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Unitarian Universalists have a deeply ambivalent relationship with
Christianity. On the one hand, our roots lie deeply embedded in
Christianity. On the other, we spent a century or so slowly pulling away
from our Christian parents and taking up new residence. Today we no
longer describe ourselves as a Christian church. Many of our members are
refugees from various Christian churches and groups. Many others, those
who grew up in Unitarian or Universalist churches, have never been
Christian and have little experience of Christian services first hand.
In our churches, including our own, we find a certain level of
hostility or at least discomfort with Christian practices and/or forms.
Unlike our relationship with Judaism, Buddhism, Hinduism, and other
religious traditions, we tend to hold Christianity at arms length.
Let’s put this in perspective. There are over 2 billion members of
the Christian Church around the world, about one third of the
inhabitants of the Earth. That membership is incredibly rich in its
diversity. There are Orthodox Christians in Russia and Greece and many
other parts of the world, still practicing forms of worship created in
the time just after Jesus’ death. With the sounds and smells of ancient
times, they carry forward the old ways. The Roman Catholic Church, in
all its pomp and glory also carries forth many of the old ways, but
there have been many changes. After the Protestant Reformation, the type
of Christian Churches grew, almost overnight, to number in the hundreds.
That trend continues to this day.
Jesus was not the founder of the Christian Church. Paul, the former
tax collector turned prophet, administrator, was the founder. It grew
from his initial efforts. Jesus was not the kind of person, nor his
teachings the kind of teachings, that would inspire organizations to
form. To the contrary, one of the most vivid scenes in the Bible is
Jesus running the merchants out of the temple, out of “my Father’s
house.” He preached, vehemently, about his opposition to the ascendancy
of the law and rules in Judaism, and the loss of living the core values
of love for ones fellow human beings.
Jesus also attacked the stratification in Jewish society. It was not
accidental that his core teaching of compassion was of the good
Samaritan helping a Levite. A person from a higher class helping one
from a lower class.
As I said, there are so many forms of Christianity. For our purposes
today, let’s put them into two major classifications, liberal and
conservative. We could use the terms progressive and traditional as
well.
On the surface, you ride down the main street of any American town
and the churches all look alike from the outside. But once inside, you
may discover worlds so different that, at times, it seems like different
religions. Let’s explore the differences.
In a liberal Christian church, whether that be the United Church of
Christ, the First Christian Church (Disciple of Christ), Unitarian
Universalist Christians or many others, the tone and substance of the
dialogue is very different than that of a conservative, evangelical
church. A liberal church stresses NOT knowing. Not knowing if Jesus is
THE son of God or A son of God. Not knowing if Jesus was literally
resurrected from death. Not knowing the literal truth of the virgin
birth of Jesus. Not knowing what parts of the Bible are symbolic, rich
story, what parts informed “truth.” To liberals, the Bible is an oral
history of the peoples of that area in the Middle East which includes
transmitted wisdom stories that have been passed down over thousands of
years. They are of great interest, but are not the direct word of God.
In services, lessons will be taken from the Bible, but also from many
other religious sources, just like us. In these churches, there is
respect and care for gays and lesbians. (Some of the most effective
national ads promoting full gay and lesbian participation in churches
were created by the United Church of Christ). There is widespread
support for Roe v. Wade in these Christian churches. The theory of
evolution is assumed to explain the creation and development of life on
Earth. Science is embraced. In the liberal tradition, in other words,
life is seen in all its complexity. And all are invited along for the
journey.
The conservative traditional wing of the Christian Church in their
teachings and evangelical activities in its support, insist on a dogma
of certainty. Jesus was THE son of God. He was born of the virgin Mary.
He does sit on the right hand of God and judges us. The trinity, Father,
Son, and Holy Ghost, rule the world of spirit. Gays and lesbians are
sick or misinformed and need to be saved. We all are saved if we accept
Jesus as our saviour. If not saved, we are going to hell. Abortion is
evil. There will come a day of reckoning in which the saved will be
swept up into heaven to live with Jesus, and all the rest of humankind
will perish. The Bible is the absolute, literal word of God and cannot
be questioned. It is not comparative truth. Our culture and the culture
of the Jews of Galilee of that time are the same in their minds. There
is a heaven and there most definitely is a hell where the devil waits
for you. The more you sin, the closer you are to that destination.
The most important distinction of all, and to some the most
maddening, is that the Christian conservatives (as well as conservatives
of almost every other religion) believe that theirs is the only way, the
only one true religion. They do not recognize Judaism, Buddhism,
Unitarian Universalism, or any other religion. We are wrong. And we are
all going to hell.
It is both maddening, and utterly sincere. They feel badly for us,
that we do not have the truth. They will willingly, happily, give us
that truth to live.
It is a way of being that in our liberal minds distorts, disfigures, and
ultimately, destroys. As I have asked in the past, how many wars have
been created by religious groups who are “Right.” Most of them. Such
rigid dogma is what, primarily, gave rise to the entire liberal movement
in Christianity, including Unitarian Universalism. Heresy made concrete.
Now……..
I just wrote, then said, every word I did from a liberal mind set. It is
who I am. It has been so since I was young. Just as many conservatives
look at life from their lifetime, learned position, so do I. We must
find bridges, translators if we are ever to meet in the middle. There
are those who defect in both directions. Perhaps they are the prophets
of reconciliation of the future, having lived in both worlds.
Here is Anglican priest David Keighley speaking to his move from his
conservative life.
LEAVING HOME
I'm off!
I must leave the political and ethical compromises that have corrupted
the faith of my Jesus.
I must leave the stifling theology, the patriarchal structures.
I must leave the enduring prejudices based on our God-given humanity,
the colour of my skin, my gender or how my sexual orientation is
practiced.
I must leave the mentality that encourages anyone to think that our
doctrines are unchangeable.
I must leave the belief of those who insist that our sacred texts are
without error.
I must leave the God of miracle and magic.
I must leave the promises of certainty, the illusion of possessing the
true faith.
I must leave behind the claims of being the recipient of an
unchallengeable revelation.
I must leave the neurotic religious desire to know that I am right, and
to play at being God.
I must leave the claim that every other pathway to God is second-rate,
that fellow Hindu
searchers in India, Buddhists in China and Tibet, Muslims in the Middle
East and the Jews of Israel are inadequate.
I must leave the pathway that tells me that all other directions will
get me lost.
I must leave the certain claim that my Jesus is the only way to God for
everyone.
I must leave the ultimate act of human folly that says it is.
I must leave the Church, my home.
I must leave behind my familiar creeds and faith-symbols.
I can no longer stay in an unliveable place.
I must move to where there is no theism, but still God.
I'm off! But to where, God only knows.
There is hope for reconciliation and change. In The Soul of
Christianity, Huston Smith passionately describes the movement to return
to 1st Century Christianity, a time before institutionalization, a time
when there were those still alive who remembered the direct teachings of
Jesus of Nazareth. Radical love and compassion to all. Justice for the
oppressed. Equality. Loving one’s enemies, as Martin Luther King would
practice 20 centuries later. There is also a love that is felt in
Christian services, particularly around the experience of communion,
that we could well emulate. It is through communion that a link is
carried out, in the Christian mind, from me to God, from me to Jesus and
back. For us, communion is a different but still potentially rewarding,
connecting, intimate experience that reminds us of the interconnected
web of existence of which we are a part.
Today, with Ruthanne Cauley’s help, we are going to experience the
ritual of communion. We practice it, in part, to show our support of our
liberal Christian brothers and sisters. It will not be a Christian
communion, but a Unitarian Universalist communion, held in the style of
a Christian communion. No one need participate who feels uncomfortable.
When sitting, reflect on gratitude for life
Repeat, “We are grateful”
“We break this bread to symbolize all the gifts that we receive from
nature. The food we eat to live, the beauty that nurtures our souls, and
the universe itself, in which we have been given a place of abundant
life. We are grateful.”
“We drink this non-alcoholic wine to celebrate the rivers and the seas,
all the great waters of the Earth. Waters that give us life within and
without. We are grateful.”
“We celebrate this ritual to thank the great spiritual teachers who have
graced us with their wisdom. Jesus of Nazareth, Buddha, Moses, Lao Tzu,
Mohammed, Krishna, Black Elk, and many others. We are grateful.”
(As I say each paragraph, ask congregation to join in with, “we are
grateful.”)
Every movement has its light and its darkness. All organized
religions have displayed both, the darkness in frightening ways. No less
Christianity. There is less hope in the world after the terrible losses
of the 20th Century. 160 million people died in wars, the most
destructive century in the history of the world, despite, in part
because of, unprecedented technological advances. We now have the power
to destroy ourselves. How is lasting peace ever to be established?
Well, I don’t know for sure, but I do know that the Christian message
of love and charity for all can be, and frequently is, a part of the
solution. It is sad to count the ways in which all the traditions have
failed. However, if we are to have any chance of surviving, much less
thriving, in a future world, we must embrace, truly embrace, the best of
who we are. We, and the Christians, and the Buddhists, and the Muslims
and the Jews, and…..
It is time to begin.
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