What is Unitarian
Universalism?
Unitarian Universalism is a free and open faith which does not demand
that its members subscribe to any particular religious creed or doctrine.
Instead, it emphasizes the right and responsibility of each individual to
search for his or her own religious truth and meaning. The Red River
Unitarian Universalist congregation provides religious seekers living in
north Texas and southern Oklahoma with a supportive community to assist
them in their personal spiritual journeys.
Historically, Unitarian Universalism grew out of two separate religious
movements with Christian roots: the Unitarians who believed in the unity
of God and the Universalists who believed in universal salvation for all.
Today, modern Unitarian Universalists hold a variety of theological views,
and Unitarian Universalists look for wisdom in all the world's great
religions, from secular sources and from within themselves through their
own reason and experience.
There are UU's who consider themselves Christian, Jewish, Buddhist, and
neo-pagan. There are humanists, deists, theists, agnostics and even
atheists among our ranks. What binds us together as Unitarian
Universalists is not a common creed, but rather a common belief in certain
moral and ethical principles and a common attitude of tolerance and
acceptance of diverse religious viewpoints.
"We need not think alike to love alike."
-- Francis David (1510-1579), early European Unitarian theologian
"If we agree in love, there is no disagreement that can do us injury,
but if we do not, no other agreement can do us any good."
-- Hosea Ballou (1771 - 1852), early American Universalist minister and leader
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The Principles of the Unitarian Universalist
Association
We, the member congregations of the Unitarian Universalist Association,
covenant to affirm and promote
- The inherent worth and dignity of every person;
- Justice, equity and compassion in human relations;
- Acceptance of one another and encouragement to spiritual growth in our congregations;
- A free and responsible search for truth and meaning;
- The right of conscience and the use of the democratic process within our congregations
and in society at large;
- 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.
The living tradition which we share draws from many sources:
- 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;
- Words and deeds of prophetic women
and men which challenge us to confront powers and
structures of evil with justice, compassion, and the transforming
power of love;
- 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 the guidance of reason and the results of
science, and warn us against idolatries of the mind and spirit.
- Spiritual teachings of
earth-centered traditions which celebrate the sacred circle of life
and instruct us to live in harmony with the rhythms of nature.
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