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  1. applewuud

    Considering joining, but have a few questions...

    Some additional thoughts... It is easier in many ways to be an individual than to be part of a group, easier to be "spiritual, but not religious". Any group of people has its personality conflicts and disagreements, and no religious teachings can eliminate those completely. A Christian said...
  2. applewuud

    Considering joining, but have a few questions...

    Well, especially compared with a religion that adheres to the Nicene Creed, Unitarian-Universalism has no "party line"; that's kind of the point of a non-creedal religion. UU ministers each have their own individual approach, but they are well-versed in the different varieties and stages of...
  3. applewuud

    Water Communion

    It's unfortunate that so many UU churches are "off" in the summer, because that's when most people with children go "church shopping", particularly in August. Part of it is having old, un-airconditioned churches that are stifling in the summer, another part is that ministers need July and...
  4. applewuud

    US Embassy Attacked in reponse to American Freedom to produce a movie.

    How did anyone find out about this film? It was dug up by Arab media, hornets looking for someone who might hit their nest. It's very hard to blame American culture as a whole for something that is so marginal. If these insults against Mohammed (PBUH) were on a major American TV network, or...
  5. applewuud

    US Embassy Attacked in reponse to American Freedom to produce a movie.

    Let's see...a marginal movie with the production values and acting of elementary schoolchildren, that no one had heard of in America, hasn't even been released on YouTube, is dug up somehow by right-wing media in Egypt and used to rile up crowds that America is insulting Islam. In Egypt and...
  6. applewuud

    Water Communion

    After a summer "off" (no services after mid-June), our church restarted services for the fall with a Water Communion service. People brought samples of water from somewhere meaningful over the summer and said where it was from while pouring it into a common bowl in front of the altar. It...
  7. applewuud

    UU Identity (and who in the Spirit of Life's name am I?)

    It would be very helpful for you to go to a General Assembly in the U.S. sometime. There, all the "hyphens": UU Christians, UU Pagans, HUUmanists, UUs for Jewish Awareness, have their own booths in the exhibit hall with their own literature to peruse. There are breakout sessions where...
  8. applewuud

    Is there such thing as a frivolous ritual?

    I once was involved with the Youth group at our church. We went on an overnight retreat and did a ritual called the "pizza communion" from a UUA youth book. It involves telling a story and feeding each other pizza; with this group in that situation, it worked and was a spiritual experience for...
  9. applewuud

    Right-Wing UUs

    I agree. But Reinhold Niehbur caught a lot of flak from religious liberals in the 1930s when he left pacifism and thought Christians had to prepare to fight Nazism and Stalinism. By 1945 his ideas were mainstream. Too bad when feeling deeply about an issue leads one to hold a dogmatic...
  10. applewuud

    Right-Wing UUs

    How does this characterization of "liberals" refute that religious liberals are a minority in the overall community? BTW, as far as "providing enough rich people", members of liberal UU and Episcopal denominations have historically been in the upper percentiles of income.
  11. applewuud

    Is there such thing as a frivolous ritual?

    Rituals can be, should be, fun and life-giving. Rituals can empower people, keep them energized for work in the real world. When they become an end in themselves, that's when they get a bad reputation. I can't imagine being locked into one ceremony--say the Mass or the Book of Common...
  12. applewuud

    UU Identity (and who in the Spirit of Life's name am I?)

    By the way, welcome back Lilithu:D. You have been missed! A crucial piece of the UU identity, to me, is that "revelation (and therefore our religion) is not sealed". Most religions have arrived at specific creeds and ceremonies, and decided on particular holy texts, as the ultimate and last...
  13. applewuud

    UUs protesting in Arizona

    It was a problem for Unitarian-Universalists when Arizona passed repressive anti-immigrant laws a few months after the UUA had booked Phoenix as the site of our 2012 General Assembly. GA 2010 debated whether the GA should be moved or withdrawn, but it was decided to make it a "justice GA" where...
  14. applewuud

    General Assembly is on NOW!

    The Unitarian Universalist Association's General Assembly is going on now (June 22-24) in Phoenix, Arizona. Streaming video of services, debates, and speeches is available on uua.org. I strongly recommend the "Service of the Living Tradition", TONIGHT. This is a service about ministry...
  15. applewuud

    Right-Wing UUs

    The reason "Sunday is the most segregated day in America" is that people tend to hang out with people who agree with their (most of their) views. It's a relief to be somewhere where you don't have to justify or defend yourself all the time, especially when you're in a minority. Religious...
  16. applewuud

    Is your partner a UU, too?

    This is a discussion for Unitarian-Universalists who are actively involved in a church or fellowship (e.g., going to Sunday services 2 or more times a month, on a committee, volunteering as a teacher etc.) but whose spouses or partners or significant others are not, either because they're part...
  17. applewuud

    First service

    Antiochian, I just have to slip in one more quote from The Reason-Driven Life I think states your case in more vigorous language: --Robert M. Price, The Reason-Driven Life, p. 166.
  18. applewuud

    First service

    I think it calms everybody down if you point out that Unitarian-Universalism has deep roots in our country, and was the liberal wing of the Pilgrims initially. Also that several U.S. presidents were Unitarian. Since it's not a creedal religion, you're not joining a group that asks you to...
  19. applewuud

    philosophy in u.u.

    That's the point, to keep an open mind and consider ideas whether they're labeled "religious", "philosophical", or "psychological". UUs could benefit from a better knowledge of philosophy; but I sense that many in the pews feel we're too intellectual as it is and that philosophy isn't practical...
  20. applewuud

    nicest unitarian universalist church/cathedral?

    Hmm. There's virtually no UU building that's like an Episcopal or Catholic one, we have no "cathedral" to speak of. The most "opulent" in terms of traditional stained glass and ornamentation that I've seen is the Universalist chapel at Tufts, if that counts. All Souls NYC is like any of the...
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