BEING UNITARIAN UNIVERSALIST

A situation I am dealing with in my congregation has me pondering what it is that defines Unitarian Universalism. 

I look around our Meeting Room in the UU Fellowship here at Mile Marker 1, just one mile from the start of everything, and I see the current Purposes and Principles of our movement.  

They are a wonderful statement of ethics and faith:

• The inherent worth and dignity of every person;
• Justice, equity and compassion in human relations;
• Acceptance of one another and encouragement to spiritual growth in our congregations; 
  
• A free and responsible search for truth and meaning; 
  
• The right of conscience and the use of the democratic process within our congregations and in society at large; 
  
• The goal of world community with peace, liberty, and justice for all; 
  
• Respect for the interdependent web of all existence of which we are a part.
  

However, are they really definitive of a distinct faith tradition?  I suspect that every one of those principles is affirmed in more than one religion. 

It takes a little more reading, and some historical sleuthing to go further.  

Just beyond the Principles in our Association's Bylaws is a section on Freedom of Belief: 

Nothing herein shall be deemed to infringe upon the individual freedom of belief which is inherent in the Universalist and Unitarian heritages or to conflict with any statement of purpose, covenant, or bond of union used by any congregation unless such is used as a creedal test.

This "liberty" clause, or a version of it, has been  included in every statement of faith in the history of Unitarian Universalism, and of Universalism before the consolidation. 

It is what establishes us as a non-creedal religion.  It says that while we affirm certain principles, we do NOT require a unfied interpretation of those principles.  

No one person's understanding of the implications of those principles is binding on any other, nor upon the whole.  For UUs, dogma is not the content of a doctrinal statement but any insistence that certain beliefs or actions must consequentially flow from our shared values. 

So, if any individual Unitarian Universalist were to say: "See things my way, or else!," it would be a most un-UU statement, because in the whole history of our movement Freedom of Belief trumps any stated Principles.  

At its core, Unitarian Universalism is about that Freedom of Belief, which also implies that when people are free in their faith, not bound to one interpretation of important principles nor bound to one expectation of action, a wider truth, a greater good, a deep faith will result.