One month ago, for the first time in my life, I joined a church. It's a church for atheists, pantheists, those who are both on alternate Tuesdays, agnostics, lapsed Catholics, believers, me, maybe you, everyone--but, and this is important, not anyone. Or maybe it's anyone, but not everyone.
It's an open and inclusive community and a creedless faith. You can believe anything at all, or more accurately, you don't have to believe anything in particular. But not everyone is a Unitarian Universalist, right? Billions of people aren't walking around as UUs without even knowing that that's what they truly are in the same way that they might be electrified sacs of mostly water without knowing it. They might agree with UUs, and they might become UUs at some point, but unless you know that you are a UU and unless you say that you are a UU, you're not. Some will argue this point with me, perhaps, but one does actually have to be or do or want something to be a UU. What does being a Unitarian Universalist mean, anyway?
Here's my quick and dirty working definition: Unitarians Universalists believe that spiritual questions--the big questions of life (and death as well)--are worth exploring and worth exploring in a community. This is a personal process, and each of us may arrive at different answers. Unitarian Universalism and other UUs provide a framework and supportive community for this exploration of how to be in the world.
I'm still learning about how to explain Unitarian Universalism, Unitarian Universalists, and why I joined. This is an exploration of what the big step of becoming part of this faith community means. It's a personal process, and I hope you'll be a part of my community here.
When asked what UUs believe--and you better believe that the question comes up a lot--many people's answers include the seven principle seen on the side of this blog. Given more time they might talk about the six sources. Or something else entirely. You don't have to believe anything in particular to be a UU, and not every UU finds these seven principles essential to their faith. They're not straying or being heretical, and it's their prerogative to think differently. Within Unitarian Universalism and for most UUs, people are more important than principles.
I think the seven principles are challenging, worthwhile, and generative. As part of learning what it means to be a UU, I'm going to wrestle with these for a time. I like theory, I like debate, I like thinking, and most of all, I like quizzes. Although she's made it clear that the blog is to me what the feral foster cats are to her (unequivocally one person's responsibility and not the other), Elisabeth and I are undertaking this journey together. She was born and raised a UU, and together, we recently joined Fourth Universalist, the UU congregation on the Upper West Side of New York. She likes quizzes too.
Each month or so, we'll examine one of the principles through readings and a quiz, and then we'll post about it. Thanks for reading so far. Feel free to harass me if you haven't seen anything on in awhile. Leave a comment. Send an email. Write to your congressional representative (about something else.)
It's an open and inclusive community and a creedless faith. You can believe anything at all, or more accurately, you don't have to believe anything in particular. But not everyone is a Unitarian Universalist, right? Billions of people aren't walking around as UUs without even knowing that that's what they truly are in the same way that they might be electrified sacs of mostly water without knowing it. They might agree with UUs, and they might become UUs at some point, but unless you know that you are a UU and unless you say that you are a UU, you're not. Some will argue this point with me, perhaps, but one does actually have to be or do or want something to be a UU. What does being a Unitarian Universalist mean, anyway?
Here's my quick and dirty working definition: Unitarians Universalists believe that spiritual questions--the big questions of life (and death as well)--are worth exploring and worth exploring in a community. This is a personal process, and each of us may arrive at different answers. Unitarian Universalism and other UUs provide a framework and supportive community for this exploration of how to be in the world.
I'm still learning about how to explain Unitarian Universalism, Unitarian Universalists, and why I joined. This is an exploration of what the big step of becoming part of this faith community means. It's a personal process, and I hope you'll be a part of my community here.
When asked what UUs believe--and you better believe that the question comes up a lot--many people's answers include the seven principle seen on the side of this blog. Given more time they might talk about the six sources. Or something else entirely. You don't have to believe anything in particular to be a UU, and not every UU finds these seven principles essential to their faith. They're not straying or being heretical, and it's their prerogative to think differently. Within Unitarian Universalism and for most UUs, people are more important than principles.
I think the seven principles are challenging, worthwhile, and generative. As part of learning what it means to be a UU, I'm going to wrestle with these for a time. I like theory, I like debate, I like thinking, and most of all, I like quizzes. Although she's made it clear that the blog is to me what the feral foster cats are to her (unequivocally one person's responsibility and not the other), Elisabeth and I are undertaking this journey together. She was born and raised a UU, and together, we recently joined Fourth Universalist, the UU congregation on the Upper West Side of New York. She likes quizzes too.
Each month or so, we'll examine one of the principles through readings and a quiz, and then we'll post about it. Thanks for reading so far. Feel free to harass me if you haven't seen anything on in awhile. Leave a comment. Send an email. Write to your congressional representative (about something else.)