Universalism
Unitarian-Univeralists like to joke that they don't believe in anything, that all beliefs are equally welcome at the UU table. But there is a strong Universalist current in today's UUism, one that I think is a permanent and powerful feature.
Originally Universalism was a belief about universal salvation. God's mercy is too great to allow anyone to fall into hell, and therefore all are saved. Of course this belief is still very controversial today, but for most UUs, the issue of heaven or hell is no longer relevant.
In its present, secularized but nevertheless spiritual form, Univeralism speaks to our acceptance of people of all types, just as they are. This acceptance, this idea that all people are welcome into our congregation and our community, is a powerful and even transforming spiritual force. This idea, that love and acceptance will be placed before judgment and before social pressures of conformity, may be the strongest spiritual weapon in the UU arsenal.
Religion has been used to divide people for so long. Religion and religious thinkers have tried to separate high from low, good from bad, Jew from gentile. Many religious leaders still work on this framework - good is achieved by expelling the evil out. But this has always been a convenient and self-deluding myth. The potential for evil, and the potential for good, is within every one of us. The basis of redemption is not expulsion, but understanding and forgiveness. When we accept people just as they are, when we accept whole people, they can bring the whole truth about themselves into the church and experience healing. A church of expellers will never achieve wholeness, because it will be a community driven by image and censorship. The full arc of the heart will never be revealed in such churches.
This is the great spiritual power of UUism in our day and age - welcoming all who come. The spirit that underlies Universalism - the spirit that see us linked together in an eternal sisterhood and brotherhood - is a powerful one, one that will take us far along the road of spiritual growth.
Originally Universalism was a belief about universal salvation. God's mercy is too great to allow anyone to fall into hell, and therefore all are saved. Of course this belief is still very controversial today, but for most UUs, the issue of heaven or hell is no longer relevant.
In its present, secularized but nevertheless spiritual form, Univeralism speaks to our acceptance of people of all types, just as they are. This acceptance, this idea that all people are welcome into our congregation and our community, is a powerful and even transforming spiritual force. This idea, that love and acceptance will be placed before judgment and before social pressures of conformity, may be the strongest spiritual weapon in the UU arsenal.
Religion has been used to divide people for so long. Religion and religious thinkers have tried to separate high from low, good from bad, Jew from gentile. Many religious leaders still work on this framework - good is achieved by expelling the evil out. But this has always been a convenient and self-deluding myth. The potential for evil, and the potential for good, is within every one of us. The basis of redemption is not expulsion, but understanding and forgiveness. When we accept people just as they are, when we accept whole people, they can bring the whole truth about themselves into the church and experience healing. A church of expellers will never achieve wholeness, because it will be a community driven by image and censorship. The full arc of the heart will never be revealed in such churches.
This is the great spiritual power of UUism in our day and age - welcoming all who come. The spirit that underlies Universalism - the spirit that see us linked together in an eternal sisterhood and brotherhood - is a powerful one, one that will take us far along the road of spiritual growth.
Comments
Ron
(groups.yahoo.com/LargerFaith)