The Sedona Unitarian Universalist Fellowship is a welcoming place. But it’s not a good fit for everyone. For several reasons, people might want to look elsewhere.
One reason is assuming that “Unitarians can believe Anything they want.”
Of course, Unitarians admit that their beliefs differ from those of most other religious groups. As Daniel Kanter, Minister at the First Unitarian Church of Dallas, asserts, “We believe Jesus was man; God is mystery; and Salvation comes from acting on ethical principles.”
However, he also identifies many things that Unitarians don’t believe:
- They don’t believe in limiting people because of their race, gender, ability or disability.
- They don’t believe in unfairness toward anyone for their choices or loves.
- They don’t believe in destroying the environment.
- They don’t believe that injustice and poverty are just ill-fated accidents for which we are not accountable
Yes, Unitarians’ do value freedom of beliefs about theology; that’s an individual’s prerogative.
However, they don’t want their members to have beliefs that lead to being destructive, violent, abusive, or that create more harm than good.
They’d also rather that Unitarians not think that they have all the answers. They‘d rather their members not think that their notion of God is better than any other religion’s, or that their notion is better than their neighbor’s.
They prefer to leave open the question of God–knowing that to try to put God in a box is a perilous activity.
So newcomers who want a congregation where they can believe “Anything” wouldn’t be happy as Unitarians.
There are a few other reasons to avoid the Sedona Unitarian Universalist Fellowship. To learn them, watch this space in coming weeks.
April 12, 2024