Presented to the Unitarian Universalist Fellowship of Huntington
“Bring-A-Friend” Sunday, November 15, 2009
Rev. Paul Ratzlaff
Oftentimes, people who haven’t thought a lot about it will say, when asked what Unitarian Universalists believe, “Oh you can believe anything.”
That’s a tempting response to the typical question, “So what do Unitarian Universalists believe anyway?”
“Anything you like.” “Really?” Could a UU believe in Hitler? That usually stops a UU up short. They hem and they haw, uncertain how to respond.
There you have one of the dilemmas of Unitarian Universalism. In contrast to most Christian religions in America, we’re not defined by beliefs. We resemble those non-Christian religions, which focus more on observance than on beliefs. (But even here we’re different, for too many religions insist on one way of observance. If you don’t practice that way, you’re out!) Most UUs, a shortening of “Unitarian Universalism, which is quite a mouthful – notice I can speak only in the broadest terms of “most UUs” – most UUs accept that there are certain unanswerable questions: “Does God exist?” “What happens to us after we die?” “Why is there life?” “Who or what serves to answer these ‘metaphysical’ questions?” “Is one set of writings authoritative for you, the Christian scripture, Jewish scripture, some other spiritual writing?” As UUs we acknowledge that people will answer these questions differently, for there is no one standard, as there is in the sciences, and other empirical/physical matters, that will convince the unconvinced. So we have no creed about the metaphysical, the improvable questions of living. We respect the finding on one’s conscience, acknowledging that people can disagree about the metaphysical in good conscience.
But does that mean that we have nothing that defines who we are? By no means! Instead of a creed of beliefs, we make promises about how we want to be together. We put boundaries on our behavior by the promises that we make to one another. We are united not by creed about irresolvable questions, but we are united in the covenant – the promises – we make to one another as part of this caring community. On the inside of every Sunday’s Order of Service is this congregation’s mission, decided on by a vote of the membership in June, 2005, and amended in June, 2008. Notice the first long sentence, which begins, “We members … pledge to.” That’s another word for “promise.”
Notice the second bullet: “Respect the varied religious paths that each finds meaningful.” What unites us then is a promise that we make to one another that we will respect the religious path that makes most sense to you, knowing that it may differ from mine.
I love this in our history as Unitarians and Universalists, two denominations that merged in 1961. Both chose at pivotal points to become more inclusive, rather than exclusive and schismatic. Both Unitarians and Universalists started out in the late 1700s and early 1800s in America, as Christian reform movements. Both thought of themselves as getting back to original teachings of Jesus. The Unitarians read in Christian scripture that Jesus subordinated himself to God. They could make no sense of the orthodox teaching of the trinity. Hence the name “Unitarian.” The Universalists likewise read Christian scripture carefully. They concluded that a loving God, father of us all, could never create children who would suffer for all eternity. Originally they taught universal salvation, hence the name “Universalism.” Unitarian Christianity soon confronted the Transcendentalists, personified in Ralph Waldo Emerson, who began as a Unitarian minister, but resigned, he said, because he could not serve communion. In his thinking, every one of us was to find our own unique relationship with the transcendent. In this sense, Jesus modeled the power unleashed when one discovers that relationship, but Jesus was not to be worshipped, or slavishly imitated.
Well you can imagine the hullabaloo! Unitarian Christians resented the apparent devaluing of Jesus by the transcendentalists. For a time, Unitarians faced the question, should we narrow, or should we broaden the definition of who a Unitarian is? I’m delighted that they broadened the definition to include both Unitarian Christians and Transcendentalists. By the end of the 19th Century, there were those who questioned whether God was necessary? In their experience, one could be good without God. Indeed, it was clear that there were many “good” people who had no exposure to the gods of the west. Again, you can imagine the hullabaloo! Some Unitarians were tempted to circle the wagons; they were tempted to exclude the early humanists as non-Unitarian. I’m delighted that the inclusion widened to include Unitarian Christians, transcendentalists, and humanists. And so the inclusion has continued to our own time, ever broadening.
If you look at the “sources” of our Unitarian Universalist principles (on the back of Service covers), you will see that they are very inclusive, ranging from individual experience to Jewish and Christian teaching to teaching of the world’s religions to science and reason, and to earth-based religions.
What holds us together then, if not a set of beliefs? Opposite the sources are a list of seven principles that were adopted in the mid-80’s by Unitarian Universalists all over this land. Notice that these principles do not include metaphysical beliefs. None of them is about whether God exists or not. Instead, they are about how we want to be with each other. We will try to respect each other. We will try to conduct a free and responsible search for truth and meaning. We will try to be mindful that we are all part of an interdependent web. We promise.
Could a UU believe in Hitler? Theoretically, it’s possible, but the likelihood is that such an individual would not be able to make the promises that we make: the promise of respecting differing paths. That promise of inclusion is such a hallmark of Unitarian Universalism that it probably excludes dogmatists of whatever stripe.
It’s not easy to be UU – to make these promises. I want to focus on some of the challenges that come with our approach to religion. Clearly there’s a challenge in that people are seeking answers to life’s questions, such as, “How can I hold on (find meaning, joy) in the face of my own dying, and the death of people I love?” I, nor anyone else, is going to preach to you, “Follow this and you will be guaranteed answers.” At most, I can preach, “This is a way that has proved itself meaningful to me, I invite you to try it.” If you want me, or any other UU to tell you the answers to life’s big questions, you will need to look elsewhere. (They are plenty of other people who will be all too happy to tell you what to believe.)
One of the challenges of being UU is that we put squarely on your shoulders the responsibility for finding what is convincing for you. No one can do this for you. Obviously we can share what we find – and do! I value the first bullet of our mission that says, we pledge to “strive for spiritual fulfillment, individually, or in caring relationship with one another.” I value so much the Friday morning meditation in which people gather to share silence, and then to share their reactions to meditation and to poems and readings, as ways of growing greater mindfulness. I value the “Speaking of Faith” opportunities to hear one of these stimulating programs and then share reactions. These are two examples of “striving for spiritual fulfillment … in caring relationship with one another.”
One of the challenges for our congregation is this. I think we’re stronger as a congregation to the degree that people practice a path that nourishes them. But, there’s no single path that we all agree on. I have come to believe that there are fruits, if you will, of the varied paths that people find meaningful. There is what I would call a kind of “spiritual maturity” that characterizes people who devote themselves to spiritual learning, although they come to this maturity in different ways. Among the fruits are gratitude, courage, joy, forgiveness, peace-making, justice-seeking. In other words, whether one frames one’s experience as a belief in God, or in humankind, one grows into a way of being that is celebrated by all. Whether Buddhist, Sufi, Humanist, Jew, Christian, Wiccan, one nods in appreciation at the compassion and delight that each finds in her or his way. I trust that this congregation will radiate love and peace. However that depends on you. You have to find the path that speaks to you, that helps you grow in more loving and peaceful ways. That’s a challenge!
There’s a challenge in behaving in respectful ways, especially when one’s experience leads one to a contrary conclusion. How do we authentically maintain an attitude of curiosity when we encounter someone who frames the world so differently from the way we do? That’s not easy! How much simpler to surround ourselves with people who think the same as we do! There’s a human tendency to surround ourselves with people who think like we do; look like we do. There’s a human tendency to presume that all us “good, progressive people” think alike; to not ask very probing questions because we don’t want to upset folks. That gives us a feeling of safety and comfort. But that’s not UU, as I understand UU. Being UU is to welcome the deep conversation that asks, “What experience shapes your understanding?” “What’s the story behind the explanatory frame that makes sense to you?” This attitude of curiosity, non-judgmentalism, is one of the characteristics of mature UUs (and mature religious people of whatever stripe.) Being a deep UU is to truly welcome people who articulate the world differently.
Lastly, there’s a challenge to be proud of our faith, but not righteous. I was reminded of this last year, when a number of us gathered to consider how we might be more effectively anti-racist; how white-skinned people could ally themselves with people of color so that we could bring about healing in our world. Some Fellowship members and friends were rightly proud of our effort to do the right thing. They expressed their pride as “I bet no one else would spend a Saturday processing these questions!” Another UU member retorted, “The trouble with UUs is that they think they’re the only ones.” In that conflict I was reminded of the tension between feeling proud, and becoming righteous. On the one hand, participants were justly proud of their effort that day. On the other hand, they were wrong to assume that they were unique in that effort. As our UU member knew, many other people of good faith have worked their “tails off” to get a leg up on racism. I love the hymn – it’s #159 “This Is My Song” - which says, “My country’s skies are bluer than the ocean, and sunlight beams on cloverleaf and pine; but other lands have sunlight too, and clover, and skies are everywhere as blue as mine. O hear my song, thou God of all the nations, a song of peace for their land and for mine.” That captures the heart feeling proud of its own, but also recognizing that we’re in this together.
There is so much that we can be proud of: the depth of our caring; our commitment to our children and youth; our efforts to heal the world; and the spirit that characterizes our Sunday worship. We are proud! And we recognize that others are rightly proud of their faith path. We don’t presume that we are the only way; we’re just an excellent way. Add your voice to the rich bouquet that we are! We welcome you to join us in the challenges that our approach to faith puts before us. See if this community and its way of promises answers your need.
When I’m asked, “What do UUs believe anyway?” I answer something like this. “UUs make promises to one another, and to the world, that we want to be a certain way. For example, we promise to respect that people will come up with different answers to life’s big questions, depending on their experiences. We promise that we will be curious about each other’s answers. We promise that we will care for one another. We promise that we will try to heal our world. We promise that we will support our children, youth, and each other in life-long learning. We promise to share our joy and gratitude in living this life now.”
If this speaks to you, cast your lot with us.
