{"id":8186,"date":"2026-01-03T18:35:59","date_gmt":"2026-01-03T18:35:59","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.uufranklin.org\/wpz\/?post_type=uu_services&#038;p=8186"},"modified":"2026-01-29T23:19:42","modified_gmt":"2026-01-29T23:19:42","slug":"the-democratic-spirit-robert-burns-poet-of-the-people","status":"publish","type":"uu_services","link":"https:\/\/www.uufranklin.org\/wpz\/services\/the-democratic-spirit-robert-burns-poet-of-the-people\/","title":{"rendered":"The Democratic Spirit: Robert Burns, Poet of the People"},"content":{"rendered":"\n<p>Join us as we celebrate Robert Burns&#8217; 267th birthday (1759-1796). Scotland&#8217;s beloved poet&#8217;s words championed human dignity, questioned religious dogma, and crossed oceans to inspire Appalachian communities. Discover how Burns&#8217;s democratic vision aligns with Unitarian values, learn about his work preserving folk songs, and trace the journey of Scottish traditions into our American mountain culture. Service includes traditional Scottish and Appalachian music, a children&#8217;s story about Rabbie and the Mouse, and reflections on what this 18th-century poet can teach us about equality, compassion, and the sacred worth of every person. All ages welcome.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>Join us as we celebrate Robert Burns&#8217; 267th birthday (1759-1796). Scotland&#8217;s beloved poet&#8217;s words championed human dignity, questioned religious dogma, and crossed oceans to inspire Appalachian communities. Discover how Burns&#8217;s democratic vision aligns with Unitarian values, learn about his work preserving folk songs, and trace the journey of Scottish traditions into our American mountain culture. &hellip; <a href=\"https:\/\/www.uufranklin.org\/wpz\/services\/the-democratic-spirit-robert-burns-poet-of-the-people\/\" class=\"more-link\">Continue reading <span class=\"screen-reader-text\">The Democratic Spirit: Robert Burns, Poet of the People<\/span><\/a><\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","template":"","meta":{"footnotes":""},"uu_service_speaker":[229],"uu_service_topics":[206,210],"class_list":["post-8186","uu_services","type-uu_services","status-publish","hentry","uu_service_speaker-uuff-community","uu_service_topics-our-region","uu_service_topics-uu-ism"],"yoast_head":"<!-- This site is optimized with the Yoast SEO plugin v26.9 - https:\/\/yoast.com\/product\/yoast-seo-wordpress\/ -->\n<title>The Democratic Spirit: Robert Burns, Poet of the People - UU Fellowship of Franklin, NC<\/title>\n<meta name=\"robots\" content=\"index, follow, max-snippet:-1, max-image-preview:large, max-video-preview:-1\" \/>\n<link rel=\"canonical\" href=\"https:\/\/www.uufranklin.org\/wpz\/services\/the-democratic-spirit-robert-burns-poet-of-the-people\/\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:locale\" content=\"en_US\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:type\" content=\"article\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:title\" content=\"The Democratic Spirit: Robert Burns, Poet of the People - UU Fellowship of Franklin, NC\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:description\" content=\"Join us as we celebrate Robert Burns&#8217; 267th birthday (1759-1796). Scotland&#8217;s beloved poet&#8217;s words championed human dignity, questioned religious dogma, and crossed oceans to inspire Appalachian communities. Discover how Burns&#8217;s democratic vision aligns with Unitarian values, learn about his work preserving folk songs, and trace the journey of Scottish traditions into our American mountain culture. &hellip; Continue reading The Democratic Spirit: Robert Burns, Poet of the People\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:url\" content=\"https:\/\/www.uufranklin.org\/wpz\/services\/the-democratic-spirit-robert-burns-poet-of-the-people\/\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:site_name\" content=\"UU Fellowship of Franklin, NC\" \/>\n<meta property=\"article:modified_time\" content=\"2026-01-29T23:19:42+00:00\" \/>\n<meta name=\"twitter:card\" content=\"summary_large_image\" \/>\n<meta name=\"twitter:label1\" content=\"Est. reading time\" \/>\n\t<meta name=\"twitter:data1\" content=\"1 minute\" \/>\n<script type=\"application\/ld+json\" class=\"yoast-schema-graph\">{\"@context\":\"https:\/\/schema.org\",\"@graph\":[{\"@type\":\"WebPage\",\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.uufranklin.org\/wpz\/services\/the-democratic-spirit-robert-burns-poet-of-the-people\/\",\"url\":\"https:\/\/www.uufranklin.org\/wpz\/services\/the-democratic-spirit-robert-burns-poet-of-the-people\/\",\"name\":\"The Democratic Spirit: Robert Burns, Poet of the People - UU Fellowship of Franklin, NC\",\"isPartOf\":{\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.uufranklin.org\/wpz\/#website\"},\"datePublished\":\"2026-01-03T18:35:59+00:00\",\"dateModified\":\"2026-01-29T23:19:42+00:00\",\"breadcrumb\":{\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.uufranklin.org\/wpz\/services\/the-democratic-spirit-robert-burns-poet-of-the-people\/#breadcrumb\"},\"inLanguage\":\"en-US\",\"potentialAction\":[{\"@type\":\"ReadAction\",\"target\":[\"https:\/\/www.uufranklin.org\/wpz\/services\/the-democratic-spirit-robert-burns-poet-of-the-people\/\"]}]},{\"@type\":\"BreadcrumbList\",\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.uufranklin.org\/wpz\/services\/the-democratic-spirit-robert-burns-poet-of-the-people\/#breadcrumb\",\"itemListElement\":[{\"@type\":\"ListItem\",\"position\":1,\"name\":\"Home\",\"item\":\"https:\/\/www.uufranklin.org\/wpz\/\"},{\"@type\":\"ListItem\",\"position\":2,\"name\":\"Services\",\"item\":\"https:\/\/www.uufranklin.org\/wpz\/services\/\"},{\"@type\":\"ListItem\",\"position\":3,\"name\":\"The Democratic Spirit: Robert Burns, Poet of the People\"}]},{\"@type\":\"WebSite\",\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.uufranklin.org\/wpz\/#website\",\"url\":\"https:\/\/www.uufranklin.org\/wpz\/\",\"name\":\"UU Fellowship of Franklin, NC\",\"description\":\"&quot;A Light for Liberal Religion in the Mountains&quot;\",\"potentialAction\":[{\"@type\":\"SearchAction\",\"target\":{\"@type\":\"EntryPoint\",\"urlTemplate\":\"https:\/\/www.uufranklin.org\/wpz\/?s={search_term_string}\"},\"query-input\":{\"@type\":\"PropertyValueSpecification\",\"valueRequired\":true,\"valueName\":\"search_term_string\"}}],\"inLanguage\":\"en-US\"}]}<\/script>\n<!-- \/ Yoast SEO plugin. -->","yoast_head_json":{"title":"The Democratic Spirit: Robert Burns, Poet of the People - UU Fellowship of Franklin, NC","robots":{"index":"index","follow":"follow","max-snippet":"max-snippet:-1","max-image-preview":"max-image-preview:large","max-video-preview":"max-video-preview:-1"},"canonical":"https:\/\/www.uufranklin.org\/wpz\/services\/the-democratic-spirit-robert-burns-poet-of-the-people\/","og_locale":"en_US","og_type":"article","og_title":"The Democratic Spirit: Robert Burns, Poet of the People - UU Fellowship of Franklin, NC","og_description":"Join us as we celebrate Robert Burns&#8217; 267th birthday (1759-1796). Scotland&#8217;s beloved poet&#8217;s words championed human dignity, questioned religious dogma, and crossed oceans to inspire Appalachian communities. Discover how Burns&#8217;s democratic vision aligns with Unitarian values, learn about his work preserving folk songs, and trace the journey of Scottish traditions into our American mountain culture. &hellip; Continue reading The Democratic Spirit: Robert Burns, Poet of the People","og_url":"https:\/\/www.uufranklin.org\/wpz\/services\/the-democratic-spirit-robert-burns-poet-of-the-people\/","og_site_name":"UU Fellowship of Franklin, NC","article_modified_time":"2026-01-29T23:19:42+00:00","twitter_card":"summary_large_image","twitter_misc":{"Est. reading time":"1 minute"},"schema":{"@context":"https:\/\/schema.org","@graph":[{"@type":"WebPage","@id":"https:\/\/www.uufranklin.org\/wpz\/services\/the-democratic-spirit-robert-burns-poet-of-the-people\/","url":"https:\/\/www.uufranklin.org\/wpz\/services\/the-democratic-spirit-robert-burns-poet-of-the-people\/","name":"The Democratic Spirit: Robert Burns, Poet of the People - UU Fellowship of Franklin, NC","isPartOf":{"@id":"https:\/\/www.uufranklin.org\/wpz\/#website"},"datePublished":"2026-01-03T18:35:59+00:00","dateModified":"2026-01-29T23:19:42+00:00","breadcrumb":{"@id":"https:\/\/www.uufranklin.org\/wpz\/services\/the-democratic-spirit-robert-burns-poet-of-the-people\/#breadcrumb"},"inLanguage":"en-US","potentialAction":[{"@type":"ReadAction","target":["https:\/\/www.uufranklin.org\/wpz\/services\/the-democratic-spirit-robert-burns-poet-of-the-people\/"]}]},{"@type":"BreadcrumbList","@id":"https:\/\/www.uufranklin.org\/wpz\/services\/the-democratic-spirit-robert-burns-poet-of-the-people\/#breadcrumb","itemListElement":[{"@type":"ListItem","position":1,"name":"Home","item":"https:\/\/www.uufranklin.org\/wpz\/"},{"@type":"ListItem","position":2,"name":"Services","item":"https:\/\/www.uufranklin.org\/wpz\/services\/"},{"@type":"ListItem","position":3,"name":"The Democratic Spirit: Robert Burns, Poet of the People"}]},{"@type":"WebSite","@id":"https:\/\/www.uufranklin.org\/wpz\/#website","url":"https:\/\/www.uufranklin.org\/wpz\/","name":"UU Fellowship of Franklin, NC","description":"&quot;A Light for Liberal Religion in the Mountains&quot;","potentialAction":[{"@type":"SearchAction","target":{"@type":"EntryPoint","urlTemplate":"https:\/\/www.uufranklin.org\/wpz\/?s={search_term_string}"},"query-input":{"@type":"PropertyValueSpecification","valueRequired":true,"valueName":"search_term_string"}}],"inLanguage":"en-US"}]}},"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.uufranklin.org\/wpz\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/uu_services\/8186","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.uufranklin.org\/wpz\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/uu_services"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.uufranklin.org\/wpz\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/uu_services"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.uufranklin.org\/wpz\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.uufranklin.org\/wpz\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=8186"}],"version-history":[{"count":2,"href":"https:\/\/www.uufranklin.org\/wpz\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/uu_services\/8186\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":8188,"href":"https:\/\/www.uufranklin.org\/wpz\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/uu_services\/8186\/revisions\/8188"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.uufranklin.org\/wpz\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=8186"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"uu_service_speaker","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.uufranklin.org\/wpz\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/uu_service_speaker?post=8186"},{"taxonomy":"uu_service_topics","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.uufranklin.org\/wpz\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/uu_service_topics?post=8186"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}