Anyone interested in a Unitarian-New-Thought DU Group?

[Maat]

I'm technically a member of the Church of Religious Science, but it is very similar to Unitarian-Universalist in that we respect all paths to the Great Spirit, and can explore all of the other faiths.

I took the BeliefNet survey and came 100% Unitarian-Universalist, but I like Religious Science because it teaches a very innovative style of praying. But I'm probably the only one here.

Since I'm closest to a Unitarian, and my church is pretty much run similarly, I'd like to group up with members of Unity, Unitarian-Universalist, and Church of Religious Science.

I don't fit into the Agnostics/Atheists group, because I know that I believe in God. I don't fit into the Liberal Christian group, because I view Christ as a Master Teacher, not a saviour. I don't fit into the Catholic group, etc.

But my very favorite thing to do is to explore the various spiritualities.

Anyone else in the same boat?

[JPace]

1. "Christ as a Master Teacher, not a saviour"

I like this statement and also believe it. I also like the churches you listed for their beliefs that are inclusive rather than exclusive. I am interested in what I could learn in such a group, I hope you start one.:hi:

[Maat]

3. Thanks.

I'm testing the waters to see how many are interested, and how we could group up.

[housewolf]

2. I would join

I used to attend a Church of Religious Sciece, think their teachings are great. Expansive and liberating rather than controling. Good stuff.

[Maat]

4. Thanks.

I'm going to keep checking to see if we can get 10.

[silverlib]

5. I, too, fit the BeliefNet survey 100%

I am interested in learning and, in fact, will be visiting a Unity Church the second Sunday of January. I'm not sure that I am knowledgeable enough to join in much conversation, but I certainly would be interested in reading what others had to say.

[clydefrand]

6. I'm with silverlib. I'd like to read and learn and maybe

contribute when/if I can. I used to go to a Uniterian Church many years ago and enjoyed that experience. Right now, I'm involved in no religion and I feel a void, but not enough to make myself go and join a church group.

[WarNoMore]

7. I also took the survey, with about the same results.

Some years back I took an elderly couple to the Unitarian church, I liked it very much. The 'sermon' that day was about Thoreau.
I may not have too much to offer on the subject, but would be interested in learning more.

[Az]

8. UU spoken here

The fun thing about being a UU is we take all kinds. Atheists and Theists and everything in between. You got your own way of praying? Thats fine. Think praying is for the birds? Thats fine too.

UU is about community and sharing a path that may not be the same but can be appreciated by friends.

[Ranec]

9. Count me as interested

I'm not familiar with all of the churhces you are describing, but I've been a member of a UU church for a couple of years now.

There have been more than a few threads on UU's lately on DU especially in the wake of the whole "moral values" discussion.

[ruthg]

10. Me too.....

And A UU since the late 60s....on and off.

[Maat]

11. Thanks. I'm working on it.

n/t

[wildflower]

12. Maybe a seekers' group?

I consider myself a 'seeker'; at times I've been agnostic, but like you, I like to explore different forms of spirituality and religion, including UU.

I think would be nice to have a place on DU where all ideas on religion or nonreligion are acceptable, as part of seeking. If that makes sense?

From what I know, UU does sound like this.

-wildflower

[davidinalameda]

13. sure

I'm just getting involved with my UU church

and I'd love to talk to others already involved

[Ranec]

14. Don't we have to write up a manifesto or something?

In order to start a group, doesn't there have to be some description of what the group is to talk about?

Is the group about exploring spiritualities and being open to many different strands of religious and spiritual thought, or is it going to be discussing more mundane issues regarding the movements that we mentioned?

[wildflower]

15. A mission statement. My vote would be for...

a safe place for people to discuss all religious and nonreligious beliefs, from a stance of openmindedness and not rigidity.

The thread below from yesterday provides a good example of why I think such a group would be a good idea. The thread was about whether medical miracles exist.

http://www.democraticunderground.com/discuss/duboard.php?az=view_all&address=102x1089347

IMO, of course...

-wildflower

[Ranec]

16. I guess I would argue for something more mundane.

Certainly this type of discussion would be welcomed, but we should also include space for posts like this

http://www.democraticunderground.com/discuss/duboard.php?az=show_topic&forum=214&topic_id=17

but of course I'm open minded.

[JPace]

17. There are two things that I would like to see

written into the mission statement. They are believing in some kind of a higher power, and the other is believing in some kind of afterlife. Without this the board is likely to become a magnet for disrupter's who hate any kind of religion or spiritual belief system. If you want to see what kind of negative disruptions that can take place just go look at some of the old astrology posts that used to be in the meeting room. Non believers took over the board constantly and bullied those who believed with pretend legitimate questions that disguised their true intent. They always criticized, bullied and stirred up trouble.

[gorbal]

18. I notice that every UU congregation is different

The UU church I attended with my grandmother in Maine is very different from the UU church I attended a couple of times in Massachusetts.

[Az]

19. Each congregation has it's own flavor

The identity of a UU church comes from its members. As the official church has no dogma to flog it is truly a church of the people, by the people, and for the people.

[displacedtexan]

20. I saw your post and just had to respond. The UU 7 Principles...

have nothing to do with belief in any higher power or belief in an afterlife... unless you want them to.

Perhaps you should visit a Unitarian church or research its tenets.

We, the member congregations of the Unitarian
Universalist Association, covenant to affirm and promote

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.

I am a confirmed atheist, and I have been a pledging Unitarian for over 20 years.

We are all free to explore our own definitions of spirituality... even if we define the term as merely a secular connection to nature or people.

You could land your Martian spaceship outside the Parish Hall, and someone would invite you to join the congregation for coffee hour without even arching an eyebrow.

[JPace]

21. I've been to UU....

and like it. Perhaps I was wrong in wanting such beliefs in a mission statement. It is not peaceful loving, earth loving individuals who practice principals of life supporting actions but who also do not believe in God or an afterlife that bothers me. It is people who loath God believers and go out of their way to attack such beliefs that I don't want to deal with. I think Maat created a mission statement that leaves an edge to eject such trouble makers if they do appear.

Enough said....I get the message!

[kwassa]

22. same boat ... different paddle?

The great difference between UU and CRS, since I was born into and grew up in the pre-pagan UU, and later a voluntary member of CRS is this:

Most UUs I know are either agnostic or atheists. I experienced little to no sense of spiruality or God in UU, which is the reason I haven't attended in many years. On the other hand, most UU values are quite similar to my own, and I tend to view UU as a secular humanist society, rather than a church (not that there is anything wrong with that ....). UU is defined more by what it isn't, than what it is.

My experience is that UU gives lip service to the idea of each person pursuing their own spiritual path, but the difficulty is that a church is a spot where a community pursues spirituality together in a communal setting, and that wasn't happening in my UU churches. I attended probably seven or eight UU churches in different parts of the country over a number of years, and went to a UU youth camp as a teenager. I can't remember the last time I heard the word "God" in a UU sermon.

I have some gripes around CRS, too, though all-in-all I learned a great deal more there. (I just don't really buy the efficacy of spiritual mind treatments). I felt far more spiritually connected to God as a mystical experience there than anyplace else that I have been, however, and sometimes miss my old church that I've moved away from, on the opposite coast.

I do like what I hear other people saying in this group, I think there a lot of open, and like-minded people here.

[hvn_nbr_2]

23. I've been in several of these

I'd be interested in such a group.

Last church I actually joined was a Religious Science church in southern California. I loved it. But when I moved to northern Calif, I just never felt connected with any of the congregations here.

I went to a UU church for awhile, and also became more pagan than anything else. I'm pretty eclectic. I liked the UU church in some ways, felt like I was with compatible people who didn't try to tell me what to believe. It seemed like a feast for the mind but I felt little or no spiritual connection.

Someone said that their experience of UUs was that they were mostly atheist or agnostic. It must vary with congregation, maybe with area too. There was a real mix where I went--a lot of lapsed Christians who still identify somewhat with that, a good many Jews, Buddhists, a small but very active pagan group, some humanists, and smatterings of others, plus a good many who didn't really identify as anything but UU. They'd given up on all established religions but still wanted something in their lives and discovered UU.

I've attended a couple Unity churches and liked them, except that just hearing the word "savior" puts me off.

There's also a local independent church of followers of Yogananda, but it's not part of Self-Realization Fellowship, and they are also very accepting of a wide variety of people.

Someone also mentioned not really believing (or accepting, don't remember exactly the word they used) the efficacy of spiritual mind treatment. At the CRS church I went to, I saw so many people have incredible favorable "coincidences" that everyone just took them in stride. Two very common expressions were "coincidence" (with the quotation marks aurally there) and "This s*** really works," spoken with varying levels of surprise or deliberately feigned surprise, depending on how accustomed they were to it.

As a pagan I've noticed much parallel between spiritual mind treatment and pagans' magickal practices, but that's a subject for the group, if it gets created.

When I first saw the subject, my initial thought was that maybe UUs and New Thought didn't really fit together. Although New Thought is very open and accepting, each variety really does have a core set of beliefs, while my experience of UUs was that there really weren't any specific core beliefs. But someone else posted the UU declaration of principles, so I guess my perception on that was wrong.