PeaceBang
The manic mind of the minister -- Auntie Mame Meets Cotton Mather. Blogging about Unitarian Universalism, UU Christian spiritual practice, occasional cultural and political ravings, and the inner life of ministry. PeaceBang is the alter ego of a small town pastor serving an historic New England Unitarian Universalist congregation.
Christianities
May 23, 2007 on 5:01 pm | In Shout-Outs, Theological Reflection |Mom To the Left has written a very meaty post about how viewing the movie “Jesus Camp” put a damper on her newfound enthusiasm for Christianity.
You can read about it here.
As a UU Christian, I feel Mom To the Left’s discomfort and hurt. Within our own movement, we know that many regard us with suspicion and even hostility because we won’t “grow out of” that awful, oppressive religion, Christianity. How can we intentionally affiliate ourselves with those people?
The answer for me is that we have to. We are Christians by baptism and by God’s grace, not by party affiliation or shared ideas about how to raise children or even doctrinal conformity. It’s not fun having so many ideological opponents in one’s own faith family, but for Christians, it’s an unavoidable challenge and tension.
That’s part of why I’ve always been frustrated by the extravagant claims of “diversity” among UUs. We’re just not that diverse, deep down. We all believe in freedom of conscience. We all believe that the point of religion is to “take it outside” and be some kind of helping presence. We all want our children to develop discerning, curious minds and attitudes. We all understand the value of encountering a variety of theological ideas. We all think education and self-culture are keys to a meaningful life. We really get behind the idea that humans are, despite their cruddy behavior, improvable beings.
As sisters and brothers in faith go, we get along pretty well. We’re a small family, and we know we have to. There’s a lot of snarky ribbing and some outright brawls, but for all our strong differences of opinion, there’s nothing like what I’ve seen between conservative and liberal Christians.
So, Mom on the Left, thanks for your post. I hope you won’t let the Jesus Camp types hold you at a distance from the Christian community for too long.
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How can we intentionally affiliate ourselves with those people?
The answer for me is that we have to. We are Christians by baptism and by God’s grace, not by party affiliation or shared ideas about how to raise children or even doctrinal conformity. It’s not fun having so many ideological opponents in one’s own faith family, but for Christians, it’s an unavoidable challenge and tension.
Just right. Beautiful.
Comment by Mary Ann — May 24, 2007 #
In all these years in and out of UU I have never actually met a real live UU Christian. They must be pretty thick-skinned folks. It will be a sad day for the UUA if they become extinct.
Comment by Dudley Jones — May 25, 2007 #
Personally, I don’t understand the rationale of being a UU Christian. The Unitarian part of UU is a direct rejection of the divinity of Jesus. And I also see that if one claims to be a “Christian” that they believe in some supernatural element of his existence. My personal experiance, valid to no one but me (I’m UU indoctrinated
is that most UU Christians I’ve met don’t really believe the divinity stuff but they just can’t bring themselves to the point of letting a cherished memory go. I’m not trying to knock anyone who calls themselves a UU Christian, I get asked questions about being a UU atheist too, I just can’t seem to reconcile UU and Christian in todays UU. I respect some of the reported teaching’s of Jesus, they are very humanist in tone, but no more than I currently respect Buddha or Plato.
Just some ramblings, help me expand my perceptions, please.
Comment by UUAtheist — June 4, 2007 #
Hi UU Atheist,
Thanks for popping in. The short answer to your question — which would really require a coffee date (will you be at GA?) is that UU Christians worship the God-within Jesus, and those of us with a more Universalist bent may worship him as divine (don’t forget that UUism is a merger of two Christian traditions!).
Yes, classical Unitarianism was a move away from orthodoxy in many ways (and the one you mention regarding the divinity of Christ is an important one), but many of us still follow a Christian spiritual path and worship the God of Jesus’ vision, while also trying to be disciples of the path that Jesus taught. We love the old forms of worship, we pray in the Christian way, we observe Christian sacraments — all of which are central to original Unitarian and Universalist tradition.
Some of us are wacky mystical types and others are more rational. I would say that what we have in common is a commitment to Christian discipleship — just a fancy way of saying that we really honor Jesus as spiritual master (a friend of mine calls him his “guru!”) and take seriously his example and ministry, while also being comfortable affirming the resurrection message. Did the resurrection really “happen?” My own conviction is that whatever happened, we know for sure that the original community of disciples experienced something that transformed them from a terrified gaggle of political and religious fugitives to a group of passionate evangelicals who were more than willing to be martyred to share the incredible story they had experienced. That’s powerful for me. I am totally *there* for that.
My library is full of books and sermons by Unitarian and Universalist Christians — dating from the 1760’s to today. In the contemporary era, UUism is full of wounded refugees from other religions (especially those rejecting various forms of Xtianity), and so in its desire to be pluralistic and humanistic, has in many cases tried to ignore or erase its Christian roots. I think that’s a shame.
To show you that many of us aren’t just clinging to a “cherished memory,” it may surprise you to know that I grew up UU in a humanist congregation with two atheistic parents and didn’t feel I received anything substantive from my religion until I was a young adult and found out where we had come from. When I discovered our liberal Christian roots, I suddenly felt that UUism had something deep and worthwhile to feed me, not just negations of what “other people” believe. It was revelatory. I was baptized in 1999. I can think of a few dozen Christian UUs who actually became Christian as adults. That’s what can happen in a free faith tradition!
So there you are. One perspective. If you would like to know more about your wacky Christian UU brothers and sisters, you might want to read the book _Christian Voices in Unitarian Universalism_ edited by Kathleen Rolenz. I have an essay in there.
Cheers, PB
Comment by PeaceBang — June 4, 2007 #