Atheists: Thoughts on Unitarian Universalism?

Question

Just wondering. I'm an atheist, by the way.

Answer 1

It's a religion, although it has no set doctrine per se, as each member is freely able to believe whatever they want.

Atheist, Deist, Humanists, Buddhist and other groups have joined.

I have no interests in such things personally.

Answer 2

I'm also an atheist - or perhaps an agnostic with atheism as a working theory - and UUism suits me fine. I can get along with theists who want to feed the hungry and heal the sick; as an early Unitarian said, "we need not think alike to love alike".
I also like the sunrise metaphor, as follows: if by "sunrise" you mean that wonderful, awe-inspiring event that happens when Sun literally rises above the flat Earth, then I share the wonder and awe but I have a different understanding of the cause (I think it's an optical illusion caused by the round Earth's rotation). If by "God" you mean that impulse towards compassion and connection that humans feel, and you believe that it's also an omnipotent omniscient world-creating old man in the sky who wants to give us rules, well, then I share the warm fuzzies, but as with sunrises, I have a different understanding of the cause behind the feeling.

Answer 3

I'm an agnostic, which is either a Atheist without the courage of his convictions, or someone with an extremely accurate estimate of his limits, depending on who you ask.

UU's in my part of the country have small, shabby churches full of wise, witty, warm, caring and devilishly handsome people; the kind of people you'd like to have over for a potluck dinner once a month.

Read more:
http://www.stanuu.org/atheist.html
and, more importantly,
http://www.stanuu.org/circdin.html

Answer 4

There was an old joke:

What do you get when you cross a Jehovah's Witness with a Unitarian?

Someone who goes around knocking on doors for no apparent reason.

Answer 5

It's a way to maintain some of the fellowship and consideration of issues together with other liberally minded people, without having to submit to the dogma of a more rigid church. The trouble is that it still has a ritualistic way of doing things that imitates standard protestant services, which is so boring as to make attendance almost as much torture as listening to the Baptists hand out tickets to hell.

My advice would be to find a way to create a different type of gathering, one that doesn't take the least appealing rituals and dress them in liberalized clothing.

^v^ ^v^ ^v^ ^v^ ^v^ ^v^ ^v^ ^v^

Answer 6

I don't know an incredible amount about it. My girlfriend is a Universalist (not Christian) but apparently it encompasses a wide variety of beliefs.

Here's a Wikipedia link on Unitarian Universalism:
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Unitarian_Universalism

Answer 7

I go to a UU church for the organiztion factor for the kids and we have a TON of atheist. They come for the community aspect. Nice people. I teach Sunday School with one.

Answer 8

I don't like any encouragement of holding and maintaining irrational beliefs that have no foundation, but at least that group is fairly benign and has no problem accepting just about anyone. That counts for something.

Answer 9

They accept all paths, don't preach at anyone, they fight for everyone's civil rights, don't buy into the nonsense of the Bible. For a religion they are actually pretty cool and loving.

Answer 10

I guess they are the most decent of the bunch, though i am ambivalent about it.