Opening Words: by Unitarian minister Theodore Parker (1810-1860)
Be ours a religion which, like sunshine, goes everywhere;
Its temple, all space;
Its shrine, the good heart;
Its creed, all truth;
Its ritual; works of love;
Its profession of faith, divine living.
Reading: from the Bylaws of the Unitarian Universalist Association, Section C-2.1. Principles.
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.
Reading: by Stephen Prothero, from God Is Not One - The Eight Rival Religions that Run the World (p. 16)
Included in this book are the great religions of the Middle East (Judaism, Christianity, and Islam), India (Hinduism and Buddhism), East Asia (Confucianism and Daoism). Also included is the Yoruba religion of West Africa and its diasporas…
Although these religions appear here in discrete chapters, none really stands alone. As Confucians are quick to remind us, no human being is an island, and as Jewish philosopher Abraham Heschel once wrote, “No religion is an island” either. One of the great themes of world history is interreligious contact, and interreligious conflict, collaboration, and combination have only accelerated in recent times. So this book aims to present the eight great religions not in isolation but in contact, and comparison. You can learn a lot about your own religion by comparing it with others.
Reading: by John Godfrey Saxe (1816-1887), the poem “The Blind Men and the Elephant”
It was six men of Indostan
To learning much inclined,
Who went to see the Elephant
(Though all of them were blind),
That each by observation
Might satisfy his mind.
The First approached the Elephant,
And happening to fall
Against his broad and sturdy side,
At once began to bawl:
"God bless me! but the Elephant
Is very like a WALL!"
The Second, feeling of the tusk,
Cried, "Ho, what have we here,
So very round and smooth and sharp?
To me 'tis mighty clear
This wonder of an Elephant
Is very like a SPEAR!"
The Third approached the animal,
And happening to take
The squirming trunk within his hands,
Thus boldly up and spake:
"I see," quoth he, "the Elephant
Is very like a SNAKE!"
The Fourth reached out an eager hand,
And felt about the knee
"What most this wondrous beast is like
Is mighty plain," quoth he:
"'Tis clear enough the Elephant
Is very like a TREE!"
The Fifth, who chanced to touch the ear,
Said: "E'en the blindest man
Can tell what this resembles most;
Deny the fact who can,
This marvel of an Elephant
Is very like a FAN!"
The Sixth no sooner had begun
About the beast to grope,
Than seizing on the swinging tail
That fell within his scope,
"I see," quoth he, "the Elephant
Is very like a ROPE!"
And so these men of Indostan
Disputed loud and long,
Each in his own opinion
Exceeding stiff and strong,
Though each was partly in the right,
And all were in the wrong!
MORAL.
So oft in theologic wars,
The disputants, I ween,
Rail on in utter ignorance
Of what each other mean,
And prate about an Elephant
Not one of them has seen!
Many Sources of Faith
A Sermon Delivered on October 2, 2011
By
The Reverend Axel H. Gehrmann
Last Sunday, between our worship services, I had a chance to sit in a pew, and carry on a conversation about Unitarian Universalism and what it means to me. The conversation was part of the religious education class offered this year for our sixth and seventh graders, which is called Neighboring Faiths.
This year the kids in that class will be spending their Sunday mornings visiting different religious communities around town. They will attend their services, meet their members, and then come back here to talk about what they heard and saw. Next week they will be visiting the local Quaker Meeting House.
But last week, to get started, the class attended our worship service. And after the service, they asked some good questions about UUism, like “What is the difference between Unitarian Universalism and atheism?” and “How do UUs proselytize?” and “What distinguishes UUism from other religions?” These were some very good questions. And I, for one, thought our conversation was very worthwhile.
* * *
Trying to offer a nutshell description of UUism, I started off mentioning our three classic key ideas: freedom, reason and tolerance.
We think it is important, when it comes to religion, that every person have the freedom to study religious teachings and traditions rationally and reasonably. Because when people are free to explore religious questions on their own, they will find different and perhaps conflicting answers, we support a spirit of tolerance.
Now, I have been a minister for quite a few years. And for a long time this is where my mini-lecture on UUism ended: with freedom, reason and tolerance.
Over the years, however, after having engaged in many inter-religious dialogues, I have slowly come to the conclusion that the ideals of freedom, reason and tolerance are not unique to us. I have spoken with enough Christians, Muslims, and Jews, with enough Buddhists, Hindus and even atheists, to realize they all think rationally and reasonably about their beliefs and their practices. The vast majority of people I have come to know from diverse traditions see the value of religious tolerance and freedom.
So, what distinguishes us, then? Struggling to find a short and pithy encapsulation of our faith, I came up with this: “Unitarian Universalism begins with you.” Get it? “UUism begins with U.” (Haha.)
What I mean, is that for us religion begins with your questions, your wonderings, your sense of mystery and awe. It begins with you. With your sense of meaning and meaninglessness, your life experiences of joy and pain, your understanding of right and wrong.
That’s where our religion begins. It doesn’t begin with a holy book, or with the teachings of prophets or saviors. It doesn’t begin with stories of God or the creation of the world. It begins with you.
* * *
Part of the reason I like the Principles adopted by the Unitarian Universalist Association of Congregations, is that they make a similar point. The living tradition which we share draws from many sources, but the first one is: “Direct experience of… transcending mystery and wonder…”
Your direct experience - every individual’s direct experience - of mystery and wonder is where we begin.
But please keep in mind, this is only where we begin. UUism is an individualistic faith, but it isn’t only about you.
Your unique life experience is your point of departure. It is our first source of faith. It not our only source. We have many sources of faith: words and deeds of prophetic women and men, wisdom from the world's religions, humanist teachings and science, and spiritual teachings of Earth-centered traditions.
Our sources of faith are limitless. Like sunshine, we find them everywhere. Our temple is all space; our creed is all truth.
* * *
Our effort to find religious meaning in many places is expressed visually in our place of worship by the wall hangings you see around you. (The wall hangings portray symbols representing the world’s great religions.)
Now, if this were your first visit to our church, and you saw these religious symbols so prominently displayed, you might imagine that those who worship here are all experts in world religions. You might think, each of us could concisely describe the tenants of these traditions, perhaps provide a brief overview of their respective histories, and explain how their religious practices are relevant to us here.
But, you know what? I don’t think that’s the case. My guess is not many of us know much about the history of Hinduism, or the significance of Muslim calligraphy. I bet the fewest of us can recite the eightfold path of Buddhism, which is represented in the eight spokes of the wheel, nor the evolution of the crucifixion as central symbol of Christianity.
In principle, we affirm the diverse truths conveyed by these competing religious traditions. But in practice, we don’t necessarily know much about them.
Our principled affirmation is a very good thing. But our practical ignorance is a problem.
This is the point Stephen Prothero made in his 2007 book Religious Literacy - What Every American Needs to Know - and Doesn’t. Prothero is a professor of religion at Boston University, who specializes in American religion. He makes the case that America is one of the most religious countries on earth, but also a nation of shocking religious illiteracy. For instance, only 10 percent of American teenagers can name five major world religions, and 15 percent can’t name any. Almost two-thirds of American adults believe the Bible holds the answers to all or most of life’s basic questions, but only one half can name even one of the four Christian gospels. Most Americans can’t even name the first book of the Bible.
Religious illiteracy is more than an academic problem. It has very concrete consequences. This is a lesson Prothero learned back in 1993, when as a freshly minted PhD he watched the unfolding stand-off between the Branch Davidians in Waco, Texas, and the FBI on the national news.
Given his religious training, Prothero could see that the leader of the Branch Davidians, David Koresh, was luring FBI agents into playing roles he had assigned to them, based on his own interpretation of the biblical book of Revelation.
Remembering those days, Prothero writes,
“It’s going to burn,” I told myself, and I remember thinking that I should pick up the phone and call the FBI, tell them what Koresh must be thinking, tell them to give him the time he requested to unlock the cryptic meanings of the book of Revelation’s Seven Seals, show them how perfectly, how eerily, they were playing the parts he had assigned to them, let them know that, if they persisted, the whole thing would end in fire.” (p. 2)
But Prothero didn’t call. He didn’t know who to call. And no one else offered the kind of counsel he could have provided. And so the siege did end in fire. The FBI attacked the compound with tear gas and combat vehicles on April 19, 1993, and the compound went up in flames. Koresh and about seventy-five followers, including twenty-one children, died. Prothero believes it could have ended differently, if anyone among the FBI that day, had known about apocalyptic Christianity.
* * *
Religion is powerful and dangerous. It can serve to create community, or it can divide us. It can inspire compassion and selfless service, or it can incite violence and hatred. Religious scholar Lloyd Steffen says religion is like fire: powerful, mysterious, fascinating, and dangerous.
Like fire, religion can be positive or negative, life-preserving or life-threatening. When appropriately controlled, fire can “serve as creative catalyst for vital human activities; when uncontrolled it can destroy and kill.” (The Demonic Turn, p. 20)
There are those who believe religion has become irrelevant in modern times, and that our religious practices are little more than personal preferences with little impact beyond the privacy of our homes.
Prothero disagrees. He believes religion matters socially, economically, and militarily. Religion is one of the prime movers in politics worldwide. From the toppling of the twin towers in Manhattan to civil war in Sri Lanka and Darfur to the current events in the Middle East - religion matters. We cannot afford to be ignorant or oblivious to something so powerful, potentially life-threatening or life- preserving.
* * *
In this world there are many sources of faith. And depending on our sources, we will reach different conclusions about which religious teachings are true, and which are false. We will reach different conclusions about right and wrong, and how to serve a greater good. This is the message of the story of the blind men and the elephant.
The moral John Godfrey Saxe draws from the tale, is that those who engage in theological debate do so in utter ignorance of each other’s beliefs. And that while each claims to have grasped the truth, all are equally ignorant of an elephant none of them has seen. That is one lesson we can draw. But it is not the only lesson.
The story of the blind men is over two thousand years old. And while it was first told in India, over the centuries it has traveled the world. For Buddhists the story is about the suffering caused by the pursuit abstract metaphysical questions. Sufis believe the story tells how God can be seen through the heart but not the senses. Hindus find the lesson that God can be reached by different paths.
The poem by Saxe seems to draw the moral that all theology is stupid. But I would prefer to focus on the minor point Saxe mentions along the way: he says each of the blind men is partly right.
* * *
This is where the distinct genius of Unitarian Universalism can be found and must be practiced. We believe, when it comes to religion - when it comes to ultimate questions of meaning and morality - we are each partly right.
In the course of our lives, through hard-earned experience, through moments of suffering and moments bliss, through our knowledge of despair and our knowledge of hope - we each gain a perfectly unique perspective on life.
The personal truth each of us finds invariably contains elements of universal truth. We are each partly right.
To discover greater truth, we need to learn from one another. We need to learn from others within this room, and from others beyond these walls. We need to learn from community members on the other side of town, and from believers on the far side of the globe.
Paradoxically, as Prothero points out, as we learn about others, we learn a lot about ourselves. Moving from ignorance to understanding, we can discover the power of our own faith, its potential to transform our lives, and to change the world.
Whether we succeed in creating a better world depends on you. This is what Unitarian Universalists believe.
UUism begins with you. This is the lesson I hope our children learn in our church.
Through the ups and downs of my own life, it is a lesson I need to be reminded of, again and again.
May we each have the wisdom to see
How we are partly wrong and partly right.
Together, may we each move from ignorance to understanding,
And each do our small part to serve a greater good.
Amen.
