This question was posted on our website: “Please if you could, explain to me what it means to call yourself a Unitarian Universalist? I myself used to be a big believer in Jesus Christ but know think it is a bunch of hokey pokey. I still believe in something greater though, I just don’t know what exactly. I mean something had to create us but the bible is not true. I am interested in this.”
The primary principle in our particular church is kindness, and moving toward greater kindness as a way of life. That is kindness toward self, others, and the world at large. In terms of beliefs it is not that we do not have beliefs, as outsiders like to say when they poke fun at us; it is that we are not bound by any particular belief system. We believe that kindness toward each other is greater than beliefs. So we are not for war, poverty, pepper spraying, making money off of money at the expense of others, depriving people of health care when all our leaders have health care paid for by many who do not have health care, we are not for pollution for profit — well as you can see we are focused on the practice of life, not what we believe about life. The sermon I preached March 12, 2012 “UU Spirituality Beyond Belief” might be helpful in answering your question. The video is posted on YouTube, and you can find it listed under “Sermons.”
In terms of the Bible we do not so much argue the truth of it as much as ask “can this teaching help move toward being a kinder person and community?” Many people say they believe in the Bible but still hate their enemy. Or they support political systems that create poverty, pollution, go to war, deprive people of basic needs, and place supreme court justices in power that support trans national corporations over those people protected by the constitution. This is not acceptable to us.
In terms of creation- What a beautiful Earth we live in! I say it is more important to take care of this place our home rather than argue over how it came to be. Some believers feel it is more important to defend beliefs about creation rather than protect the earth. This is not acceptable to us.
This is my personal response and I do not speak for the members and friends of our congregation or other UU’s. They may have different viewpoints (one thing you will find to be true about UU’s is they have many different ideas about beliefs) and I hope some of them will post comments on about my response.
I hope this is helpful.
Rev. Gregory Wilson
p.s. This quote from William Ellery Channing, one of the founders of Unitarian universalism, addresses one of the central tenets of our faith and practice:
“there are two powers of the human soul which makes self culture possible, the self searching and the self forming power.We have first the faculty of turning the mind toward its self; of recalling the past and watching its present operations; and learning its various capacities and susceptibilities; what it can do and bear, what it can enjoy and suffer; and thus learning in general what our nature is, and what it is made for. And because we have this capacity we participate in the decisions for transformation in changing thus participate in the reforming of ourselves.”