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1. 

   SunshinEsBH
   Member

   Just a general question for everyone.

   Recently found out about the Unitarian Universalist church (thanks to Google and trying to find an atheist group in North Houston) Went to their service a few weeks back and I actually enjoyed it. I haven’t been back since due to study pressures but am intrigued by the movement. They didn’t seem fazed at all by my atheism in fact the Reverend told me that several of her congregants were atheists. Which was really good to hear.

   Has anyone had dealings with the Unitarian Universalist church? I have in my past been a fundie born-again and I really don’t want to go down any similar paths again, as I;m sure most of you will understand.

   Posted 1 year ago #
2. 

   UrsaMinor
   Member

   I have several friends who are UUers, and as a result I've attended two weddings at two different UU churches. The overall feel is Christianity Lite; they've kept a lot of the ritual that people seem to like, but they don't insist on connecting it to any deity.

   In the words of Douglas Adams, "Mostly harmless." Individual congregations will differ, I would imagine.

   Posted 1 year ago #
3. 

   FO
   Member

   Well, if you do benefit from it and realize that their belief may or may not be true and treat them accordingly, it's probably more good than bad.

   Posted 1 year ago #
4. 

   Elemenope
   Moderator

   I grew up in a UU congregation, though I wouldn't really say I ever was one. One thing you definitely don't have to worry about with them is going down any fundie path; they are as far from that as can reasonably be conceived (I tend to think of them somewhat pejoratively as militant agnostics, but that's not quite fair). They tend to skew wealthy, educated, and liberal (much like Congregationalists and Presbyterians), sometimes to an obnoxious point on the liberal end.

   My one big criticism of their approach to religion is that they are sloppy syncretists; they like to borrow from traditions around the world, but are generally heedless of (and painfully unconcerned with) the contexts in which those traditions invest their ideas and rituals with meaning; kinda like new-age with a specifically religious bent. On the plus side, UU congregations tend to be quite gay and trans friendly, and in my personal (albeit limited) experience tend to be more racially integrated than your average randomly selected church congregation. They don't put up with misogynistic guff, either.

   Posted 1 year ago #
5. 

   Ty
   Moderator

   One of the biggest benefits to my disbelief was losing the requirement of going to church.

   No matter how awesomely atheist friendly a church is, I can't imagine wanting to spend my Sundays doing it.

   YMMV.

   Posted 1 year ago #
6. 

   Bill
   Member

   As near as I can tell UU is methodone for hardcore religion addicts. It provides one additional step in the path to giving up church entirely.

   Fundamentalist (Baptist etc...) - Moderate (Lutheran etc...) - Liberal (Presbyterian USA etc...) - UU - I sleep in on Sunday.

   Posted 1 year ago #
7. 

   Ty
   Moderator

   Wow, I went cold turkey from Fundie to spending Sundays drinking booze and watching R rated movies.

   Posted 1 year ago #
8. 

   vorjack
   Moderator

   As near as I can tell UU is methodone for hardcore religion addicts

   Erasmus Darwin once called Unitarianism, "a feather-bed to catch a falling Christian."

   His son-in-law - Charles' father - was a proud Unitarian. I wonder what he thought about that.

   Posted 1 year ago #
9. 

   Bill
   Member

   Ty - the progression isn't complete until it's Sunday morning with drugs and porn.

   Posted 1 year ago #
10. 

    Brian K
    Member

    well..anything that interferes with MY addiction (fanatical cycling or hiking) is not going to attract me.

    riffing off ELEMOPE, I wouldn't characterize them as "limousine liberals"...maybe "Prius Liberals" or "Volvo Liberals"*

    * No disrespect meant to a Prius or Volvo driveron the Board, LOL

    Posted 1 year ago #
11. 

    Ty
    Moderator

    "Ty - the progression isn't complete until it's Sunday morning with drugs and porn. "

    I don't like drugs (the only ones that seem to work on me are opiates, and those make me vomit), and my version of porn is Monica Bellucci movies. Is that the same?

    Posted 1 year ago #
12. 

    Bill
    Member

    Whatever floats your boat.

    Posted 1 year ago #
13. 

    Ty
    Moderator

    I don't want to do atheism wrong.

    Posted 1 year ago #
14. 

    Bill
    Member

    Have you run this by the International Committe On Atheism?

    Posted 1 year ago #
15. 

    Brian K
    Member

    Nobody expects The Atheist Inquisitin!

    Conform or be CAST OUT! :)

    Posted 1 year ago #
16. 

    Nox
    Member

    An accepting and non-judgmental lot. Kind of fluffy and unnecessary. But I guess if you really wanted to go to a church, it could be one of the better choices.

    Posted 1 year ago #
17. 

    SunshinEsBH
    Member

    Thanks everybody, your comments are really appreciated
    Recently moved to Houston and the part where i;m living in is pretty conservative with a church and a take-out on every street corner. The UU seemed like a more harmless way to meet people and get some kind of community involvement going in my life.

    Posted 1 year ago #
18. 

    UrsaMinor
    Member

    You could do a lot worse than a UU church for finding community involvement and making social connections. As people have commented, UUers tend to be welcoming and non-judgmental. My experience is that they tilt very strongly towards the liberal end of the political spectrum, but my experience may be skewed. Where I live, the two UU congregations in town are pretty much refuges/strongholds of educated white liberals who like to talk about civil rights. Can't predict what your experience will be like in Texas, but you will definitely stand a better chance of meeting tolerant, laid-back people in a UU church than at a Baptist one.

    Posted 1 year ago #
19. 

    Revyloution
    Member

    As a multi-generational atheist, I always thought of UU as the 'why bother' church. Why not go the full monty and just say god doesn't exist, or at least side with the deists and admit that it neither needs nor want's worship.

    I agree with the common sentiment that if your'e looking for a nice place to hang out on Sunday and meet new people, UU seems like a decent place to do that. I would like to offer another idea, http://www.meetup.org. Make an account, and search for like minded groups. I've made quite a few friends through meetup. As an added bonus, instead of ruining a perfectly good sunday morning, our atheist meetup meets on Thursday nights for drinking in a pub :)

    Posted 1 year ago #
20. 

    FO
    Member

    I second Revy.
    Think what you like and find like-minded people.
    It's more or less what I do.

    Posted 1 year ago #
21. 

    Ty
    Moderator

    Trying to find a D&D group through meetup has been an exercise in futility though.

    Posted 1 year ago #
22. 

    Revyloution
    Member

    Oh man Ty, I can't even imagine who would show up to a D&D meetup. Im getting the giggle just trying to guess tho.

    Posted 1 year ago #
23. 

    Ty
    Moderator

    Answer: no one I wanted to game with.

    Posted 1 year ago #
24. 

    Revyloution
    Member

    A friend of mine moved out to Wisconsin for the woman he loved. Their relationship is going stellar, but he's having trouble finding that group of guys that we call 'friends'. He tried joining a RPG group, but it didn't work out. I laughed my ass of at his wifes description of Game Night. She called it 'cards for tards'.

    Posted 1 year ago #
25. 

    JonJon
    Member

    "I don't want to do atheism wrong."

    Ahahaha. Hooo. Can't breathe...

    Posted 1 year ago #

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