Unitarian Universalism and Humanism

[Balthazzar]

So I have found that I agree with a lot of notions of the "Unitarian Universalist," faith. I also agree a lot with Humanistic values. There doesn't really seem to be anyone on here though that is a UU.

UU's generally accept everybody, regardless if you are Christian, Pagan, Muslim, Buddhist, atheist, Agnostic, or Humanist, etc.
Where I am coming from, I am not religious. I mostly Identify as Humanist and Agnostic.
I believe in the inherent dignity of all human beings, and compassion, tolerance, and equality, regardless of religion, gender, race, or whom you love or what sexuality you are. My god beliefs, if I did have any, would be very Deistic in nature. I basically don't believe in any kind of personal god.

I also believe in others rights to practice whatever religion or beliefs they believe in, however, I do not believe in forcing said religious beliefs on others. I believe in secular values. What I don't believe in is proselytizing, whether it's outside the church, in schools or in politics.

I read this recently about what some UU's believe, and it sort of hits the nail on the head for me:

"Most Unitarian Universalists believe that nobody has a monopoly on all truth, or ultimate proof of the truth of everything in any one belief. Therefore, one's own truth is unprovable, as is that of others. Consequently, we should respect the beliefs of others, as well as their right to hold those beliefs."

This is sort of where I have an issue with (Secular) Humanism. Many people seem to be, at least from an outside perspective, anti-god and/or anti-afterlife.
I am not, even though I consider myself a Humanist. I simply don't allow my beliefs, even if I had any beliefs regarding any kind of god or religion, to factor into my decision making about how I treat others, more specifically in a negative way.

I guess I may be in some degrees, both a Humanist and a UU. I have found my own personal truths. However, my truths might be different from yours.

Any thoughts?

I'm not UU, but I remember someone who is. I am a universalist, meaning I believe we all have the same destination as humans. The thing is, I'm one of those Christian types who views Hell as part of following Jesus, so in essence we go through Hell to get to heaven, but it isn't necessarily by choice. Some do choose this as part of their belief system. It's a "You go, I go" mentality, although we do what we're able to decrease our suffering, which is expected because it's in both the suffering and the decrease of suffering that we learn a more just sense of compassion, a more just sense of charity, and a more just sense of accountability, including personal accountability.

 

[endlessvoid2018]

And then there's this:

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I don't find wisdom in religion, and where I agree with any of them, I have come to the same conclusions without it. And it bothers me that they think there's wisdom there. What wisdom? The Chrisian Bible contains nothing of value to me but the Golden Rule, and its scriptures violate it when they call atheists and gays abominations. If you're a humanist, you run circles around such people when to comes to reciprocity as an ethical principle. I'll bet you don't call anybody an abomination. And I'll bet that you aren't interested in imposing your values on the unwilling, because you wouldn't want to be treated like that.

And this:

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I don't go to religions for anything. I believe religion should be avoided and is unrelated to truth.

Also, my outward search for meaning in life ended years ago when I realized that I'm the one who gives my life meaning and purpose, and answers aren't to be found asking others. Now, I only look within to my conscience and memory (knowledge gained through experience) for guidance and haven't changed my outlook there in decades.

This is a deal killer:

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What? Worship?

Sorry, but this is all a huge turn-off for me.

But maybe these kinds of things aren't as cringy to you as they are to me. Perhaps you should give it a try and see if it fits you.

Yeah, I personally don't believe in any of that. Even though I personally respect others rights to hold their beliefs, I don't find religion particularly useful on my own accord. I guess in some ways, my attitude towards religion, without being extreme about it, would kind of be almost Antitheist.

I don't believe in "worshipping," anything. There isn't anything out there that I believe is worthy of worship. And even though I consider myself an Agnostic, in my particular case, any notions I have of any kind of "God," if I did have any, are very Deistic and impersonal, and for me personally doesn't merit or require worship in any form.

I also don't care for "faith," or church, or anything of that manner. It's not for me. I'm not really against it personally, it's just not my thing.
I had attended a local Sunday Assembly meeting about two months ago, a Humanist congregation where they just talked about Humanistic values, sang a few songs and then had a luncheon. That is about as far as I wanna go for any kind of "meeting," in a community style.
Perhaps I am not a UU after all. I guess you can agree with certain things without necessarily subscribing to the whole ideology.

 

[Spice]

Yeah, I personally don't believe in any of that. Even though I personally respect others rights to hold their beliefs, I don't find religion particularly useful on my own accord. I guess in some ways, my attitude towards religion, without being extreme about it, would kind of be almost Antitheist.

I don't believe in "worshipping," anything. There isn't anything out there that I believe is worthy of worship. And even though I consider myself an Agnostic, in my particular case, any notions I have of any kind of "God," if I did have any, are very Deistic and impersonal, and for me personally doesn't merit or require worship in any form.

I also don't care for "faith," or church, or anything of that manner. It's not for me. I'm not really against it personally, it's just not my thing.
I had attended a local Sunday Assembly meeting about two months ago, a Humanist congregation where they just talked about Humanistic values, sang a few songs and then had a luncheon. That is about as far as I wanna go for any kind of "meeting," in a community style.
Perhaps I am not a UU after all. I guess you can agree with certain things without necessarily subscribing to the whole ideology.

For me "worship" means recognizing those things of "awe" with proper appreciation. It doesn't do any good for the Creator, however that is envisioned, but it does a great deal of good for the planet, beginning with ourselves. I'm given peace, calm, love, hope, all those things and more, when I take a moment to deeply see the awe of this life and give the Universe a thanks. It makes me a better person and that improved energy in me shines outward onto others, as theirs comes to me.
Namaste

 

[endlessvoid2018]

I can respect that. Another one of those "beauty is in the eye of the beholder," scenarios. Not for me personally, but it is what it is.

 

[It Aint Necessarily So]

For me "worship" means recognizing those things of "awe" with proper appreciation. It doesn't do any good for the Creator, however that is envisioned, but it does a great deal of good for the planet, beginning with ourselves.

I have a spiritual connection to nature and life, but I call it love and respect, not worship.

I tend to avoid all religious language.

I don't call knowledge acquired experientially faith, but rather, trust or justified belief.

I don't call errors sins.

I don't call malice evil.

I don't use the word pray to mean hope.

I don't call good fortune blessings.

And I don't call the mystery behind existence God.

All of the words I avoid carry baggage. They all direct minds to gods and religions, and I don't want to do that or be confused for that.

We do, however, like religious art. You can see a Celtic cross in the background of the picture on the left as well as a large ceramic cross in the foreground from Sergio Bustamante if that name means anything.

And the picture on the right shows Ganesh and Durga flanking Santa and a Chinese gong.

Elsewhere, one can find Noah's ark from Bustamante, a mezuzah, and four angels embossed onto brass:

 

[Balthazzar]

For me "worship" means recognizing those things of "awe" with proper appreciation. It doesn't do any good for the Creator, however that is envisioned, but it does a great deal of good for the planet, beginning with ourselves. I'm given peace, calm, love, hope, all those things and more, when I take a moment to deeply see the awe of this life and give the Universe a thanks. It makes me a better person and that improved energy in me shines outward onto others, as theirs comes to me.
Namaste

It's about honor and truth - Fear to fear, respect to respect, awe to awe, hurt to hurt, joy to joy, pleasure to pleasure, disdain to disdain, appreciation to appreciation, hostile to hostile, trust to trust, etc. We navigate our lives accordingly, either towards or from these things when we're sincere and honest about our experiences and how we relate to them.

I'm sure people "worship" in various ways. To each their own ... I'm sure.

Romans 13 comes to mind.