Unitarian-Universalism isn't Humanism. Is it?

Question

Tonight, I became familiar with Humanism via the article below. http://www.jcn.com/humanism.php4 Unitarian-Universalists believe in GOD and Humanists don't. However, the article says the opposite.

Answer 1

No.

Unitarian Universalists make up their own mind about the nature - or existence - of God. About 2/3rds of us believe there is one. The rest of us are Atheist, Agnostic, Buddhist, Wiccan or something else.

Some UUs call themselves humanists. "Humanist" has a wide definition. UU is a recognized denomination with church buildings, hymnals and everything else that normal denominations have. There isn't, as far as I know, a "Humanist" denomination.

UUs are members of an odd little denomination that believes what you do is more important than what you think about the nature of God. Our first principle is to value "The worth and dignity of every person". We take "worth and dignity" seriously. That means even if he is black, white, brown or red; even if she is poor or a lesbian; even if he is gay or homeless, or she used to be a man, or he stammers because he has an IQ of 140 trapped in an 80-year old body that suffered some strokes, or her legs don't work. The gay or lesbian part usually upsets conservative people.

Read more, if you like, on the web site for my congregation:
http://www.stanuu.org/beliefs.html
http://www.stanuu.org/newfaq.html

If you leave this question up long enough, since you used the term "Unitarian Universalism", someone will say we are a cult, and someone else will say we are "The church that doesn’t believe in anything." Wrong!

Cults have three hallmarks. 1) They are relatively new, 2) they have a single, charismatic leader, and 3) they share a single mindset.

By the numbers:

1) We have been around for 200 years. President John Adams and his son, President John Quincy Adams, were Unitarians.

2) Our leader, the president of the UUA, changes every ten years. Sometimes we elect a person with charisma, sometimes we don't.

3) Some of us believe in God, some don't. That is the widest variety of "mindset" you'll find in any religion today.

We are not a normal denomination, but we are far from being a cult.


On to beliefs: There are Presbyterians who vote Democratic and Presbyterians who vote Republican. No one calls them "The church that doesn't vote for anything". There are Lutherans who eat lima beans and Lutherans who do not. No one calls them "The church that doesn't eat anything". There are UUs who believe firmly that God exists, UUs who believe very firmly that God does not exist, and UUs who believe very firmly that the nature of God is beyond human comprehension. This upsets people and they call us "The church that doesn't believe in anything."

If you join a Christian church, you have to say that you believe in the Father, Son and Holy Spirit, that Jesus was born of a virgin, that Mary was born without Sin, that everyone else was born covered with Original Sin the way seagulls get covered with goo when an oil tanker springs a leak, and so on. We don't make you say any of that to join us. We assume you will make up your own mind about the nature of God, and we’ll provide interesting questions to help you.

We UU’s believe in a lot of things, but we don’t think in lockstep.

Answer 2

I'm not sure about Humanism in the religious sense, but the Humanist school of psychology is all about sincerity, caring/empathy, and genuine concern... so maybe it's similar? If so, then that would describe UU's pretty well. Their benchmark is service to and for others. It's their alternative to religious worship. Also, Unitarian Universalist organizations are made up of (more liberal) people from a great variety of religions, including atheism.

Answer 3

U-Us do not, as a group believe in God. It is a matter of personal decision for them, but as a whole the UU church does not believe or disbelieve in God. Straight from wikipedia, which is I can confirm from my own experiences with the UU church, The Unitarian Universalist church supports free and responsible search for truth and meaning. This principle permits Unitarian Universalists a wide range of beliefs and practices. Unitarian Universalist congregations and fellowships tend to retain some Christian traditions such as Sunday worship that includes a sermon and singing of hymns, but do not necessarily identify themselves as Christians.

Answer 4

All religions are typically Humanistic, that is, that they believe the greatest service you can do is to love your neighbor, etc. Conservative Unitarians believe in the Father, Son and Holy Spirit, but not that the three are the same entity. Liberal Unitarians may just believe in God (i.e. the Father) but that Jesus was just a mere moral teacher and they disregard the Holy Spirit.

Answer 5

Unitarian-Universalism has a long Christ centered tradition from the 19th century. In the later part of that century and in the 20th century they became tolerant and have no creed. Because there is no creed they will allow pagans and atheists to attend their church. They try not to offend any belief so it looks like they have none. Having no creed it is really up to the individual members to say how they feel. My feelings are that this denomination has a deep Puritan current still and an extreme current of Gay/transgender/pagan/atheist but the old Puritan strain is providing continuity. So you have margins represented with mainstream in one mix. Very interesting. Because of the congregational polity one church can very quite a bit from another.

Answer 6

It will take time, but compare the teachings of U. to the doctrines contained in the Bible.
I think you'll find a big discrepancy between the two.

Answer 7

both groups contain theists and nontheists