Defending the Truth

I attended my first Unitarian Universalist service last Sunday. It's my city's only UU church, and it's really small with a congregation of maybe just over 20 people. Then the only other one around here is a very large one in Columbus.

I must say that I am disappointed, yet I almost expected that. Perhaps if I attended the larger church in the city I would get a better dose of what it means to attend a UU church. Granted, it is a huge breath a fresh air when comparing it to a traditional church, mosque, temple, or etc. service. However, I found a lot of the symbolism and ritual to be pretty counter-intuitive to the idea of a more secular, liberal, 'universialist', and 'unitarian' approach to religion. It was made to encompass most if not all different schools of religious belief. It was made to attempt to find truth in a more empirical and personal level yet they seem to have a lot of pointless symbolism and ritual that is basically meaningless to any belief system. Almost as if they try to look like a religion when in fact they are just many different individuals and their beliefs united in a community.

If you want to go to a place where a healthy exchange of different philosophical and religious beliefs are going on in a more realistic way, then my personal opinion is to just circumvent all the meaningless religious-like mumbojumbo and just attend a philosophy discussion group.

I also got a lot of New Agey vibes in all the different rituals and practices. And I thought that a lot of the New Age-ist hijacking of science through pseudo-science to be more despicable than other fundamentalist religions just out-right opposing science. Because what you get are people passing off as scientists that just make up basically whatever they want about certain theories (you'll almost always hear New Agers talking about Quantum theory because it's so a loose theory and one that almost no one understands) to attempt to rationalize their supernatural and sometimes superstitious beliefs. At least many fundamentalist Christians are honest about their opposition and contradiction to science and empiricism.

You get a lot of that in UU churches which unnerves me.

I was just wondering if anyone else here attends or has attended a UU church and perhaps they could talk about their experiences there themselves.

It was my understanding that 'unitarian' simply refers to their disbelief in trinity doctrine.

I've gone to several UU services - though I've never belonged.

You're right - I found it very New Age-y (which I don't mind). They take a lot of their rituals and sybolism from pagan beliefs ... and I know that almost every good sized UU church has a healthy number of Wiccans in attendance.

The church I went to was very big - lots of people - and the services were very colorful, imaginative, and IMO fun.

In a way, it was more like attending a fun play than going to church LOL. But, they all seem to have their hearts in the right place, and don't spend ANY time denigrating others. That's a good thing.

No. Unitarian Universalist welcome persons of any faith or none.

I attended a few meetings some years (nearly 3 decades) ago. I had a friend who was a Unitarian minister and an Athiest.

I rather enjoyed the experience but the nearest congregation is 50+ miles away and in a city that I do not enjoy driving around so I never pursued membership.

- I agree with that one.


- I would have to say that has a lot to do with the developing of Universalists and Unitarians (separately) as bastard children of Christianity before they united as the UUA. From my understanding, Unitarians believed in Christianity minus the Trinity, and Universalists believed in universal salvation by Christ. Of course, over the years, things happened, changes were made, and they're not an official "religion." But I think it's the nature of people to hang on to certain ideas even when they put their concepts, beliefs, and life through the eyes of scrutiny and hard questioning. Likewise, when developing a new idea in the midst of old ones, there still remains hints of the old flavor in tradition, focus, practice, whatever. Ergo, you get things like the Bible that still hangs on to the Torah/Old Testament, certain flavors of Buddhism that puts ideas of Buddhas or Bodhisattvas in the form of gods and demigods, and stuff like that.


Anyhow, that's just the way I look at it. The UUA has congregations that still do congregational things in a society that would expect that kind of thing from a group meeting in a building on a Sunday morning that meet to share religious, non-religious, philosophical, and otherwise ontological ideas. I'm not necessarily for or against it, but I would think it freakin' awesome if there were groups of people that met weekly in a building that don't go by any traditions or conform to any names or words of official description that would have regular open discussions on such topics. Maybe I ought to start by building my own "Thinkers' Hall" - or something like that - open to the public and established as a 501.c3 NPO. ("Thinker's Hall" pending copyleft, DigitalShaman, 2007, )

Someone, yell at me if you don't like or agree with what I have said,
Thanks

Although I believe in the Divine, I believe that a Thinker's Hall would be an excellent addition to general culture.

This is from their website

"Unitarian Universalism is a liberal religion that encompasses many faith traditions. Unitarian Universalists include people who identify as Christians, Jews, Buddhists, Hindus, Pagans, Atheists, Agnostics, Humanists, and others. As there is no official Unitarian Universalist creed, Unitarian Universalists are free to search for truth on many paths.

To quote the Rev. Marta Flanagan, "We uphold the free search for truth. We will not be bound by a statement of belief. We do not ask anyone to subscribe to a creed. We say ours is a non-creedal religion. Ours is a free faith."
Although we uphold shared principles, individual Unitarian Universalists have varied beliefs about everything from scripture to rituals to God."

The New Age (for ant of a better word) actually bum me out more then a Fundamentalist. Simply because of all the faux 'but we are open minded everyones accepted' crap because everyone is (so long accepted if you believe what they believe)..at least the Fundamentalists are open about that simple thing. The concept you can take bits and pieces of religious thought and create your own and ignore anyting inconsistant with your belief isn't a new thing. In fact its the basis of all religious belief in some way or other but its the insistance of but we are open to all ideas thing in "New Age' religions that bums me out because they just flat out are not open to other ideas. They simply ignore or shrug off inconsistancies, ignore cultural significance found in religious belief..its Intellectual Imperialism IMO.

You cannot Unite without changing the meaning concepts from other religions by virture of you taking concepts from other religions and bind them together in some world view means they have changed into a version of belief that the believer follows.


All that paths rubbish just measn we are predestined along a path and are therefore the makers puppets. You know if you have to claimyourself a 'liberal religion then you got to ask are they??..Should the liberal be self evident without the need to advetise it???

And as if there is a searchable truth and they want you to search the path so you can know your own 'truth' isn't that a statement of belief??? A varied belief doesn't mean they also do not share a cingular world view. There are as many versions of 'God' as there are people who believe in 'God'...and all relgions believe this to be the case...well in particualr Catholics...its all about a personal journey and a personal reltionship with God who shows you a path to follow...just because they don't have a written Creed doesn't mean they don't have one..its on their website...

so in the end they are a New Age religion pretending like they all do to be open but in the end sound like a cult IMO

People in search of "god' should go to a park look at a tree and think that the tree is that way because thats the way it needs to be for the world to survive and then stand in awe of Nature and the Universe no need to whack God in there..its just amazing because it is

Well that certainly is an interesting reply; or at least one staunch with bias that I can smell through the monitor! I'd say it may even be so to the point of prejudice.

Are you saying all the people who attend, or have ever attended a UU congregation are New-Age-specific Intellectual Imperialists? It sure sounds like it when you, what, say it directly in the first paragraph? Not only that, but you defend "Fundamentalists" as being open-minded, while categorize the supposed open-minded ones as the definition of being fundamentalist.

I mean, I don't categorize myself as a Unitarian Universalist, and have only attended a UU congregation three times. But the feeling I got out of the mere diversity of beliefs there is that most all the attendants were at least somewhat open-minded. There were people who subscribed to beliefs ranging anywhere from Buddhist, Atheist, and undecided Agnostic, to Protestant Christian, and even Wiccan.

Maybe you had a bad experience at a UU event, but that's no reason to categorize all under one umbrella. I would suggest before posting that you use some critical thinking. And for the love of whatever deity or lack thereof you so believe in, use a spell checker!

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This atheist was married by a female Unitarian minister in a secular ceremony. Having the minister pleased my husband's more religious family members.. She included a small section that my dad's Jewish family liked. The whole thing was secular, really, and that made me happy and pleased my atheist immediate family. It was a ceremony that blended different backgrounds and that everyone could enjoy.

I really liked our minister and felt like she really respected my atheism and her presence was a nod to my hubby's religious background (though I would call him agnostic). It didn't make me want to run out and join the unitarians, but this woman was a positive representative of her church.

If you want New Age-y, try the Church of Religious Science. it's not Scientology. There's a church in Redondo Beach that I attended with a friend a number of times many years ago. For years, I have driven past this church and am always reminded of an unwrapped Hershey's Kiss. Their webpage doesn't have show the building to its best effect, but you can get an idea. Cool building, though.

CRS Spiritual Center - Redondo Beach

This is the only organization with an interest in the spiritual that I would ever consider exploring. I do not get along with dogma of any kind. I would have to say though, if you experienced folks actually passing off theories as fact then that would turn me off too (although many times folks exposed to new ideas resent it outright even if those ideas are presented as just something to peruse), and if one presents something as science without any credible citations--well then DUH!!! Run away and fast!

I've no idea how what you resented was presented to you, but the whole reason I defected from Christianity is because they claim the "fast track" to heaven and have a self-serving proscribed means to attain it. I disagree with that, although I do not berate the belief and have many wonderful Christian friends who epitomize Christ's teachings (as opposed to merely justifying portions of the old testement).

An aside--the best Mozart I ever heard was in my city's UU church. World class vocalists and musicians.