[ExI] Meaning in life (Was: Who has a vote that counts?)

[SR Ballard]

They don’t know either.

As a Church they used to have a well defined set of beliefs:

Unitarian: God is one, not made of 3 persons. That is, they did not believe in the trinity.

Universalist: That ultimately, all people will be “saved”. 

Now the church is an odd vestage without and real beliefs beyond “free and responsible search for truth and meaning” 

For an overview of the “six sources and seven principles”:

We, the member congregations of the Unitarian Universalist Association, covenant to affirm and promote:

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.
The living tradition which we share draws from many sources:

Direct experience of that transcending mystery and wonder, affirmed in all cultures, which moves us to a renewal of the spirit and an openness to the forces which create and uphold life;
Words and deeds of prophetic people which challenge us to confront powers and structures of evil with justice, compassion, and the transforming power of love;
Wisdom from the world's religions which inspires us in our ethical and spiritual life;
Jewish and Christian teachings which call us to respond to God's love by loving our neighbors as ourselves;
Humanist teachings which counsel us to heed the guidance of reason and the results of science, and warn us against idolatries of the mind and spirit;
Spiritual teachings of earth-centered traditions which celebrate the sacred circle of life and instruct us to live in harmony with the rhythms of nature.
Grateful for the religious pluralism which enriches and ennobles our faith, we are inspired to deepen our understanding and expand our vision. As free congregations we enter into this covenant, promising to one another our mutual trust and support.


SR Ballard

> On Aug 3, 2020, at 10:32 AM, William Flynn Wallace via extropy-chat <extropy-chat at lists.extropy.org> wrote:
> 
> 
> 
>> On Mon, Aug 3, 2020 at 9:17 AM Dave Sill via extropy-chat <extropy-chat at lists.extropy.org> wrote:
>> Unitarian Universalists accept atheists.
> 
> Or anybody, huh?  I went once and could not figure out what they believed, if anything.  bill w
>> 
>>> On Sun, Aug 2, 2020, 11:13 AM spike jones via extropy-chat <extropy-chat at lists.extropy.org> wrote:
>>> 
>>> 
>>> -----Original Message-----
>>> From: extropy-chat <extropy-chat-bounces at lists.extropy.org> On Behalf Of Ben
>>> Zaiboc via extropy-chat
>>> Subject: Re: [ExI] Meaning in life (Was: Who has a vote that counts?)
>>> 
>>> On 01/08/2020 07:52, Someone, not clear who, wrote:
>>> >> Decline of religiousity means decreased social networks and lack of 
>>> > meaning in life
>>> 
>>> I find that at least misguided, if not obnoxious. It's the sort of thing I'd
>>> expect a religious apologist to say, not someone on this list.
>>> 
>>> You can possibly argue about the social networks aspect, and at least that
>>> is quantifiable, but the remark about meaning in life is totally
>>> unacceptable. It's another form of the specious 'Atheists must be very sad
>>> people' meme that the god-squad keep trotting out.
>>> 
>>> --
>>> Ben Zaiboc
>>> 
>>> _______________________________________________
>>> 
>>> 
>>> Ben what atheists really need is something to replace what churches once
>>> provided back in the days when most people went to one.  Bars and nightclubs
>>> kinda sorta do that for some people I suppose but it doesn't work well for
>>> those of us who don't do chemicals of any kind and aren't big sports people.
>>> 
>>> 
>>> We have a local chapter of Boring People, but I was thrown out for being
>>> interesting.  The interesting people won't have me because I am too boring.
>>> There is no place for those who are exactly between interesting and boring.
>>> Now I have no social contacts.
>>> 
>>> We atheists should be ready to admit the obvious: Religion Inc. does offer
>>> some social benefits which are hard to replace.
>>> 
>>> spike 
>>> 
>>> 
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