The most ANNOYING misconception about YOUR faith?

[Booko]

i hear you loud and clear, Booko.

another mis-conception / myth- that because a person believes in a diety, there's nothing to stop him or her from believing any manner of crazed, destructive things as we lack "reason" and "logic".

Ah yes, having "faith" means you can't have logic and reason also.

How could I forget that one!

 

[Trey of Diamonds]

For me it would be that the Unitarians are a New Age Cult. The Unitarian Church as been around for a long time, the 1600s although some say it goes back to the 3rd century. They also call us the Gay Church because we believe that it only takes love to create a binding union between two people, not matching parts.

 

[AbuQuteiba]

That we worship saints and the Virgin Mary as we would worship God and Jesus..

I'm not a christian, but i agree with you. The "trinity" is particularly hard as well.

 

[James the Persian]

That we worship saints and the Virgin Mary as we would worship God and Jesus..

Yeah, that was one of mine, too. I guess we're a little more lucky than RCs in the west in that we are rather lower down in people's consciousness when they think of Christianity. When they do realise we exist, the same people who attack you lot for such things inevitably turn on us as well, though.

James

 

[Djamila]

The Serbs worship Sveti Sava and no one will ever convince me otherwise. I've seen editorials in magazines like Vesti comparing him to Jesus.

The Greeks worship themselves, they're all Saints.

And the Bosnian Muslims worship Bill Clinton.

Our God is cooler. Go Monica.

 

[James the Persian]

The Serbs worship Sveti Sava and no one will ever convince me otherwise. I've seen editorials in magazines like Vesti comparing him to Jesus.

Any Serbs who worship any saint are in need of correction. Comparisons of a saint with Christ, however, would not be unusual seeing as His is the eaxmple they would have been trying to follow. This could, of course, be taken too far. I, too, know Orthodox that have an unhealthy view of the saints and this is, frankly, the fault of their priests in that hey are badly catechised. Well catechised Orthodox never make this mistake because it is entirely contrary to the teachings of the Church.

The Greeks worship themselves, they're all Saints.

On this I do not substantially disagree, though I'd say that Greece was a superior god to any individual Greek.

And the Bosnian Muslims worship Bill Clinton.

Our God is cooler. Go Monica.

I truly feel pity for you.

James

 

[Djamila]

^ Hehehe.

 

[Hacker]

OK, I'm dealing with some major sleep deprivation, but I'm afraid if I don't answer these now, I'll forget to do so tomorrow. So here goes... (I'm going to cheat and use some pre-printed answers for some of these, so if you think you're read it before you probably have)
Sure!
In dealing with beliefs and theology, it's important to note that Unitarian Universalism is a way of being religious rather than a religious doctrine. For us, religion is an ongoing search for meaning, purpose, value and spiritual depth in one's life. We believe that individuals are entitled to make their own search, and that not all persons (not even all UUs) are going to share the same beliefs.
I'm guessing you're referring to our 7 Principles which are:

We, the member congregations of the Unitarian Universalist Association, covenant to affirm and promote

• The inherent worth and dignity of every person;
• Justice, equity and compassion in human relations;
• Acceptance of one another and encouragement to spiritual growth in our congregations;
• A free and responsible search for truth and meaning;
• The right of conscience and the use of the democratic process within our congregations and in society at large;
• The goal of world community with peace, liberty, and justice for all;
• Respect for the interdependent web of all existence of which we are a part.

I'm going to bring in something Davidium said about this:

We, the member congregations.... the principles are not binding on individuals, though most UU's have taken them to heart. But, for the individual, the right to disagree is written even into the principles....
The principles are only binding on congregations, not on individuals. If a congregation were to, say, call for and end to democracy in America, they would be removed from the Association.

For the individual, the line is drawn as to whether or not you are a UU by whether or not you abide by the covenant you are in with your local UU Congregaion (or the Church of the Larger Fellowship, if there is no UU Church near you). No individual can be a member of the UUA, only congregations. Individuals are members of independent churches. The full name of our denomination is the "Unitarian Universalist Association of Congregations". We are a free association of independent and interdependent churches.

​

OK, now that I've made it even more confusing to a non-UU, let me attempt to answer your question. It's actually quite simple, and for that another RF UU has already spoken on this so I will quote her,

We UUs cannot believe anything that denigrates or harms other people. We can't believe anything racist, or classist, or sexist, or hetero-sexist, ageist, ableist, etc. UUs are free to believe what our consciences demand us to believe, and nothing less than that. - Lilithu

​

I'm sensing that your idea of what is equally valid may be different than mine. However, individual freedom of belief is one of our basic principles. We encourage individuals to explore the mysteries of this life and why are we here in a way that is fulfilling and even challenging for them.

This thought is not finished, and iIm finding it difficult to not get into UU Theology, which I am not up for at the moment. (hoping Lilithu will come in and save me by finishing the thought!)
Let me tell you a secret about UUs. We love visitors and we love to talk! But I do understand the not wanting to go alone.

There is some truth in the lightbulb joke, of course or it wouldn't be funny. I'm but not sure it as accurate in regards to Sunday services as it may be in other areas. The minister does not describe everything 10 different ways to satisfy everyone. That would be silly and waste time. However, I find the lightbulb joke very accurate it describing our stance on individual freedom of belief (which I think I mentioned above) and encouragement in expressing and sharing their belief and wisdom. We believe in the community and sharing ourselves with it.


It is probably mostly accurate, although I don't really know for sure across all UUs. In my experience, I would say yes, you are correct.
Of course not, I think I know you better than that and they were not stupid either. Thank you for asking and I hope I made a little sense.

Well said!!:yes:

 

[Shadow Wolf]

A new one, not that much of a misconception, but still annoying. I almost always wear my pentagram and rune sword in open view, and for some reason people ask me "are you a Pagan?" And some have a very shocked tone of voice when asking that.

 

[CanuckRasta]

Okay, there is the obvious one about marijuana, and then the one about being black supremacists.

The less obvious one is the role Jesus Christ plays in my Rastafari faith. Some one who knew I was Rasta asked me the other day: "Why are you quoting Jesus??" (I had the quote "Eli, eli lama shabach-thani?" as my MSN handle).

People actually think that we use religious beliefs to cover up drug/weapons trafficking, and gang violence. They had a 60 Minutes segment on it back in the 80s. THe FBI and NYPD had sting operations against us in the 80s trying to prove the same thing.

HAHA

 

[Sunstone]

The most annoying misconception about my religion is that all we trampolinists do is sit around all day watching girls on trampolines. In truth, we sit around all day watching girls on trampolines and drink beer.

 

[Revasser]

That I worship foxes and believe them to be the paragon of the universe!

Well.. okay, that one's actually true, more or less.

 

[Halcyon]

The most annoying misconception about my religion is that all we trampolinists do is sit around all day watching girls on trampolines. In truth, we sit around all day watching girls on trampolines and drink beer.

People can be so ignorant.

 

[cardero]

Other people telling me that I have not been chosen or that I am not worthy or special enough to talk with GOD though they hardly know me or never met me in person.

Other people telling me that I do not have the authority to share or promote my REALationship with GOD even though they do not understand what kind of REALationship I have with this BEing.

Other people accusing me that I am conversing with demons even though they have never examined my message or that the message I share does not conform to what their idea of what a demon or deity would convey.

Other people not believing in the GOD that I have been conversing with based simply on the fact that they cannot do it or have not pursued it.

That it is impossible for anyone to have a REALationship like I have with GOD when their own prophets, that they may have never met but entrust completely, have faithfully proved them incorrect.

That other people believe that I am a threat to their religion even though it is clear that I have already established my own.

 

[Tiberius]

As an atheist, some misconceptions about my beliefs are:

• That it is a religious belief. it's not. Atheism is not a belief. It has no holy texts, no supernatural being, no worship, no ceremonies. it is a lack of belief.
• That my faith in science is equivelant to a faith in a God. it's not. My faith on science is based on the fact that i can perform a scientific experiment to demonstrate my beliefs. And that experiment is repeatable by anyone.
• That atheism exists only to destroy Christianity. I have many good friends who are Christian, and I have no desire to "convert" them, nor do I debate religion with them.
• As an atheist, I don't have a holy text or religious belief to base my understanding of the universe on. I have chosen science instead. But many religious people see science as just a way to attack religion, or see it as a device meant to draw people away from God. it's not. Science is a tool, a method of thinking, gathering evidence about the universe and analysing that evidence in a way to minimise the risk of mis-interpretation, as well keeping that information as accurate as possible.
• In a related vein, that theories, such as the theory of evolution, are just ideas and have not been proved. This stems from a confusion of the layman's definition of Theory with the scientific definition. In layman's terms, theory does refer to an idea which hasn't been proven. But in scientific terms, a theory is anything that allows us to theorise about things. For example, the theory of evolution alows us to theorise that animals will change over time to adapt to changes in their environment. We can then check to see if there is evidence of this, and if the evidence fits in with what we theorised, then it supports the theory being correct.
• That all atheists are alike. This isn't true. It's like assuming that all non-Christians are alike. But Hindus are very different to Buddhists, who are very different to Muslims. Atheism isn't a belief, it's a lack of belief.

I hope this has helped clear up some misconceptions. If anyone has any further questions, feel freee to send me a private message.

 

[Real Sorceror]

That I worship foxes and believe them to be the paragon of the universe!

Well.. okay, that one's actually true, more or less.

Whoa, I just got a huge blip on my Furry Detector........wonder what it was.

 

[Revasser]

Whoa, I just got a huge blip on my Furry Detector........wonder what it was.

Maybe you should check your equipment is functioning correctly. Just try not to void your warranty

 

[Buttons*]

The misconception that upsets me the most is that I'm following what was written in the DaVinci Code. *grrrr*

 

[BFD_Zayl]

oh i have a few more!

that we dig up corpses and have sex with em, that all we do is hex and curse and blow poison into peoples eyes (i can do this but..stilll...i dont do it all the time..it would be like "hello!" *whoosh* "GAHHH!! MY EYES!!" ...i this is all in parenthesis isnt it? ah well) oh and that we enjoy slicing our own flesh, just for craps and giggles.

 

[Katzpur]

that we dig up corpses and have sex with em.

And I thought my religion was picked on. People just think we dig up corpses and baptize them.