Whatver Happened To the Old Unitarians

[Qin_Shi_Huangdi]

What has happened to those Unitarians who were just a radical form of Christians not the universalist/pantheist/“everything is valid” Unitarian Universalists to-day? By that I mean the branch of Unitarians the Adamses and William Howard Taft subscribed to.

[Qadgop_the_Mercotan]

About 20% of Unitarian Universalists self-identify as Christian, so I suspect many of them are still with us current UUs.

And I’d say your view of current UUs is a bit skewed if you believe we adhere to an “everything is valid” philosophy. It’s certainly not one of the seven principles:

The inherent worth and dignity of every person;

Justice, equity and compassion in human relations;

Acceptance of one another and encouragement to spiritual growth in our congregations;

A free and responsible search for truth and meaning;

The right of conscience and the use of the democratic process within our congregations and in society at large;

The goal of world community with peace, liberty, and justice for all;

Respect for the interdependent web of all existence of which we are a part.

[Qin_Shi_Huangdi]

First of all, apologies if I offended any UUs but universalism is basically “you’ll end up the same no matter your religious belief”. And these imply that everything (at least most) things are valid:

@Qadgop_the_Mercotan

A
Acceptance of one another and encouragement to spiritual growth in our congregations;

A free and responsible search for truth and meaning;

Basically those two points state that no matter your religious belief you can worship the way you want in a UU church.

[Tranquilis]

My mother is a UUA minister (retired). The old-school Unitarians live on within the umbrella of the UUA, you just don’t realize it.

[Telemark]

@Curtis LeMay

Basically those two points state that no matter your religious belief you can worship the way you want in a UU church.

You say that as if it’s a bad thing.

[WarmNPrickly]

Do you have any reason to believe that Taft and Adams wouldn’t have been perfectly happy in the current UU church? Did the church lose a significant membership when it merged with the Universalists?

[Captain_Amazing]

@WarmNPrickly

Did the church lose a significant membership when it merged with the Universalists?

Not really, but even pre-merger, Unitarians and Universalists weren’t very different. The main differences between the American Unitarian Association and the Universalist Church pre-merger weren’t doctrinal, but socioeconomic. Historically, Unitarians tended to be upper class congregations and Universalists tended to be lower class congregations.

There is, by the way, a “conservative” Unitarian-Universalist group, the American Unitarian Conference, which split off from the Unitarian Universalist Association in 2000 because they believed the UUA had become too liberal and had moved too far away from theism.

[Reply]

@Curtis LeMay

First of all, apologies if I offended any UUs but universalism is basically “you’ll end up the same no matter your religious belief”. And these imply that everything (at least most) things are valid:

Basically those two points state that no matter your religious belief you can worship the way you want in a UU church.

Not only that, but the UUA website says:

Theological Perspectives

Unitarian Universalism is a liberal religion that embraces theological diversity.

While our congregations uphold shared principles, individual Unitarian Universalists may discern their own beliefs about theological issues. As there is no official Unitarian Universalist creed, Unitarian Universalists are free to search for truth on many paths.

We welcome people who identify with and draw inspiration from Atheism and Agnosticism, Buddhism, Christianity, Hinduism, Humanism, Judaism, Islam, Paganism, Theism and Deism, and religious or philosophical traditions.

and:

Unitarian Universalism (UU) draws from many sources:

* Direct experience of that transcending mystery and wonder, affirmed in all cultures, which moves us to a renewal of the spirit and an openness to the forces which create and uphold life;
* Words and deeds of prophetic women and men which challenge us to confront powers and structures of evil with justice, compassion, and the transforming power of love;
* Wisdom from the world's religions which inspires us in our ethical and spiritual life;
* Jewish and Christian teachings which call us to respond to God's love by loving our neighbors as ourselves;
* Humanist teachings which counsel us to heed the guidance of reason and the results of science, and warn us against idolatries of the mind and spirit.
* Spiritual teachings of earth-centered traditions which celebrate the sacred circle of life and instruct us to live in harmony with the rhythms of nature.

These principles and sources of faith are the backbone of our religious community.

The UU congregation I went to had many handouts similarly celebrating religious differences. If that’s not “anything goes”, I don’t know what is.

Not that there’s anything wrong with that. UU is the only “church” I was ever interested in joining.

If that is in fact not the case and UU is not as welcoming as I’ve been misled to believe, please let me know so I can leave.

[WarmNPrickly]

@Reply

Not only that, but the UUA website says:

and:
The UU congregation I went to had many handouts similarly celebrating religious differences. If that’s not “anything goes”, I don’t know what is.

Not that there’s anything wrong with that. UU is the only “church” I was ever interested in joining.

If that is in fact not the case and UU is not as welcoming as I’ve been misled to believe, please let me know so I can leave.

Well, believing that black people are subhuman would rather conflict with the first of the seven principles, so racism or at least blatant bigotry is right out.

[Qadgop_the_Mercotan]

@WarmNPrickly

Well, believing that black people are subhuman would rather conflict with the first of the seven principles, so racism or at least blatant bigotry is right out.

Exactly. Any practice that runs counter to the 7 principles is not going to be looked on with favor by most UUs.

A brief note on Universalism, too. Their idea was that God was too good to condemn anyone to hell forever, and they saw hell as some sort of celestial rehab facility for prepping errant souls for eventual discharge to heaven. (With maybe some time in a halfway facility in between. )

[kayaker]

From the title of this thread, I thought that elderly Unitarians were dropping dead at an alarming rate.

[Kent_Clark]

There is a tremendous diversity in UU congregations – they range from touchy-feely new age types to congregations that make conservative Episcopalians look like hippies.

And those who couldn’t find a UU church to their liking tended to drift back to “traditional” but somewhat politically liberal denominations like the United Church of Christ, Anglicans, etc. Those churches also have a wide variety of worship styles.

[Qin_Shi_Huangdi]

@Qadgop_the_Mercotan

Exactly. Any practice that runs counter to the 7 principles is not going to be looked on with favor by most UUs.

A brief note on Universalism, too. Their idea was that God was too good to condemn anyone to hell forever, and they saw hell as some sort of celestial rehab facility for prepping errant souls for eventual discharge to heaven. (With maybe some time in a halfway facility in between. )

So basically purgatory for everyone?

[Qadgop_the_Mercotan]

@Curtis LeMay

So basically purgatory for everyone?

For everyone who needed it. I’m not familiar with the Univeralist God’s specific diagnostic criteria.

[Little_Nemo]

From the title of this thread, I thought that elderly Unitarians were dropping dead at an alarming rate.

That probably explains why Taft and the Adamses haven’t been at services lately.

[Tranquilis]

@Curtis LeMay

So basically purgatory for everyone?

You’d prefer a perminant fiery exile, instead?

Sometimes, people need a time out.

[Qin_Shi_Huangdi]

@Little_Nemo

That probably explains why Taft and the Adamses haven’t been at services lately.

Strange…I saw them walking to the neighbourhood Unitarian church the other day although they were hard to recognize because for some reason they had green, decaying skin and made only moaning sounds…

[Polycarp]

@Curtis LeMay

Strange…I saw them walking to the neighbourhood Unitarian church the other day although they were hard to recognize because for some reason they had green, decaying skin and made only moaning sounds…

If you continue following up this line of thought, you risk the moderators closing this as they tend to do with zombie threads!