To me, it's about fidelity. Am I being faithful to my conscience, to my self? It's not really about what I believe or what I rely upon in God or other people. Rather it's about remembering to be open to Truth when it presents itself, and to search for it when it doesn't.
As I understand it, the principle of Universalism isn't that everyone goes to heaven; rather, it is that no one requires salvation. So that a belief or not in heaven is irrelevant, so long as you don't believe in hell.
Oh, I hope it didn't sound like I was questioning the need for protest. I was actually going to include the question, "Why isn't anyone protesting the law in Ohio?" Although it's likely that people are, and I just don't know about it.
What do UUs make of the strategy to target Prop 8 as a national issue?
I'm curious, for example, why people from other states are protesting a California law rather than working to make or change legislation in their own states. I recognize that the California situation is unique in that...
I was trying to highlight the difference between religious belief and knowledge. I believe in God (in some form or another) and my approach to life is affected by this belief, but I contend strongly that it's impossible for a human being to know certain things (like the existence or not of a...
Modern divorce rates are also a reflection of women being more capable (because of education and societal norms) to make a living for themselves now than the used to be able to do. Unhappy wives are no longer faced with the option of staying in an unhappy marriage or returning to live with...
If the KKK burns a cross on the lawn of an African-American couple that has just moved into the neighborhood, it's a message that screams clearly, "We don't want you or your kind here; leave or else!" How is this not an act of terrorism? Because no one dies? How about Emmett Till, who was...
My argument is that hate crimes ARE tactics, albeit not usually as heavily orchestrated as the kind of terrorist attacks we're used to thinking about. And there's plenty of terrorism that's motivated by hate.
In the way that we declare which religions are "normal" and which aren't. We might decide that it's okay for a woman to wear a head scarf because it's fairly common and we're used to seeing it. Someone else of a different faith might want to wear a full headdress of some kind, and that would...
That sounds fine in theory, but there's inconsistency within religions. Not all Muslim women believe they should cover their heads, for example. So which interpretation do you go with? Do you say, "Well, we know you're a less conservative Muslim, so we won't let you wear it?"
I feel like...
I just don't see how we can look at a person who is suffering terrible pain with no hope of improvement, and say to them, "I'm sorry, but you have to keep suffering indefinitely because God/nature wants it that way."
But who is the authority on what's required? I could easily declare that my faith requires me to wear a silver chalice from my neck. Who has the right to disagree with me and say, "No, we've studied what you believe, and we know that your belief doesn't actually include that."
Didn't Ann Coulter write a book a few years ago which, among other absurdities, attempted to lionize McCarthy as an American hero? I didn't read the book, but I have a vague memory of her talking about it on some show (probably Larry King).
I wrote an article about this subject a few years back. I hope no one objects if I share.
If you don't feel like reading it, my contention is that "hate crimes" are acts of terrorism and should be treated as such.
Overlooked Terror
August, 2004
I don’t know why Abdul Wahab Al-Sheikh...
What's interesting to me is the notion that health of a nation (specifically the U.S., which will be the implicit country of reference in my ensuing remarks) is measured in economic terms -- how many are employed, yes, but also how much are we buying. Last summer we were given stimulus checks...
No, but two people can drive two separate cars.
Being married doesn't mean you have to substitute your spirituality for someone else's. There are all kinds of arguments for why you'd want to make the journey together, but ultimately we're the only ones that live in our own heads. If a...
An interfering God is possible, but I suspect most interference is subtle whispering in my ear. I won't discount the alternative though.
I don't believe that God intervenes in my life in a way that's easily measurable. I sometimes think he (she, it, whatever) communicates with me through...
Well, I should clarify...I think there MIGHT be some sort of celestial punishment, but I don't think it's possible to sin yourself out of salvation. I do not think that God is sitting there at the Pearly Gates when you die with a list of all the sins you committed in life, deciding whether you...