GROWING UNITARIAN UNIVERSALISM: CAN WE CATCH UP TO THE RELIGIOUS RIGHT? by Penny Rather, Ministerial Intern
A sermon given January 26, 2003 at the Jefferson Unitarian Church, Golden, Colorado

Before I discovered the Unitarian Universalist church—when I was in my anti-religion-of-any-sort phase—I unknowingly ran a sort of UU Sunday school in my own home. I realized that, while I had rejected organized religion, I had at least done that from a somewhat informed position that my children didn’t have. So I undertook to teach them about religion and ethics by way of stories from many traditions. We read Bible stories and stories for Buddhist, Native American, African, and Muslim children. And we read Greek myths.

One of the myths we read was of Prometheus stealing the fire of the gods for the benefit of humans whom he pitied because they suffered in the cold. Using this myth we talked about exceptions to rules; we asked questions like “Is stealing ever justified?” But the story of Prometheus doesn’t stop there. And there are still other lessons in this myth.

Zeus was so angry at Prometheus for stealing the fire that he chained him to a rock for eternity. But the humans who had benefited from the fire plead for his return, and Zeus released him on the condition that he return to earth and continue working in the service of humans. Prometheus’ story was not complete until he returned to serve the people. The hero’s journey is never complete until the hero returns to share the treasure obtained through his or her quest. The UU search for truth and meaning is not complete until what is found is shared with others and used for their benefit.

It saddens me that I did not find Unitarian Universalism until my children were grown. I am discouraged every time I tell someone I am a UU and the say, “What’s that?” or worse, “Oh, those are the people who don’t believe anything.” I feel bad when I repeatedly hear from visitors and new members that they have been searching for years for a spiritual home and did not know that such a church existed. It breaks my heart when I realize how small in numbers is this religion that I think has the power to change the world.

When enough people honor a free and responsible search for truth and meaning, we will gradually see interfaith cooperation overtake interfaith violence. When enough people recognize the inherent worth and dignity of every person, high infant mortality, poverty, and sexual enslavement will not be tolerated. When enough people have respect for the interdependent web of all existence of which we are a part, the rape of our planet will cease.

A Universalist hymn of the 1850s predicts what the world will be like in a hundred years. Their vision was not unlike Charles Bonney’s of the World’s Parliament of Religions that we heard earlier. Listen to three verses from this hymn:

One hundred years hence, what a change will be made,

In politics, morals, religion, and trade,

In statesmen who wrangle or ride on the fence,

These things will be altered a hundred years hence.

Then woman, man’s partner, man’s equal shall stand,

While beauty and harmony govern the land,

To think for oneself will be no offense,

The world will be thinking a hundred years hence.

Oppression and war will be heard of no more,

Nor blood of a slave leave a stain on our shore,

Conventions will then be a useless expense,

For we’ll go free-suffrage a hundred years hence.

What optimism those nineteenth century Universalists had! But we are a relatively small movement, and, as such, we have only modest social and political influence. The influence of the radical religious right is clear to see in the current administration, and it scares me. What’s more, conservative Christian churches are growing vigorously, while our movement is experiencing only moderate growth, and many liberal Christian churches are actually losing membership. What a poor showing for the religion of Thomas Jefferson, who declared near the end of his life, “I trust there is not a young man now living in the United States who will not die a Unitarian.” 

But when I begin thinking about spreading the message of Unitarian Universalism, I become aware of the tension between respect for the religious choices of others and my desire to see Unitarian Universalism grow into a larger and stronger movement. How can I justify evangelizing Unitarian Universalism when I profess to embrace religious pluralism? Yes, there are many Christians, Jews, Humanists, Buddhists, and others who work for the same goals as we do. But I still want to grow Unitarian Universalism. I continue to struggle with the paradox of appreciation for the multitude of religious beliefs and expressions and my belief that Unitarian Universalism offers the best hope for “a bruised and hurting world.”

At the very least, however, we can make ourselves better known to those who are already searching. And we can be more welcoming to those who enter the doors of Unitarian Universalist churches, societies, fellowships, congregations, and meeting halls. We can become more welcoming through a commitment to respect and learn from the theological diversity people bring to our movement. I like the way this is worded in the Statement of Principles and Purposes of the Unitarian Universalist Association. It reads, “Grateful for the religious pluralism which enriches and ennobles our faith, we are inspired to deepen our understanding and expand our vision.”

When I did a service at my Fellowship in October of 2001 on the wisdom of Islam, my professor, Ana Mustafa, an American Muslim, who participated with me was so impressed by our Fellowship that she later referred several people our way when they have talked to her about their search for a religious community. “I had no idea,” she told me in amazement after that service, “that there were churches as open-minded as this.” In a climate of fear and mistrust, Ana had found in us a religious community that respected her beliefs even though few of us shared them. She was delighted by our eagerness to learn more about Islam and its complicated relationship to world politics and terrorism. She was impressed by the intelligent and sensitive questions during our discussion hour. And she felt secure in the knowledge that we could separate the essentials of her faith from the way that parts of that faith had been distorted in the name of terror.

After the terrorist attacks on September 11, Unitarian Universalists all over the country were quick to speak out in defense of Muslims in the United States; to warn against racial profiling and religious stereotyping. UUs represented a disproportionately high segment of the interfaith community that gathered in solidarity at the Islamic Center of Denver on September 21. I was proud to be a member of my Fellowship and of this religious movement.

I wonder if we can be as proud of our attitudes and actions towards Christianity and Christians.

In my classes at Iliff School of Theology in Denver last year, I had some enlightening conversations with classmates. I discovered that many of them had understandings about individual worth, religious pluralism, racial and economic justice, respect for the earth, and freedom of religious conscience that would fit right into a UU community. When two of them—a Methodist and a Presbyterian—began talking about their discomfort with their respective denominations’ policies prohibiting the ordination of gays and lesbians, I asked if they had ever considered Unitarian Universalism. It seemed like a perfectly logical step to me, given all that we had in common. But I was shocked by one woman’s answer.

“I did,” she said. “I tried several different UU churches. And there was a lot I liked about them. But they seemed to be tolerant and open to just about everything except Christianity. I didn’t feel like my religious beliefs would be welcome there.”

She didn’t feel like her religious beliefs would be welcome here. That really makes me sad. And it makes me sad also that two UU classmates at Iliff left our denomination for a liberal Protestant church. One of these was a man who says that Unitarian Universalism actually saved his life by affirming his inherent worth and dignity when he was struggling with an addiction. These two left our denomination because they felt it had no place for them as UU Christians.

Here we are in the twenty-first-century, trying to grow the UU movement because we believe we can make a contribution to our world. We advocate and practice non-discrimination based on race, age, ability, sexual preference, and gender. We promote religious tolerance and appreciation of Muslims, Buddhists, atheists, and pagans. And like-minded religious liberals are turning away because they don’t find a place here for their Christian beliefs and practices.

I don’t know what my classmate encountered in the Unitarian Universalist congregations she visited, but I can imagine some of the things that might have been hurtful to her. Words to Christian hymns that have been changed in our hymnal to remove any reference to God or Jesus. Complaints or sarcastic remarks during coffee hour if a Bible verse had been read as part of the service, or if the sermon included too many “loaded” words--like God, prayer, faith, or Jesus. People discussing issues like reproductive rights or prayer in schools and carelessly lumping all Christians together with the radically conservative segment of Christianity. People describing themselves as “recovering Christians,” as if it were a disease.

I have been to quite a few UU churches, and these comments, and others like them, are common throughout the denomination. Jefferson Unitarian Church is actually more open than others I have visited, but I think we can do better. I know I could do better. Sometimes I am not even aware of what might be hurtful. I preached this sermon at my class at Meadville Lombard ten days ago, and more than one person was offended by the part of the second reading that said “Religions with worn-out creeds cannot shape the world to peace and freedom.” One person said that this sentence offended him so much that he was too angry to hear anything that came later. I know that it is impossible to account for every possible interpretation, but I know I can do better.

Now, there are perfectly understandable reasons why many UUs are tolerant of everything except Christianity. Many of us found Unitarian Universalism after a painful experience with the religion of our youth. And that religion was some form of Christianity for the vast majority of us. Many of our early experiences with religion were truly hurtful. Slavery, discrimination against women, homophobia, imperialism, war, and child abuse have all been justified by distorted interpretations of Christianity. But those hurtful experiences did not happen because of the teachings of Jesus, but because of someone’s or some group’s misappropriation of those teachings for their own selfish purposes. Sincere and constructive discussion and critique of Christianity—or of Islam, Humanism, or Unitarian Universalism—is certainly consistent with Unitarian Universalist values. But ridicule, discrimination, uninformed condemnation, and blanket rejection are not. The anger that is a natural part of healing would be better directed at those who have misused Christianity than at the religion as a whole.

If taking a fresh and open-minded look at a religion that we may have found hurtful in the past feels risky, we might take a lesson from the lowly lobster who knows that the only way to grow is to find a safe place to shed his shell, be vulnerable for a while, and grow a bigger one. A Unitarian Universalist community is just such a safe place for us to shed our old understanding of Christianity and grow a larger one. If we can separate the wisdom of Islam from the mockery of it that some terrorists have made can we not afford Christianity the same latitude? An anti-Christian bias among Unitarian Universalists is counterproductive to our movement and to our own spiritual growth. It keeps people out of our movement who might otherwise benefit from and make contributions to it. It is hurtful to Unitarian Universalists who have a positive connection to their Christian roots.

The survey that the search committee did here last fall shows that more than 40% of the respondents considered themselves “Ethical Christians” and about 5% “Theological Christians.” These people, here at Jefferson Unitarian Church, have some measure of positive regard for the teachings or the story of Jesus, and their religious interests deserve respect and expression. It hurts our credibility as UUs when we don’t walk the talk of encouraging spiritual growth and of counting Christian teachings as one of the sources of our living tradition.

And when we dismiss Christian Scriptures or traditions because we have had negative experiences with them, we miss the opportunity for deep exploration of a rich tradition that just might hold spiritual treasures for us if we are willing to do the work. Instead, we would be better off to make use of the healing power of Unitarian Universalism. After September 11 we were able to stand in solidarity with Muslims who abhorred as much as we did the corruption of their sacred teachings. By using our reason and our intuition, our heads and our hearts, we can discern, as well, between the essence of the Christian message and its misuse. In doing so we can heal the wounds in ourselves, reclaim a rich part of our heritage as Unitarian Universalists, and provide a welcoming religious home for religious liberals who value pluralism and find wisdom and meaning in the teachings and practices of Christianity.

Sometimes in Unitarian Universalism the pendulum of preference of religious expression swings wide, and I am certainly not advocating an increased attention to Christianity at the expense of Humanist, pagan, Buddhist traditions. Not everyone will be equally attracted to any one tradition. That is part of what makes this movement so vital and exciting. And this suggests to me one way that we might approach the variety of religious orientations in our congregations in order to become more welcoming and in doing so to grow Unitarian Universalism.

I have been interested in interfaith dialogue for some time and have participated in and written about Buddhist-Christian dialogue, and it occurs to me that the principles and techniques of this kind of communication could be applied within the theological diversity of Unitarian Universalism. Interfaith dialogue is more than a casual conversation among people of different religions. It is a systematic conversation between equals about pursuing one’s faith through discussion with persons of other faiths. It is about mutual growth, not conversion, and it expresses an appreciation of the truth as larger than one’s own concept or experience of it. This is not to say that interfaith dialogue cannot change one's beliefs. Openness to change is necessary for true dialogue to occur, but if changing one’s relationship to the other is a goal, changing beliefs is certainly not. Writing about his experience in dialogue with Christians, Vietnamese Buddhist monk Thich Nhat Hanh says: In a true dialogue, both sides are willing to change. We have to appreciate that truth can be received from outside of —not only within—our own group. . . . We have to believe that by engaging in dialogue with the other person, we have the possibility of making a change within ourselves, that we can become deeper. . . . We have to allow what is good, beautiful, and meaningful in the other’s tradition to transform us.

Interfaith dialogue is not simply polite conversation that seeks to comfort us in the midst of our diversity by convincing us that we really all believe the same thing after all. Instead, it is a discussion of our respective beliefs and practices in order to discover those places where we can respect and appreciate the other and to develop mutual understanding and mutual self-understanding. One of the perhaps surprising results of interfaith dialogue is that at the same time as it leads to appreciation of another’s tradition, it often serves to strengthen one’s own faith. There is nothing quite like explaining your own beliefs to help you understand them yourself. Yes, I want Unitarian Universalism to grow. I want it to grow in numbers so that it can be a significant influence in the world. So that it is widely recognized as one of the world’s great religions, and people who are looking for a liberal religious home will find us more easily.

And I also want people’s experience of Unitarian Universalism to grow in depth so that it can support each of us in our connection to our deepest values. So that, whatever our individual preference, we can appreciate our Christian heritage. And our Jewish heritage. And our Humanist, mystical, pagan, and Eastern heritages. And our uniquely Unitarian and Universalist heritage.

And by dialoguing among ourselves and with people of other faiths, I want Unitarian Universalism to help us grow our relationships. With each other in our congregations. With Unitarian Universalists around the world. With people of other faiths and of no religious association. As Diana Eck said in the reading we heard earlier, “The encounter of people of differing faiths in the world today, for better and for worse, is one of the most important facts of our time.” Meaningful relationships that lead to peace cannot grow out of ignorance or rigid adherence to just one truth. If we, as Unitarian Universalists, can grow in numbers, and in depth of faith, and in loving relationships, we can be a model for the interfaith respect and cooperation that our world so desperately needs. And we can have a positive influence far beyond our numbers.  

First Reading - The Imagined Community from Encountering God (p. 200), Diana Eck

At the closing session of the World’s Parliament of Religions in 1893, its president and one of the chief visionaries of the Parliament, Charles Bonney, declared, “Henceforth the religions of the world will make war not on each other, but on the giant evils that affect mankind!” None of us can read those words without a sigh of sadness and perhaps a tinge of cynicism.

The past one hundred years have scarcely borne out Bonney’s vision. Interfaith cooperation has gotten a good start, but interfaith violence has kept pace. The world’s religious traditions still manage to provide fuel for the world’s strife. The giant evils that affect humankind have grown as rapidly as our dreams; the chasms between the cultural, racial, and religious families of humankind have opened as quickly as the bridges we have built to span them. Each day’s newspapers remind us that Sikhs and Hindus struggle with one another in India, Christians and Muslims in the Philippines and Nigeria, Jews and African-American Muslims in the United States, Catholics and Protestants in Northern Ireland.

These struggles are not wholly religious in origin, but they are made more difficult and complex by the extensive use of religious language and symbolism. The encounter of people of differing faiths in the world today, for better and for worse, is one of the most important factors of our time. There are many ways of describing the world scene in the late twentieth century. There are alarming statistics on population growth and the growth of dire poverty and illiteracy. There are statistics on the growth of carbon dioxide emissions, on the pollution of the seas, the stripping of the forests, the extinction of species of plant and animal life. There are statistics on the high rate of infant mortality, on disease and death in children, on prostitution and sexual enslavement of women, on the worldwide growth of vast populations of refugees. Above all, there is growing recognition that these problems are all interrelated. The one word which increasingly describes the complexity and relatedness of the world is interdependent. The problems cannot be isolated one from the other and neither can the people who help to solve them. 

Second Reading - A. Powell Davies from Born Again Unitarian Universalism, (p. 22) F. Forrester Church

There are millions of Unitarians in America today, but not in Unitarian churches. There are millions of Unitarians who do not know its history. They do not know its basis. They do not know its purpose. They do not know that they themselves are Unitarians. If a true religion is to shape the world to peace and freedom, these people must be joined together to advance its cause.

Religions with worn-out creeds cannot do it. Irreligion cannot do it. Confused religion cannot do it. If the strength of a free person’s faith is to be the undergirding of the world tomorrow, a world so full of dangers, yet so rich in opportunities, and if the people of America must rise to take their place within this venture, then there must be hundreds of new churches and multitudes of pioneers. This will come about partly if Unitarians will preach their faith, for there are many who are ready to hear it. But it will come about most surely if Unitarians are willing to live their faith-- live it into aim and purpose, fearing nothing but the reproach to conscience--for such a faith lived into actual life would be (itself) the power of God . . . invincible.