Unitarian Universalism

Unitarian Universalism is an American religious community which origins are to be found in Christianity. It is a minor religion as around 500 thousand people follow it. If some of its aspects are similar to Christianity, others are very specific to UU. In this post, these similarities and differences will be dealt with, as well as the daily practice of that belief among the faithful.

From an historical point of view, it is important to highlight that Unitarianism and Universalism both come from Christianity but were, at the beginning, different beliefs. Unitarian churches first appeared in Europe in the middle of the 16th century. The name of that faith is based on the uniqueness of God. He is unique. He is a single unity.

Universalism, on the other hand, emerged in the 18th century in the United States. Its main belief is that the “Universal Salvation will take place through Christ”. According to that belief, all creatures and individuals are linked to one God and they will all “reconcile to this God in the end”.[1]

It is in 1961 that both faiths merged into a single on, Unitarian Universalism. At the beginning, it was quite similar to Christianity. But this religion has also been inspired by other religions over time, so that today, believers may consider not having any link with Christianity. This can be seen in their rituals, which are actually not specific to Unitarian Universalism. Indeed, their rituals are borrowed from many other beliefs. Moreover, there is no Pope whatsoever. There is no authoritarian figure to obey and there isn’t any formal creed. If there is no dogma to follow, they nonetheless have seven principles to abide by. The most relevant are following:

·         “The inherent worth and dignity of every person”

·         “Justice, equity and compassion in human relations”

·         “A free and responsible search for truth and meaning”

·         “The goal of world community with peace, liberty and justice for all”

These principles are based on six sources. Some of them are to be found below:

·         “Direct experience of that transcending mystery and wonder, affirmed in all cultures, which moves us to a renewal of the spirit and an openness to the forces which create and uphold life”

·         “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”

Therefore, each Unitarian Universalist church is diverse from another. Every one follows its own rules. The number of sources on which they base their faith shows as well that, to Unitarian Universalists, the Holy Bible is not the only text to follow. They respect it, but are far more critics towards it than Christians. They consider it as a mythology rather than “the Truth”.

As a conclusion, it seems that Unitarian Universalism is quite a liberal faith as they don’t have any authoritarian figure or dogma. Taking this into consideration, Unitarian Universalists freely practice their religion by occasionally adopting the rituals they like in other faiths and are not restricted to one single dogma. The influence of Unitarian Universalism at a national scale is quite irrelevant as it unites only a small group of people.

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[1] Unitarian Universalist Association, http://www.uua.org/