I find the three choices very pat. Either reject direct experience or reject family experience or the clearly superior intellectual middle path...
I agree with you that many UU congregations are filled with people who are not-Christians. I personally see this as a major challenge of UU's non-creedal approach - what are we? Are we Christians? kinda, sometimes. Are we atheists/agnostics? Kinda, sometimes. Are we pagans, buddists, jews, etc etc? Well, kinda.
We in many ways have fundamentally redefined religion to be something very very different than Christianity and other monotheistic beliefs, even if one is able believe in the divinity of Christ and be a UU.
Most religions do not allow for full freedom of spiritual exploration. There are VERY clear litmus tests - if you don't believe in y or z, you cannot call yourself an x (or at least not one in good standing). this has lead to the good ole protestant tradition of church shopping. Don't agree with what is being said in the pulpit? Keep going down the road, there will be another church more to your liking elsewhere.
This is the context of religious exploration in this country. But keep something in mind - UUs who believe in Christ as their savior have MANY options other than UU - there are a number of liberal Christian churches out there. But atheists and agnostics have no other options if they want to belong to a religious tradition AND be open about their beliefs. So this is where the defensiveness comes from, I think. To finally feel like there is a home, but then see that home potentially threatened by people who have other options, and take those options rather lightly.
I actually wrote something about this for service on sunday (which I missed due to a migraine, but someone read it for me). I'll post it on my LJ.
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I agree with you that many UU congregations are filled with people who are not-Christians. I personally see this as a major challenge of UU's non-creedal approach - what are we? Are we Christians? kinda, sometimes. Are we atheists/agnostics? Kinda, sometimes. Are we pagans, buddists, jews, etc etc? Well, kinda.
We in many ways have fundamentally redefined religion to be something very very different than Christianity and other monotheistic beliefs, even if one is able believe in the divinity of Christ and be a UU.
Most religions do not allow for full freedom of spiritual exploration. There are VERY clear litmus tests - if you don't believe in y or z, you cannot call yourself an x (or at least not one in good standing). this has lead to the good ole protestant tradition of church shopping. Don't agree with what is being said in the pulpit? Keep going down the road, there will be another church more to your liking elsewhere.
This is the context of religious exploration in this country. But keep something in mind - UUs who believe in Christ as their savior have MANY options other than UU - there are a number of liberal Christian churches out there. But atheists and agnostics have no other options if they want to belong to a religious tradition AND be open about their beliefs. So this is where the defensiveness comes from, I think. To finally feel like there is a home, but then see that home potentially threatened by people who have other options, and take those options rather lightly.
I actually wrote something about this for service on sunday (which I missed due to a migraine, but someone read it for me). I'll post it on my LJ.