Any Unitarian Universalists here?

[BrokenVisage]

My immediate family is one of the most unreligious groups of people I know. The closest we ever come to religious discussion is saying grace before Thanksgiving dinner, so as you can imagine I grew up agnostic and never had any ambition of joining an organized religion to "fill the void". I formulated my own theories about things and resigned myself to the fact that there are certain questions I know no religion would be able to answer with absolute certainty, so I never felt the need to follow one and went with my own thoughts.

While reading about people like John Adams and Thomas Jefferson I came across the fact that they were Unitarian Universalists, a religion I never even heard of even though I took 2 Religious Science courses in college. But since I had so much respect for these people and their beliefs I decided to check it out. I read about it just a little and honestly didn't think a religion like this existed. No chanting from unintelligible texts, the right to believe or not believe in God, no belief in miracles or divine intervention, no judgment at death... it literally does what I thought any religion should do: provide a template with information and methaphors on how one should live life properly and let the follower make up their own mind based on it. It's apparently a mixture of theists and non-theists, but they share a basic understanding that religion should not control ones life but only help to fulfill it.

I don't see me actually joining a UU church or anything like that, I'm just glad that it actually exists (albeit with a rather small following). It's nice to know there's a legitimate religion out there that focuses on ethics, responsibility and the use of ones brain rather then supernatural supervision and dogma. Maybe I'm missing something about their philosophy deep down that would steer me away from it in the end, but from what I've read so far if I *had* to pick a church/religion to join this would be at the top of a SHORT, short list. I don't think there any other quite like this one, but maybe some of you can point them out.

 

[darkxshade]

The path of the righteous man is beset on all sides by the iniquities of the selfish and the tyranny of evil men. Blessed is he, who in the name of charity and good will, shepherds the weak through the valley of darkness, for he is truly his brother's keeper and the finder of lost children. And I will strike down upon thee with great vengeance and furious anger those who would attempt to poison and destroy my brothers. And you will know my name is the Lord when I lay my vengeance upon thee.

 

[nakedfrog]

It does seem exceedingly rational.

 

[BrokenVisage]

Originally posted by: darkxshade
The path of the righteous man is beset on all sides by the iniquities of the selfish and the tyranny of evil men. Blessed is he, who in the name of charity and good will, shepherds the weak through the valley of darkness, for he is truly his brother's keeper and the finder of lost children. And I will strike down upon thee with great vengeance and furious anger those who would attempt to poison and destroy my brothers. And you will know my name is the Lord when I lay my vengeance upon thee.

If Pulp Fiction was a religion I'd be down with that too!

 

[rivan]

Originally posted by: darkxshade
The path of the righteous man is beset on all sides by the iniquities of the selfish and the tyranny of evil men. Blessed is he, who in the name of charity and good will, shepherds the weak through the valley of darkness, for he is truly his brother's keeper and the finder of lost children. And I will strike down upon thee with great vengeance and furious anger those who would attempt to poison and destroy my brothers. And you will know my name is the Lord when I lay my vengeance upon thee.

Jules?

 

[Redfraggle]

I have heard of them before. In actuality, their approach is probably closer to being in line with my own approach that most others. I am a practicing Christian, but do have some major disagreements on certain topics.

For the record, I come from a similar background. They know I am religious and that it's important to me though, and are ok with it.

 

[darkxshade]

Originally posted by: rivan

Originally posted by: darkxshade
The path of the righteous man is beset on all sides by the iniquities of the selfish and the tyranny of evil men. Blessed is he, who in the name of charity and good will, shepherds the weak through the valley of darkness, for he is truly his brother's keeper and the finder of lost children. And I will strike down upon thee with great vengeance and furious anger those who would attempt to poison and destroy my brothers. And you will know my name is the Lord when I lay my vengeance upon thee.

Jules?

It's bad motherfucka to you good sir.

 

[daveshel]

I checked them out some years back. I went to a UU church one Easter and they never even mentioned Jesus. But like any other church they want you to join and give money so they can own a building.

 

[nakedfrog]

Originally posted by: Redfraggle
I have heard of them before. In actuality, their approach is probably closer to being in line with my own approach that most others. I am a practicing Christian, but do have some major disagreements on certain topics.

For the record, I come from a similar background. They know I am religious and that it's important to me though, and are ok with it.

Major disagreements?

 

[Perknose]

Originally posted by: nakedfrog
Major disagreements?

Well, Leviticus can kind of get out there . . . although knowing when and how to stone your wife or beat your slaves can be important.

 

[BrokenVisage]

Originally posted by: daveshel
I checked them out some years back. I went to a UU church one Easter and they never even mentioned Jesus. But like any other church they want you to join and give money so they can own a building.

Did they do the collection plate thing at the one you went to? How is money asked for/given?

 

[Babbles]

I love Unitarians because they'll believe in anything! Seriously, though, I do appreciate Unitarians, but on the other hand they do sort of bother me in that there is no sort of dogmatic practice. It seems a little illogical to have a belief system that will believe in anything. Hell even in science we have dogmatic practices, so it is a little bizarre that you have a 'religion' that does not have any.

Also I would not consider Thomas Jefferson a Unitarian. Many groups love to claim ole' T.J. as on of "theirs" when in the reality he was in his own little world. Deists will say he was a Deist; Atheist will say he was Atheist, Agnostics will say he is Agnostics; and hell I wonder what the Hare Krishnas say. People love to appropriate that guy for their own belief systems, therefore I personally - and I recommend this to everybody else - essentially disavow that he really belonged to any one particular dogmatic system.

 

[lxskllr]

Originally posted by: BrokenVisage
How is money asked for/given?

Clever.... :^P

 

[daveshel]

Originally posted by: BrokenVisage

Originally posted by: daveshel
I checked them out some years back. I went to a UU church one Easter and they never even mentioned Jesus. But like any other church they want you to join and give money so they can own a building.

Did they do the collection plate thing at the one you went to? How is money asked for/given?

It was more than 20 years ago, so the details escape me, but the thing they were doing that Sunday was sort of a ceremony in which members were recommitting themselves to the congregation.

 

[robphelan]

Phylls: "I'm a Methodist and Bob's a Unitarian. It keeps things spicy!"
Angela: "That's why we're cursed!"

 

[jonks]

Originally posted by: BrokenVisage
My immediate family is one of the most unreligious groups of people I know. The closest we ever come to religious discussion is saying grace before Thanksgiving dinner, so as you can imagine I grew up agnostic and never had any ambition of joining an organized religion to "fill the void". I formulated my own theories about things and resigned myself to the fact that there are certain questions I know no religion would be able to answer with absolute certainty, so I never felt the need to follow one and went with my own thoughts.

While reading about people like John Adams and Thomas Jefferson I came across the fact that they were Unitarian Universalists, a religion I never even heard of even though I took 2 Religious Science courses in college. But since I had so much respect for these people and their beliefs I decided to check it out. I read about it just a little and honestly didn't think a religion like this existed. No chanting from unintelligible texts, the right to believe or not believe in God, no belief in miracles or divine intervention, no judgment at death... it literally does what I thought any religion should do: provide a template with information and methaphors on how one should live life properly and let the follower make up their own mind based on it. It's apparently a mixture of theists and non-theists, but they share a basic understanding that religion should not control ones life but only help to fulfill it.

I don't see me actually joining a UU church or anything like that, I'm just glad that it actually exists (albeit with a rather small following). It's nice to know there's a legitimate religion out there that focuses on ethics, responsibility and the use of ones brain rather then supernatural supervision and dogma. Maybe I'm missing something about their philosophy deep down that would steer me away from it in the end, but from what I've read so far if I *had* to pick a church/religion to join this would be at the top of a SHORT, short list. I don't think there any other quite like this one, but maybe some of you can point them out.

I see what you're doing. "Look, I'm not religious, but if I were this is the religion I'd join." Viral marketing for religion...those sneaky bastards realized knocking on doors wasn't getting anywhere. Take it to the web! Waiting for your "PM me if anyone wants to chat about this interesting religion I'm not a part of."

 

[AreaCode707]

Originally posted by: jonks

Originally posted by: BrokenVisage
My immediate family is one of the most unreligious groups of people I know. The closest we ever come to religious discussion is saying grace before Thanksgiving dinner, so as you can imagine I grew up agnostic and never had any ambition of joining an organized religion to "fill the void". I formulated my own theories about things and resigned myself to the fact that there are certain questions I know no religion would be able to answer with absolute certainty, so I never felt the need to follow one and went with my own thoughts.

While reading about people like John Adams and Thomas Jefferson I came across the fact that they were Unitarian Universalists, a religion I never even heard of even though I took 2 Religious Science courses in college. But since I had so much respect for these people and their beliefs I decided to check it out. I read about it just a little and honestly didn't think a religion like this existed. No chanting from unintelligible texts, the right to believe or not believe in God, no belief in miracles or divine intervention, no judgment at death... it literally does what I thought any religion should do: provide a template with information and methaphors on how one should live life properly and let the follower make up their own mind based on it. It's apparently a mixture of theists and non-theists, but they share a basic understanding that religion should not control ones life but only help to fulfill it.

I don't see me actually joining a UU church or anything like that, I'm just glad that it actually exists (albeit with a rather small following). It's nice to know there's a legitimate religion out there that focuses on ethics, responsibility and the use of ones brain rather then supernatural supervision and dogma. Maybe I'm missing something about their philosophy deep down that would steer me away from it in the end, but from what I've read so far if I *had* to pick a church/religion to join this would be at the top of a SHORT, short list. I don't think there any other quite like this one, but maybe some of you can point them out.

I see what you're doing. "Look, I'm not religious, but if I were this is the religion I'd join." Viral marketing for religion...those sneaky bastards realized knocking on doors wasn't getting anywhere. Take it to the web! Waiting for your "PM me if anyone wants to chat about this interesting religion I'm not a part of."

Which would make sense if he was posting about anything other than Universalism. They could not care less about making converts.

 

[Perknose]

Originally posted by: AreaCode707
Which would make sense if he was posting about anything other than Universalism. They could not care less about making converts.

True.

Originally posted by: Babbles
It seems a little illogical to have a belief system that will believe in anything.

Big Fail. They will consider anything |= they will believe in anything. It's just that they have no a priori dogma which prevents them from considering any point of view. They are simply more rational and open minded than most.

FWIW, in my area they have singles mixers which are free and they do NOT proselytize you if you go -- they are boring affairs, though.

 

[AstroManLuca]

I don't have a problem with Unitarians but I'm a little confused as to why they bother. I mean, I love the idea of a church that's totally open to anyone's ideas - unlike most Christian sects, they actually encourage you to think critically and not accept things unquestionably. That's all good stuff. I guess it's a way of having the same sense of community that you get with any church, but without the dogma and discomfort associated with being forced into a specific set of beliefs or be considered an outcast/heathen/whatever.

 

[l0cke]

I've been going to a Unitarian Universalist church since I was about 5 years old. As a kid, they basically open your mind to everything. I learned way more there then I ever did in school. As I got older though, I saw less and less of a reason to go there anymore. Eventually, in 10th grade, I just stopped going. I can see why some people still go, and it is certianly a place where a lot of people go, but I have better things to do.

As for the money collection, usually they just pass around some sort of thing. The coins go to a charity, and the cash and checks go the the church.

 

[Atomic Playboy]

My mother was raised Catholic and she attends UU services and Buddhist meditation. I've been to a fair number of UU services while I was growing up; never really did anything for me. But I've found church boring whether it's mass, synagogue, temple or what have you, so it's no surprise I wasn't thrilled by Unitarianism.

 

[acheron]

UU didn't exist until the 1960's, so it would have been tough for Thomas Jefferson to have been one.

Maybe he was a Unitarian, though I've never heard that. Usually I hear that he (and many of the other Founding Fathers) were Deists.

I went to a few UU services once... found it kind of interesting. It didn't take, though.

 

[LtPage1]

So what's the point? This makes sense in the 18th century, when life sucked and you were the biggest radical within 70 miles if you ever had a thought about whether or not there was a bearded dude in the clouds slinging lightning bolts. But today? Why bother with religion if you don't have to do anything?

 

[SAWYER]

Originally posted by: LtPage1
So what's the point? This makes sense in the 18th century, when life sucked and you were the biggest radical within 70 miles if you ever had a thought about whether or not there was a bearded dude in the clouds slinging lightning bolts. But today? Why bother with religion if you don't have to do anything?

Exactly what I was going to say

 

[Phokus]

Originally posted by: nakedfrog
It does seem exceedingly rational.

Which is why it's a liberal religion and not a conservative one