Do Unitarian Universalists believe that all people are saved?

[Calliope]

The modern Unitarian Universalists are neither Unitarian nor Universalist.

It’s a liberal spiritual/social fellowship of people of diverse beliefs. While there is some linear history to Universalists and Unitarian movements of the past, it has gone it’s own way and has made no attempt (from my several years of experience with UU fellowship) to maintain any previous Christian beliefs.

 

[HomeschoolDad]

That hasn’t been my experience when talking to other lay Catholics. Yes, some lay Catholics believe and hope in universal salvation, but I personally know many that emphatically don’t. They believe in Heaven and Hell. They believe those who live unrepentant sinful lives will go straight to Hell when they die. They believe those who commit suicide go straight to Hell (even though that’s no longer the Church’s teaching on the matter of suicides).

So I disagree with your assumption that a “typical Catholic in the pew” assumes everyone will be saved. I think that the universal salvation belief might be a lot more common among Catholics who are NOT in the pews , those who have stopped practicing their faith and no longer attend Mass.

Perhaps we sit in different pews.

I typically do not go around asking other Catholics (or anyone else) whether they think this person, or that one, is going to heaven or hell, or whether someone who died went to heaven or hell. I am just going by the way people talk. People say all the time “I know they’re in heaven watching over me”, “they’re in a better place”, “their suffering is finally over”, and so on. They don’t say “not so sure about her, she died in her sleep of an aneurysm, and she and that guy were shacking up — he woke up that morning, nudged her, and she had died during the night”, or “errr… that guy was shot by some gangsters, drug deal gone bad, they found several grams of heroin on him” — you get the idea.

My father and I were once outside the cathedral in Santa Fe, New Mexico (a town that is well worth visiting, if you go there, try to get out to Chimayo) and they were bringing out a casket. I told my father “either his troubles are all over, or else they’re just beginning”.

 

[HomeschoolDad]

I’m just kind of curious why they have churches

to provide the sense of community of a church without all the doctrine

There is a spiritual component to their services, that goes beyond socialization.

In their defense, a person can be spiritual without being religious, they can seek to meet their spiritual needs without resorting to liturgy, doctrine, or dogma. In that Our Lord calls all people — even if they are more “spiritual” than “religious” — to his One True Catholic Church, doing this in a heretical sect is not the way to go about it, but our world is highly imperfect in this age, and people are going to do what they think is right. I can fully understand why a UU would feel the need to “go to church” even if they believe in very little, or nothing at all.

 

[PeterT]

Perhaps we sit in different pews.

I typically do not go around asking other Catholics (or anyone else) whether they think this person, or that one, is going to heaven or hell, or whether someone who died went to heaven or hell. I am just going by the way people talk. People say all the time “I know they’re in heaven watching over me”, “they’re in a better place”, “their suffering is finally over”, and so on. They don’t say “not so sure about her, she died in her sleep of an aneurysm, and she and that guy were shacking up — he woke up that morning, nudged her, and she had died during the night”, or “errr… that guy was shot by some gangsters, drug deal gone bad, they found several grams of heroin on him” — you get the idea.

My father and I were once outside the cathedral in Santa Fe, New Mexico (a town that is well worth visiting, if you go there, try to get out to Chimayo) and they were bringing out a casket. I told my father “either his troubles are all over, or else they’re just beginning”.

That’s because these Catholics might be thinking that the decedent lived a holy enough and faithful life to be granted the reward of Heaven. It’s not that they think EVERYONE lives such holy lives. They could easily believe too that those who were evil or were unrepentant sinners will be heading to Hell after they die. They just think that their friend or relative who that had just passed away was faithful enough to be granted eternity in Heaven.

That’s far different than the belief in universalism.

 

[JMMJ]

I can fully understand why a UU would feel the need to “go to church” even if they believe in very little, or nothing at all.

I would be very careful in considering UU members this way. The ones I know are quite deep in their spiritual and religious beliefs. Much deeper than many Catholics-in-good-standing that I know, actually, if I had to guess.

 

[HomeschoolDad]

HomeschoolDad:

I can fully understand why a UU would feel the need to “go to church” even if they believe in very little, or nothing at all.

I would be very careful in considering UU members this way. The ones I know are quite deep in their spiritual and religious beliefs. Much deeper than many Catholics-in-good-standing that I know, actually, if I had to guess.

I don’t doubt that. I merely meant that an agnostic, or someone who is questioning and can’t bring themselves to have much in the way of faith, or who has no religious beliefs but still seeks some higher and better answers to ultimate questions, would find a comfortable home in the UU. Such people wouldn’t be comfortable in a church that has a creed, dogma, an a priori set of assumptions about Scripture, and so on.

 

[HomeschoolDad]

I would also add to the above, that the Catholic Church might try opening itself to the skeptic, the agnostic, and even the atheist, more than it already does. We need not, and should not, lose the “battle for the doubtful” to non-creedal, pan-spiritual “churches” such as the UU, nor to liberal churches that don’t make people uncomfortable who are in an irregular relationship, you could say, with Catholic and Christian orthodoxy.

We could try something like “we have a distinct creed, as well as clear moral and ethical teachings which have traditionally been the underpinning of our culture and society, and we cannot and will not change those — however, be assured that you are always welcome among us, no matter what you believe or don’t believe, where you are in life, how you choose to live, who you choose to love, how you see yourself, or anything else — and we invite you to learn more about our God of Love, His Divine Son, and His Holy Spirit, to come here and find peace that the world cannot give”.