What I like about the UUniverse

The U.S. guarantees freedom of religion and some churches in the U.S. take strong stances on political subjects. (Photo credit: Wikipedia)

Well, it just so happens that on this little blog that is hardly ever read, a link was made to one of my posts which had been written in response to the blog of a well-known UU minister. As a result at least a few hundred people read that post. So on the off chance anyone might see it, I decided to follow that post up with this post on why I bother visiting UU congregations, reading books about UUism, following UU bloggers, and sporadically giving critiques of aspects of UUworld*.

To summarize and add a little to what I wrote in the aforementioned blog post, UUism aspires to be non-sectarian and non-creedal in an effort to provide people who are uncertain of what they believe or who are hesitant to ascent to a particular statement of faith the comfort and freedom to explore their spirituality in a more open environment. This is in part a historical issue, as creeds have been used as litmus tests to divide those who were committed to the "right" views of a particular religious or politico-religious institution  from those who were heretics and outsiders. As a result, many UUs jokingly refer to their religion as being founded upon the heresies of Western religion, particularly Roman Catholic and Protestant forms of Christianity.

In addition, UUism has a strongly progressive/liberal bent to its culture which is reflected in its social justice programs. This is in opposition to the more conservative "fundamentalist" varieties of Abrahamic religions, especially North American forms of Protestantism. This, along with the very wide and open approach UUism espouses in spiritual seeking and study, appeals to people who have been wary of or who abandoned forms of religion which try to force a single, unquestionable set of beliefs and assertions about the ultimate questions of human existence. For many of these people, religion has been presented as a list of things which must be feared and obeyed upon pain of eternal torment. Often these things appeared to them as incongruous with their knowledge of the world, their sense of joy and compassion, and ultimately their ability to accept these things as true.

Thus, as mentioned, many who have been wounded by some forms of religion, or for some other reason have become jaded or cynical toward religion, are immediately put off by anything that sounds too religious, that sounds too specific or too sure of itself and its answers. For those who still desire some kind of spiritual connection, or some kind of healing beyond secular medicine, a religion which sounds in many ways like the opposite of the kind of religion they have either avoided or left sounds like just what they are looking for, and so it isn't uncommon to find such people attracted to UUism. While the UUA has a list of principles that are kind of like statements of faith, they aren't really (again, with the emphasis on not trying to impose beliefs on people). Thus, intentionally or unintentionally, UUism can give the appearance of being heavy on liberal politics through social justice, while its spirituality may come across as a far lighter (both in seriousness and tone) and less focused, with its religious elements in some cases seeming very superficial.

The end result is that one can on some level come away with the impression that in trying so hard to not be like what some fear, dread, or despise in other forms of religion, UUism is trying to replace it with a form of positive thinking spirituality (which I abbreviated as "pop" spirituality) and liberal activism. I outlined this overall impression and its contributing elements in my previous post emphasizing these qualities and using the more extreme examples of the same. In doing so, I stated that this should not be taken as a overall general impression of the UUA or UU congregations as a whole, and that there are many inviting, affirming, inspirational, and uplifting aspects to UUism as well. I noted that many people find a warm and comfortable place in UUworld in which to sort out their spiritual questions, and while many who want something more deeply spiritual or more firmly committed to a vision of something greater (God, Spirit Tao, Dharmakaya, etc.) may eventually move on, there are those who are raised within or choose to remain in UUworld as their religious home.

So, while it's all well and good to say that there are things I really like and respect about UUism, just what are some of these positive qualities of UUism that I find appealing or worthwhile?