Comment by Errant Frogs

April 5, 2007 @ 7:09 pm

I’m not sure I’m reading it as you are. If I were to translate the most questionable passage you mention into something closer to my beliefs, it would read something like:

“The Buddha’s teachings, especially on the practice of mediation, are valued by many UUs, but this is not the only view of the Buddha, of suffering, and Buddhism within our faith. Unitarian Universalism is not a Buddhist religion.”

I would have no problem with that phrasing, especially if it followed so much positive stuff as it does with the Christian blurb you quote. It’s a narrow thread their walking, and I’m not sure they’ve done a terrible job. That they are so extra welcoming to Muslims reflects, I think, the widespead anti-Islam sentiment that exists in the Midwest — and our desire to say we ARE different.

Comment by Jess

April 5, 2007 @ 7:25 pm

But the difference here is that Unitarian Universalism was founded in Protestant Christianity. So to go out of one’s way to say that it is not a Christian religion is to also say, perhaps, that it never was, or that those who practice what we might term as “classical” Unitarianism or Universalism no longer belong in what Unitarian Universalism has become.

To me, in context of listening to many many UUs lambast the Christianity that they have left behind, the language that is used here smacks of backpedaling from the mainstream rather than an authentic engagement with religious choices.

Comment by Scott Wells

April 5, 2007 @ 9:10 pm

Funny, but there’s been a lot of email the last few days between some of us UU Christian ministers over that very line. A few of us complained — myself included — and the text is being altered.

I don’t read malice into the lines, but a certain insensitivity as no other religious option was so squarely ruled out. But good process and collegiality rules the day.

Comment by Elizabeth

April 5, 2007 @ 9:14 pm

I understand how important it is for many UU Christians to insist (rightly so) that we recognize and claim our Protestant heritage. It is the case that too many UUs are overly critical of Christianity and do not afford it the respect and care that they do many other faiths, often because they feel hurt by it. That said, it does seem important to go out of our way to say we are not Christian because many many people assume we are. I don’t think it is an anti-Christian thing, but just an important thing to make clear. We aren’t Christian, or Buddhist or Muslim or even Unitarian or Universalist, although people in our congregations adhere to various sets of beliefs that include these. I think to make clear that UUism isn’t Christian isn’t to try to say we never were. But just in terms of basic information, it seems important that people realize that you CAN be a Unitarian Universalist Christian, but that we are not a Christian denomination, as many assume us to be.

Comment by Philocrites

April 5, 2007 @ 9:29 pm

The original statement would be simply false when applied to any number of Unitarian Universalist Christian congregations, where Unitarian Universalism is (not just was) a form of Christianity. There surely is one very popular form of North American UUism that defines itself as The Unchristianity — “we have a different trinity!” — but I’m glad to learn that the statement that drew Jess and Scott’s attention is being changed.

Comment by Steve Caldwell

April 6, 2007 @ 8:39 am

Jess,

To address the “are we a Christian Church” question on our congregational web site, we used the following text on our web site’s FAQ:

“Are you a Christian church?
The short answer is “Yes and No.”

No, we are not “Christian” in the sense that we would ask all prospective members to accept Jesus Christ as their personal Lord and Savior in order to achieve salvation. Our views on the concept of “salvation,” even on the meaning of the word itself, are as numerous as our members, and we feel that our coming together in community enhances and enriches our individual faith journeys”

“We do have members who identify themselves as Christian, and even some who have had a personal conversion experience. They are here because they appreciate the accepting, inclusive, and justice-affirming attitudes of our church.

However, many of our members are not Christian. Although they may acknowledge the Christian history of our faith, Christian stories and symbols are no longer primary for them. They draw their personal faith from many sources: nature, intuition, other cultures, science, civil liberation movements, and so on. We cherish the rich tapestry created through our shared vision and our personal spiritual journeys in our community where those who are Christian and non-Christian work together for the greater good.”

Personally, I have no problem with tweaking the text slightly to address the complex reality behind the topic.

Given the diversity within our congregations and the diversity between our congregations on these theological issues, there is no way to honestly answer this question with a simple “yes” or “no” when speaking on behalf of all of us.

I hope one remembers that there are differences in the welcome message in the article on Christianity when compared to the articles on Islam, Atheism/Agnosticism, Paganism, etc.

The last time I checked, Christianity wasn’t a marginalized and oppressed faith in North America. Christian cultural assumptions pretty much color the language we use in religious discourse. The business community operates with an eye on the Christian holiday calendar for the most part.

It may be helpful for us to look at theological diversity in our congregations through an anti-oppression lens.

Theologically, who has power in our culture and why are they complaining about perceived second-class treatment in Unitarian Universalism?

Comment by Philocrites

April 6, 2007 @ 9:18 am

Steve, the last paragraph in your comment strikes me as practically meaningless within the UUA. I’ve heard the so-called “power analysis” that says that anyone who identifies as “Christian” is therefore part of the dominant power structure, but it simply doesn’t pass muster. One can identify dominant and non-dominant theological movements in the UUA, but few observers would conclude that UU Christianity is dominant.

The complaint made by UU Christians over the course of the last 40 years or so is that ideological groups within the UUA have successfully portrayed Christianity as a non-option for Unitarian Universalists and have, until fairly recently, managed to make that portrayal true in most places. But UU Christians have successfully helped change the UUA culture (partly through “complaining,” but especially through transforming the way they reach out to other UUs), helping UUs recognize that there remain lively communities of Unitarian, Universalist, and UU Christians in the U.S. and elsewhere. For these communities, Unitarian Universalism may very well be a Christian religion. For many other UUs, it may be truer to say that their Unitarian Universalism is post-Christian.

Comment by Jess

April 6, 2007 @ 9:56 am

Thank you, Philo, you made my point for me on the “power analysis.”

For me the whole issue of how Christianity is treated within UUism comes back to our bad habits of clinging to the notion that we are on the fringe of society. We’re not. And to me, though I do not practice a specifically Christian theology, the lengths that UUism and individual UUs go to in order to distance ourselves from “mainstream” Christianity is a practice that drives people away from our doors rather than welcoming them in. I feel that we need to get better at claiming our place right next to those “mainstream” churches, rather than framing ourselves as the “ugly step-child” down the back alley.

The language on the UUA page is clumsy, and I’m sure just careless rather than deliberate, but it’s just a small symptom of what I see as a much larger problem.

And don’t get me started on “post-Christian.” ;-)

Comment by Steve Caldwell

April 6, 2007 @ 11:22 am

On 6 April 2007, Philocrites wrote:
“Steve, the last paragraph in your comment strikes me as practically meaningless within the UUA. I’ve heard the so-called ‘power analysis’ that says that anyone who identifies as ‘Christian’ is therefore part of the dominant power structure, but it simply doesn’t pass muster. One can identify dominant and non-dominant theological movements in the UUA, but few observers would conclude that UU Christianity is dominant.”

Chris,

The statement about Christianity and power dynamics would be meaningless if we spent our entire lives in UU congregations and other UUA settings. But we don’t.

With the exception of very few people, most active Unitarian Universalists spend perhaps 1-5 hours a week in a UU congregation. The other 160+ hours in the week are spent in a strongly Christian-centric North American culture.

I would never say that UU Christians are not welcome in UU congregations — they are part of our faith community and I welcome the perspective that they bring.

I also acknowledge that our roots are in Protestant Christianity. These roots shape our governance and our worship style today.

However, I think that UU Christians should look at this power dynamic issue not just in the context of Unitarian Universalism but in the context of the wider society that Unitarian Universalism lives in.

It would provide some insight into why some individual Unitarian Universalists have strong negative reactions to UU Christianity. Here’s what I wrote on my blog about this about 2 years ago:

“UU Christians need to remember that they are walking in the door of a church wearing a garment of ‘power and privilege’ that was not freely accepted but rather forced on them by our wider North American culture. UU Christians joining a predominantly non-Christian UU congregation are (unknowingly?) engaging in anti-oppression work by giving up unearned power and privilege granted to them by the wider culture. This is the theological equivalent of an adult advisor working with youth where the advisor gives up some of the unearned privilege that comes with being an adult.

You can read the rest of this here:

Christian and Non-Christian Unitarian Universalists — Anti-Oppression Implications
http://liberalfaith.blogspot.com/2005/03/christian-and-non-christian-unitarian.html

Comment by Steve Caldwell

April 6, 2007 @ 11:38 am

On 6 April 2007, Jess wrote:
-snip-
“For me the whole issue of how Christianity is treated within UUism comes back to our bad habits of clinging to the notion that we are on the fringe of society. We’re not.”

Jess,

Whether one uses the word “fringe,” “leading edge,” or “vanguard,” we do need to embrace the idea that we are different from nearly every other church in our communities.

I’ll ask some questions to illustrate this point.

How many churches in your town celebrate same-sex relationships as equal to male-female relationships by performing union services?

How many churches in your town welcome in their ranks the theological diversity one finds in UU congregations (e.g. Humanist, Buddhist, Pagan, Christian, Atheist, Deist, Taoist, Jewish, Islamic, etc)?

How many churches in your town provide state-of-the-art comprehensive sexuality education that provides the best of the secular world with faith community values woven into it?

How many churches in your town study other religions in order to better understand and not to criticize, improve evangelism and apologetics work, etc?

I could go on but I think the point is made. We are not like most churches in our towns.

My experience in Northwest Louisiana and East Texas Bible-Belt culture is UU congregations who try to hide this UU distinctiveness from the community do not grow as much as UU congregations who embrace our UU distinctiveness and use it in their outreach efforts.

Comment by Steve Caldwell

April 6, 2007 @ 12:00 pm

FWIW, the UUA staff has updated their web page.

Here’s a selection from the revised text:

“This is not the only view of Jesus, the Bible, and Christianity within our faith. Even Unitarian Universalists who do not identify primarily as Christians identify with these sources. Unitarian Universalists can be Christian, Humanist, Pagan, Buddhist, and more. 9.5 percent of Unitarian Universalists today identify as Christians. Because of the freedom within our faith, there are many differing views regarding the role of Christianity in our religious community.”

It sounds like they’ve captured the complexity of the answer to the questions surrounding the role of Christianity in modern-day Unitarian Universalism.

Comment by Jess

April 6, 2007 @ 12:20 pm

“UU distinctiveness” does not equal “anti-mainstream.”

Our churches in their practices are different than other churches, yes, but our people are regular, everyday joes, all doing what we can to make the world a better place. We are not the “enlightened ones.” We are not “above it all.” But I think we present ourselves with a certain unwelcoming elitism, particularly in actively rejecting/minimizing anything that appears even a little bit to be traditionally Christian practices/language/culture.

We absolutely should call attention to the practices of our faith that are positively different from other churches. But we need to frame the discussion in a way that recognizes that we are firmly rooted in the traditions of our faith, our country, our culture - that our practices and beliefs do not lie outside of or above these things, but rather grow naturally from them.

This approach allows us to say to someone, “Hey, I’m struggling along with my life just like you, but I belong to this great community that has offered me spiritual fulfillment. Wanna come to church with me this Sunday?” instead of “Oh, our ‘church’ is the one where prayers start, ‘to whom it may concern.’” (hat tip John)

Comment by Philocrites

April 6, 2007 @ 4:03 pm

Steve, it’s quite a rare UU Christian who is not aware of Evangelical Protestantism and Roman Catholicism’s dominance of the American religious landscape, In fact, it’s usually in the context of that dominance that a unitarian or universalist or progressive Christian discovers the marginality of her own theological commitments. Most of us relish the diversity and pluralism of the Unitarian Universalist Association precisely because it’s not available in the dominant churches in the U.S.

As for your suggestion that UU Christians “should look” at the power dynamic of UUs in the Christian-dominated U.S. rather than at Christian UUs in the post-Christian UUA (sorry Jess!): I’d argue that UU Christians are perhaps more keenly aware of the need to resist the bad theology of fundamentalist, authoritarian, and antiliberal forms of Christianity than are non-Christian UUs. Why? Because we can’t just blame Christianity as a whole; we have to make a better theological case. I think UU Christians understand why anti-Christian UUs are so defensive and hostile — after all, we experience their misdirected hostility all the time — which is why I find your prescription a bit maddening.

Comment by Steve Caldwell

April 8, 2007 @ 7:36 am

Chris,

My suggestion for examining power dynamics isn’t a suggestion that UU Christianity is at fault here. I’m suggesting it because I think it would help UU Christians better understand the anger and hurt that some non-Christians bring to our congregations.

I would recommend checking out Greta Christina’s blog article supporting the “Blasphemy Challenge” YouTube video participants titled “Defending the Blasphemy Challenge: A Reply.”

Greta makes the following point on her blog about the differences between the anger and hurt felt by believers vs the anger and hurt felt by non-believers:

“Now, maybe that’s not fair. Maybe it’s not fair to be sympathetic with atheists who are angry about religion, and yet expect religious believers to get over their anger about atheists. But I feel the same way about women’s anger towards men versus men’s anger towards women; queer folks’ anger towards straight people versus straight peoples’ anger towards queers. The difference is in which group has the power. And in this case, it’s not atheists.

The rest of the article can be found online here:

http://gretachristina.typepad.com/greta_christinas_weblog/2007/03/defending_the_b.html