Introductory Words

Problem and Promise by Rev. Don Johnson

Life must be shared.
The demand comes from deep inside us.
Our bodies demand it,
     Our minds require it,
          Our hearts are starved without it.
Yet each one lives alone.
This, too, is deeply rooted in our minds and hearts.

We depend upon one another
       yet are afraid of one another.
We are independent of one another
     yet cannot do without one another.
We can be jealous of our independence
     and yet sell it cheaply.
We can be so dependent
    that the price of independence seems beyond us.
We are problems to one another and within ourselves.

But between us and within us there is also promise.

Sermon

One of the myths heard around the coffee pot after a service in a Unitarian Universalist Congregation, often in response to a newcomer asking "Just what do you believe, is the old saw, "Why, you can believe anything you want and be a Unitarian Universalist!" This statement is really, I think, an attempt to make the newcomer feel welcome, a discomfort with defining ourselves and a confusion about what we do believe.

Today I say to you that this statement is not true. You cannot believe anything you want and be a Unitarian Universalist. And to prove this to you, I will speak today about a religious view one could not hold and find any support within our congregations. This view is the antithesis of very thing Unitarian Universalism stands for. This view is religious fundamentalism.

When I speak of religious fundamentalism, though I will be speaking specifically of Protestant Christian Fundamentalism today, I include religious movements in Jewish, Moslem, Buddhist, and Hindu communities as well. What defines fundamentalism according to Martin Marty in his book The Glory and the Power[1], is a rejection of modernity as defined by European Enlightenment thinking most highly perfected in Humanistic and naturalistic secular thought.

Marty further narrows this definition of Fundamentalism to active resistance to modernity. The Amish riding their buggies into town, the Orthodox Jews dressing in an antiquated garb, the Pentecostals seeking direct experience of the divine by handling snakes all withdraw from the modern secular world, holding it at arm's length. The Fundamentalists seek not to completely reject modernity but rather to shape it to suit their tastes and views. Unlike the Amish who eschew modern technology, the Fundamentalists become experts in using radio, television and even computer networking to advance their cause. In response to the wave of Satanic American music CD's washing up on their doorstep, the Iranian Imams flood their own markets with CD's of their own religiously correct modern music. The Fundamentalist sects pick and choose what they accept and what they reject of the modern world.

Of course, most central to Protestant Christian Fundamentalism is the inerrancy of the Bible. The Bible has been under assault by Enlightenment thinking since Copernicus put the sun at the center of our solar system. Each step in the evolution of physical and natural laws has stepped on the toes of one theologian or another. The Fundamentalist believes that the word of God was revealed directly and recorded faithfully in the Bible; therefore, there cannot be any error. The scientist sees only fallible human beings operating in a imperfect, evolving universe. Most objectionable to the Fundamentalist is having to defend their revealed beliefs using the rules of science. If, as they believe, God operates outside of natural law, then observable human experience, the basis for all scientific truth, cannot confirm or deny the truths revealed in the Bible. Thus, a miraculous healing is as acceptable as a scientific discovery. Fundamentalists scandalize the modern thinker by purposely celebrating and requiring belief in the immaculate conception of Jesus and the physical resurrection of his body.

We Unitarian Universalists do not approach any sacred text as if it were inerrant. We see no sacred text as being the one true revealed word of God. We see value in all the revered scriptures of every world religion. Not only do we see value in them, we see common concepts and themes. We also see a cultural dimension to each sacred text which limit its truth. Many sacred texts devalue women. Many sacred texts are ethnocentric rejecting cultures and ideas which are different. Many sacred texts freeze truth in an age with a social organization and context completely different from our modern world. We see the Bible as a very useful, informative mythology upon which much of our culture rests, but also see its limits and are willing to go beyond them. No book can capture the rich ongoing revelation of truth happening in our lives every day.

Fundamentalists see sharp boundaries between good and evil, between God and the fallen world. They are classic unapologetically dualistic thinkers. One does not join a fundamentalist community casually; it requires a complete commitment and a reshaping of one's mind and spirit. For the Fundamentalist, baptism is not a rote ceremony but a complete reordering of their existence. I had a co-worker in a computer manufacturing plant who was born again into a new life quite different from the old one full of drugs, sex and rock and roll. Although he used the methods of science to do his engineering work, everything about his faith and personal life was grounded in the Bible. And if he strayed too much from the official teaching, he risked being rejected by his community. Fundamentalists spend an enormous amount of time deciding what and who is in and what and who is out.

Unitarian Universalists are not dualistic thinkers and dislike hard and fast boundaries. Each time in our history when we have been confronted with drawing a line of faith, we have drawn it to include rather than exclude. When we look at an issue, we are likely to see shades of gray, not black and white. Arguments that show us how both sides of an issue can be true appeal to our temperament. The theists among us see a loving God calling to a confused and misguided human race. We do not see Satanic forces operating within fallen humanity to defeat God's handiwork. We are not possessed by Satan, but rather deluded and confused. Human rejection of God or religious and moral life is a social disease rather than a conspiracy of the devil. Our way to God is not by blind obedience but rather by informed understanding, transforming experience and insight.

One of the reasons the Fundamentalists so brashly reject scientific approaches to the Bible is because they believe God acts outside of our natural laws. This comes right from Luke 18:27: "What is impossible with men is possible with God." While we might find value in this statement taken poetically, we would contest it literally. If we see God operating at all, we see God operating within natural laws. God is not removed from the world but rather expressed by the world in the beautiful cypress trees majestically rising from the swamp, in the colorful wings of the butterflies we are trying to attract to our garden, in the complex social structure of the ant colony, and in the operations of the enzymes and catalysts within our cells.

Another sharp division between Fundamentalism and Unitarian Universalism is our understanding of history. Fundamentalists view all actions of non-Christians, and even some actions of the saved, as tainted by the stain of sin. Paul of Tarsus frames the human struggle by describing the human difficulty in doing the right thing. In Romans we read,

We know that the law is spiritual; but I am carnal, sold under sin. I do not understand my own actions. For I do not do what I want, but I do the very thing I hate.... I know that nothing good dwells within me, that is: in my flesh. I can will what is right, but I cannot do it. For I do not do the good I want, but the evil I do not want is what I do...Wretched man that I am! Who will deliver me from this body of death? (Romans 7:14,15,18,19, 24)

"The Bible says if a watchman sees the enemy coming in, and doesn't warn people so that they get up and fight the enemy, then he's to blame and the blood of those will be on his hands. If, however, he gives a warning, and they stay in bed and get slain in their bed, then their blood is not on him because he's done his duty.[2]"

Or, in other words, "No one comes to the Father but through me". The faithful must let everyone know about Jesus and have a chance to convert and be saved, thus insuring their own place in heaven.

Well, we Unitarian Universalists do believe in progress, in the advancement of knowledge. The solution to the ills of the world will come by our mutual growth and evolution of understanding. Gene Roddenberry so beautifully mythologizes in Star Trek a Unitarian Universalist faith projected into the 23rd Century, the eventual ability of all races to come together to form a federation of planets, the equality of men and women and species of all sentient forms, the respect for diverse ideas and social organizations and reverence for the prime directive: do not interfere in the workings of other civilizations as they evolve. We see our religion at the top of the evolutionary ladder which requires individual freely-chosen and uncoerced leaps of understanding to ascend. Even with our new U.U. evangelism movement, we aren't interested in changing anybody's thinking so much as finding the ones who already think the way we do. That's because we understand everyone is at a different level of spiritual evolution. In fact, the concept of evolution informs much of our thinking.

The final comparison I'd like to draw is between the ways we organize our communities. Fundamentalists are authoritarian, hierarchical and patriarchal. People at the top interpret the scriptures and dictate to their flock what is right and what is wrong. Following Paul's admonishment for women to be quiet, women put themselves in a subservient position to male domination. Not that they do not have power, rather they renounce overt power and reserve covert power. Because the boundaries of their community are very clear, sanctified membership builds very strong cohesive communities - until the people in charge disagree. One of the great liabilities and weaknesses of Fundamentalism is factionalization. The clearer the boundaries, the harder it is to fit everyone in - especially those born into the faith rather than adoptive of the faith.

Unitarian Universalist congregations sit on the other end of the spectrum. We are egalitarian and democratic. Since there are no unique and authoritative expressions of the truth, the individual understanding of truth is central to our faith. Because we allow variation of belief and practice, we pay a penalty in the strength of our cohesiveness as a community and our ability to influence the individual. It is a challenge to feel close to someone whose individual beliefs differ from one's own. But it is also an opportunity to expand the narrow confines of one's thought and grow a bigger understanding through interacting with those who do not share your beliefs but affirm your values. One can love thy neighbor because Jesus, Buddha, Mohammed, Moses or Krishna said so or because of a cost benefit analysis. The core of a Unitarian Universalist community must always be shared values rather than shared beliefs.

I think I've found a pithy way to summarize the clear differences between Fundamentalists and Unitarian Universalists. Bob Jones, Jr. is fond of saying there are four requirements of being a Christian. They are to believe the word of God, proclaim the word of God, defend the word of God, and obey the word of God. Using the same form, I say there are four requirements of Unitarian Universalism: question, investigate and reflect upon all words of God or Human, listen to the truth of others, strive to respect the differences one has with other faiths, and finally, let personal understanding guide human action. It comes down to this:

And because we question, listen, respect and understand, we must not demonize Fundamentalism and require that they be wrong to make us right. I remind you we are not dualistic thinkers. In fact we may have a lot to learn from them, even though we reject much of who they are. For in Fundamentalism is a useful critique of the weaknesses of Enlightenment thinking.

The biggest boost to Fundamentalist growth were our salad days in the sixties as women sought liberation, prayer was thrown out of the schools, young people did their own thing, and finally abortion was legalized in 1973. Things changed and continue to change much faster than people can absorb and integrate into their lives and theology. Television, computers, suburban and urban living, and mass culture work to effectively isolate people from each other by decreasing social contact and inculcating materialism as the de facto state- sponsored religion. The byproducts of the progress we celebrate have brought much social harm.

Although I have been using Unitarian Universalism for the pole to Fundamentalism, I could also substitute the word Pluralism. At the core of Unitarian Universalist belief is the concept of pluralism. The conflict between pluralism and fundamentalism defines many of the issues we care about. President John F. Kennedy, in his commencement address at American University on June 10, 1963 put it succinctly in these words: "If we cannot end now our differences, at least we can help make the world safe for diversity."

What is at stake here in the clash of theology, is how we learn to live together as a world community. It is something we must do as dissimilar cultures and religions spread across the globe. The nationalistic solution cannot ever solve the strife in the former Yugoslavia, the factionalization in the Former Soviet Union, the tribalism of Afghanistan. It is no longer possible, as the Fundamentalists might wish, to purify our culture of non-Christian elements and return to the illusion of 50's suburban bliss with the man in charge and the wife and children in the home. National boundaries are becoming less and less significant with the spread of international trade, the increasing mobility of workers, and the growth of multi-national corporations. Pluralism is the lubricant that makes this possible. It is the only way an international community can function together.

Just because it is necessary, of course, does not mean it is sufficient or even advantageous. But the only road I see to the new millennium so much celebrated by the Fundamentalists without Jihads and genocide is through the door of pluralism which sits on the foundation of Universal Religious Truth seen through the many lenses of the world's religions. America requires pluralism to function as a society composed of so many different races, religions and cultures. America is a microcosm of what the world will need to become a unified community. Pluralism can include the Amish and the Orthodox Jew, but not the Fundamentalist who actively rejects all other faiths. While we must respect the Fundamentalist's right to hold their own views, we must resist at every turn the desire to impose one belief system on this country or this world. This tradition of tolerance linked with freedom is the bedrock of our national identity, an animating principle of our faith, and the creative vision of human relations we offer to the world.

So be it.

Closing Words

The world is not black and white
	but richly textured with millions of shades, tints and hues.

God does not speak only Hebrew and Greek,
	but every tongue known and even more unknown and forgotten.

A truth worthy of complete devotion may not be provable by reason 
	but it will not insult our intelligence
	nor will it be alien to our experience.

If God is, then there is no place God is not - be it temple or telescope.


May we take the injunction to question, listen, respect and understand to heart
    and live the beauty of our faith.