Why unitarian universalism is wrong

The organisation's social activism has led to some extremes of hostility. In , a man walked into a Unitarian Universalist church in Knoxville, Tennessee and shot nine people, killing two. The gunman stated that the congregations' liberal views had motivated his attack. Unitarian Universalism is sometimes referred to as America's "other" religion — one that offers a reverse of the stereotype of American religious conservatism. US census data shows it to be a significant minority religion with between a quarter and a half million people linking themselves with the movement.

In the UK the equivalent is a smaller denomination known as the Unitarians. Related organisations exist across the world. Notably in some African countries, new congregations are being set up by individual Africans who have often read about the movement online and want an alternative to fundamentalism. Unitarianism has historical roots in Enlightenment attempts to soften away what were perceived as the irrational edges of Christianity the incarnation, hell, the trinity.

However, in modern times, at least in the UK and America, it has become so liberal that it is no longer really a Christian denomination. Because there is no set dogma, members can be believers in God, firm atheists or somewhere in between.

We must begin with the assertion that Unitarian Universalism has always emphasized freedom as a core value. It follows that human beings have a choice. We are not predestined by God before our births, to be saved or unsaved. We are not mired in original sin by the very fact of our birth and therefore have to go through a ceremony called baptism, even as babies, to cleanse ourselves of that sin. We do not have to have someone sacrifice himself by dying on a cross to save us from hell.

Yes, human beings have a propensity to do evil, but we also have the propensity to do great good. We have a choice. Unitarian Universalists prefer to think of ourselves as being born into "original blessing," as theologian Matthew Fox likes to put it. He was of course ex-communicated from the Catholic Church, for that heresy and others. The term "Unitarian" indicates our belief that God is One. As Church doctrine began to be codified in the fourth century, the concept of the trinity was found to be confusing for our Catholic forebears, and they disagreed with their colleagues in the church hierarchy.

But when the vote was taken in , the Nicene Creed was adopted, and the doctrine of the trinity was established. Note that the trinity is not a Biblical concept -- it originated in the power structure of the Catholic Church.

Basically, the Unitarians lost the vote. The concept that God is One goes beyond the controversy over the trinity, however. God is One. I remember a tragic incident that occurred during my ministry. One evening I was called to the hospital to be with the mother of a two-year-old child who was brain-dead after choking on a piece of chewing gum. The mother, a Unitarian Universalist, was estranged from the child's father, who was of another faith.

Leaving the hospital, I found myself in the elevator with the father's minister, and I said to him, "Well, we can do the memorial service together. We don't worship the same God. What other God could he have been thinking of? As Unitarian Universalists, we respect other religious traditions -- we don't think we have the market on the truth.

I like the way my late colleague, Dr. He said that truth is like light shining through the windows of a great cathedral, in different colors and shapes.

The light comes from the same source. But it looks different, depending upon which window it shines through. So it is with the various religious traditions of our world. In conducting worship, I regularly use readings from a wide range of sources, including Native American, ancient Chinese, the Hebrew Bible, Rumi, as well as a lot of contemporary poetry. Truth is where you find it. There is no single scripture that holds all the truth. And there's another theological perspective that Unitarian Universalists have concerning truth: we believe in evolution -- not only evolution of life forms, but evolution of thought and evolution of moral and ethical understanding.

So the truth that I embrace today may not be the truth I embrace tomorrow. Revelation is not static, but is ever unfolding. More and more will be revealed. Our part is simply to be open, and thirsty, thirsty for the truth that would be ours -- but just for the time being. Such a stance keeps us humble -- and awake.

When we venture into the Mystery, we are entering the ground of the infinite with the powers of a finite mind. An awe-filled agnosticism is perhaps the better part of wisdom. Unitarian Universalist theology is of this world, not of the next. Jesus, in fact, taught that the Realm of God is within and, contrary to most Christian practice, his teachings were centered on relationship, not salvation.

Unitarian Universalists do not emphasize an afterlife. For one reason, we simply don't know anything about it.

No one as yet has come back to report. But we do know about suffering and injustice on this earth, and so we try to create the Kingdom of Heaven here and now, with real people.

Back to Francis David -- our faith is focused not on what we believe, but how we love. It is a fact that people with the most fervent and orthodox beliefs have been known to engage in some of the most dastardly acts.

Former president of the UUA Rev. Bill Sinkford describes Unitarian and Universalism respectively as,. We believe we have a responsibility to stand up to those people or groups who are tearing the fabric of the covenant of life and help repair those tears. We also believe well will be imperfect at doing so. As Martin Buber says,. Read "Our Shared Faith".

You can't believe that you know everything there is to know or at least can find out everything there is to know because the be-all and end-all capital T Truth is written down somewhere and still be UU. These 5 statements of faith are known as the 5 Jagged Rocks and were created by Nancy Bowen and some religious professionals in the Unitarian Universalist Association Mountain Desert District. They are an adaptation of James Luther Adams' 5 smooth stones of religious liberalism which, if you're not familiar is a reference to the biblical tale of David and Goliath.

As David used stones to slay Goliath, so we as a liberal religion can use these 5 statements of faith to overcome hate, prejudice, division, exclusion and brokenness.

So, the next time you find yourself about to say or agree with the statement that "UUs can believe whatever they want," just remember we believe:. All souls are sacred.