Why Did You Join UU (ritual, tradition, beliefs, church)

[spiritually inclined]

Why did you become a Unitarian Universalist? How does it benefit you spiritually and otherwise?

James

[robtex]

Originally Posted by spiritually inclined

Why did you become a Unitarian Universalist? How does it benefit you spiritually and otherwise?

James

I was drawn to it to study religion at the time I joined. I am not active now cause I figure I got where i want to be knowledge-wise but what separates UU from all other religious study, and this is paramount to me, is two things:

1) UU looks at all of them not just "the one true faith"

and more imporantly,

2) UU is an academic inquiry vs an agended inquiry. You aren't gonna get a sales-pitch, on which way to lean. You just get the info from multiple sources and multiple ideas and it is your info to evaluate with no pressure from the institution itself.

[applewuud]

I became a UU because theologically I had no where else to go, nothing else rang true. I want to be engaged in a spiritual quest, to find deeper meanings and better ways of living, without the appeal to a supernatural "revelation" that claims special and ultimate authority but over and over again proved to be less than ultimate.

(It brings to mind what an ex-__________ said on a PBS documentary: "It may be the greatest thing ever invented, but if it's invented, it's not worth risking my life for" or something like that...)

One could argue that we could hold our convictions privately, without need of a church, and many quasi-UUs do just that. For me, being a part of a religious organization does two things: first, it challenges me to build my belief system by exposing it to others with sometimes-complementary, sometimes-challenging ideas, and second, it allows us to act in the world more powerfully than we would alone to advance the cause of freedom, reason, and tolerance.

Spiritually and psychologically, being a UU benefits me by being in an environment that doesn't split my mind from my heart. Practically, it gives me a place separate from the secular world where I can act on my ideas without it being an exercise in futility. Socially, it's a place to do the sometimes-difficult work of being in community with a commitment to try to make the world a better place and advance our knowledge, to see life clearly and to see it whole.

[BrandonE]

My wife and I joined our UU church largely to offer our son a broader Religious Education than we could individually give him and expose him to a variety of people with a variety of beliefs. We got the added benefit of having our assumptions challenged every week, as well as fellowship with like-minded individuals that we wouldn't have otherwise me in our very conservative southern city.

[uu_sage]

I joined our larger faith for several reasons
1) While we are rooted in a liberal, heretical Christianity and Judaism we are free to draw from, and be influenced by all of the world's great religious traditions.
2) A disciplined search of truth without dogmas or creeds
3) an emphasis on social justice and empowering the "least of these"
4) the distinct messages of classical Universalism and classical Unitarianism.

[Trey of Diamonds]

Originally Posted by robtex

I was drawn to it to study religion at the time I joined. I am not active now cause I figure I got where i want to be knowledge-wise but what separates UU from all other religious study, and this is paramount to me, is two things:

1) UU looks at all of them not just "the one true faith"

and more imporantly,

2) UU is an academic inquiry vs an agended inquiry. You aren't gonna get a sales-pitch, on which way to lean. You just get the info from multiple sources and multiple ideas and it is your info to evaluate with no pressure from the institution itself.

Umm, what he said.

Originally Posted by BrandonE

My wife and I joined our UU church largely to offer our son a broader Religious Education than we could individually give him and expose him to a variety of people with a variety of beliefs. We got the added benefit of having our assumptions challenged every week, as well as fellowship with like-minded individuals that we wouldn't have otherwise me in our very conservative southern city.

Oooo, and him too!

[lilithu]

Originally Posted by spiritually inclined

Why did you become a Unitarian Universalist? How does it benefit you spiritually and otherwise?

James

The looong answer can be found here:
http://www.wizdum.net/?q=taxonomy/term/40


The long-answer-short is two-fold:

1. Why did I join any kind of religious community in the first place?

Because I do better spiritually in a community than I do on my own. When left just to myself, I tend to put off things that are inconvenient, like volunteering. ("Oh yeah, I meant to do that but I was busy; maybe next month.") Or spiritual practice ("Yeah, I know I should meditate but I'm really busy, maybe next week.") When left just to myself, I can rationalize all sorts of things that maybe aren't the best for me or others. When left just to myself, I can sometimes wallow in depression.


2. Why did I specifically join UU?

Because Unitarian Universalism affirms that my natural inclination to ask questions, to re-evaluate/reinterpret, to trust my own intuition and experiences and reason. UU says not only are these things ok, but they're good. They are what a spiritual being SHOULD be doing. It was the first time I ever heard that explicitly coming from a religion, so I signed up.

[spiritually inclined]

Litithu, I like UU for the same reasons, and I think it would be a better choice for me than the Episcopalian church because it is so open and diverse, and I want to learn about all religions, not just one, though I do like the Eucharist, re-interpretted to remove elements of canibalism, of course.

James

[lilithu]

Originally Posted by spiritually inclined

Litithu, I like UU for the same reasons, and I think it would be a better choice for me than the Episcopalian church because it is so open and diverse, and I want to learn about all religions, not just one, though I do like the Eucharist, re-interpretted to remove elements of canibalism, of course.

James

What really needs to be done is to resurrect the Congregation of Abraxas.