I haven't posted anything in a while, so I thought I'd go to google and search for ephphatha sam and see if I could find some old message board discussions that would give me something to write about. I read a whole bunch of them. I think I was smarter back then than I am now. What on earth has gone wrong? I feel like Charlie toward the end of Flowers for Algernon. Anyway, I found this post from March of 2003 where somebody asked, "Why aren't more people UU's?" I gave my own reasons for not being a UU. Here's what I said, and here's a link to the discussion:
I guess in the spirit of FaeryDragon I'll give some of my reasons for not being a UU.
I guess the biggest reason is that as a Christian, I consider myself a member of a family along with other Christians. As such I think it's important to have the unity we have in worship. I don't think it's possible to have that unity in UUism since most aren't Christians. The UU church is not about Jesus Christ and our citizenship in his kingdom. These are important and intimate things to me, and I guess the whole family thing is what makes it important to me to worship and study with other Christians. If UUism weren't a church that met for religious services, and if it were on another day besides Sunday (I guess Sunday afternoon would be okay), I suppose I would think it was a pretty neat idea. I mean if it was just a meeting place for interfaith dialogue, I'd be all for that. It would be great to have a place where people of different faiths could share, discuss, and debate their differences with tolerance and civility. I just wouldn't want something like that to take the place of my membership in the church of Jesus Christ. If you'll read 1 Corinthians 12 about the analogy of the body and it's many parts, you'll see why I have this view.
Another reason I'm not a UU is because some of my beliefs would not be welcome in a UU church. I would not have the same freedom of expression in a UU church as I would have in a Christian church. For example, I believe that God has given us a moral law, that we all break that moral law, that Jesus is the Christ (in the historic Jewish meaning of the word), that he died to atone for our breaking of the moral law, and that salvation from judgement can only come by faith in Christ's atonement. I believe Jesus was raised from the dead, and that there will be a final resurrection of the dead in which some will face judgment, and others will enter eternal life. I believe the Bible is the word of God. I don't believe that all religions are equally valid, nor that picking a religion should be like choosing ice cream flavours, and that whatever works for you is okay with God. I do not believe God is indifferent to our relationship to him. I believe that Christianity is true in its essential claims, and that other religions are wrong when they contradict those claims. I think my views would likely be met with much hostility in a UU church, and I could never be comfortable in one because of it.
One more reason I'm not a UU is because I think that UUism leads to irrationalism and shallowness. In general, there are three kinds of UU's. There are those who have all the politically correct views, and they are free to express their views and recieve pats on the back. Then there are those whose views are politically incorrect, and they have to choose between keeping their views to themselves in order to avoid offending anybody, or expressing them and facing hostility. Some just resort to abiguity to get their views off their chest without causing a stir. The third group are those so heavily bent on tolerance and pluralism, that they adopt the view that religious truth is relative. I've got my beliefs, and you've got yours, and even though they contradict, neither of us is wrong. These people think it's intolerant to think another person's views are wrong, so they pretend like they think everybody's views are true for them EXCEPT for those who don't share their view that all religious truth is relative, and that some religious views are wrong (which I find hypocritical). I think UUism actually encourages this kind of thinking. It's okay in UUism to believe whatever you want as long as you don't actually think it's true, because once you claim that you have some truth about religion, well then you're intolerant because you're implying that other people are wrong about their religion. I am generalizing here, but I'm sure a lot of you will agree with me.
ephphatha
10 comments:
Well I certainly know where you are coming from Philochristos. . . It may interest you to know that I have previously protested against the anti-Christian, and more broadly anti-theistic, intolerance and bigotry that is so pervasive within the U*U religious community.
Hey Robin. Long time no see. I know all about your protest. I used to hang out on beliefnet a few years ago. I don't know if you remember me or not, but I'm ephphatha. You can call me Sam, though.
OK Sam. Indeed I do remember ephphatha. I seem to recall that you had some thoughtful input to offer in the U*U forums on Beliefnet.
BTW The U*U sections of Beliefnet are pretty much dead but I am still kicking outrageously hypocritical U*U butt on The Emerson Avenger blog and lighting a fire under U*U asses in front of the Unitarian Church of Montreal on any given Sunday . . . ;-)
I guess a good summary point would be: I wouldn't hang out with them because they, in their unique universally tolerant way, would not have me.
Well they are still trying to "get" me it seems. . . ;-)
What do you know. The Word Verification code for this post is -
fuqqu
How appropriate! ;-)
lol That's funny. I guess it's just not your day.
My mother basically raised my twin and I in UUism, and you are absolutely right about it, ephphatha. Not only are they intolerant and bigoted toward Christians and Christianity of the more conservative variety, but are the most air-headed population of pseudo-intellectuals I've ever encountered. By God(dess), if you don't have a college degree (Masters or Doctorate preferred), they won't give you the time of day; if you aren't married and have at least 2.3 kids, they wouldn't tell you the color of the sky if you were blind; if you aren't a graduate of Harvard, Yale, Stanford, or UC-Berkeley, they wouldn't defecate in your mouth if you were starving to death (excuse that rather disgusting metaphor). They are NOT about a faith that leads people to a better hope. They are about the idea that every problem you have is YOUR OWN FAULT, and that if you apply just enough reason, fact, and logic to things, you'll be AOK. Oh, and emotional problems....you're on your own. Remember...it's all INSIDE you. UUism is NOT a religion....it's a JOKE.
Another thing I find hilarious about UUism is the fact that it originated from two CHRISTIAN denominations, Unitarianism and Universalism, but yet downplays that heritage so blatantly. They claim to "celebrate" their "Judeo-Christian" heritage, but by God(dess), don't say "God", "Lord Jesus Christ", "Holy Bible", or anything else even remotely related to the Christian faith, or you will be vilified like you've never been vilified before.
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