humanism v. theism or when will I find my Rupert Giles?
A couple Wednesdays ago I went to simple supper, which has become routine, but that night I ended up sharing a table with Rev. Logan, who is my church's buisness manager. I've always wanted to chat with him because I am often drawn to people or curious about people who seem to be the odd man out. Rev. Logan is multiple minority in my church as he is (a) African American and (b) was an ordained Baptist minister who grew up in black baptist churches. He ended up parting ways with his church because he just didn't agree with some of the dogma and ridgid interpertations he had to support as a minister. Now, he is studying to become an ordained UU minister, but he still loves and I gather misses the energy and outward professions of faith from the churches he grew up in.
This interested me a lot because I'm all about finding balance and a happy medium that works and I feel his UU ministry would really blend the universalism and the welcoming of questioning of the UU faith, but with the emphasis on God and Jesus of the Christian faith. He started and leads the Christian Thesist group at our church and after talking to him I'd really like to check it out because while, I'm not sure if I believe Jesus is God, even if he was simply a man trying to teach this message of love then he's still worth listening to. And being UU's we are allowed this view point and have open discussion of the Bible and Jesus without being "asked to leave."
Even though Unitarian Universalism was born out of Christianity, what it is today is not a theist/God centered faith, typically. The majority of the people at my church are between 50 - 70 and came into the church at a time where Humanism was intertwined with being a UU and since they are the majority the church tends to stay closer to the Humanist line and is very careful to be open-ended when mentioning the divine during services so as not to offend parts of the congregation. I honestly don't know a lot humanism, but the simpliest definition I can infer would be that it does not focus on God, but the inheritant worth of all people. Many of the people in my chuch came of age during the Civil Rights Movement and can recall marches and demonstrations the congregation was a part of at that time, so it's understandable why they would fall more into the Humanist ideaology and basing their fellowship in that rather than a God.
I was reading an article in a UU newsletter I get where the writer used the origin stories of superheroes to explain where that generation was coming from and where my generation is coming from now. The Superman and Batman of the 40s and 50s were self made orphans with limited, if any, outside support to guide them through their journey. They were not looking to continue a legacy, but to carve out a new world for themselves. The Kents of "Smallville" or the Alfred of the current "Batman" stories were not as prevelent then as they are now - they were not there to guide and mentor, but then came the" X-Men" with their Professor X, who was their to guide them and lead them through the process of figuring out what their place in this work was. The Superheroes before, and as this particular writer argued the people within the UU church who adopted this Humanist school of thought did not have.
But people in my generation grew up watching and reading things where this "X-Men" format was the norm - I grew up seeing Alfred as the father fugure Bruce Wayne was robbed of and the Kents being a comfort to the orphan Clark. In the superhero mythology I grew up with it is all about a bigger legacy - Buffy has Giles to guide her through this long line of destiny which she is just a small part of, and she isn't supposed to change the face of what being the slayer means (though in the end she did...but that's a different post), but to continue it on until she dies and the next slayer is chosen. The writer of this article is saying we have an expectation of having that guidance - that mentor - to help us find our way and after reading it I have to say, whether concsiously or not, I do have this expectation. Their is a deep desire in me to have that role model with whom I can learn from so I can then carve out my own path -- someone who is that go-to person that I can go to for anything.
The writer (sorry I threw out the magazine in a cleanng frenzy and can't recall his name) calls us a generation rebelling against rebellion and in doing so are seeking tradition that our parents or their peers were fighting against. I think this means that some people finding their way to UU churches now are not really aware of what Humanism is or why the older generations hold on to it or how influential it was to our faith. Many of us want to talk about God and be able to be both a UU and a theist an I think the great thing about my particular church is that we can if that is what we choose.
When I was talking to Rev. Logan, he had mentioned that some of the members of the Christian Theist group that they might should change the name of the group as they were worried it would be off putting to many of the members of the church - making them fearful that someone would try to convert them, but I feel no need for this. The whole point is to have open discussion, but still be allowed and feel safe to believe whatever it is that you believe which is why I feel fortunate to have found my church.