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Newsletter Articles - 2003
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Universalism & UU Christianity
At this year’s UUA General Assembly a woman asked one of
our speakers to distinguish Universalism and UU Christianity.
Universalism is larger. It commits itself to maintaining a wider
scope than UU Christianity does. The Universalist Declaration of
Faith proclaims both liberal Christianity (God as love, Jesus as
a spiritual leader, people’s power to bring about the “kingdom
of God”), and Humanism (the supreme worth of every person,
the authority of truth). The Universalist logo, by featuring a cross,
declares Universalism’s intention to stay in contact with
its Christian roots but, by pushing the cross to one side, declares
Universalism’s openness to insights from other religions as
well.
Universalism is not only larger than UU Christianity but also
larger than mainstream UUism. While UUism, like Universalism, embraces
Humanism and World Religions, UUism does not seek to maintain continuity
with its Christian origins.
Many of us who call ourselves “Universalists” do also
call ourselves “Christians.” Others, while not so identifying
ourselves, have consciously incorporated into our UU faith elements
drawn from Christianity. Still others do not view ourselves as Christians
in any way. But one thing that unites us is sadness--sadness that
anti-Christianity seems to pervade so much of the UU movement, and
sadness that anti-Humanism seems so widespread as well. We would
like to see the UU movement become truly as large and inclusive--as
universal--as it aspires to be.
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God As Love
The Universalist Declaration of Faith begins with an avowal of
faith in God as love. What can this mean to a typical, skeptical
UU who is edgy about the term “God”?
The underlying meaning of “God”--the common denominator
of all the different ways the term is used--is that “God”
is a name for the mystery of the universe. “What’s it
all about?” we ask. “Why am I here? What’s the
meaning of life?” The term “God” represents the
answer.
To say that “God is love” is therefore to say that
“what it’s all about” is love. To say that “God
is love” is to say that the experience of love is the closest
we limited beings will ever come to understanding “what it’s
all about.”
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The Commandment to Kick Back
Most people understand the commandment “Remember the sabbath
day, and keep it holy” (Exodus 20:8, NRSV) as an injunction
to support religious institutions. Priests in ancient Israel encouraged
this understanding--thereby ensuring their livelihood--and for almost
two millennia Christian clergy have done the same thing. But it
is doubtful this is the commandment’s original meaning.
“Holy” here means whole, intact--separate from other
days.
The injunction in Exodus 23:12a is, “Six days you shall do
your work, and on the seventh day you shall rest.” Nowadays
we tend to focus on the second half of that sentence, but the first
half provides important context.
Archaeologists say that the original Israelites lived in tiny villages
on hilltops in central Palestine, where the soil is poor and thin
and it was necessary to build and maintain terraces on the hillsides
in order to farm. The early Israelites had to work much harder than
the Canaanites down in the valleys or people in neighboring counties.
“Six days you shall do your work”--from sunup to sundown,
scratching out a living under marginal conditions--is an injunction
to work hard.
In this context the meaning of “on the seventh day you shall
rest” is: you shall rest. You shall take the day off. You
shall smell the flowers. You shall kick back, and let the wells
fill up again. You shall get in touch with what’s important
in life.
Of course, this means the commandment does have to do with religion
after all, because religion consists in staying in touch with what’s
important in life. But the commandment doesn’t mean, “Support
organized religion.” It means, “Take care of yourself!”
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Universalists Leading the Way--III
Unitarianism
UUs widely assume (isn’t it obvious?) that Unitarian preachers
were the first in New England to preach “unitarianism”--essentially,
the doctrine that Jesus isn’t God.
It’s not true. Almost all Universalist preachers were preaching
unitarianism by 1805, at which time the people who would eventually
be called “Unitarians” had not yet separated from the
Congregationalists or accepted the “Unitarian” name.
Universalists were preaching “unitarianism” before “Unitarians”
existed.
Universalists had “dibs” on the “Unitarian”
name! But they already had another name that they liked better.
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One Man's Credo (April 14, 2002)
A happy effect of “official” declarations of faith
is that they stimulate each of us to formulate our own beliefs.
Art Rosenzweig of Orleans, Massachusetts, who describes himself
as “an atheist Jew,” writes: “A credo must be
personal, all and only personal and passionate.” Art shares
the following snapshot of his evolving faith, recorded on a particular
day in response to the Universalist Declaration of Faith. The notes
in brackets are Art’s own references to people and ideas that
have influenced him.
Thank you, Art!
CREDO
I have the truths in me of love, compassion and
justice. [Theodore Parker, Jeremiah]
I aspire to be part of healing the world; the life of Jesus inspires
me. [Walter Wink]
I know my work continues the course of creation; [God?]
as humans, we have the responsibility to create meaning. [Viktor
Frankl]
I yearn for the support of those who share my vision. [The “beloved
community”]
I need to pray to put my fervent vision in front of me, that I may
become the instrument of its fulfillment. [Walter Wink]
I shall not expect to complete the task; that shall be my comfort.
[Judaism]
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Also Free To Keep
Some newcomers to UU congregations, elated that they are not asked
to subscribe to a fixed creed and exhilarated by their freedom to
discard outworn doctrines, can be so boisterous in their religious
house-cleaning as to give other newcomers the impression that in
UU congregations people are expected to completely reject their
religious pasts and start over from scratch.
It isn’t true. UUism has no concept of “conversion.”
It’s a fact that because we are creedless there’s
nothing you have to embrace in a UU congregation. But by the same
token there’s nothing you have to shed. You are free, yes,
to discard everything from your religious past that is no longer
valuable to you. But at the same time you are also free to keep
everything that still nourishes you.
Becoming “UU” doesn’t mean you stop being “you.”
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The MLK Universalist Connection
It is the season of Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr. Day and Black
History Month, and many UU preachers will be reminding their congregations
of the connection between King and Thoreau, who was a (nominal)
Unitarian. But there’s another connection between King and
UUism, less well-known and less direct but more substantial: King-Gandhi-Tolstoy-Adin
Ballou.
King was inspired by the Indian freedom-fighter Mohandas Gandhi.
Gandhi was inspired by the religious writings of Russian novelist
Leo Tolstoy (with whom Gandhi corresponded, at the end of Tolstoy’s
life). And Tolstoy was inspired by the writings of Universalist
minister Adin Ballou (with whom Tolstoy corresponded, at the end
of Ballou’s life).
Adin Ballou, a distant cousin of Universalist leader Hosea Ballou,
was born in 1803, the year the Winchester Profession was adopted.
He was a pacifist, socialist, abolitionist, and founder of the utopian
community of Hopedale, Massachusetts. Adin Ballou’s most comprehensive
exposition of his principles is now back in print, edited and arranged
by Lynn Gordon Hughes under the title Practical Christianity.
It can be ordered online at the website of Friends of Adin Ballou:
www.adinballou.org.
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