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Spring 2004

Bringing Jesus Out the Door with Them

--Dave Johnson, El Paso, TX
Many people have fled the Christianity they grew up in. But if you quiz them, you’ll find something interesting: few of them left Jesus behind. They brought him out the door with them.

They walked away from Paul’s Greek “Mystery.” They walked away from the politics of imperialism which manifests itself even today as “religious authority.” They walked away from “belief in God.” They walked away from worshipping “Jesus Christ.” They walked away from being rejected on account of personal characteristics (for instance homosexual orientation or an inability to tolerate superstition). They walked away from the church’s refusal to accept the disciplines of modern science or of truthful history. They walked away from preachers’ and bishops’ refusal to take responsibility for what they teach and to teach “as one[s] having authority,” as Jesus did.

But the Jesus who taught truth not as dogma, but as a way of life produced by the discipline of honesty, is a welcome companion on their spiritual journey in the wilderness.

Spring 2004

Universalism: "Get More"

The Jesus UUs bring out the door with them is the Jesus of Universalism—a man who died and stayed dead, whose importance lies in his life as he worked to renew Israelite religion among peasants oppressed by imperial terrorism, and whose deeds and stories still touch people despite all the intervening centuries and theological nonsense.

When the Universalists and Unitarians combined in 1960-61, most Unitarians mistook Universalism for an undeveloped form of their own religion—for something less than Unitarianism. Actually it was more, and it is more than mainstream UUism today. It is as committed to freedom, reason, tolerance, humanist values, and investigation of world religions as UUism is, but in addition it is committed to staying in touch with Jesus as a spiritual leader and with the vision he called “the kingdom of God”--of a world where there is justice and peace and enough to go around.

To UUs who brought Jesus out the door of a mainstream Christian church Universalism, “the Larger Faith,” offers a richer way of being UU, a way that enables them to bring Jesus into the door of their UU church.

Spring 2004

Universalism and Jews

The Universalist path is for UUs with Jewish backgrounds as well. The Jesus of modern scholarship is an entirely Jewish figure. His disagreements with religious authorities were intra-Jewish; he wasn’t trying to start a new religion.

Mainstream Christians point to the so-called “Last Supper” as evidence that Jesus did, indeed, intend to found a new religion. At a meal with friends during Passover he refers to “the new covenant” (Mark 14:24). But the best manuscripts don’t contain the word “new.” Jesus was referring simply to “the covenant”--the only covenant he knew of, the covenant said to have been received by Moses on Mount Sinai.

Because of Christianity’s exorbitant claims about Jesus and centuries of Christian anti-Semitism, Jews have had to pretty much disown Jesus. But if Christianity had never come into existence, Jews today would regard Jesus as one of their greatest prophets. Universalism helps UUs of Jewish background to re-appropriate this valuable part of their own heritage.

Spring 2004

Jesus the UU

One day Hosea Ballou, the Universalist leader for the first half of the 19th century, was engaged in a theological debate with a Baptist preacher, and was quoting from the letters of Paul to prove that the Universalist viewpoint was correct. Eventually the Baptist lost patience.

“I suppose you think that Paul was the first Universalist,” he said.

“No,” said Ballou, “I think that Jesus was the first Universalist.”

It’s ludicrous, of course--it’s like saying Jesus was an American. But in a way it’s true.

People were bringing children to him in order that he might touch them; but the disciples scolded them. When Jesus saw this, he grew indignant and said to them, “Let the children come up to me; don’t stop them; for the kingdom of God belongs to people like that.” [Mark 10:13-14]

“People like that.” Jesus means people who are powerless. Children, yes, but others, too--women, who were relatively powerless because they were living in a patriarchal society; the disabled and the mentally ill; people who had any of a number of disfiguring skin diseases and were outcasts (“lepers”) because others were afraid of catching what they had; and people looked down on because the only jobs they could find were objectionable (prostitutes, and people who collected taxes for the Roman occupiers).

The kingdom of God belongs to people like that. Jesus believed in “the supreme worth of every human personality,” to use the wording of the Universalist Declaration of Faith. Or in the wording of the UU Principles, Jesus believed in “the inherent worth and dignity of every person.”

Ballou was right. Jesus was a Universalist, and a UU.

[Winter 2004]

The Elephant in the Room

“There’s an elephant in the room. It is large and squatting, so it is hard to get around it. Yet we squeeze by with ‘How are you?’ and ‘I’m fine’ ... and a thousand other forms of trivial chatter. We talk about the weather. We talk about work. We talk about everything else--except the elephant in the room.”

In Terry Kettering’s poem, the elephant is a death in her family. In many UU churches, the elephant is Christianity.

A majority of Unitarian Universalists--including a majority of our ministers--have unresolved conflicts with Christianity. There is a need, therefore, to talk about Christianity. We need to take it apart, distinguish its varieties, jettison what is poisonous and keep what is valuable. We need to do this, but mostly we do not.

“There’s an elephant in the room,” the poem continues. “We all know it is there. We are thinking about the elephant as we talk together. It is constantly on our minds. For, you see, it is a very big elephant. It has hurt us all. But we do not talk about the elephant in the room.”

Universalism helps UUs to talk about the elephant in the room. Indeed, the Universalist logo and declaration of faith make such a discussion unavoidable. This is one reason the UU movement needs to stay in touch with the Universalist side of its heritage.

“Oh, please, let’s talk about the elephant in the room,” says the poet. “Can I [speak of it] to you and not have you look away? For if I cannot, then you are leaving me alone...in a room...with an elephant.”

[Winter 2004]

We Need All Our History

Most UUs know little about Universalist history. This is primarily due to the fact that most of our ministers--the principal transmitters of UU history--themselves know little about the Universalist side. And this, in turn, is primarily due to the fact that the UU history courses our ministers take in seminary have often resembled the one this writer took in the early ’90s.

The course began by following Universalism from its American origins in the 1700s until about 1805, the year that marks the start of the “Unitarian Controversy” and the emergence of the Unitarians from the old churches of Eastern Massachusetts. At that point the focus of the course shifted to Unitarianism, where it remained, exclusively, until 1961, when Universalists were mentioned one final time--but only in passing, as the group with whom the Unitarians combined to form the Unitarian Universalist Association.

What brings this to mind is the UU movement’s recent celebration of one bicentennial and virtual neglect of another.

The Emerson Bicentennial was an “official” UU observance, supported by the UUA Board of Trustees. Almost $50,000 was raised and spent on high-quality and well-designed materials and events, including an exhibit, a website, books, a major program at GA, and an array of educational and worship resources sent to each congregation.

But how much did the UU movement benefit from all this attention given to Emerson? Weren’t most of our ministers already referring to Emerson on a regular basis? Didn’t Emerson already have a secure place in our RE curricula?

Meanwhile, a relative handful lovingly observed the bicentennial of Adin Ballou. Though Adin Ballou admittedly had less impact than Emerson on the wider American culture, he certainly deserves to be better-known within the UU movement. Emerson served as one of our ministers for 3 years; Ballou, for 56. When Emerson differed with the leaders of his church over a point of theology (communion), he resigned; when Ballou differed with the leaders of his denomination over a point of theology (punishment in the afterlife), he argued long and hard (and his position eventually prevailed). Emerson paid visits to a utopian community (Brook Farm); Ballou founded a utopian community (Hopedale).

Adin Ballou was also one of our nation’s leading theorists of non-violent resistance, directly influencing Tolstoy and through him, Gandhi. Surely, in this time of distressing belligerence by the United States, UUs would benefit from learning about Adin Ballou. It is regrettable that the opportunity presented by his bicentennial was missed.

We UUs need all our history. It shapes our sense of who we are, and our vision for the future.

[Winter 2004]

Early Universalist RE Material on World Religions

The fact that ministerial training has so often slighted Universalism has affected our denominational consciousness of religious education. For example, in seminary this writer took a course in UU Religious Education which was taught (as is usual) by a UU minister. The course had a two-week component titled “History of Unitarian Universalist Religious Education” which consisted of (1) Unitarian religious education from 1825 until 1961 and (2) UU religious education since 1961. Universalist religious education was never mentioned.

Frank Robertson’s research is accordingly very exciting. Frank is a retired Minister of Religious Education who is researching Universalist RE history. Frank writes:

I had never known that Universalists were interested in World Religions during the first half of the 19th century, but recent research has revealed to me that they were. The evidence can be found in rather early periodicals.

The Olive Branch, published in 1827 and 1828 by the New York Universalist Book Society, contains “Hindoo Story: The Priest and His Disciple” (p. 21), an article on the Golden Rule of Confucius compared to Jesus’ Golden Rule (p. 29), and a poem entitled “Zoroaster’s Religion” (p. 224).

In The Eastern Rose-Bud, published from 1841 to 1843 as a children’s magazine by Universalists in Portland, ME, there is a picture of “A Hindoo Temple” (May, 1841, p. 163), information about the ancient Egyptians (Sept., 1841, p. 6), and a story of a Sultan and a Dervish (June, 1842, p. 123).

I have tended to identify the late 19th century and early 20th as the period when Universalists began to teach their children stories from religions around the world. How about you?

Wow, Frank! Eighteen twenty-seven? Wow.