conversions from UU

[robtex]

I got a conversion pitch last week from a Christian and I want to run it by you cause it has merit and wondered if any of yall have gotten this.

He asked me what UU was and I told him that UU was about the search for each indivduals own spirtuality and it about addressing the questions instead of knowing the answers. I qouted the Dali Lama who once said, "All religions have a piece of the truth and a hindu saying that paraphrased goes, "there are many paths to the same truth."

He looked at me and said paraphrased, "Look you are 36 how long are you going to keep looking. Sooner or later you have to decide don't you."

Than he went on with the Jesus died on the cross for you sins speech yada yada yada,

but does he have a point...does UU lack validity because it never reaches a verdict?

 

[Lintu]

If UUism is really about asking questions and not settling down on anything, then it is not lacking any sort of validity. It would only be lacking validity if it strove for one goal that it could never fulfill.

 

[Green Gaia]

UU is not asking the questions, we are, UU allows so to do that. That doesn't mean that we have to stop being UU once we find the answers.

 

[lilithu]

but does he have a point...does UU lack validity because it never reaches a verdict?

Yes, he does have a point. I think it''s a telling statistic that only 10% of UUs are raised within UU. What it says is that we continually lose people and then replace them from without.

In some ways, we are a spiritual half-way house. We attract people who are fleeing the dogma of the religions in which they grew up but are not ready to reject religion altogether, and we attract people who did not grow up with any particular religion but now are interested in easing into it. Within our nurturing congregations, people get comfortable enough to take the final steps that they otherwise would have been afraid to do - they either leave because they no longer need religion or they leave because they seek something more definative.

I personally know a couple of guys who have left my church in the last year, both going to the Episcopalians. And ya know what? - I'm really happy for them, and for us. I am happy that the church did what it promised to do in terms of helping them to find their own paths.

But it does speak to your friend's point. I don't know if it necessarily means that we lack validity. That depends on what we want to be valid about. But I do think that it means that we, as a religion, lack depth. Individuals within UU are allowed (of course) to pursue greater depth within other traditions or a combination thereof, but UU itself is broad, general, and shallow. We have our seven principles, but even those are not mandatory beliefs. No one is required to believe that everyone have inherent worth and dignity, and I know plenty of UUs who don't. (Not to mention that the seven principles are completely secular.) That's why we continue to have so much trouble articulating what we as a group believe.

 

[Scuba Pete]

I was asked to poke my head in here {I am honored) I believe since my decisions ultimately took me away from being a UU.

For what it's worth, I honestly believe that UUs ALWAYS make a verdict albeit, sometimes they don't even realise it. In fact, most decisions are made by indecision and rightfully so! Many things we are presented with simply are not worthy of active decisions.

The typical UU mindset is one of constant seeking. That ain't a bad thing. People who search without pride or prejudice are what I call "Honest Seekers". There are many UUs who fit this profile perfectly as they have learned the truly magic words: "I just don't know". However, if you look hard and long enough you just might find what you are really looking for. I sure did!