To become aware of a problem is to own some responsibility for solving it. Unitarian Universalism asks us to actively inform ourselves of the problems of humanity, because we are responsible for building our Beloved Community.
Tag Archives | Principles
Setting Boundaries and Being Welcoming: Acceptance and Encouragement
Richard, in a comment on a recent post about what it means to be a UU, thinks that our opposition to certain political positions, our rejection of certain movements and slogans, makes us hypocritical. We’ve hidden the comment where it originally appeared because it was wildly off-topic. We did want to address the comment, though: […]
Don’t Vote Angry; Why Doesn’t Compassion Get Us to the Polls?
Early voter turnout has been seriously impressive during these first few days. It’s not possible, yet, to know where the votes are landing, but there is a solid chance that we’ll break records this year. The problem is that this massive turnout seems to be largely driven by anger. I’m sorry, anger is too soft […]
Why Unitarian Universalism?
I know there are several other forms of Liberal Religion. The UUA and our individual congregations work with a lot of churches on specific projects and we share goals for the world with those churches. So, why am I UU? What is it about Unitarian Universalism that has earned my fervent support? Firstly, let me […]
A Church With 20 Religions
After giving whatever your elevator speech, anyone with time and interest still remaining is very likely to ask you, How do you have a church where people have different religions? Firstly, while we may have different beliefs and practices, we have one religion. It is a religion that allows us to worship together as well […]
A Commitment to Growth is the Core of Unitarian Universalism
Unitarian Universalism has no creed. We don’t have an oath to an outside power. There is no pledge to a single entity, concept, or ideal. What then does it mean to be a Unitarian Universalist? We do have Principles. But those still aren’t really what defines us as a movement. Our Principles are all phrased […]
How Big is Your Unitarian Universalism?
This summer, I had the absolute joy and privilege of going to General Assembly and spending a week at a UU summer camp. If you haven’t done either, I highly recommend both. I am also fortunate to live in an area with many congregations within a reasonable drive. I seen (and even led) services at […]
Agnosticism: Blessed Uncertainty
Agnostic comes from the Greek ágnōstos “unknown, unknowable”. Merriam-Webster defines the word as “a person who holds the view that any ultimate reality (such as God) is unknown and probably unknowable“. They even include a section on the page explaining the difference between Agnostic and Atheist. The word “agnostic”, despite how many use it, is […]
Inherent Worth and Dignity
Your worth and dignity are inherent. They cannot be discarded or taken away. Maybe you made terrible choices yesterday or all last year. Today, you can choose to be different; today you can choose to be your best. While one’s worth and dignity can be tarnished or buried, made hard to see, there is no […]
Mutual and Free Consent: Welcoming the Beloved Community
One of the great liberal theologians of the 20th century was James Luther Adams. His work “Guiding Principles for a Free Faith”, as published in On Being Human Religiously, he proposed “5 Smooth Stones of Liberal Religion”. These 5 concepts are presented as Adams’ defense of liberal religion against the rise of conservatism in the […]
