Truth how Unitarian Universalists find it

 

Well, your question by itself is contradictory to some meanings of the  
word faith, and so a little silly, but furthmore, you don't.  Ours just  
isn't a "one true faith" sort of a faith.  The fundamental core is that  
everyone must find the religion that is right for them.  We are  
non-dogmatic in nature.  Belief in Unitarian Universalism does not  
preclude belief in other religions.  I've known Christian UU's, Jewish  
UU's, atheist UU's and Buddhist UU's.  

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I am a Pagan and a Witch (hello UU's ! un-lurking to answer...Would probably  
be a CUUPS if there were one in Tucson.)  

My particular melange of beliefs Works for ME...Might not work for you.  
Doesn't even work for some Fellow Witches I know !  

I was a Pagan even when doing the cultural Christian thing. Nature has always  
called to me...I have always had a sensitivity to Nature's energy.  

To find YOUR "true calling" you have to spend some time getting to know who  
YOU are. Someone on the Pagan side of the fence said...  

"If that which you seek, you find not within yourself, you will never find it  
without."  

What works for YOU will resonate for you when you find it...like two voices  
slowly coming into unison.  

Blessings !  

Kayt  
Tucson AZ  

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neves wrote:  

> How does one learn that yours is the one true faith?  

UUism does not make any such claim.  

Check out www.uua.org for detailed information.  

++++++++  

You can either visit a UU church near you or pop in to the Unitarian  
Universalist web page at www.uua.org and find a link to something close  
to you.  

++++++++  

If you ever come to the conclusion that yours is the "one true faith",  
you will see an example of how the human ego blinds people, and you  
will have become a bigot.  

It's your choice.  

Night Sky  

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Well, for one thing Unitarian Universalism doesn't claim to be the one  
true faith.  First off, faith is not a prerequisite to being UU.  No  
gods, idols, dogma, holy book, pope, bishop.  

Welcome to heaven (or hell).  Subject to debate.  

Sorry to be boring.  

Eric  

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My answer would be other questions.  

Why MUST there be only one true faith?  

Why should we assume that there is only one path to salvation?  

How hard would it be to assume that God could be larger than any truth  
we yet know?  

Could it be that all the truth that we know is simply a construct of  
earlier peoples conceptions of the world around them?  

Is there a possibility that the one true path has yet to be found?  

Could there be no true path at all?  

--  
Hayden C. Jones  
Writing from the small town of Dahlgren Va.  
I don't need Warhol's 15 minutes, I have a website!  
http://www.geocities.com/SoHo/8451/  
hayjones@crosslink.net  

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Having seen this message on the newsgroup soc.religion.unitarian-univ,  
I've become curious as to your purpose in asking.  From the rather  
general form of your question, I guess that you have cross posted the  
question to a number of different groups, and that you will eventually  
compare the responses that you receive and try to draw some overall  
conclusions.  I'm interested in knowing what motivated you to gather  
this information, and what you plan to do with it in the end.  Are you  
looking for a direction for your personal spiritual growth, or are you  
preparing some sort of scientific study?  In any case, will your general  
conclusions and observations ever be available on the net?  I would be  
interested in hearing what you find...  

As for my views on "one true faith," I think that any claim to ultimate  
truth is rather arrogant.  Rather, we must all do the best we can as  
individuals to understand the world, in social, scientific, and  
spiritual ways.  While we can help each other along the way and draw  
truth from many sources, in the end the choice of what to believe  
belongs to each individual alone.  It's a rather awesome responsibility,  
choice, and many opt to give that decision to others.  In my experience,  
Unitarian Universalists (myself among them) tend to cherish that  
freedom, and find great satisfaction in the quest for deeper  
understanding.  

Having said that, I must admit that I personally _do_ take a number of  
things on faith.  I am a physicist, and as such I have faith that the  
universe does, in fact, exist, and that if we are careful, the  
observations that we make of it with our senses can give us more or less  
valid information about reality.  

On the other hand, I believe that there is more to existence than will  
ever be expressed in equations of mathematical physics, however  
beautiful those equations might be, though what that "more" consists of  
I am not sure.  Perhaps it is merely a reflection of the infinite beauty  
and complexity of the universe, and the belief that there will always be  
more to learn and to know.  

Finally, I like to believe that somewhere within that "more" lies a  
universal tendency toward good, whatever that means, and that it is our  
responsibility as thinking beings to nurture that tendency along the  
way.  

This still leaves open the question of _why_ I hold those beliefs, which  
is really what you were asking in the first place.  I find that the  
first belief that I mentioned follows fairly directly from my experience  
in observing the world: many other scenarios are possible, but I have  
yet to find a problem with the simplest explanation, so I'll stick to it  
until and unless I do find one.  
The second belief that I mentioned has two entirely different roots.  
One is related to Godel's Incompleteness Theorem, which suggests that no  
matter how detailed your mathematical theory, there will always be  
truths that it cannot explain.  The other is much more intuitive: I am  
often awestruck by the incredible mysteries of life, and cannot bring  
myself to believe that I or any other person will ever truly understand  
them.  

Finally, my belief in a universal good has no basis at all.  I've found,  
however, that life is a much more satisfying experience when I maintain  
a sense of hope than when I do not, and that I feel better about myself  
when I am acting to make the world a better place in whatever ways I  
know how.  

This was probably far more than you were looking for, and not really  
relevant to your overall goals, but as I said, one's faiths are personal  
things, and thus it was either this answer to your question or none.  
Best wishes on your project, whatever it is.  

  Steuard Jensen Steuard_Jensen@hmc.edu  

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The one true faith is that there are many conflicting points of view,  
all of which have the same standing and deserve our consideration and  
our respect.  

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I like the pop song that said "What if God is one of us?"  

 My answer is you can't know if I have the one true Faith.  
Only I can know that, and that knowledge is limited to my self.  
Even if we say the same words - like a sinners prayer, or  
creed, that is only words said in hope.  The impact in our  
heart, is illusion.  As in the "Prophet" I can only bring  
you to the door of my understanding, it is yours to open  
and understand.  

Ken Rhoades  
In His Service  

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