Have you been confusing your “Uni” religions?

Have you been confusing your “Uni” religions? My husband thinks so! In reviewing the statistics for his Unitarian Universalist website (http://www.uufaq.com/), he noticed that many people visiting the site had meant to look up another religion starting with “Uni”. These included the Unification Church, the Unity Church, and the Universal Life Church. If the people looking for these other religions are confusing Unitarian Universalism for them, how many of you are confusing them for us?

Unitarian Universalism is a liberal religion with Judeo-Christian roots. Our congregations have moved from being Christian to being a home for people with diverse beliefs, including many interfaith families. Our members identify as Unitarian Universalists, but also as Atheists, Agnostics, Buddhists, Christians, Humanists, Jews, Pagans and others.

Our community is held together by our shared values, the same values of religious freedom and reason that inspired the formation of our great nation. In fact, John Adams, founding father and second President of the United States, was a Unitarian. These values are most commonly articulated by the following Unitarian Universalist principles:

The inherent worth and dignity of every person.
Justice, equity and compassion in human relations.
Acceptance of one another and encouragement to spiritual growth.
A free and responsible search for truth and meaning.
The right of conscience and the use of the democratic process.
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.

What about those other “Uni” religions? Here are some facts to set the record straight. The Unification Church was started in Korea by Sun Myung Moon in the 1940s. Members of the Unification Church are more commonly known as “Moonies”. A core belief of this movement is that Moon is the messiah.

Many people consider the Unification Church to be a cult. Unitarian Universalism, on the other hand, is a creedless religion. While we have Judeo-Christian roots, we do not tell our members what to believe. This includes whether or not there is an afterlife or a God. We do challenge members to answer the great religious questions and to “build your own theology”. We believe a lifelong search for truth and meaning is best done in a supportive community of fellow seekers.

The Unity Church association describes itself as a positive and practical Christianity. They teach application of the principles of truth taught and exemplified by Jesus Christ as interpreted by the Unity School and the Association of Unity Churches.

In becoming progressively more liberal over the years, Unitarian Universalism has moved away from its Christian belief tradition. Where does this leave us with respect to Jesus? Modern Unitarian Universalists widely view Jesus of Nazareth as a great teacher, a revolutionary and enlightened person, but a mortal.

We describe our faith as a living tradition drawing on many sources. These include 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 use both reason and science, and the teachings of earth-centered traditions which celebrate the sacred circle of life and instruct us to live in harmony with the rhythms of nature.

If a friend mentions that he or she was ordained online, it was through the Universal Life Church, not the Unitarian Universalist Church. Many feel the ULC was created to allow its clergy to evade taxes. In contrast, Unitarian Universalist ministers attend masters level seminary programs, are mentored though internships, and follow a lengthy credentialing process.

Given the similarity in the names it is not surprising people confuse these four religions but, the similarities end there! Whether it is with regard to Unitarian Universalism or another spiritual community you’ve wondered about take the time to research the answers to your questions. Grab a few friends and explore the many faith communities on this island. Many people discover us later in life and wonder why it took so long to find us. Don’t let your spiritual home pass you by!

Rev. Amy Bowden Freedman is the minister of Channing Memorial Church, Unitarian Universalist in Newport, RI.