Unitarian Universalist heathens?

Any happy heathens want to say a word about the Unitarians? I've just been reading some websites, but I'd like to hear from those with direct first-hand experience.

I'm wondering if there's a community there that might feel comfortable to me as an atheist out of evangelical Protestantism by way of Zen Buddhism or if after all it's still a religious organization above all, which means no, it wouldn't.

>1 Meredy: The ones I've seen tolerate pretty much everyone and everything, and often have rotating pastors (for multiple values of "pastor"). They just all want to start too early for my tastes.

Speaking as an atheist UU, I'll say that the level of churchiness and theism varies a lot from one congregation to another, and if you're interested I'd encourage you to visit more than one if the first one doesn't suit you. My old church in Pasadena, CA was very non-theist (the senior minister was atheist, and grew up Lutheran, so it was a very congenial place for people like me who have Christianity allergies). My current church in Washington, DCis a little more "churchy" (not objectionally so, but I do sometimes avoid the associate minister's sermons when they look overly theist for my taste.)

I've been attending UU services for about six years now, and find it quite comfortable. That doesn't mean you would be, but I am 100% sure you would not be the only atheist ex-Protestant there - that's a fairly large subset in my experience - and pretty sure you wouldn't be the only one who had or was currently identified with Eastern religions as well.

My UU church, in the south no less, has a wide assortment of agnostics and atheists, along with a wide variety of lapsed Catholics, Baptists, Jews, Lutherans, Buddhists, Wiccans and one former Muslim. I second the idea above. Check out a few until one strikes you just right.

One of the local UU churches fields a softball team called the Heretics. That should give you some idea!

Like many other congregations within denominations, UU churches can differ according to region and pastor and history. Although the most "traditional" UU church is going to be light years away from even the more liberal mainline churches.

I used to preach at our local UU church in Fairbanks, and it was always a fun experience. They have their own rituals, but the beliefs behind them are very eclectic.

Thanks very much--interesting and strangely appealing (although >2 Lyndatrue: getting up early, not so much: I mostly don't do mornings). With your comments in mind, I have to think about it some more.

I was born in Chicago and grew up in the urban ghetto a few miles west of my church.

A great high school teacher encouraged me to first visit Hyde Park to “get some culture”. I saw Greek plays and heard “Beatnik poetry” in the 50's, and ethnic music in the early 60's. After I announced that I had gone to a Church one Sunday afternoon and listened live blues, a shocked high-school friend predicted that I would “go to Hell and that preacher would too.”

I was very impressed with the role, played by Unitarians in the Civil and Human Rights movements. Although I considered myself an atheist, in college, I heard. M. L .King, Jr., praise Unitarians as white folk who were willing to die for the rights of people very unlike themselves.

Although Unitarians are a small minority within the religious community, they make big waves. I remember an article in “Playboy” which I read for the pictures as well as the writing. It stated that nearly a third of the names in the, then current Who’s Who were Unitarians.

Inspired by the Underground Press of the late 60's I listed my religion as Neo- American when drafted. I look forward to getting a pagan tombstone from the government someday ; )

Regular concerts, by local Jazz artists provided simple pleasures during the 70's. I met wonderful people who invited me back for services. I still see several of these people at neighborhood musical events all of the time.

Although I have studied Martial Arts since childhood, it has been the practice of Tai Chi Chuan that has been both a joy and a source of many insights that might have once gone unnoticed. I have taught a Wednesday Tai Chi Chuan class at First UU for 28 or so years. Several current church members were in my first class.

By the 80's I had studied and experienced enough to no longer feel, satisfied with atheism. But, I had and still have too many questions for any traditional church. I now think of myself as a Neo-Gnostic. I may be a Unitarian because they are the only people who will put up with me. I am mostly drawn to the Earth Based (those old time religions) aspects of our traditions since Earth is where most of us started out.

I have been a member of the First Unitarian Society of Chicago for over 26 years, although not always attending Sunday morning services.

There are seven principles which Unitarian Universalist congregations affirm and promote:

• The inherent worth and dignity of every person;
• Justice, equity and compassion in human relations;
• Acceptance of one another and encouragement to spiritual growth in our congregations;
• A free and responsible search for truth and meaning;
• The right of conscience and the use of the democratic process within our congregations and in society at large;
• The goal of world community with peace, liberty, and justice for all;
• Respect for the interdependent web of all existence of which we are a part.

Unitarian Universalism (UU) draws from many sources:

• Direct experience of that transcending mystery and wonder, affirmed in all cultures, which moves us to a renewal of the spirit and an openness to the forces which create and uphold life;
• Words and deeds of prophetic women and men which challenge us to confront powers and structures of evil with justice, compassion, and the transforming power of love;
• Wisdom from the world's religions which inspires us in our ethical and spiritual life;
• Jewish and Christian teachings which call us to respond to God's love by loving our neighbors as ourselves;
• Humanist teachings which counsel us to heed the guidance of reason and the results of science, and warn us against idolatries of the mind and spirit;
• Spiritual teachings of earth-centered traditions which celebrate the sacred circle of life and instruct us to live in harmony with the rhythms of nature.

These principles and sources of faith are the backbone of our religious community.

Peace out,
“Quicksiva”

>8 quicksiva:

in college, I heard. M. L .King, Jr., praise Unitarians as white folk who were willing to die for the rights of people very unlike themselves.

He wasn't speaking in generalities, either. I suspect he was referring to
Rev. James Reeb, a Unitarian minister (at the church I now attend) who was murdered by white supremacists while marching for civil rights in Alabama.

> 8
Wonderful post. Thanks.

I'm coming late to this thread, but as an atheist I've sometimes gone to services at the local UUC. It's a fairly even mix of Xtians, Buddhists and Pagans. The minister, altho raised in the UUC, comes from a Jain family and has only a limited understanding of Xtian theology, which doesn't make much difference here since the focus of the church is more on social justice and environmental issues than religion per se.

However, from what I've heard, each UUC is different, depending on the spiritual leanings of the congregation. Some are more conventionally Xtian/Jewish religious and some are openly atheist/agnostic (tho I understand those are mainly on the East Coast). The one thing you can count on, tho, is that they're all liberal.

As an agnostic out of evangelical Protestantism via Zen, I'd try a UU church if there was one within reach, but there isn't. An alternative might be the Society of Friends, but I gather that in the US you have to be quite picky between liberal and conservative Quaker meetings.

Sorry, bear with me please, but, serious question, what on earth does an athiest get out of going to church?

Or are there "unearthly" factors in play?

>13 Cynfelyn:

Speaking personally, and in no particular order:

Community. A group of people who share some of my more important values and interests. I first became involved in the UU church when our then-local congregation was doing by far the most well-organized work against Proposition 8 in California.

Time for thoughtful contemplation. I do not personally have the self-discipline to have a purely personal practice of meditation or contemplating what I find to be important in life - having a set time and place to do this makes me actually do it.

A way to work with people toward issues of social justice that are important to me locally, nationally, and globally, to celebrate our victories and console each other in our losses.

It's also a place where there are a lot of families who, in one way or another, look like mine - interracial, or queer, or raising an adopted kid. Especially as my kid gets older, it's important to me that he have a place where he doesn't stand out because of these factors. This goes back to "community" in many respects but it's a separate issue for me.

I've met many of my closest friends through church - when you move to a new city as an adult, it can be really hard to make new friends, especially if you're an awkward introvert like me. ;-)

>13 Cynfelyn: Some people go to bars to play pool and watch football, not to drink.

>14 lorax:, 15

Thanks. I wondered whether it was a community thing. Looking in from this thoroughly heathen corner of western Europe, where:

47.5% of live births in England and Wales in 2012 (the latest figures) were to unmarried parents (ONS birth summary tables);

a 2005 UK government survey to help analyse the financial implications of the Civil Partnerships Act concluded that 6% of the population was gay or lesbian (Wikipedia);

gays and lesbians having won the right to marriages as well as civil partnerships, the ban on heterosexual couples being able to have civil partnerships is now being taken to judicial review;

2% of adults have parents of different races and 9% of under-16s are living with parents of different races (although 'only' 0.9% of adults self-define as mixed race, and 3% of under-16s are defined as mixed race) (BBC report, 6 October 2011);

and of the 5,050 children adopted from care (i.e. excluding adoptions by relatives and step–parents) in the year ending 31st March 2014, 9% (440) of children were adopted by single adopters and 91% (4,610) by couples, including 7% (340) by same sex couples (whether or not in a civil partnership) (BAAF figures for England),

you really have to try hard to stand out. Going to atheist church might do it. As Dr Alfred Jones says in Salmon fishing in the Yemen, "I don’t know anyone who goes to church anymore. On Sunday we go to Tesco."

>14 lorax: Everything you mentioned, plus the singing.

>13 Cynfelyn:, >17 BooksCatsEtc:

I think I've attended churches where people were mostly there to sing. I have certainly been such a person.

>13 Cynfelyn: ,> . >17 BooksCatsEtc: ,>18 paradoxosalpha:
I once heard a humanist member of our choir announce that UU was the only place he could sing Amazing Grace in public and not feel like an idiot.

Yes, my UUs are all very musical and love to sing their little heads off. They manage some pretty complex things for special occasions.