Atlanta Unitarian

In my next couple of posts, I plan to explore the concepts of the 'liberal' and 'conservative' categories, politicially, culturally, and spiritually. In particular, I'm interested in the problem that liberal has come to mean something derogatory. I think that liberals need to own the term and need to actively define liberalism. I can't remember the last time I heard a Democrat say, "Yes, I'm a liberal. And by liberal I mean that...." I think the core feature of Liberalism is openness to new ideas. It's not surprising that some people would find this threatening. Anyone who is used to doing things a certain way, or benefits from certain existing arrangements, naturally could feel threatened by new ideas. But it's hard to think of any concept more patently American than that of openness to new ideas. In business, openness to new ideas is called innovation, and it's deeply prized. In science, openness to new ideas is called research...

I was recently talking with another new Unitarian on how we "sell" our religion to others. My original sales pitch was: “You don’t have to believe in anything in particular to join our group.” Her sales pitch was: “We take the best of every religion, with out taking the bad stuff.” Well I don’t think it takes a genius to see which sales pitch is better. Hers is both better and more accurate than mine. In fact, my sales pitch is so weak I’m shocked I would even say it aloud – that the best we have to offer is a lack of constraints, total personal freedom? Is this what we offer? Why join a group whose main offering is to leave you just the way you were before you joined? I think what I was trying to say is that we encourage people to think for themselves, and to create a theology based on their understanding of the universe. In other words, we create a community for seekers that can help provide guidance, dialogue, and rigor to the search for the great truths of existenc...

Nice post on reverence for life and the need to learn reverence for life on A People So Bold A People So Bold .