“UUism”  If Not a Religion, What?

A sermon by Rev. Robert M. Eddy

Delivered 2 February 2004

at

The Unitarian Universalist Church of Pensacola, Florida

When first I agreed to be your interim minister, over four years ago, I planned to begin with  three sermons which  explained my vision of UUism.   The titles were:

Is religion a social disease?

Is UUism a religion? and

What is our peculiar way of being religious?

That’s how I planned five years ago, to start my interim ministry with you, but   in receiving further information on what had been happening here in the three years previous, I changed my initial sermon to “Chicken Little Was Wrong.”    It was a good decision, I think.  What was needed then was encouragement not  analysis.

When, after a year in our R.V, when “home was where we parked it” I returned, in August 2001 to serve both this and the Valparaiso UU congregation.  I delivered a compendium of the three sermons at ValP  but not here.   At least I can find no record of having delivered them here.   My memory often fails me.

Now, as you begin the process of searching for a minister to succeed me in July of 2005,  I figure It’s time to explain why I say, contrary to the assertions on the UUA literature why we are NOT a “new religion.”   And to share the answers I gave to the three questions.

You can find a longer version of my answers on our web site under the title “Our Peculiar Way of Being Religious and I have the original, unabridged version on my computer should you want to wade through tat.

I’m going to rephrase the questions  somewhat this morning.

1.   Is Religion Pathology?     No.   There are pathological religions, but religion itself is not pathological.   Religion is a set of questions most of which can be reduced to one question:  “Why?”   As children we ask questions like, Why does the Sun rise and set.   Later  “Why do I fall in love?”   “Later, why was I born?”  And “Later, why must I die?”     A religion is a set of answer to questions like these.

Nineteen years ago my wife and I were privileged to spend a year circumnavigating the globe.   In every country I found the kind of Fundamentalism Dr. Loehr describes.    Fundamentalism, Dr. Loehr maintains is a form of literalistic religion.  He is a subsciber to “liberal religion.”     You all missed an intellectual feast last month when Davidson talked for over eight hours on the topic  “2500 years of liberal religion.”    You can go to the Austin Unitarian Church’s website to read most of his sermons, including his tirade against the “six principles”.    Incidentally, when you members finish with your copies of the UU World, please  bring them to church so we can give them away to visitors.

Rev. Loehr objects strenuously to the UUA promoting “UUism “as a religion with the “principles” as a creed.      So do I.     I maintain that while Christianity, and Buddhism and Secular Humanism, and Judaism and Communism are religions, “UUism is not.”

What is UUism if not a religion?  It is  “a way for DIVERSE persons to be HONESTLY religious IN COMMUNITY. ”   UUism is what we do here on Sunday mornings and in our other programs and what is done in UU congregations around the world as  Carolyn so ably illustrated last Sunday.    The name Unitarian Universalist is a reminder that we grew out of two Christian Heresies.  But we are not a Christian church though some of our members consider themselves Christian UU’s.  So, we are not a church if by “cbhrch” you mean a congregation of Christians.  However if by that word ‘church’ you mean a religious community we are a church.  We are not a Christian Church because for over 150 years a more universalist – small U – interpretation of religion has gained increasing acceptance among us. All religious traditions, and philosophical traditions not usually considered religious are hourned here.    And while we are not a Christian Church we are not anti Christian.   Some members of this and other UU congregations may be hostile to a certain version of Christianity – what is usually called the “Fundamentalist version” but which should, I think, be called  “the Christian Supremacist version” of Christianity and I share that hostility.   Fundamentalist Christianity  is  perversion of Jesus’ teachings as I have said often from this pulpit.

UUism is certainly not hostile to the best in Christianity as exemplified in the authentic life of Jesus of Nazareth and in millions of his followers.  Some of us here accept the answer the greatest  Christian theologians give to the great questions but not all.  Some of here accept the answers some great Buddhist teachers give to the great questions. Some of us here accept the answers some of the great Greek philosophers or modern philosophers give to the great questions – but not all.   As a group we accept no  theologian’s or philosopher’s answers.   If we did share a common religion or philosophy we would not be UU’s.  Diversity is essential to the uu way of being religious.   It is not  answers that unite us, but the questions we consider most important and the methods of seeking answers.   That’s why we recite a covenant each Sunday rather than a creed.

So,  UUism is not a religion.  What is it?   It is a “way of being religious.”   A way DIVERSE persons can be HONESTLY religious in COMMUNITY

In the second sermon of that undelivered series, I laid out four ways of being religious that differ from our peculiar way:.  They are:

1. The shaman’s Way, 2. The disciple’s Way, 3. The orthodox Way, and 4. the latitudinarian’s Way.  As individuals some of us may follow each or several of these ways, but as group we follow a different, a peculiar way.

Briefly, the shaman says,  “I heard a voice that I believe divine and it said….   ”    Moses was a Shaman, as was Jesus, as was Paul, as was Mohamed.   All had, or believed they had, an experience of the divine.    The shaman says, “God said….”

The disciple’s way is different.   Disciples do not hear the voice but they believe the shaman.   They say,  “our shaman says that god says … and we believe him.”

Then there’s the orthodox way.  It’s  comes into play after the shaman dies.  Only the disciples are left.    The Orthodox believer says,  “The disciple said that  the shaman said that god said….. And we believe the disciples.”  Usually, before the they die, the words of the disciples are usually written down and eventually these writings are canonized as Vedas, or Torah, or A New Testament or  a Koran or Sutras and these writings, these collected answers, come to constitute THE religion of whole civilizations and last thousands of years.  Most people practice the Orthodox way of being religious.   But Orthodox religions depend on literature and when the bulk of a population is illiterate in the languages of the scriptures, learned interpreters are required to interpret them and to apply them: Rabbi’s, Mullahs, Priests, Ministers, Guru’s.   The huge edifice – a religious institution – grows up.  It’s neither good nor bad.   Or maybe it’s both good and bad.  I tend toward the latter view.  But we can agree, it  is the way things are.   Just look around you.   Nearly all the churches, synagogues, mosques in greater Pensacola promote the orthodox way of being religious.   But some practice the fourth way which I call the latitudinarian way.

The shaman says, “God says and I obey.”

The disciple says, “The shaman says ‘god said’ and I believe the shaman.

The orthodox says, “the disciple said that the shaman said that god said and I believe the disciples.”   The latitudinarian says, “the orthodox said that the desciple said that the shaman said ….. but what they all really meant was….”

That’s the fourth, the  latitudinarian way of being religious.   Most of the main line churches in America are now being torn apart by those who wish to practice the latitudinarian and those who wish to practice the orthodox ways of being religious.

The Shaman says.  “God says.”

The Disciple says, “The Shaman says ‘God says’ and I believe her.”

The Orthodox believer says, “The disciple wrote that the shaman said that “god says” and I believe what they wrote.”

The   Latitudinarian says, “The disciple wrote that the shaman said that “god says” but what they really meant was ……….   ”    This as a way of being religious that is all too prevalent in UU congregations.    We expropriate ancient traditions and presume to decide that what they really meant is ….   whatever  we believe.    That’s dishonest and if any single virtue is supreme among us it should be honesty.

For ours is a way by which  “DIVERSE persons can be HONESTLY religious IN COMMUNITY.”

Now those Uppercased, underlined, italicized, and boldfaced words in my manuscript are all essential to our way of being religious.    Think about the words of Wallace Robbins that appear in our order of service each week?   “Ours is a non-creedal church, not because we have no beliefs, but because we will not be restrained in our beliefs.”      Creeds constrain.    We are, at least intellectually, unconstrained.   Each of us feels free to seek answers to the great religious questions wherever she or he chooses.    We delve into diverse traditions – not just one.   And we don’t distort the answers given by others so that we can appear to all believe “the same thing.”   When someone says, “do you believe in God?” we ask, “What do you mean by God?”    That’s not an evasion but an essential part of our way of being religious. We do not fear diversity.   We’re not only tolerant of others’ opinions.  We celebrate diversity and we invite others to join us in seeking “the truth in love.”   Yes, that’s a condition – a constraint if you wish.   Not an intellectual constraint, but a behavioral one.

The one thing that will make me angry is if I see a member  treating another member badly because of his or her beliefs.  That does not mean we embrace all beliefs.   Some beliefs are toxic.  Racism is toxic – to both the racist and the victim. But we need to be able to reject the belief without rejecting the believer.   And that’s why we are such an unusual religious community.    That’s why we hold up this ideal every Sunday, to seek the truth IN LOVE,  to  dwell together IN PEACE and to HELP one another.    It’s all about COMMUNITY!

Yesterday I downloaded from our answering machine this message, “Do you have any other kinds of worship of spiritual gatherings at times other than Sunday morning?   I attend another church but sometimes I wish that I could participate in what is  offered by your church so that I could meet with you folks and capture some of your vision, hope, dreams and understandings.  God bless.”

I think there are literally thousands of people out there in greater Pensacola who share our “vision, hope, dreams and understanding.  Thousand are hungering for “our peculiar way of being religious.”  Let us not be afraid to share the good news, that   ours is a not a new religion, but it is a new way of being religious.  A way that allows DIVERSE persons to be HONESTLY religious in COMMUNITY.