitarian and Trinitarian views of God, the universe, and morality are significant and critical to salvation, we also believe it is easier for a good-hearted Trinitarian Catholic to get into the Kingdom of Heaven than it would be for prejudicial, sectarian, and materialist hate-mongers… even if they were strict Unitarians.

We believe that, however important to salvation might be the idiom on which sectarian and denominational differences are based, God does not respect our moral prejudices based on those cultural difference. There is a reason Jesus taught us about the Good Samaritan, member of a hated religious minority considered heretics by Judean Jews. There is a reason Jesus praised the faith of a pagan Centurion. There is a reason Paul told the Greeks that the “Unknown God” honored in their pagan temples was the same as the God of Christians.

Condemning entire other religions is not the teaching of Jesus Christ.  It is a tactic of autolatrous tyranny.  The great irony in certain allegedly Christian leaders attacking hated outsiders as representing the “The Great Whore” is that the Apocalypse from which they lift that language makes clear that it is the Beast that hates Babylon.

Although AUReform.com may still, on a later date, publish this important history of the conflict between Unitarians and what would become the Roman Catholic Church, we did not want even the appearance of agreeing with those who would condemn Catholics as a class by publishing it during the current news cycle.

Have a safe Memorial Day weekend!

Spring Calendar starts in that part of the year where the last possible days of the Easter Calendar fall.  Since AUR follows the Western calendar, Ascension can fall as late as 3 June, and Pentecost as late as 13 June, but in general Eastertide wraps up during May.  Therefore, Springtide starts in  mid-May and extends until just after the transition into Summer.  After the Spring Calendar begins the ramp up to Declaration Thursday and July 4th.

12 Days of Trial, focusing on tragic errors of the past, start on the 20th of May.

Lucifer’s Day, the 1st Day of Trial, marking the anniversary of the First Council of Nicaea in which the Josiac error of conflating the Logos and God was repeated. This is also the traditional feast day of Lucifer Calaritanus, one of the principle proponents of this error against Christian monotheism.
Constantine’s Day 1, the 2nd Day of Trial, the traditional feast day of Constantine who supported Christianity politically after a vision allegedly aided his bloody power struggle for control of the Roman Empire.  This is a day to contemplate errors of superficiality without substance.
Constantine’s Day 2, the 3rd Day of Trial, the anniversary of the death of Constantine, who was baptized on his deathbed by Arian bishop Eusebius.  This is a day to contemplate finding subtance after superficiality.
Attacks On Reason, the 6th Day of Trial. Among the events commemorated on this day are the Scopes trial and the Edict of Worms.
Attacks On Innocence, the 9th Day of Trial. Among the events commemorated on this day are the Indian Removals of Andrew Jackson.
Godiva Day, the 12th Day of Trial on 31 May, in which the Christ-like story of Lady Godiva reminds us that pattern of trial and sacrifice are engineered into the workings of the world.

12 Days of Unity, starting on 1 June and symbolized by roses. Just as the rose has a sweet scent and thorns, these 12 Days are to remember the rewards and perils of belief.

Feast of Justin Martyr, the 1st Day of Unity, commemorating the earliest Christian apologist, whose doctrine of the Logos explained that the Son is clearly subordinate to the God the Father.
Zealous Errors Day, on the 2nd, to remember with humility that evil acts are often committed in the name of good. Among such acts falling on this day are the Arian Vandals’ pillaging of Rome, the beginning of guilty verdicts in the Salem Witch Trials, and the start of the Reign of Terror in the French Revolution.
Conviction Day, on the 6th, to commemorate those who stand up boldly for their convictions, such as Patrick Henry and Robert Kennedy, both of whom died on this day.
False Conviction Day, on the 7th, to remember that often our bold convictions may be misplaced. The seige of Jerusalem (during the 1st Crusade) occurred on this day.
Feast of Barnabas, on the 11th Day of Unity, to commemorate the Apostle tortured and stoned to death by those envious of his successful ministry.
Feast of John of Sahagun, on the 12th Day of Unity.  St. John was known for his bold critiques of sin, for which he was persecuted by those enraged by his criticisms.

12 Days of Reconciliation, starting on 13 June.

Marriage Day, the 1st Day of Reconciliation, commemorating the marriage of Martin Luther to Katharina von Bora, and the marriage of male and female symbology in St. Onuphrius (or Humphrey), a hermit who was depicted as half-man and half-woman.
Flag Day, which falls on the 2nd Day of Reconciliation in the United States, can be used to examine the reconciliation of the many into the one, as the many states represented by the stars and stripes are joined in the Republic.
Feast of the Bolt, the 3rd Day of Reconciliation, honoring St. Vitus who protected against lightning, and Benjamin Franklin’s famous experiment proving that lightning is electricity. (A good day to meditate on Luke 23:23-25)
Moral Economy Day, the 4th Day of Reconciliation, commemorating Abraham Lincoln’s “House Divided” speech on the division driven by economic and moral interests. Also the birthday of Adam Smith, whose free market economics was based on the reconciliation of moral ends and selfish economy.
Transition Days, the 9th Day of Reconciliation, commemorates the birthday and transition of Reinhold Niebuhr from pacifist to Christian Realist. This is the day on which to meditate on the reconciliation of peace and war in justice, and the development of naive and immature idealism (which blindly opposes others) into a mature and balanced morality. This is also the Summer Solstice, marking the transition of the year from youth to maturity. 
Feast of John The Baptist, the 12th Day of Reconciliation, is the Feast of John the Baptist, who marked the transition from the youthful religion before him to the mature religion of Christ after.

AUR recognizes the space between the end of Christmas season (Epiphany) and the beginning of the Easter season (Carnival) as an important Interval marking the mid-point of the life of Jesus, which is undocumented in the canonical Gospels and shrouded in mystery, and the mid-point of Winter.

12 Days of Defiance begin on the 7th, celebrated with the colors blue and green.
Feast of St. Lucian, commemorating the martyrdom of the teacher of Arius, on January 7th
John Hancock Day, birthday of this Unitarian signer of the American Declaration of Independence, on the 12th
Nika Week, commemorating the Nika riots and massacre, from January 13th to 18th. In 532, two previously warring religious/political/sports factions (the Blues and the Greens) joined together to rise against Emperor Justinian, shouting “Nika!” (victory) in the Hippodrome of Constantinople. The Blues had joined the Greens even though they were supported by Justinian. In the massacres that followed, thirty thousand Blues and Greens were murdered by Justinian’s forces.

12 Days of Action begin on the 19th with the colors of red and white.
Feast of the International Family, on the 19th, commemorating the family of Maris and Martha, aristocratic Persians who emigrated to Rome to assist Christians being persecuted there. These two and their sons were tortured and executed for their good deeds.
(Earliest possible date for the 12 Days of Carnival, the 23rd)
Sleds and Cannons, on the 24th, commemorating the remarkably speedy arrival in Cambridge, Mass., of Henry Knox and the cannons of Fort Ticonderoga in just 56 days. After a heavy snowfall threatened to slow the transport, Knox’s patriots resorted to sleds, transforming a seeming setback into a boon by accomodating providence rather than resisting it.
Spear King’s Day, on the 25th, commemorates the death of Arian king Geiseric who, despite persecution of Unitarian Arians, gave Catholics freedom of religion under his reign and established a progressive tax system, providing relief to the common people.
Day of the Spark, on the 30th, commemorates the delivery of the Discourse on Submission by proto-Unitarian minister Jonathan Mayhew on the 100th anniversary of the execution of King Charles I in 1649. This sermon, called the spark that ignited the American Revolution by John Adams, unravelled the scriptural underpinning of the divine right of kings.
(Latest possible day for the 12 Days of Carnival, 26th of February)