People of Principle(a sermon delivered at the Hamburg Unitarian Universalist Church on March 16, 2003) It has often been said that Unitarian Universalists can believe anything they want to believe. I’ve even heard of people saying that UUs actually believe in nothing at all. And, while it is true that to become a member of a UU congregation, all you have to do is sign the membership book; that does not mean that that signature is not a significant act. By signing that book and joining a UU community, we make a statement about who we are and what we believe. The seven principles are the Unitarian Universalist Association’s attempt to put into words those beliefs that we UUs hold dear. In his book With Purpose and Principle, Ed Frost, a UU Minister in Atlanta says that our Principles are “a statement of things commonly believed among us” not “a statement that must be accepted to be counted among us.” To me, this is the most important message of our faith. The principles are not a creed that must be blindly followed to be a part of the church. They are not a dogmatic litany we must memorize and recite each week in a monotonous ritual (although I think it might be a good idea if we used responsive reading #594 a little more often). They are not commandments handed down by God that we must strictly adhere to in order to avoid damnation. The covenant of the Seven Principles is a guide to who we are, created by the UU people for the UU people. As Frost puts it, “Our principles are not the end of the search, they are a map for the search, a guide along the way.” As a relatively new UU, I enjoyed researching this topic. I learned a great deal about the history of Unitarian Universalism as well as our principles. The two are linked very closely as you will see. I have taken most of the information presented here from two sources: Unitarian Universalism in the Home, a book from the UUA, which I recommend to any of you who are now raising children in the UU church, and a sermon by Dr. David Sammons presented to the Mt. Diablo Unitarian Universalist Church in 1998. The Unitarian movement began with the Protestant Reformation led by Martin Luther. In that turbulent time, people of faith questioned all of the dogmatic teachings of the Catholic Church. The Unitarians believed in the unity of God, not in the Trinity of Father, Son, and Holy Ghost that the church had espoused since 325 A.D. This Unitarian philosophy spread across Europe, taking root most firmly in both Poland and Transylvania. The oldest Unitarian churches in the world still exist in Transylvania, which is now largely part of Romania. But changes in government and a resurgence of Catholicism in eastern Europe repressed these Unitarian movements. Universalism, which is the belief in an inclusive God who will save all humankind, not just those who have accepted a savior into their hearts, was more an opinion held by individuals than an actual movement during the early protestant reformation. This idea of Universal salvation is still a large part of our belief structure in the UU church, and one of the main reasons I became a Unitarian Universalist. But it was not until groups of Unitarians and Universalists began emigrating to the American colonies in search of religious freedom, that these two movements really began to take root and flourish. In fact, the first Universalist church in the world was formed in 1779 in Gloucester, Massachusetts. Most of these first Universalists were people who had been driven out of their own churches because of their belief in universal salvation. The Unitarians, on the other hand, already had some momentum in the new world from their European movement. Their philosophies grew throughout New England in the 18th century, eventually gaining great prominence when Henry Ware was elected as the chair of Divinity at Harvard. Many of Boston’s oldest and wealthiest churches became Unitarian in the years after this post was filled by a liberal religious leader. But it was still not until the early 19th century that either the Unitarians or the Universalists decided to formalize their beliefs in actual statements. Part of the reason for this delay is that neither religion wanted to be bound by a strict creed. They had felt the oppressive power of such creeds forced on them by other religions and did not want to make the same mistakes. They wished for a more democratic and less autocratic religion. In 1803, the Universalists adopted a statement called the Winchester Confession. It read:
This was summarized more succinctly in 1935. Some of the following words may sound quite familiar.
Additionally, the 20th Century Universalists added the following to the end of their statement of beliefs:
Obviously, the Universalists still stung from being forced from their churches for their belief in universal salvation, And, like the framers of the U.S Constitution, they sought to ensure that their faith would never seek to exclude anyone based on their religious beliefs. This was the first step in our religion away from dogma and persecution and toward a faith based on democracy and reason. The Unitarians first put their faith to paper in 1825 in the original by-laws of the American Unitarian Association. The By-laws simply stated “The great end of this association is the promotion of pure morals and practical piety.” The faith of the early Unitarians and Universalists was still heavily based in Christian theologies, but neither group sought to begin a new religious movement. They simply thought of themselves, as Dr. David Sammons puts it in his sermon, as “Christians untainted by such dogmas as the Trinity, the infallibility of the Bible, or the necessity of the death of Jesus for human salvation.” Later, though, many Unitarians began to move beyond the bounds of Christianity. A group called the Free Religious Association, which was composed of Unitarians, said in 1870 (again, you may hear some familiar phrases):
Both Unitarians and Universalists continued to move away from a theological philosophy of religion and toward a religion more based on human reason and intellect throughout the rest of the 19th century and early 20th century. At the end of World War II, the Unitarian Committee on Advance put forth five principles that all Unitarians could agree upon. These were: “Individual freedom of belief; discipleship to advancing truth; democratic process in human relations; universal brotherhood, undivided by nation, race or creed; and allegiance to the cause of a united world community.” You can see the early seeds of our own seven principles in this very un-religious sounding set of beliefs. The next development in the history of UU and our principles occurred in 1961 when the Unitarians and Universalists joined forces. The new Unitarian Universalist Association adopted the following statement: The members of the UUA, dedicated to the principles of a free faith, unite in seeking:
This statement served the purposes of the new UUA for 20 years. But fueled by a need for more gender-friendly language, and a call for a return to a less theological statement, the UUA established a committee to update the principles. What I find interesting about this process is not that it took three years to complete, but that so many people were involved in the end. Here is what Royal Jones, chair of the committee, had to say about the new Seven Principles, which were adopted by the UUA in 1984:
Our responsive reading today was adapted from the Seven Principles, but I think it is good for all of use to hear the actual words of the covenant again. These are powerful words; words that were not handed down from a god on stone tablets or imparted to humankind by a divine prophet. These are words created by men and women of reason in a democratic process used to find consensus among all the members of our faith.
The covenant goes on to cite the “living tradition” which we draw upon as sources for our purposes and principles. These are:
However, the truth of the matter is that the words themselves, as I said earlier, came from the people within the UU congregations. These sources certainly influenced the members, for we are an eclectic group from varied backgrounds who hold many beliefs. This is why we sometimes are seen as the church where you can believe anything. But to me, this is our greatest strength. Our faith, like our country, was founded on the principle of freedom. Freedom to think what you believe is true; freedom to follow your own path toward that truth; and freedom from persecution for your beliefs, words, or actions. We may all follow different paths toward truth, but as UUs we can all follow our separate paths together, without recrimination, without fear of scorn or ridicule, and without the dogma and ritual that binds—and too often blinds—other religions. I found it refreshing to sit here last week and listen to Dan O’Dell speak of his personal belief in reincarnation. I too believe in reincarnation. I feel, that we must all live through a number of lives, learning something from each life as we follow our own paths toward enlightenment. But, the amazing thing to me—and the true power of our church, I believe—is that someone can come in from the outside and feel free to espouse a belief that might not be held by the majority of the audience. I truly doubt any of us would feel comfortable discussing a belief in reincarnation in front of a Catholic congregation, or even a Lutheran, or any of the other religions born of the protestant reformation. Unitarian Universalism may have been born during the protestant reformation, but it is very much the child of democracy. In the UU church, we take the words “freedom of religion” to heart. Not only do we believe that we should be allowed to believe in our own religion without interference by the government. We also believe that everyone should be allowed to believe in their own religion, to follow their own path, in cooperation with each other, not in competition with one another. There is no true, one way. There is only your way and my way. We each have a path to follow, and if we should find ourselves on parallel paths, we can walk them together in the UU church, guided by the seven principles. |
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