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I wanted to get the opinions of those who are Unitarians here. Just for kicks, I took a test on Belief-O-Meter, and it told me that my religious beliefs are most consistent with Unitarian. Please explain your story. I'm in the process of doing some self-evaluation to determine what I believe and it would be interesting to know how others got here. Thanks.
I was rasied "unchurched" but was always interested in learning about religions, in an academic sense. I had several religious influences surrounding me in my extended family, including a grandfather who was a Baptist minister, a reform Jewish half of the family, atheists, and Sant Mat (Eastern religion).
The first time I heard about Unitarians was in 9th grade after I gave a speech on something or other in my English class (we had impromtu public speaking) and afterwards one of the other kids in my class told me that I might like to visit his church which was a UU church. I didn't pay much attention, b/c I felt that I wasn't the church-going type. Something similar happened in 10th grade, which made me take a little more notice, but I still didn't go. After I left home for college, my mom started going to the UU church and told me about it. I went with her a few times when I was home on break and kinda liked it. Then, when I wanted to get married, we decided to get married by a UU minister. This was sort of the compromise because there was no way I was going to be married by a Catholic priest. So in searching for a minister to marry us, I went church-hopping to all the UU churches within a few hours to hear their ministers. In that time, I got a pretty good feel for the differences between congregations and also the commonalities. I decided that I could like going to UU church if I found the right one. So, after we got married, we moved to a new state right away. I visited the local UU church and decided I liked it and I kept going. I went sporadically for a while, but over time became more active by joining the choir and teaching RE (Religious Education = Sunday school). And now I fully identify as UU and attend every week.
So, for me, it was a long process over several years of becoming gradually more familiar with what UU was all about.
Feel free to ask other questions. As far as I know, I'm the only UU on this board.
I took that test too. Sometimes I got Unitarian and other times, Quaker.
We have only one Unitarian congregation here. It seems to be quite active. They often have notices in the newspaper about up-coming programs. And I have to tell you, I think they are too up-scale high-brow, overly educated for me. I'd have to go back to college for refresher courses in just about everything before I would dare visit.
However, I feel sure that they are not the typical congregation. There are also groups here that call themselves Unity Church. They seem to have about the same outlook, but the congregations are more like home-folk. (I sound like a snob, don't I!!LOL) Perhaps, you could check that particular branch out while you are searching.
I was rasied "unchurched" but was always interested in learning about religions, in an academic sense. I had several religious influences surrounding me in my extended family, including a grandfather who was a Baptist minister, a reform Jewish half of the family, atheists, and Sant Mat (Eastern religion).
The first time I heard about Unitarians was in 9th grade after I gave a speech on something or other in my English class (we had impromtu public speaking) and afterwards one of the other kids in my class told me that I might like to visit his church which was a UU church. I didn't pay much attention, b/c I felt that I wasn't the church-going type. Something similar happened in 10th grade, which made me take a little more notice, but I still didn't go. After I left home for college, my mom started going to the UU church and told me about it. I went with her a few times when I was home on break and kinda liked it. Then, when I wanted to get married, we decided to get married by a UU minister. This was sort of the compromise because there was no way I was going to be married by a Catholic priest. So in searching for a minister to marry us, I went church-hopping to all the UU churches within a few hours to hear their ministers. In that time, I got a pretty good feel for the differences between congregations and also the commonalities. I decided that I could like going to UU church if I found the right one. So, after we got married, we moved to a new state right away. I visited the local UU church and decided I liked it and I kept going. I went sporadically for a while, but over time became more active by joining the choir and teaching RE (Religious Education = Sunday school). And now I fully identify as UU and attend every week.
So, for me, it was a long process over several years of becoming gradually more familiar with what UU was all about.
Feel free to ask other questions. As far as I know, I'm the only UU on this board.
Thank you for that response. Please define your spiritual belief. Do you believe in a God or don't you care? If you don't mind, please give me your views on the afterlife, heaven and hell, the bible, prayer, baptism, the devil (if he exists), and so forth. What in particular about UU attracted you to it?
I appreciate your perspective and experience here.
I took that test too. Sometimes I got Unitarian and other times, Quaker.
We have only one Unitarian congregation here. It seems to be quite active. They often have notices in the newspaper about up-coming programs. And I have to tell you, I think they are too up-scale high-brow, overly educated for me. I'd have to go back to college for refresher courses in just about everything before I would dare visit.
However, I feel sure that they are not the typical congregation. There are also groups here that call themselves Unity Church. They seem to have about the same outlook, but the congregations are more like home-folk. (I sound like a snob, don't I!!LOL) Perhaps, you could check that particular branch out while you are searching.
Attending some UU churches, I too am struck by the highly intellectual conversation. Strangers walk up to you, get right in your face (forget presonal space) and throughly engage you intellectually. I was quite taken aback by it at first, but I suppose this is part of its appeal to me. Haven't heard about Unity church.
Thank you for that response. Please define your spiritual belief. Do you believe in a God or don't you care? If you don't mind, please give me your views on the afterlife, heaven and hell, the bible, prayer, baptism, the devil (if he exists), and so forth. What in particular about UU attracted you to it?
I appreciate your perspective and experience here.
Wow, that's a lot. Okay, here goes:
Believe in God: When people ask me if I believe in God, I like to say that I don't believe in the one you are probably asking about. I don't believe in the Judeo/Christian god. I don't believe in a personal god at all. I do tend to believe that there is a power that is higher than myself, but I don't tend to call it "God". I am more comfortable with the UU phrase "Spirit of Life". On other days I am more skeptical and I feel that what I am feeling is more of a desire for it to be true rather than an actual belief that it is true.
Afterlife, heaven and hell: I'm not sure what happens after death, but I do not believe in hell.
Bible: I believe that the Bible is partly a history of the Jews, and partly a bunch of stories that were made up and passed down in order to teach morals and origins stories. I do not find it to be especially divinely inspired.
Prayer: I do not believe in a personal god, so I do not believe in praying to such a god. I think that at best prayer is a way to ask questions of your inner self and at worst a waste of time. I do not pray.
Baptism: I do not believe that any kind of baptism is required. If I were to believe in baptism, however, it would be a credobaptism, not a pedobaptism.
Devil: I do not believe in a devil.
What in particular attracted me to UU: UU's believe that the individual's search for truth and meaning is of primary importance. For this reason, we are non-credal, meaning that nobody will tell you what you should or have to believe in order to be UU. But we respect and support everyone in their individual search, even if they come to different conclusions than ourselves. Some Unitarians consider themselves Christian, but others don't. Some consider themselves Jewish, Buddhist, Pagan, Humanist, Athiest, or none or more than one of the above. The basic point though, is not to think that your way is the only way. In other words, my path to 'god' can be different from yours, and that's okay because we're coming from different places. And finding my path is a life-long process that I have to do myself, and nobody else can tell me. Also, the truth is really too big for any one person to fully know, and so the best way to approach it is to come together in a community to share the different aspects of the truth that we know with each other.
Please know that not all UU's believe alike and that my responses represent only me, and not necessarily UU's in general. Because we are non-credal, there are not set answers to these questions that UU's are supposed to believe. You can disagree with me and still fit in fine as a UU.
Last edited by ADVentive; 09-18-2007 at 03:32 PM..
Believe in God: When people ask me if I believe in God, I like to say that I don't believe in the one you are probably asking about. I don't believe in the Judeo/Christian god. I don't believe in a personal god at all. I do tend to believe that there is a power that is higher than myself, but I don't tend to call it "God". I am more comfortable with the UU phrase "Spirit of Life". On other days I am more skeptical and I feel that what I am feeling is more of a desire for it to be true rather than an actual belief that it is true.
Afterlife, heaven and hell: I'm not sure what happens after death, but I do not believe in hell.
Bible: I believe that the Bible is partly a history of the Jews, and partly a bunch of stories that were made up and passed down in order to teach morals and origins stories. I do not find it to be especially divinely inspired.
Prayer: I do not believe in a personal god, so I do not believe in praying to such a god. I think that at best prayer is a way to ask questions of your inner self and at worst a waste of time. I do not pray.
Baptism: I do not believe that any kind of baptism is required. If I were to believe in baptism, however, it would be a credobaptism, not a pedobaptism.
Devil: I do not believe in a devil.
What in particular attracted me to UU: UU's believe that the individual's search for truth and meaning is of primary importance. For this reason, we are non-credal, meaning that nobody will tell you what you should or have to believe in order to be UU. But we respect and support everyone in their individual search, even if they come to different conclusions than ourselves. Some Unitarians consider themselves Christian, but others don't. Some consider themselves Jewish, Buddhist, Pagan, Humanist, Athiest, or none or more than one of the above. The basic point though, is not to think that your way is the only way. In other words, my path to 'god' can be different from yours, and that's okay because we're coming from different places. And finding my path is a life-long process that I have to do myself, and nobody else can tell me. Also, the truth is really too big for any one person to fully know, and so the best way to approach it is to come together in a community to share the different aspects of the truth that we know with each other.
Please know that not all UU's believe alike and that my responses represent only me, and not necessarily UU's in general. Because we are non-credal, there are not set answers to these questions that UU's are supposed to believe. You can disagree with me and still fit in fine as a UU.
Thanks for the candid response. You have articulated a view on religion that is very similar to my own, more than any other that I have studied. UU may very well be a good place for me. I feel this.
Roman, I have sort of felt that way too. The UU has a lot going for it as far as I am concerned. The church here dates back to the early colonial days (about 1740) but it is in a section of town that would be a long drive on a Sunday Morning. It does seem to have some outstanding programs and speakers.
I don't think that I would be as comfortable there as I am in my neighborhood church. That's also important to me.
Maybe one day I can make the switch. If you can attend the services long enough to make a few friends. That would make a big difference.
Since this thread was posted, I have left the Christian church due to what seems to be a growing intolerance of others. But I have missed the connection and tradition of attending a weekly service. We are going to a Unitarian church this morning. After reading ADVentive's post, I am feeling very hopeful that it might be just the place for me and my family.
Location: where the moss is taking over the villages
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is UU dogma free?
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