Let’s Talk about God
Thomas O. Bean
April 15, 2007

A few years ago, UUA President William Sinkford suggested that each of us develop what he called an “elevator speech.” That is, a speech in which we try to explain Unitarian Universalism to someone unfamiliar with it in the time it takes to ride an elevator from the sixth floor of a building to the lobby, perhaps thirty seconds. Think about it: what would you say?

The most common answer I heard from last year’s Seventh Graders, whom we asked to perform this exercise in religious education class, and I have heard this from adults as well, is “we believe whatever we want to believe.” Let me humbly suggest that if that is what many students and some adults believe, we have a problem. Not all beliefs are consistent with Unitarian Universalist principles. If they were, then, at the extreme, people could claim to be UUs even if they believed, as the Nazis did, that one race was superior to others and that it was desirable to exterminate people of a particular faith.

But I’m as guilty as these Seventh Graders in not having a good elevator speech that reflects what we believe. When I was in Texas last year, I was riding in the car with a man – someone I think is a fundamentalist Baptist -- who asked me what I did outside of work. I said I taught Sunday School. He asked, “what denomination?” I responded, “Unitarian Universalist.” He queried, “what do Unitarian-Universalists believe?” My glib, unprepared, elevator speech was, “well, we don’t believe the jews, the christians, or the muslims have the answer.” He said, unabashedly, “well, I agree with you about two-thirds of the way there.” Note: my off-the-cuff comment identified religions we thought did not have the answer. I didn’t tell him, however, what we affirmatively believe.

I would like to explore today the question, “what do we UUs believe,” and, specifically, whether there is a place for God in the seven principles of Unitarian Universalism, principles many of us would likely include in our elevator speech. Asking the question another way, if you were arrested for being a UU, what would be the evidence against you?

I want to talk about what we believe for three reasons.

First, we are in the midst of a national debate about the role of religion in public life; we UUs need to have a vocabulary with which to express our beliefs and an understanding of our beliefs to participate in this debate with people of other faiths.

Second, I want to do it because the UU principles are under review. There was considerable debate when the principles were drafted in the mid-1980s about whether to include the word “God” in them. Twenty years later, it is time for reconsideration.

Finally, I want to do it for personal reasons. I was raised as a UU in the 60s and 70s, when UU was in its infancy and then a rebellious adolescence. We UUs were, in general, humanists, rejecting orthodoxy and creed. We took pride in being intellectuals who reasoned rather than believed, and who didn’t even mention God in our services. But after more than fifty years of living in the questions, and being unable to reason an answer to fundamental uncertainties like, where did the water, hydrogen, ammonia and methane that led to the “big bang” come from, and perhaps no longer having the need to rebel against orthodoxy as I once did, I’m in a different place in my religious journey. I’m ready to explore believing in something that reason, or at least my ability to reason, cannot explain, and I want to feel support from my denomination for that exploration. I suspect I am not alone.

With that background, let’s talk about what we UUs believe and don’t believe.

Well, we certainly don’t have a “creed,” to the extent creed is a defined as a statement of church doctrine to which we must subscribe to be members. Indeed, we are almost to the point of being irrationally dogmatic about rejecting creed. What we do have are the seven “principles” articulated by the UUA. While these principles were not designed as a statement of our beliefs, no less an authority than UUA President Sinkford has written that the principles are the place most of us would go as we begin to describe Unitarian Universalism in our elevator speech. So, let’s examine those principles.

The preamble to these principles, and the principles themselves read as follows: (and these are printed in your order of service if you want to read along with me):

“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 congregation 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 part.”

While each of these principles has undeniable, almost “mom and apple pie” merit, there is not a single reference in them to “believing” in anything beyond the earthly. There is no sacred language. In fact, there is not one word that a person of virtually any faith would consider “religious.” Let’s examine them more closely one at time.

1. The inherent worth and dignity of every person. This deals with the humanity of each individual, regardless of their intellectual capacities, physical abilities, and beliefs.
2. Justice, equity and compassion in human relations. This is perhaps a restatement of the Golden Rule.
3. Acceptance of one another and encouragement to spiritual growth in our congregations. Again, we’re talking about mutual respect, and the desire for spiritual development.
4. A free and responsible search for truth and meaning. This is perhaps what distinguishes UUs from creedal faiths.
5. The right of conscience and the use of the democratic process within our congregation and in society at large. The focus is on the process, one in which each person has a vote.
6. The goal of world community with peace, liberty and justice for all. Again, recognizing the importance of peace, freedom, and fairness for all.
7. Respect for the interdependent web of all existence of which we are part. This recognizes the importance of life on this planet beyond human existence.

As I become more experienced – my euphemism for getting older -- I want more from my religion than mom and apple pie principles that give me a lesson on how to live a good life on this Earth. I want spirituality. I want reverence. I want something I can feel, here in my gut – something that touches me. Something that makes me want to come to church on Sundays to be nourished, to be inspired, to be in awe. While I agree with the principles as stated, they don’t touch me. At this point on my spiritual journey, having done the “reason” thing, I’m struggling with the concept of a higher power, a divine source. Yet, our UU principles do not even acknowledge the possible existence of God. For this reason, these principles are, for me, unsatisfactory. Would you be sufficiently comforted by hearing the principles on your death bed?

Let me suggest that if God has little or no value in Unitarian Universalism, not only do we risk isolating those among us who find “wonder,” “mystery” or solace in the concept of a higher power, but we risk isolating those among us who do believe in a God, who seek guidance and inspiration from a God, and/or who pray to a God for the health and safety of their families and whatever else people may choose to pray for. At the fellowship dinner a few weeks ago, a friend of mine whose wife is ill told me that a non-UU friend of his asked if he – the non-UU – could pray for my friend’s wife. My friend said, “sure.” He had what I would call a bemused smile on his face when he said this. While he appeared to be uncertain as to whether the prayer was going to make a difference, there was no doubt that he was happy to have someone who believed in a higher power praying for his wife.

What about prayer? What about God? What about divine inspiration? We say we respect and accept those with beliefs different from our own, but on this fundamental issue of whether there is room for God in Unitarian Universalism, let me suggest that silent acceptance of believers is not enough. We should truly welcome the deists and theists already among us by expressly referencing God in our statement of principles. And for those not yet among us, don’t we want to be a possible religious home for those who believe in God but who are turned off by creed, dogma, or religious fundamentalism? Recognition of a higher power will be comfortable for many who grew up in a traditional religion but are now looking for a more liberal but not godless church. While the word God was rarely spoken when I grew up a UU, I don’t think it should be now.

UUs believe in a free and responsible search for truth and meaning, wherever that takes us. But we can search and search and search. We can go down this road and that one. We can talk about the value of the process of living in the questions, and our search together. We can agree to anything and everything we want, including the mystery and wonderment of life. But in the end, is there no truth but a personal truth, a truth so murky that we acknowledge that each of us may perceive it differently? If this is so, it sounds like, forgive me, a soppy book title from the feel-good late sixties: “I’m O.K., You’re O.K.” Not focusing on a God as the central figure in a religion may be a welcome change for people coming to Unitarian-Universalism from more traditional religions, but in ignoring God altogether, the pendulum has swung too far the other way. James talks about “possibilities” quite frequently from this pulpit. Except for the confirmed atheists among us, I think most would agree that it is possible God exists or at least did exist. If it is possible that God exists or existed, and if the concept of God is important to many of us, whether it be at the intellectual, emotional, or spiritual level, shouldn’t we acknowledge that possibility by expressly referring to God in our principles?

Call it Source, call it Mother Earth, call it what you will. The name you give it is of little significance. The idea of it – whether as the Creator of the Earth and Adam and Eve, an omnipotent old man with a white beard sitting at the pearly gates, the rolling waves at the sea, or something divine within each of us – is also not important. But the fact is that we UUs should welcome and acknowledge those who believe in a God, and those who want some recognition of a God in our statement of principles. It might even give us a quick response to the follow-up question after we give our elevator speech: well, what do UUs believe about God?

I’m not suggesting that all UUs need to believe in a higher power. But it is time to acknowledge that some of us have a relationship to that Source, seek guidance and inspiration from it, and even pray to it for wisdom.

Now, you may ask, why should we do this? We should do it for the deists and theists already among us, and to truly welcome believers into our tent. If we want to be the intentionally diverse community as we say we are, we need to make those who believe in some form of higher power feel welcome.

You may also ask, what about the atheists among us? Will a tent that acknowledges the possibility of a higher power leave room for those who expressly reject the existence of God. While I invite the atheists among us to respond, I think the answer is yes. Simply acknowledging the possibility of a higher power does not force the atheists to believe or tell them that they are wrong. Instead, it causes the deists and theists to live side-by-side with the atheists, and explore together. Isn’t that what we’re all about? I attended Peter Farago’s four-week program about God earlier this Winter, and the deists, theists, and atheists – all from this community – discussed our thoughts together.

So, that said, let me be so bold as to suggest an amendment to one of our principles. Instead of saying that UU congregations covenant to affirm and promote a free and responsible search for truth and meaning, suppose we say we that “UU congregations covenant to affirm and promote a free and responsible search for truth and meaning, which may include seeking inspiration and direction on our life’s journey from a higher power.” Let me say that again. “UU congregations covenant to affirm and promote a free and responsible search for truth and meaning, which may include seeking inspiration and direction on our life’s journey from a higher power.”

That’s it: just a recognition that there may be a higher power, and that this power may aid some of us at various points along the road in our search. I invite each of you to consider whether acknowledging that this power would make you or anyone you know more comfortable about joining us. On the other side of the equation, I invite you to consider whether it will cause you or anyone you know already here to feel so uncomfortable as to force them out the door.

If we UUs are as welcoming as we say we are, then there must be room in this tent for those who believe in God, or who at least may “seek inspiration and direction on our life’s journey from a higher power.” But it is not enough to say there is room: we must be express about it in our statement of principles. For many of us, those principles are the basis for our elevator speech. And if the place we may go for a summary of our beliefs for that speech is the principles, we should acknowledge the possible existence of a higher power in those principles. That will help me, and perhaps others in this room and in this denomination, feel touched, and feel that our religion explicitly recognizes, dare I say it, that word that was rarely heard in the UU church I grew up in: God.