A question for non-theist UU's. (hell, attend, church, atheist)

[Nanda]

Originally Posted by robtex

thanks..your welcome. I may be the only atheist uu on here at this point. Most of the UU's on rf believe in a higher power. I think you now have 100 % partipation.

Isn't Jaymes an atheist UU?

Sense of community. Philosophical acceptance and or congruence to the 7 principles of UU. Academic study of religion. Promotion of the idea of everyone should be allowed to study and research religion and the question of God in a neutral place/environment .

Cool. Thank you.

[robtex]

Originally Posted by Nanda

Isn't Jaymes an atheist UU?

oh yea you are right!!

[Mr Spinkles]

I'm an atheist and I've been thinking for a long time about joining a UU church....belonging to such a community could be useful when I get married or when I die. I like the idea of having some sort of meaningful ceremony at my wedding or funeral, but I would prefer that it not be lead by a minister/rabbi/priest, etc., or by a judge. A UU minister seems like the solution.

[Trey of Diamonds]

Greetings,

My church has at least a couple atheist that I know of. They come for the community, the scholarly aspect, ie meaningful discussion on the different religions of the world, and most importantly, the coffee.

I know there is a small minority of atheists that seek to remove all aspects of religion from their lives and sometimes even from the lives of others but for the most part I would think atheists are as curious about life as anyone else. The UU church is a good place to find diverse information about the subject of religion with no pressure to change your own beliefs. Some of us would say it's the best place...

[Caina]

Sometimes we find ourselves behind enemy lines, even if only to see what weapons they are using on the children of today

[Trey of Diamonds]

Originally Posted by Caina

Sometimes we find ourselves behind enemy lines, even if only to see what weapons they are using on the children of today

That is one thing I have heard some athiest say is that they like the Religious Education classes of UU churches. They want their children to receive an unbiased introduction the all the worlds religions so that they can make their own choices when they are older.

[rojse]

No one has answered my question about what UU is. From what I have gathered on reading these new posts, UU provides some of the functions of a church, such as weddings, funerals, and community support, without including a heavy dose of one religion, or, if it does, it includes all of them. Am I right in what I surmise?

[Trey of Diamonds]

Originally Posted by rojse

No one has answered my question about what UU is. From what I have gathered on reading these new posts, UU provides some of the functions of a church, such as weddings, funerals, and community support, without including a heavy dose of one religion, or, if it does, it includes all of them. Am I right in what I surmise?

Oops, sorry. You gather correctly for the most part but if you ask 100 UUs what UUism is, you'll get 110 answers. For a pretty good overview check this thread out.

Unitarian Universalism Overview

For me, UU is a place to explore all the Worlds religions without being pressured by any of them to be something I'm not. And, it's a great place to drink coffee and chat.

[lilithu]

Originally Posted by rojse

No one has answered my question about what UU is. From what I have gathered on reading these new posts, UU provides some of the functions of a church, such as weddings, funerals, and community support, without including a heavy dose of one religion, or, if it does, it includes all of them. Am I right in what I surmise?

Unitarian Universalism is a religion in and of itself. While many religions focus on the nature of divinity, UUs focus on the nature of humanity. All UUs believe in the worth of human beings and from that agreement stems the other things that characterize UU. Believing in the inherent worth of humans, we believe that what arises from humanity is essentially good/worthwhile. Hence our broad tolerance of differences and our pluralistic approach to religious beliefs. Believing in the inherent worth of humans, we believe in human agency. Even those of us who are theists, myself included, believe that it is up to humans to make "heaven on earth."

Together - atheist and theist - Christian, Jew, and Pagan, etc - we share a common religious view of humanity.