OK UUs, more unsolicited advice

Image via Wikipedia

So I've made some past critiques (see here and here or use the search box for this page for additional entries) and the suggestion that UUism would benefit from adopting the Snowmass Conference's Guidelines for Interreligious Understanding as part of "what they believe". I've expressed concern that UUism has too often mistaken radical inclusiveness for bland inoffensiveness and a dissing of its Christian roots. Online or elsewhere I've compared it to an incomplete sandwich, a picnic basket rather than a kitchen, and other analogies of incompleteness, disappoint or lack of depth. I will add another recommendation: The Case for God by Karen Armstrong. It gives an excellent overview and summarized examples (supported by a detailed and documented historical analysis) concerning what religion is about and what makes it work (or fail). If you want just read the intro and epilogue to get the gist. It helps me better appreciate my frustration with certain aspects of UU liturgy and its capacity (based on my experience) to create a sense of the sacred or initiate an experience of humbling mystery. Here's hoping UUism will move toward more of a conscious and sustained effort to emphasize such things.

Oh, and while you're at it...


...why not also watch this, just because, and the importance of the section in which there is a demonstration of the value of repentance (cough, cough):