From: utzoo!decvax!harpo!npoiv!hou5f!ariel!houti!lime!we13!otuxa!ll1!sb1!mb2b!uofm-cv!don
Newsgroups: net.religion
Title: Re:  points to ponder
Article-I.D.: uofm-cv.164
Posted: Tue Mar 15 13:17:16 1983
Received: Tue Mar 22 08:16:43 1983


 This statement and question were made by Randal Schwartz:


      So far, my experience with classic religions has been such that:
              For any religion X, the paradigm of that religion separates
              people into two groups: those that follow religion X
              and agree to its principles, and those that don't follow
              religion X.  All members of religion X are instructed
              to either: (1) put up with/ tolerate/ cope with people
              that are not X, or (2) try to change them into becoming
              members of religion X.

      My question:  is there a religion that you know of that doesn't
      fit this category?  Be honest with yourself... and me.  Look hard.


 About the only exception I can think of is Unitarian Universalism.
 The basic principle of Unitarian Universalism is freedom of belief.
 U.U.'s are not expected to assent to any particular creed or statement
 of belief. Instead, they follow the principle that all persons have an
 obligation to seek and to follow truth as they understand it.
 A statement written by Dr. Donald Harrington is a reasonably accurate
 expression of the views of most U.U.s:

      Truth is not Christian or Jewish, Hindu or Buddhist.  What is true
      for one man is true for all men.  Just as there is no such thing
      as Christian medicine, or Jewish biology, or Hindu psychology, or
      Buddhist sociology, so there is no such thing as sectarian truth.
      Truth is universal, it is progressively discovered and formulated
      by men of all faiths and philosophers and, when it is substantiated
      it is the same for all men everywhere.

 Unitarian Universalists generally feel that there is much to be learned
 from all great faiths.  The name originated from the 1961 merger of the
 American Unitarian Association and the Universalist Church of America,
 which both began as liberal Christian churches, although both broadened
 to include both "Christian" and "non-Christian" viewpoints and to make
 freedom of belief their essential principle.

                                Don Winsor
                                University of Michigan