Unitarian Universalism

Is anyone hear a Unitarian Universalist or have heard of them?

 

yes why?

 

I took a quiz and it said I was one. Then I looked it up, sounds cool so far. I was just wondering if there were any here are you?

 

I saw this funny Simpsons episode where there was a religious fair, and the preacher dude serves Lisa a bowl of "Unitarian ice cream". Lisa complains that there is nothing inside. "Exactly" says the Rev. lol.

Okay, another funny story:
I studied at GTU seminary in Berkeley, CA, where there were something like 8 theological seminaries, including The Pacific School of Religion, a Unitarian Universalist run seminary. Apparently, one of their traditions is to do a rotating liturgy from various denominations, changing each Sunday.

So I heard that on one particular Sunday, the UUs do the liturgy of St. John Chrysostom of the Eastern Orthodox Rite. Well, in the Eastern Church, this service is sung, in its entirety; however, in the UU church, they simply read it in dull monotones.

While I appreciate the UU church for their aspirations, I don't believe that all faiths have it right. I also am turned off by the political activist aspect, it becomes a dogma in its own right.

 

Never heard of it. Although i do scream "Oh my God, Oh my God" when I'm having intercourse.

 

I'm not but one of my friends is and the things she tells me that go on in the church sound really cool, I also I went and looked up some of the statistics of what religions are represented the most and other things about the church

 

LOL that's exactly what I was thinking about! thats why I looked it up after the quiz labeled me that because if it was anything like that episode, it was terribly mistaken.

turns out they firmly established this religion like 2 years ago, and although the Simpsons had that show, they still named it the unitarians...I just don't understand. I mean they have to have heard of the simpsons doing that...

 

The Unitarians have been around for something like 150 years. hold on, i will look it up.

 

this site
http://universist.org/faq.htm
said they got here in 2003, are you sure we're thinking of the same thing?

" Is this a new religious philosophy?
Yes. It was conceived by examining the perspectives that unite most people who apply reason to metaphysical questions. Universism is the end result of the Deus Project, founded in 1999. The Project set out to determine the nature of a safe religion for the future, and gained special importance after September 11, 2001. Thousands of people contacted the Project expressing their support, and in 2002 the Project won the favorable opinion of two of the world's most important scientific luminaries, Steven Pinker and Edward O. Wilson. In 2003 the Project closed and changed into The Universist Movement, with the purpose of promoting Universism. The Deus Project began by addressing Deism with the mission to make it into a "religion of the future." We wanted to fix what was was wrong with it by determining why it failed, in order to make a satisfying replacement for faith. Our conclusion was that the opposite of faith, Uncertainty itself, is the only satisfying antidote, and only when it is fully embraced and celebrated for its contribution to our daily lives and human progress as a whole."

 

okay, while they "claim" to have been around, as one or another of the various "heretical" sects, since the early centuries after Christ, it seems as though they popped up as Unitarians and also as Universalists in the late 1700s and 1800s. The two groups joined in 1961.

 

this is universist, not universalist

 

http://www.uua.org/info/origins.html

 

I haven't read through it all yet, but the site goes on to say

" Is Universism related to Universalism?
No. Looking at the different words themselves we find portents of their meaning. The root word of Universism is universe - a noun. Universism is a faithless religious perspective in which the individual strives to perceive the universe as it really is. The root word of Universalism is universal - an adjective. Universalism is a universally accepting philosophy, equally accepting reason and faith as valid, accepting many Truths, and in Unitarian Universalism, often making claims about various faith traditions serving as alternate paths to the same end - salvation. Universism, by contrast, takes a stand on reason and evidence, the right tools for a natural universe. On a practical level, Universists believe we cannot combat the ill effects of faith and offer a positive alternative if we do not take a clear stand against those faiths. Unitarian Universalism cannot do this. "

 

:& wait, I;m using the wrong term, I meant universist

 

Right now, Unitarian Universalists are characterised by their blending or grafting of other religious traditions on to a mostly Christian dogma. Social justice is a huge part of their religious beliefs. They were a large player in the Civil Rights Movement, and even the hippy movement (Ken Kesey, lsd pioneer, gave a series of lectures at a UUA retreat that virtually split the church in two in the mid 1960s).

 

okay, your first post said Unitarian Universalist.

 

the end ....*walks off with both hands in pockets*

 

I've attended UU services sometimes, they're really cool. It's also where I met up with my first wiccan circle. I've heard they kinda vary though; some are groups of people embracing all religions together, and sharing experiences and such, while others stick to the more Christian-type services & won't actually put pagan or other rituals into their services (although they are open-minded to allowing anyone to attend, that goes for all UU congregations).

 

thats what I've heard too. some tend to be more Christian oriented than others. i also heard that the UU have a larger percentage of college professors, Ph.ds, MDs, etc. than any other faith. That might just be rumor, but it has been my experience that they tend to be more educated than most, and in fact, many of my college professors were Unitarian Universalists.

Ha, and forest pixie thought it was the end. It is actually an interesting subject...

Oh, and Myranya, that sig applet thingy scares me a little.

 

Excellent, I came to the Religion section to see if there was a thread on Unitarians, and look what I found. We are the cool! No actual Unitarians have posted here though Where aaaaaare you guys?