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Righteousone
Guest
What exactly is a Unitarian Universalist? My friend tells me it isn’t Christian, that they worship nature, the trees, etc…is this true? What do you do and what is it you believe?
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CalmDownWisWins
Guest
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Righteousone
Guest
OK, thank you. No disrespect but it sounds almost like something from outer space. To not believe in Jesus Christ, the Virgin and especially the Resurrection is truly not a Christian religion.
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Claire_from_DE
Guest
Is Unitarian Universalist the same as Unitarian? I followed your first link and at first thought it was a joke. They use the term ‘church’ but have no belief in any ‘higher power’, actually no doctrines at all. Amazing. I thought the word church was only used by Christians. Very informative.
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Mirdath
Guest
A unitarian is anyone who believes God is one person, as opposed to Catholic and other mainstream Christian teaching that God is triune. A universalist believes that all will eventually go to heaven. Neither of these are denominations, they’re theological positions (or heresies if you like).
Unitarian Universalists are a specific denomination, but kind of a ‘church of just about anything goes’.
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brycelaliberte
Guest
Is it possible to not be a Unitarian Universalist? If it’s anything goes, could they claim membership of the entire world, concluding that rejection of the UU position is really just another UU position? Just wondering…
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DDClark
Guest
Not the same as Unitarian.
www.uua.org/ is the national link, I believe. The link above was for a specific church, and each church can be very different.
My best friend is a UU in Massachusetts.
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RebeccaJ
Guest
I am not a UU, but I checked them out for a year or so. They are accepting of any belief you like. Sounds like your friend is adhering to one of the pagan beliefs. I knew several people at the UU church I went to who were pagan, and they did worship trees, nature, etc.
Not all UUs are pagan however. A great many are secular humanist. Some are Christian, in the sense that they believe in Christ.
UUs have no dogmas or doctrines. Their Sunday worship services are led by a trained UU pastor who usually teaches something along the lines of tolerance or social commitment.
My daughter and I had a running joke that the only rule at the UU church we were going to is that you don’t do anything that inconveniences anyone else.
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RebeccaJ
Guest
No, a UU would never enforce membership on anyone. That would be very contrary to their beliefs. They’re casual, if you want to come to their church, fine. If not, don’t. There is a formal process for joining the UU church if anyone is so inclined.
They do claim all humanity as part of their social commitment, which does not in any sense mean that they are saying all of humanity are UU.
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Rbt_Southwell
Guest
UUs are the western equivalent of the Baha’i ‘faith’ (or cafeteria) of Iranian heritage.
Most of my agnostic and atheist friends from university gravitated toward the doubleU.
It’s very ‘desiderata’ and ‘12 string guitar.’
Robert
Most of my agnostic and atheist friends from university gravitated toward the doubleU.
It’s very ‘desiderata’ and ‘12 string guitar.’
Robert
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RebeccaJ
Guest
Hey, I like Desiderata.
It was sort of a house for wayward mormons. The particular UU church I went to offered a recovery get together where former mormons could talk out their post-mormon-ness.
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Rbt_Southwell
Guest
And I played the 12 string in a folk-rock band!
Still, hanging around a UU church is like attending a Ralph Waldo Emerson transcendentalist confab.
Robert
Still, hanging around a UU church is like attending a Ralph Waldo Emerson transcendentalist confab.
Robert
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RebeccaJ
Guest
I attended one of those confabs, in Denver, around the same time I started attending mass. So I had all these strange new Catholic thoughts going on in my head while immersed in the world of UU.
I spent the 10 hour drive there and the 10 hour drive back thinking about religion, God, life, the universe and everything. It was the last UU anything I participated in and I have been going to mass since.
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Alexius
Guest
When my step-father was in college, he tried a few different religions out. One was Unitarian Universalism. He attended one meeting with a friend and left unimpressed. People just talked about how great the world is and how open everyone should be…
It was said earlier, but there are different groups within the Unitarian movement. Some belief Jesus to be the Messiah and Savior who died for sins, but not God incarnate. Essentially, Unitarianism covers all those who believe in a one-person deity…
Prayers and petitions,
Alexius
It was said earlier, but there are different groups within the Unitarian movement. Some belief Jesus to be the Messiah and Savior who died for sins, but not God incarnate. Essentially, Unitarianism covers all those who believe in a one-person deity…
Prayers and petitions,
Alexius
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Rbt_Southwell
Guest
It is utterly miraculous how so many good souls have come to God in so many i*nteresting *ways!
Some come in kicking and screaming. Some are dragged in. Some walk in by mistake and forget that they were supposed to be somewhere else. A few are to the manner born but do not know it until a convert slaps their sloth with a zeal born of the Holy Spirit.
For me, it was San Juan de la Cruz and his poetry. Then it was Franco Zifferelli’s Romeo and Juliet and then Shakespeare then the Hound of Heaven and our Jewish roots and…
Robert
Some come in kicking and screaming. Some are dragged in. Some walk in by mistake and forget that they were supposed to be somewhere else. A few are to the manner born but do not know it until a convert slaps their sloth with a zeal born of the Holy Spirit.
For me, it was San Juan de la Cruz and his poetry. Then it was Franco Zifferelli’s Romeo and Juliet and then Shakespeare then the Hound of Heaven and our Jewish roots and…
Robert
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Syele
Guest
I vistied a UU church when my then fieance was on his journey from Catholic to Athiest. He wanted me to go with him so I went for about 2 months. Each “sermon” was like a class about a different religion. and the “hymns” were like “we are so happy! Wea re kind to the environment.” and “Be nice to people” type lyrics. I referred to it as “the happy club”
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Huguenot
Guest
Unitarians exist as a denomination in at least two European countries : Hungary and Romania ( but in Romania all Unitarians are members of the Hungarian minority whose members almost all live in the part of Romania called Transilvania–don’t worry, they aren’t any vampires there … )
They don’t believe in Trinity, for them Jesus is not God, otherwise according to what I have understood of their doctrine ( I have some Hungarian friends who are Unitariens ), for the rest they are Protestants …
but it is true that Unitarianism also exists, not as a separate denomination, but as a “trend” , in some Protestant denominations ; it is the case in the Reformed Church in France, even some Reformed ministers don’t believe in the Trinity …
And since, theologically speaking, the Reformed Church in France has adopted a pluralist approach, they accept it IF the local church members don’t mind …
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Roy5
Guest
The UU Church is the merged Unitarian and Universalist denominations. They were close enough to unite, though Universalists generally were a bit more traditional - somewhat more likely to be a liberal form of Christianity. They once were viewed as two Protestant groups, and many UUers still would classify themselves as Protestants, but others are atheists, agnostics, even some ‘good witches’ and the like.
Code:
What is commendable about the UU Church is that it is not afraid to bring together people of widely different views. As a whole they are a people who enjoy honest and open discussion. They generally are warm toward non-Christian faiths, feeling that we can learn from one another.
Increasingly 'UUer-ism' has moved left theologically. Some revere Jesus as an especially inspired teacher, but others lump him together with Buddha, Muhammad, etc., as insightful religious leaders.
What attracts people to the UU can also repel others. I greatly admire the denomination, but have trouble with too things: (1) too cerebral, not a good cross-section of society, highly intellectual as a whole; (2) too much like a discussion group, without adequate rites that can inspire and comfort. To some degree this may vary from congregation to congregation, since each congregation is quite free to chart its own path. I also feel that some UUers tend to look down on the orthodox Christian faith, regarding it as filled with primitive superstitions.
The name Unitarian, of course, comes from a rejection of the Trinity. The name Universalist emphasized that the goodness and mercy of God meant universal salvation.
The UU Church has attracted mixed marriages, perhaps especially where Christians and Jews are involved.
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Ghoti
Guest
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Rbt_Southwell
Guest
John:
The Baha’is’ believe Jesus to be one of many in a long line of prophets (sound familiar to our moslem and mormon friends??).
They accept all Holy Books of every major religion. They pick and choose (as in a cafeteria) what fits their “world view.”
Their own theology is a social contract spin on salvation history with one catch: their man, the founder (he died in 1892) is THE ONE, referenced as “Him” in their writings.
Robert
The Baha’is’ believe Jesus to be one of many in a long line of prophets (sound familiar to our moslem and mormon friends??).
They accept all Holy Books of every major religion. They pick and choose (as in a cafeteria) what fits their “world view.”
Their own theology is a social contract spin on salvation history with one catch: their man, the founder (he died in 1892) is THE ONE, referenced as “Him” in their writings.
Robert
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