Dashboard - DISQUS
UU is a personal religion which brings the wisdom of all religions to each member.
I was a RE teacher, and found that rewarding and challenging as the kids were bringing their friends' religion to class for discussion. My own response was what can we learn, rather than what is wrong with that religion. You are correct that we all must contribute but one of the things that has turned me off from most UU congregations is that the Pagans are in their group in the parking lot, the UUChristians are in the Fireside Room, the atheists are protesting any mention of God in the main service, and (this happened to me) atheists are banned from the God discussion group. This should be a religion concerned with spirituality, meaning and purpose in the lives of those in the congregation. If not, bye.
The important word is "brings." What you take is up to you. Personally I have found much wisdom in most religions. None are "The Truth" and usually the God is an idiot at the very best and dysfunctionally misogynist at worst, which is why I am an atheist. But religions have been serving people for thousands of years. I find it useful to find out why. If only to find out what does not work for me.
I think agreed upon wisdom is the problem not the solution for most UU congregations. Ideally a UU church should somehow find a way to present wisdom from many traditions for people to incorporate (or not) in their personal faith.
As an example every UU should know what they think about the Et Expecto section of the Mass. Do you or don't you expect resurrection after you die? If you do do you buy into the Iudicare section or do you buy Forrest Church's Universalism? If you answer is what is that? IMO your church failed you.
Context
2 hours ago
6 comments:
Uu sounds like a microcosm of a group of Americans anywhere. We split off into a group of people with a specific belief. Then devise the group of believers divide into clicks, that become warring factions. The warring factions then need a stick to do battle. Some choose a big giant stick to beat down ideas with and others want small ones specific to the situation. Personally, I find I just want LRonHubbard to make up something for us all, but I am beginning to realize that I am supposed to make up my own. Maybe a giant cheese cake.
I prefer Heinlein or Pournelle-Niven to Hubbard for my religion and mores. First of all they don't preach, second they don't charge big bucks to learn things, and third they think you are intelligent enough to figure things out for yourself. Sure they have a consistent and unusual message in their writings, but people can and do argue about what they mean and whether it is worth adopting.
“Ideally a UU church should somehow find a way to present wisdom from many traditions for people to incorporate (or not) in their personal faith.”
My UU Church probably has failed me. But I don’t see sufficient reasons to go to another. Over a period of years I have become more and more convinced that Unitarian Universalism doesn’t work, at least not for me. Or perhaps it worked for me for a phase of my life, but doesn’t anymore.
Is your ideal UU church a workable model? Maybe it is, to the extent that UU churches exist that fulfill that goal at least some of the time. One of my gripes is that I keep hearing about “our faith” as though there is a generally accepted worldview. If Unitarian Universalism can encompass theists and atheists, then there is no generally accepted worldview and, whatever it may be, Unitarian Universalism is not “a faith.”
I agree that a UU faith is a misnomer in the sense of a uniform belief system for all. If it is thought of as a personal faith quest it can make a lot more sense. It is neither necessary to accept God nor to reject God to learn from God believers. Forrest Church was clearly a believer in God, but he taught me more about atheism than anyone else. He also taught me more about living and dying than anybody. One didn't need to accept his God to accept his wisdom.
I've appreciated our little dialogue. Live long & prosper!
@saluby - jump in any time, it has been my pleasure.
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