The Unitarian Universalist

This is a description of the Unitarian Church of the Founding Era, a church that John Adams, Daniel Webster, John Marshall, John Quincy Adams, Joseph Story, James Kent, Thomas Jefferson, (among others,) all were affiliated with:

“Because the Unitarians reject all human creeds and articles of faith, and strictly adhere to the great Protestant principles, ‘the Bible - the Bible only;’" ~ from a Unitarian pamphlet entitled “An Answer to the Question: “Why Do You Attend a Unitarian Church””

But something happened around 1838 that dramatically changed the face of Unitarianism in America forever. The teachings of Ralph Waldo Emerson began to influence the Unitarian Church toward transcendentalism. Unfortunately it has only descended into an illogical religious mockery. Turning from the Christian belief that Christ is the only way, the Unitarians opened wide their minds to encompass any and all ideas and thoughts, making the outlandish decree that all beliefs are true.

"This new religious philosophy, as construed and applied by the Boston preacher Theodore Parker and other disciples of Emerson, included the other great ethnic faiths with Christianity in a universal religion of Humanity and through its intellectual hospitality operated to open Unitarian fellowship to evolutionists, monists, pragmatists and humanists." ~ James Truslow Adams

The Church began calling themselves the Unitarian Universalists. Their main goal is the unity of the human race. It is a humanitarian movement and has great ideals, but poor reality checks. The idea that the Bible, the Torah, the Upanishads, the teachings of Bah'ai, the religions of Buddhism, Hinduism, Seekhism, Atheism, Mormonism, Spiritualism and all other beliefs and cults are all correct is so absurd it is hard to imagine anyone putting any stock into the idea.

But it will be argued, is that not a misrepresentation of what the Unitarian Universalist Church is all about?
Hear are their seven guiding principles.

1st Principle: The inherent worth and dignity of every person;
2nd Principle: Justice, equity and compassion in human relations;
3rd Principle: Acceptance of one another and encouragement to spiritual growth in our congregations;
4th Principle: A free and responsible search for truth and meaning;
5th Principle: The right of conscience and the use of the democratic process within our congregations and in society at large;
6th Principle: The goal of world community with peace, liberty, and justice for all;
7th Principle: Respect for the interdependent web of all existence of which we are a part.

Great sentiments and very amicable principles, and indeed I have no problems with it. It is the applications of it I find lacking. In particular the application of Principle 3 and 4. To encourage spiritual growth, it must be growth in the truth. And truth that is relative is not truth at all. A free and responsible search means you have freedom to search to your own contentment, but responsible searching means you must always reside in the ultimate truth of the matter.

Copied from the Unitarian Universalist website, here is the source of their truth. Or more accurately, sources.

"Rev. Kathleen Rolenz said, “Throughout history, we have moved to the rhythms of mystery and wonder, prophecy, wisdom, teachings from ancient and modern sources, and nature herself.” Worshiping in our congregations you may hear a reading or perspective shared from any one of these sources from which our living tradition is drawn:

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."

They get their truth from all world religions, from spiritists, from religious holy books, and from science - even atheists (typical of Humanist teachings).

The idea is that all religions have a part of the truth. But if they only have a part of the truth, and because the religions contradict each other so so much, then that also means that all religions have lies and falsehoods that they believe.

Regardless of what truth may be had in one religion, if there is any falsehood in it, it then becomes questionable as to what is true and what is not. A said religion with that description should quickly and utterly be rejected. What is undeniably true about that religion will not be lost to you when it is abandoned, but by abandoning it you will not then be held captive to the lies within it.

Think of it in this analogy. If I bake a batch of chocolate cookies, people will want to eat them. Chocolate is good and people like cookies. If I bake cookies with dog poo in it, no one is going to want to eat it. That is common sense. Well, what if I bake a cookie with chocolate and dog poo in it? Will anyone want to eat it? No! Regardless of the goodness of the chocolate in it, because it has (even a smidgeon of) dog poo in it, no one would willfully want to eat it. The goodness of chocolate is like the truth in this analogy, and the dog poo is like the deception or lies within it. No matter how small the amount of untruth it has, no one wants to be deceived by it.

There are many, many truth claims out there in the world. Most of them are contradicting truth claims. Truth is finite. It is absolute. Our belief of what is true is not. If we pick and choose truth claims to fit our every whim, it will not go well with us. Believing in everything has the same outcome as believing in nothing. It is not that you will fall for nothing, but that you will fall for anything.

"A man who stands for nothing will fall for anything." Malcolm X

So it is for a man who stands for anything... they will fall for anything.

Jared Williams