Sorry to come late to the game here, so to speak.
To answer the initial question, there is nothing wrong with Unitarian Universalism, though others here seem to disagree.
Now, to all the banter:
You cannot be a UU and believe anything you want. We have a set of seven principles that are used as a foundation of our faith. If you can’t support those principles, you probably won’t be happy as UU.
We also have six sources used in our faith. Among these are the Judeo-Christian teachings of loving and caring for one another.
Next, we are a covenental faith, not a creedal faith. Catholics are a creedal faith (you recite creeds professing you all believe in the same thing.)
We covenant to support each other in our search for truth and meaning, in the hope we can achieve our mission by changing ourselves, our communities and our world for the better.
UUs are not converted. There is no indoctrination, and you need not denounce any other religious beliefs you may hold.
It is correct to say we believe what we do is important, not just what we believe. There is a UU hymn that states we must live in the now, not wait for the hereafter.
By definition, we are unitarian. That means we don’t place any credence in the trinity. That is part of our history and has defined us since we grew up alongside the American Revolution.
Also by definition, we are universalist, which means universal salvation. Many Christians seem to live their entire lives in fear of eternal perdition.
That is why we often say UUs are “good for nothing,” because we believe in doing good works because it is the right thing to do, not because we expect some kind of reward for it.
We are not Christian, although we have members who describe themselves as Christian. We celebrate Christian holidays just as we celebrate Jewish, Muslim, Hindu and holidays of other faiths.
Many UUs would say Jesus was a wise man, or a wise teacher or rabbi. Many also do not believe in his divinity.
God, or the divine, is too big to be contained by one religion or faith process. We believe all faiths may contain some truth, that is why we study them. At the same time, we would probably agree that no one faith has “the truth.”
We believe the Bible can be a good religious text, but that there are others.
Some here have said we are too liberal because we accept all people, be they Gay, etc.
It is true we are a liberal faith. Universalists were either the first or among the first to ordain women.
Today, we support GLBT rights, including the right to marry, and Gay marriages are performed in many UU congregations.
But, I will be the first to admit that Unitarian Universalism won’t appeal to everyone.
Some people don’t like the idea of not being told what to believe. They like more structure, more dogma, etc., which is perfectly fine if it meets their needs.
Being a UU is not the easy road, as some have said, because we don’t expect God to help and we have no set of instructions.
We are not told what to believe, we must search that out for ourselves. And, if that road would lead some UUs to Christianity, or Islam, or Judaism, or Buddhism, that is fine too.
Or, you might think of it this way; Unitarian Universalism, where all your answers are questioned.
Peace,
Seeker
