Religious Identity and Unitarian Universalism

I spoke in a Sunday service a couple weeks ago and I just thought I'd let people read what I said if they're interested. It was a lay-led service and several other "young adults" spoke, too. It was a really nice service. I realize it's a bit long for a blog post, but here it is if you're interested:

When I stopped attending Mormon services in 2006, it was at the end of a long period of life-transforming questioning, doubting, and longing. I was excited and relieved to be doing what I thought was the only honest and sincere thing I could do. Yet, I had a feeling, even a fear, that when I left Mormonism, I was probably leaving religion altogether. As someone who values religion deeply and has even decided to make a career of studying it, I was saddened by the prospect of no religion in my life. Thankfully, a little over a year ago I found this place.

Now, over a year later, I pause to reflect on where I’ve been and where I’m going. The topic of today’s service came out of personal reflection and several conversations I’ve had with others on a challenge that I believe faces many of us. I speak of the fact that we sometimes describe our faith by what it is not instead of by what it is. Earlier, Tina and I performed a goofy skit illustrating this tendency. Sometimes when I tell people about this place and my involvement here, I find myself asking or at least thinking something like “Where else would an agnostic, post-Mormon intellectual go?” The problem is that this only implies that I am UU by default – maybe because no other place would take me. While that may be true, I don’t want to be UU merely be default – because I happen to not be anything else.

I often think of an experience I had in this place. I once heard someone, when asked why they come here, say because “it doesn’t offend me.” I don’t doubt that this is true for many of us, maybe even myself. What a relief it is for many of us to find such a place. But is this really the best reason to be here? Are we always so on guard here in this place of religion that we seek to merely not be offended?

I wish to speak today on constructing a positive religious identity as Unitarian Universalists. I recognize and appreciate that such an identity will be different for each of us. What I share today is the process I have begun to go through to do this for myself.

The sociologist in me recognizes that groups always define who they are in part by identifying who they are not. Groups set clear boundaries and create what are called negative reference groups – groups we look to help us determine what we are not . We all do this everyday and this is an important and natural part of social life. But in the religious sphere, what happens when we rely only upon this means of figuring out who we are and what we believe? The Unitarian Universalist in me believes that it may serve as a barrier to personal, congregational, and denominational growth.

I believe that in order to connect my beliefs to action and to use religion as a source of guidance, inspiration, and hope, I need to ground myself in a positive religious identity. Doing so goes beyond defining what I don’t believe, and into defining what I do believe, and, perhaps most importantly, what I’m willing to do to achieve it. I believe that in our faith and in our congregation we have some tools to help us. Religious Education classes like Articulating Your UU Faith, Building Your Own Theology, and Owning Your Religious Past are designed to help us explore and define our beliefs and our religious identity. Some of us are stuck in a spiritual rut, still looking back at where we’ve come from rather than where we’re going. Each of us will create a positive religious identity in a different way, but it’s something I believe we all should do.

Some of you may say “Yeah, but why a religious identity? I’m not a religious person.” Some of you may feel uncomfortable calling yourselves religious or maybe even uneasy calling Unitarian Universalism a religion. I can sympathize with this – by conventional standards I’m probably not religious, either. But to construct a positive religious identity is to ground ourselves in this religious tradition of Unitarian Universalism, its rich history, its exciting present, and its yet-to-be-determined future. Let’s not let the word religion scare us away. UU minister and former UUA president Forrest Church defines religion as “our human response to the dual reality of being alive and having to die.” Humanist professor Anthony Pinn defines it as “that which provides orientation or direction for human life” along with “motivation for living and acting in accordance with this orientation.” Let us have a say in what it means. To borrow from Forrest Church and Anthony Pinn, let Unitarian Universalism be our response to life, and our orientation for living fully.

A month ago I attended the spring conference of the Joseph Priestley District of the UUA. The keynote address was given by Rob Keithan, director of the Washington Office for Advocacy of the UUA. Rob’s address was called “Who do we think we are?” and focused on the need for a strong, focused, but humble and grateful religious identity as UUs. Rob insisted that we not shy away from calling ourselves “religious.” First, he pointed out that, well, technically, we are. But Rob said that there’s another, deeper way in which we are a religious people, a way that I had never considered. Our beloved first principle, which emphasizes the worth and dignity of ALL people and which drives our commitment to social justice and love, is a faith statement – something that can’t be proven or tested, but that we accept on faith. You could probably make the same case about the other principles.

I believe that as individuals and as a religious movement we need to construct a positive religious identity because others continue to try to narrowly define religion in a way that is not in keeping with our religious ideals and principles. Some in the Religious Right identify secular humanists, religious liberals, gays and lesbians, the ACLU, and others as “the enemy,” and assert that somehow despite the wisdom of our founders and the language of their founding documents America is a “Christian Nation.” Others, part of a “new atheist” movement, put ALL religion squarely in the crosshairs. Based on worn-out, oversimplistic, and intolerant arguments, these authors have tried to make the case that the world would be better off without religion. I believe that we are poised to offer an alternative voice in the debate over religion. I think that Unitarian Universalists see religion as a tool. A tool that can be used for good or ill. We see in religion the potential to heal, unite, inspire, and motivate. We also see in religion deep and meaningful expressions of history, culture, and art. We see it as an expression of what makes us human. We refuse to give up on religion. A positive religious identity as Unitarian Universalists would position us to provide this sort of viewpoint and challenge those who would more narrowly define religion in order to attack those with whom they disagree.

There are claims, often found in UU jokes and sometimes offered by much more conventionally “religious” individuals, that Unitarian Universalism is an empty faith, so devoid of theology and so concerned with political correctness and inclusiveness that it ultimately says nothing at all. I do not believe that UUism is empty and meaningless. We have made a deliberate decision to have no creed. This allows individuals to embark on their own religious journeys, guided and informed by our common goals and shared principles. Second, our commitment to inclusiveness poses challenges, but ultimately we believe that it is the only way to be fair, just, and loving.

So what should a positive UU identity look like? It will no doubt look different for each of us, but I believe we share much with each other in terms of beliefs and values, and the obvious place to look is the seven principles, a set of powerful beliefs and values that under-gird what we do in our faith and what we seek to accomplish. Let us reflect on these often and commit to more fully live up to them.

My personal religious identity has been heavily influenced by religious humanism and religious naturalism, and more specifically, by a view described by Reverend William R. Murry in his book Reason and Reverence as “humanistic religious naturalism.” Combining religious humanism’s confidence in human potential and its emphasis on ethical living with religious naturalism’s view of humans as merely part of a larger, natural world worthy of reverence and human care, Murry describes a religious perspective that “promotes an ethical life in which one thinks and acts from a larger perspective than one’s own egoistic interests, a life that affirms the worth and dignity of each person, a life filled with wonder and reverence for the extraordinary magnificence of the natural world and human creations.” This is a pretty accurate description of my own religious identity as a Unitarian Universalist.

But what’s your religious identity? Why are you here in this place when you could be somewhere else right now? What beliefs and values motivate you and ground your commitment to working for a better world? Despite your best intentions, do you still sometimes find yourself defining who you are as a UU too much by what you are not and by what you do not believe in?

These are important questions, and I hope that this service will make each of us pause to consider them. Let us be grateful for our faith, Unitarian Universalism, and seek to ground ourselves in a positive identity that will further our commitment to social justice, ethical living, and living in love. So may it be.