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Why I am (Still) a Unitarian Universalist
November 10, 2002
"We have faults which we have hardly used yet."The great British Catholic journalist G. K. Chesterton once said that “the true test of one's religion is whether or not one can joke about it.” With that warning in mind, perhaps you have heard this old joke about the Unitarian Universalist who was traveling with a Jew and a Hindu. They came late at night to one of the few inns along the road. The innkeeper was cordial, but explained that there was only one room left and that it had only two beds. However, there was a cot in the barn, which would offer some shelter. The Hindu graciously offered to take the cot in the barn, so the Jew and the Unitarian Universalist went up to the room and began to prepare for bed.--Pogo
It wasn't long before a knock was heard, and there stood the Hindu, who said, “I'm sorry, but I didn't know that I would find a cow in the barn. A cow is sacred in my religion, and I can't make myself comfortable enough to go to sleep.” The Jew said, “Say no more, I will sleep in the barn,” and he left. But it was not five minutes later when another knock came at the door and there stood the Jew, looking somewhat abashed and uncomfortable. “I'm so sorry, but I had not idea there would be a pig, an unclean animal, in the barn, and I just can't . . . .”
“All right,” said the Unitarian Universalist, I'll sleep in the barn.” And he left. Not five minutes later another knock came at the door. There stood the cow and the pig.
There have been times, I confess, when it has felt like that being a Unitarian Universalist. Like in the song “Bein' Green,” sometimes “it's not easy being UU.” We are often misunderstood, trivialized, marginalized, and even excluded. We are not always welcomed on the religious scene.
Some of this, admittedly, is our own fault. No, it is not true that Unitarian Universalists can “believe whatever they want.” The beliefs of the KKK or neo-Nazis, among others, are not welcome here, though experience tells us that such views will exclude themselves before we will exclude them. Nor is it true, as our detractors sometimes claim, that “Unitarian Universalists don't believe in anything.” We believe in all sorts of things; we just don't demand that everyone believe in exactly the same way. We are non-creedal, and that can lead to some misunderstandings both among ourselves and by outsiders. But we do have shared values, and those values are serious and positive, as the Unitarian Universalist statement of purposes and principles makes clear.
There have been times, down through the years, when I have wondered what a nice boy like me was doing in a religion like this. Believe it or not, I don't relish the role of heretic--I've observed what has happened to heretics down through the centuries, and I don't like it. And I don't always agree with my colleagues, or with the pronouncements which come down from on High (aka the UUA). I get frustrated by the inflexibility and occasional “fundamentalism of the religious left” which I observe among us: our failure to truly live up to our principles of freedom, reason, and tolerance, or to the demand to pursue “a free and responsible search for truth and meaning,” what our old Purposes and Principles called “a free and disciplined search for truth and meaning” (discipline, I suppose, scares us). I get annoyed by our tendency to equate religious liberalism with political liberalism, to the exclusion of many folks who would find a religious home with us. Too often, I observe that we fail in our avowed principle of “acceptance of one another and encouragement to spiritual growth in our congregations.”
Along with Kermit the Frog, I have sometimes thought it could be nicer “bein' red or yellow or gold.”
But the fact of the matter is, I don't think I could find a more compatible religious home. For better or worse, I am probably a lifer. And I recognize that we are not perfect yet. As one of our hymns puts it, we “are in the making still.” If we were already perfect, there would be no necessity for the church, or for religion, for that matter. As Pogo reminds us, with truth, “We have faults which we have hardly used yet.”
Of course, the quest for perfection has been one of our uniquely UU cardinal sins. Unitarian Universalists have always had a peculiarly positive attitude toward human nature, coming as we did out of the Enlightenment and the Age of Revolution. One of our great 20th century theologians and ethicists, James Luther Adams, once called it a “lopsidedly positive” view of human nature. But I think we have come collectively to realize that we are probably not quite as good as we thought we were, and I personally have found this quest for perfection to be rather destructive, as destructive, in fact, as its opposite, the doctrine of original sin. Better to say we are flawed, but capable of improvement. We are not God, nor are we small “g” gods.
But these criticisms aside, where else could I go to find the kind of religious and theological openness which, in theory at least, I find here? What other religion welcomes agnostics--the camp in which I place myself--and even atheists? (By the way, we are pretty good at welcoming atheists and agnostics, but we have a harder time with theists and Christians. We need to work on that.)
There are obviously reasons for our intolerance. Many of us have been burned once, and do not wish to be burned again. Some of us are not well-informed. But our unique calling as Unitarian Universalists is to remain open and flexible, and overcome our discomfort. It is to be rational in matters religious, which does not mean to demean the beliefs of others, nor to deny the spiritual, though it may mean being critical about beliefs or systems of belief which are destructive of “the inherent worth and dignity of every person.”
We have a wonderful history, but not enough of us know it. If we did, we would know that Unitarian Universalism's roots are solidly in the Judeo-Christian tradition. Our ethics are as rooted in that tradition as the most pious Lutheran's or Roman Catholic's. As my colleague Darrell Berger once said, “We have our roots in liberal Christianity and our branches in universal forms of spiritual expression.”
We may not use the Bible regularly, but we recognize it as the sourcebook of western civilization, and we have an obligation to know what it contains. We don't believe that it is the literal word of God, but we recognize it as one of the world's spiritual classics, and more than any other book, as the source of our faith in a loving and forgiving God and of a loving and forgiving humanity.
I am not one of those Unitarian Universalists who must qualify my faith by adding the words “Christian” or “Buddhist” or “Pagan” or “Humanist” after “Unitarian Universalist.” I have never felt that Unitarian Universalism excluded anything, but rather that it included at least the possibility of everything positive. That's what “universalism” means. I am free as a Unitarian Universalist to explore different religious ideas and spiritual practices, to find inspiration where I will, but I am clear that I am a Unitarian Universalist and I feel no need to qualify it.
And, besides, in religious Transcendentalism, I have found a uniquely Unitarian Universalist form of spirituality which feeds my soul and provides some solace to my spiritual yearnings. I have not felt the need to go elsewhere for a spiritual practice.
Over the years, I have been proud of our work for human rights, what our purposes and principles call “justice, equity, and compassion in human relations.” I have not always agreed with the way we go about it--I'm a firm believer that you can bring the horse to water, but you can't make him drink. You cannot force people to be good, to have the correct ideas, to be always compassionate, understanding, and accepting of differences. But despite our bumbling, I believe we have made a small but significant difference in the areas of racial equality, gender equality, and acceptance of sexual orientation. (We have a way to go on the issues of class and economics.) We have made a large difference in the the area of toleration toward other religions. And we have made a huge difference--especially when you consider our size--in the promotion of freedom of conscience.
I was born a Unitarian. At the merger in 1961, I became by default a Unitarian Universalist. I can't say I knew exactly what this meant, but I had a pretty good idea. I knew that I was free to explore. I knew that I was free to think for myself. I knew that I was free to question. I believed that God, if there is a God, is a God of love. I believed in a human Jesus who was a worthy role model. I believed that people had an obligation to make the world a better place, and that if God acted in the world at all, God acted through us. For me, religion had nothing to do with fear and everything to do with love.
This does not mean that I did not explore other ways of being religious. But I kept coming back to Unitarian Universalism as the place where I felt most comfortable pursing my religious search, the place where I felt most at home on my spiritual journey. I am convinced that some of us are just born religious questioners. Some people could care less, and are willing to go along with whatever crowd they find themselves in religiously. That is not a criticism, it is a fact. But for those of us who are religious questioners, I cannot think of a better place than Unitarian Universalism to pursue our quest for truth and meaning in life. I cannot think of a better place to practice what we preach. Besides, I suspect that no one else would have me, at least not on my terms.
In the morning's reading [“Actuarially Speaking”], Martin Marty suggested that one good reason to be a Unitarian Universalist is our longevity. I don't know about that, though I guess I have known quite a few Unitarian Universalists who lived to a ripe old age. I like to think it is because for us, the search never ends. We can never rest content with answers, but must find a way to rest in the questions. Our charge as Unitarian Universalists is to continue to grow: to think, to learn, to wonder, to celebrate, to stand in awe.
It is the letter that killeth: whether it be the literal interpretation of a book, even so great a book as the Bible, or whether it be the so-called “truths” that are passed down by tradition. Certainties are not all they are cracked up to be. It is the spirit that liberates. That is the “truth which sets us free.” Unitarian Universalism recognizes that.
Perhaps most important, in spite of its unpopularity at times, I believe that the world needs the voice of Unitarian Universalism. I think perhaps the world needs it more than ever at this moment in history. The message of freedom, reason, and tolerance never grows old.
My colleague Forrest Church once wrote that we Unitarian Universalists need “to take our work in the world seriously, but ourselves lightly.” I think we do take ourselves much too seriously. Then again, maybe we don't take ourselves seriously enough. The issue, as almost always, is balance. There is a time to be serious, and a time to lighten-up. Nothing is worse in religion than humorlessness. If I am (still) a Unitarian Universalist, it is because I have found ways to laugh at myself and my faith along the way. And though Unitarian Universalists are not necessarily my favorite people in the whole world, I have to admit that I enjoy our quirkiness and love more than a few of us.
I have mentioned Joe Raposa's song “Bein' Green.” Some anonymous Unitarian Universalist wag actually wrote a parody called “It's Not Easy Being U.U.,” which goes, with apologies, as follows:
It's not easy being U.U.That's why, despite all its faults, I am (still) a Unitarian Universalist. May this free faith hold us, and sustain us, and inspire us, until we meet again. Amen.
Having to spend each Sunday
in a Church School class
When I think it could be nicer
To be playing hockey, or even swimming
or just sleeping in my bed.
It's not easy being U.U.
It seems you aren't in a well-known
or popular religion
And people tend to wonder what you believe
'cause you are not memorizing things like
rules for your life or prayers to God.
But the chalice is the symbol of light
And U.U.'s are always searching for truth
And U.U.'s can care about nature
or be tolerant of others or
fight for equality.
When church is where we have to be
It could make you wonder why, but why,
wonder why, wonder
I am U.U. and it will do fine
It's beautiful and I know it's what I
want to be.
The Rev. Harold E. Babcock
