Episcopalian Church moving towards Unitarian Universalism?

[jschwartz]

Abp. Williams said that Roman Catholicism, Liberal Theology, and the evangelical Reform tradition are the three main influences at play in Anglican thought. I can’t disagree with him, although I fall into the camp that embraces the Catholic and Liberal traditions, not so much the Reformed tradition at all. We’re comfortable living with tension, diversity, and pluralism. Truth for us isn’t black and white. Although, in reality, I’m also quite similar to many Old Catholic and Liberal Catholic traditions, but choose to affiliate with the Anglo-Catholic stream because it’s better to be in a recognized and established denominational body, rather than in a flighty, spurious episcopi vagante situation.

The major problem with UUism, as I see it, is that it doesn’t seem to be much of a religion anymore. When you had the two denominations, these were at least discernibly religious organizations with a set of beliefs that united the congregation. The beliefs of UUism are little more than principles of liberal religious belief which seem as if they’re complimentary to other faiths, rather than constituting a faith tradition in and of themselves.

Affording liberty and freedom of conscience is a critical element of Liberal Catholicism. The 6 UU Sources are things that as a progressive Anglo-Catholic Christian, seem to already be part of the way I look at the world:

Direct experience of that transcending mystery and wonder, affirmed in all cultures, which moves us to a renewal of the spirit and an openness to the forces which create and uphold life;
Words and deeds of prophetic women and men which challenge us to confront powers and structures of evil with justice, compassion, and the transforming power of love;
Wisdom from the world’s religions which inspires us in our ethical and spiritual life;
Jewish and Christian teachings which call us to respond to God’s love by loving our neighbors as ourselves;
Humanist teachings which counsel us to heed the guidance of reason and the results of science, and warn us against idolatries of the mind and spirit;
Spiritual teachings of Earth-centered traditions which celebrate the sacred circle of life and instruct us to live in harmony with the rhythms of nature.

The inherent worth and dignity of every person;
Justice, equity and compassion in human relations;
Acceptance of one another and encouragement to spiritual growth in our congregations;
A free and responsible search for truth and meaning;
The right of conscience and the use of the democratic process within our congregations and in society at large;
The goal of world community with peace, liberty, and justice for all;
Respect for the interdependent web of all existence of which we are a part.

These 7 principles are wonderful, but I just don’t see how this adds up to a religion. There is a UU Christian Fellowship, and UU groups of people who practice Zen Buddhism, Earth-based spirituality, Sufism, Brahmoism, and who are ethnically Jewish, but again, when taken as a whole, the unifying element seems to be a form of Religious Naturalism/Process Theology/Religious Humanism that is not endemic to any one tradition, but that is generally seen among Liberal Christians and in the Liberal denominations of Judaism.

 

[RebeccaJ]

Abp. Williams said that Roman Catholicism, Liberal Theology, and the evangelical Reform tradition are the three main influences at play in Anglican thought. I can’t disagree with him, although I fall into the camp that embraces the Catholic and Liberal traditions, not so much the Reformed tradition at all. We’re comfortable living with tension, diversity, and pluralism. Truth for us isn’t black and white. Although, in reality, I’m also quite similar to many Old Catholic and Liberal Catholic traditions, but choose to affiliate with the Anglo-Catholic stream because it’s better to be in a recognized and established denominational body, rather than in a flighty, spurious episcopi vagante situation.

The major problem with UUism, as I see it, is that it doesn’t seem to be much of a religion anymore. When you had the two denominations, these were at least discernibly religious organizations with a set of beliefs that united the congregation. The beliefs of UUism are little more than principles of liberal religious belief which seem as if they’re complimentary to other faiths, rather than constituting a faith tradition in and of themselves.

Affording liberty and freedom of conscience is a critical element of Liberal Catholicism. The 6 UU Sources are things that as a progressive Anglo-Catholic Christian, seem to already be part of the way I look at the world:

Direct experience of that transcending mystery and wonder, affirmed in all cultures, which moves us to a renewal of the spirit and an openness to the forces which create and uphold life;
Words and deeds of prophetic women and men which challenge us to confront powers and structures of evil with justice, compassion, and the transforming power of love;
Wisdom from the world’s religions which inspires us in our ethical and spiritual life;
Jewish and Christian teachings which call us to respond to God’s love by loving our neighbors as ourselves;
Humanist teachings which counsel us to heed the guidance of reason and the results of science, and warn us against idolatries of the mind and spirit;
Spiritual teachings of Earth-centered traditions which celebrate the sacred circle of life and instruct us to live in harmony with the rhythms of nature.

The inherent worth and dignity of every person;
Justice, equity and compassion in human relations;
Acceptance of one another and encouragement to spiritual growth in our congregations;
A free and responsible search for truth and meaning;
The right of conscience and the use of the democratic process within our congregations and in society at large;
The goal of world community with peace, liberty, and justice for all;
Respect for the interdependent web of all existence of which we are a part.

These 7 principles are wonderful, but I just don’t see how this adds up to a religion. There is a UU Christian Fellowship, and UU groups of people who practice Zen Buddhism, Earth-based spirituality, Sufism, Brahmoism, and who are ethnically Jewish, but again, when taken as a whole, the unifying element seems to be a form of Religious Naturalism/Process Theology/Religious Humanism that is not endemic to any one tradition, but that is generally seen among Liberal Christians and in the Liberal denominations of Judaism.

Thoughtful post.

The UUs near me, who I participated with before converting to Catholicism, were atheists. With a small peppering of Christians and Wiccans. Humanist atheism was appealing to me at the time, though it failed in that I could see that it was based on human altruism. A sort of humans relying on humans for salvation, if you will. I find that to be a noble idea, but obviously is unrealistic, in practice, for all of humanity. Such idealism is undermined readily by non-altruistic humans. In short the overarching creed of the UUs I knew was, “don’t be an inconvenience to my person”. Of course implying don’t be inconvenient to anyone, yourself.

It is not the message of Christianity. We are called to be inconvenient at times.

 

[commenter]

The UUs near me, who I participated with before converting to Catholicism, were atheists. With a small peppering of Christians and Wiccans. Humanist atheism was appealing to me at the time, though it failed in that I could see that it was based on human altruism. A sort of humans relying on humans for salvation, if you will. I find that to be a noble idea, but obviously is unrealistic, in practice, for all of humanity. Such idealism is undermined readily by non-altruistic humans. In short the overarching creed of the UUs I knew was, “don’t be an inconvenience to my person”. Of course implying don’t be inconvenient to anyone, yourself.

It is not the message of Christianity. We are called to be inconvenient at times.

You can divide religions into 2 groups: those that have some explicit or implicit concept of Original Sin, and those that don’t. Fr. Mathew Fox, who switched from Catholic to Episcopal, was into the New Age religion, and denied Original Sin. Others denied Original Sin on the grounds that there is no sin other than unjust political and economic structures. They claim the only “evil” is isolation and selfishness, so the sole purpose of religion is connection with others.

Thus, baptism becomes “welcome to the community”, and so on with all Christian rituals.
“Conversion” becomes redefined as “becoming more open minded, more accepting of others”. But even while the TEC moves in the direction of UU, they don’t want to lose those who still hold to the traditional idea of Sin, Grace, conversion, etc. They have to still maintain a presence in countless small towns where people are somewhat disturbed by things at the national, and maybe now even the diocesan level. But here in town they still have the same classical church building where you were baptized, perhaps the same familiar pastor and music, so it’s easy to distance yourself from national trends.

So the TEC still has to work to keep from alienating “Main Street” too much, too soon. Unlike the UUs, they still benefit from contributions by many traditional elderly believers, who may be annoyed but it is difficult to leave.