The Banner of the HUUmanists
I am a Unitarian Universalist, and
I am also a Religious Humanist. As such, I am part of the HUUmanists, The Association of Unitarian Universalist Humanists. This is possible because
Unitarian Universalism is a creedless faith. As long as one believes in the
seven principles of Unitarian Universalism, they are free to believe whatever
else fits their ideology. There are UU Christians, UU Muslims, UU Wiccans, UU
Atheists, etc. Just because I am a HUUmanist does not mean I don’t respect the
right to practice other faiths. I have gone to the US Holocaust Memorial Museum
and lit a candle for my Jewish family members, and I have gone to the Vatican
and prayed for my Catholic family members, because I embrace all.
As a HUUmanist, I identify with
many prominent members of society, but none more so than early Unitarian
Humanist Thomas Jefferson. In 1776—the same year that he authored the
Declaration of Independence—Jefferson said:
“No man can conform his faith to the dictates of another. The life and
essence of religion consists in the internal persuasion or belief of the mind.”
Indeed, Thomas Jefferson is the author of The Life and Morals of Jesus of Nazareth,
a version of the New Testament in which he took away the divinity of Christ and
focused instead on the teachings of the man—love thy neighbor, do unto others
as you would have done to you, and so on.
I am a Unitarian
Universalist
As a member of the Unitarian Universalist Association of Congregations (UUA), I believe that everyone
deserves respect and tolerance no matter what their beliefs. I also believe in
a democratic religious society where the elected lay leadership is in ultimate control
of the congregation’s affairs.
I am one of few people today who
can say they were raised UU. I currently attend the First Unitarian Society of Ithaca
(FUSIT) in Ithaca, New York. As is common with many UU congregations, we hardly
ever focus on divinity of any kind, and when we do it tends to be in terms of
lessons learned instead of necessary religious tradition. We once had a sermon
on the life and music of American Communist Woody Guthrie. As you can gather,
ours is a left-leaning faith. Music that we have been known to sing includes
Cat Stevens and Crosby, Stills, and Nash. This does not mean that we do not
focus on the serious issues at hand in religion today. We have tackled tough
issues such as how the seventh principle on respect for the interdependent web
of which we are a part is practiced through environmentalism. At Christmas,
the minister will often focus on the teachings of Jesus as guidelines rather
than as rules to live by. There is a saying that one does not go to church to
catch hell, and that is certainly true at a UU congregation.
Just because we do not believe in
any one creed does not mean that we are lacking in ceremonies to mark the most
important times in one’s life. There is a Naming Ceremony when a new life is
brought into the congregation and a Bridging Ceremony to mark graduation from
youth to adulthood. Because the UUA has been LGBTQ friendly since its founding in
1961 and has pursued an activist agenda in this field since the 1970s, UU
congregations have been performing same-sex weddings since long before
Massachusetts first legalized them in the States.
I am a Religious
Humanist
As a religious humanist, I believe
that religion has a functional role to focus on the needs, interests, and
abilities of humanity. In short, I do not worship the divine, but rather human
potential. While not the be-all end-all of life, the tradition of religion as
expressed through humanism helps provide structure to life.
This structure is guided by reason
and has strong basis in scientific fact. I have casually remarked that for all
I know the ultimate force in the universe is String Theory. I am always
questioning the world around me, finding answers when I can, and believing that
there is order to the universe that is always rationally explained. To my mind,
there is no chaos, only order. Without order, the world often devolves into
insanity.
While I approve of the beliefs of
others, I frequently find myself asking why so many people believe in dogma that
has time and time again lead to conflict and strife. I also believe that many
people take their scriptures too literally. I am a strong believer that the
whole reason behind organized religion is to give life a purpose and meaning. I
do find it quite odd that faith is expressed through means that may otherwise
be construed as fairy tales. Don’t get me wrong; I love fairy tales, and I
often wish that they were true. But rational thought dictates otherwise.
Therefore, by expressing my faith
through religious humanism, I give life a purpose and meaning that is rational
and scientifically based.
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