Hi! Let me just say something about myself religiously and as a person. I’m 16 years old, and have grown up in a religion called “Unity” all my life. It’s so normal to me, that I forget how different it is compared to my friends’ other Christian religions (Unity IS a branch of Christianity, by the way). I was told once that my religion is a “cult”. I was kind of surprised and laughed a little. That had never crossed my mind. Me, as a person, I’m
very open-minded. My friends come from all different backgrounds, religiously, ethically, and personality wise. So believe me when I say that I truly am open to opinions and beliefs. I’m super curious. :3 but please keep in mind, like any person, I can get offended or defensive when people are really mean. I don’t mind if people disagree, agree, and discuss like a person with proper etiquette would do in person.
Anyway, for those of you who don’t fully understand/know what Unity is, I shall explain:
Unity works off the basis of the 5 Principles of Unity. Our worship services have lots of music and revolve around a ‘lesson for the week’ or just a lesson. Ministers are female or male. Prayer and affirmative prayer is very important, as it is a part of thought, and we create our life experiences through our thinking. We believe the paradigm, or way of thought/life, is very powerful as it shapes your life. Spirituality can improve your life. If you are in Y.O.U.(Youth of Unity), which are the high school kids, have their regional events youth lead (At least in the Pacific NW region where I’m from).
Unity can co-exist with pretty much any religion. There aren’t too many set rules, mostly guidelines. For example, in my specific chapel we use the Prayer for Protection(which I say every night to my bunnies), the Lord’s Prayer(obviously Christian), and “Namaste”(Hinduism). We mix different aspects and/or practices from other religions into our own. Unity is quite flexible.
“God is Spirit, the loving source of all that is. God is the one power, all good, everywhere present, all wisdom. God is divine energy, continually creating, expressing and sustaining all creation. In God, we live and move and have our being. In Unity, some other ways we speak of God are Life, Light, Love, Substance, Principle, Law and Universal Mind.”
Anyway, the reason why I’m writing all this is:
- I found a thread earlier that stated it’s opinion in a way that offended me just a little because of the wording and slight ignorance (I forgot if it was this site or another one)
- To inform people a breif overview of what Unity is and what it means to me
- To see other peoples’ thoughts on Unity. Whether this thread is the first time you’ve heard of this religion, or if you’ve heard of it and think it’s weird (it’s okay, you’re not the only I xD ), I’m curious on what you had previously thought of Unity before, and what you think of it after reading this.
christianity.about.com/od/Unity/a/Unity-Beliefs.htm
christianity.about.com/od/Unity/a/Unity-Church.htm
unity.org/about-us/our-philosophy
lalalamagicbeanslalala.tumblr.com/post/56862734366/expression-connection (My post after one of the Y.O.U. Events. Unity/y.o.u. Is one of the most important things in my life.
ns?
Jesus wins.