Experiencing the Mystery
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HUMANISM Religious Practices
HUMANISM Religious Practices . Required Daily Observances . Required Weekly Observances . Required Occasional Observances/Holy Days Religious Items . Personal Religious Items . Congregate Religious Items . Searches Requirements for Membership . Requirements (Includes Rites of Conversion) . Total Membership Medical Prohibitions Dietary Standards Burial Rituals . Death . Autopsies . Mourning Practices Sacred Writings Organizational Structure . Headquarters Location . Contact Office/Person History Theology 1 Religious Practices Required Daily Observance No required daily observances. Required Weekly Observance No required weekly observances, but many Humanists find fulfillment in congregating with other Humanists on a weekly basis (especially those who characterize themselves as Religious Humanists) or other regular basis for social and intellectual engagement, discussions, book talks, lectures, and similar activities. Required Occasional Observances No required occasional observances, but some Humanists (especially those who characterize themselves as Religious Humanists) celebrate life-cycle events with baby naming, coming of age, and marriage ceremonies as well as memorial services. Even though there are no required observances, there are several days throughout the calendar year that many Humanists consider holidays. They include (but are not limited to) the following: February 12. Darwin Day: This marks the birthday of Charles Darwin, whose research and findings in the field of biology, particularly his theory of evolution by natural selection, represent a breakthrough in human knowledge that Humanists celebrate. First Thursday in May. National Day of Reason: This day acknowledges the importance of reason, as opposed to blind faith, as the best method for determining valid conclusions. June 21 - Summer Solstice. This day is also known as World Humanist Day and is a celebration of the longest day of the year. -
Unitarian Universalist Association Annual Report June 2008
Unitarian Universalist Association Annual Report June 2008 William G. Sinkford-President Kathleen Montgomery-Executive Vice President 1 INTRODUCTION The Association’s mission for the staff is to: 1. Support the health and vitality of Unitarian Universalist congregations as they minister in their communities. 2. Open the doors of Unitarian Universalism to people who yearn for liberal religious community. 3. Be a respected voice for liberal religious values. This report outlines for you, by staff group, the work that has been done on your behalf this year by the staff of the Unitarian Universalist Association. It comes with great appreciation for their extraordinary work in a time of many new initiatives in response to the needs of our faith and our congregations. If you have questions in response to the information contained here, please feel free to contact Kay Montgomery ([email protected]). William G. Sinkford, President Kathleen Montgomery, Executive Vice President 2 CONTENTS STAFF GROUPS: Advocacy and Witness Page 4 Congregational Services Page 6 District Services Page 13 Identity Based Ministries Page 15 Lifespan Faith Development Page 16 Ministry and Professional Leadership Page 24 Communications Page 27 Beacon Press Page 31 Stewardship and Development Page 33 Financial Services Page 36 Operations / Facilities Equal Employment Opportunity Report Page 37 3 ADVOCACY AND WITNESS STAFF GROUP The mission of the Advocacy and Witness staff group is to carry Unitarian Universalist values into the wider world by inserting UU perspectives into public debates of the day. Advocacy and Witness staff members work closely in coalitions with other organizations which share our values, as well as local UU congregations, to be effective in this ministry internationally, nationally, and in state and local efforts. -
Vol 38 No 2 Schafer Korb Gibbons.Pdf
Not Your Father’s Humanism by David Schafer, Katy Korb and Kendyl Gibbons The 2004 UUA General Assembly in Fort Worth, Texas, featured a panel presentation by the three HUUmanists named above. They showcased the idea to fellow UUs that the humanism espoused and practiced in our ranks is very different from that of the Manifesto generation, and indeed from the UU humanists of the 1960s and 70s. David Schafer You’ve undoubtedly heard the cliché that every movement carries within itself the seeds of its own destruction. This seems to me just a dramatic way of saying “nothing’s perfect.” But if a movement is imperfect, what, if anything, can be done to correct its imperfections? The 20th century Viennese philosopher, Otto Neurath, may have given us a clue when he likened progress in his own field to “rebuilding a leaky boat at sea.” Nature, as always, provides the answer to this dilemma: that answer is evolution. If you attended the Humanist workshop at the General Assembly in Quebec City a few years ago, you may have heard me say that if, as it’s often alleged, the value of real estate “depends on three factors—location, location, and location”—in nature survival of individuals, groups, and (I would add) organizations depends on three factors— adaptation, adaptation, and adaptation. Adaptation is the key to evolution, and evolutionary change is a central theme in Humanism, and always has been. Humanism lives in the real world. Humanism is at home in the real world. And the real world is a moving target. -
IN THIS ISSUE UUA Bookstore Has a New Name Thrive Youth
Monthly eNews from UUA Stewardship and Development e-newsletter February 2, 2016 IN THIS ISSUE UUA Bookstore Has a New Name Thrive Youth Applications Open Is Your Congregation on the #BlackLivesMatter Map? UU Reads: The Third Reconstruction Donor Feature: Steven Ballesteros Register Now — UU-UNO Spring Seminar A Turning Point for Unitarian Universalism UUA Bookstore Has a New Name The UUA Bookstore wants to share the good news of Unitarian Universalim with a wider audience and has changed its name to inSpirit: UU Book and Gift Shop. The word "inspirit" is rich in meaning. It can mean to fill with spirit, to encourage, to exhilarate, or to bestow with strength or purpose. The new name reflects the many ways inSpirit serves UUs, our congregations, and our communities. inSpirit offers a wide range of books and gifts that reflect the values of our UU movement, including titles from Skinner House Books and Beacon Press, selected titles from other publishers, and fair trade gift and clothing items. inSpirit will continue to bring in new merchandise and reading materials to attract a wide, progressive audience online and to the Boston storefront. Thrive Youth Applications Open Thrive Youth Applications are now open. Thanks to your generosity, Unitarian Universalist Youth of Color will come together for a five-day gathering to deepen their faith, lift their spirits, and build critical skills for leadership in the face of our broken, yet beautiful world. Thrive participants will be guided by experienced facilitators as they worship together, play, explore their racial and ethnic identities, develop leadership skills, and create supportive community. -
The Goals of Humanism1
SOUND THE ALARM: THE GOALS OF HUMANISM1 The watchman on the wall of an ancient city had to be alert for signs of danger. His responsibility was to inform others of what he saw. Should he detect a foreign army about to attack, he needed to sound an alarm. In our own American history, we remember the midnight ride of Paul Revere—from Charleston to Medford, and on to Concord and Lexington. So through the night rode Paul Revere And so through the night went his cry of alarm To every Middlesex village and farm.2 Likewise, we must sound an alarm regarding humanism and the dangers it presents to Christians. I wish it were possible for us to shout, as did those watchmen on ancient walls, “The enemy is coming!” But that’s not the message about humanism which we must convey. That message would imply that we are here, and that humanism is off over yonder somewhere. Our message—one which leaves us with a sinking feeling—is more comparable to the announcement that “we’ve got termites in our woodwork!” Humanism is not coming. It’s already here! It has already done much damage. It has already eaten far into the structures of our society. It kills unborn babies. It hurts youth with drugs. It dirties minds with profanity. It turns children against their parents. It robs families of their wealth. It severely damages and often destroys Christian families. If left alone, humanism will eat its way through the country until eventually it has destroyed all Christian homes and churches. -
Elite: Uncovering Classism in Unitarian Universalist History (Skinner House Books, 2011), by the Reverend Mark W
Elite: Uncovering Classism in Unitarian and Universalist History by Mark W. Harris (Boston: Skinner House Books, 2011) Discussion Guide for Unitarian Universalist Groups by Gail Forsyth-Vail and Susan Dana Lawrence Gail Forsyth-Vail , adult programs director for the Unitarian Universalist Association’s Ministries and Faith Development staff group, is a master level credentialed religious educator, the author of the Tapestry of Faith Toolkit Book Stories in Faith , and a co-author of the Tapestry of Faith curriculum Harvest the Power: Developing Lay Leadership . Susan Dana Lawrence serves in the Unitarian Universalist Association’s Ministries and Faith Development staff group as managing editor of the Tapestry of Faith curriculum and resources project. The editor of the Family pages of UU World , she is a co-author of the Tapestry of Faith children’s program Wonderful Welcome, and the multigenerational program, Miracles. Table of Contents Introduction.........................................................................................................................i Session 1 (60- or 90-minute), Founding Stories................................................................1 Session 2 (60- or 90-minute), How Do We Thrive? How Are We Saved?.........................8 Session 3 (60- or 90-minute), Scientific Salvation...........................................................14 Introduction Elite: Uncovering Classism in Unitarian Universalist History (Skinner House Books, 2011), by the Reverend Mark W. Harris, explores historical events -
PAGANISM a Brief Overview of the History of Paganism the Term Pagan Comes from the Latin Paganus Which Refers to Those Who Lived in the Country
PAGANISM A brief overview of the history of Paganism The term Pagan comes from the Latin paganus which refers to those who lived in the country. When Christianity began to grow in the Roman Empire, it did so at first primarily in the cities. The people who lived in the country and who continued to believe in “the old ways” came to be known as pagans. Pagans have been broadly defined as anyone involved in any religious act, practice, or ceremony which is not Christian. Jews and Muslims also use the term to refer to anyone outside their religion. Some define paganism as a religion outside of Christianity, Judaism, Hinduism, Islam, and Buddhism; others simply define it as being without a religion. Paganism, however, often is not identified as a traditional religion per se because it does not have any official doctrine; however, it has some common characteristics within its variety of traditions. One of the common beliefs is the divine presence in nature and the reverence for the natural order in life. In the strictest sense, paganism refers to the authentic religions of ancient Greece and Rome and the surrounding areas. The pagans usually had a polytheistic belief in many gods but only one, which represents the chief god and supreme godhead, is chosen to worship. The Renaissance of the 1500s reintroduced the ancient Greek concepts of Paganism. Pagan symbols and traditions entered European art, music, literature, and ethics. The Reformation of the 1600s, however, put a temporary halt to Pagan thinking. Greek and Roman classics, with their focus on Paganism, were accepted again during the Enlightenment of the 1700s. -
The Religious Humanism of Rachel Carson: on the 50Th Anniversary of the Publication of Silent Spring
Contribution The Religious Humanism of Rachel Carson: On the 0th Anniversary of the Publication of Silent Spring Connie Lasher 1. Introduction HE year 2012 marks the fiftieth anniversary of the 192 publication Tof a book which is widely acknowledged to have initiated the modern environmental movement. That book was Silent Spring,1 and of its author, Rachel Carson, it has been said that “a few thousand words from her and the world took a new direction.”2 Fifty years after Silent Spring, a book which appeared at the end of Carson’s life, there is renewed interest in comprehending the significance of her legacy. For, as Lisa Sideris and Kathleen Dean Moore note in the Introduction to their fine anthology, Rachel Carson: Legacy and Challenge, “Carson did not set out to be an ‘environmentalist’ or an ‘environmental writer’ in the modern sense. Silent Spring, with its detailed documentation of the dangers of pesticides and explicit warnings against their indiscriminate use, was in many ways a departure from the genre of writing Carson knew and loved best.” Indeed, those of us whose lives and work have been inspired by the legacy of this humble but valiant woman recognize, with Sideris and Moore, the importance of honoring “the whole person who was Rachel Carson, the whole of her work, the wholeness of her view of the earth.” It is this legacy of wholeness, in its historical, cultural, and religious context, which the present study seeks to convey. However, is it appropriate to apply the term “religious humanism” to Carson’s life and worldview? It is, to be sure, not a term that she used to describe herself. -
Our UU Theological Tapestry: Religious Humanism in a Religious World the Reverend Cynthia A
Page 1 Our UU Theological Tapestry: Religious Humanism in a Religious World The Reverend Cynthia A. Frado Unitarian Universalist Society of Amherst November 5, 2017 Is the religious impulse inherent in our human species? And if so, is the belief in a Divine Source a required tenet of that religious impulse? What is it that we seek on a deeper level beyond the superficial and the mundane? Most people from other traditions who consider themselves to be religious, scoff at the idea that you can be humanist and religious without believing in God. For them, conjoining the two is the greatest oxymoron of them all. In fact, they not only find that idea to be absurd, they find it to be antithetical, heretical, and a mockery of true religion. So, with that in mind, I dutifully scoured the internet searching for a common understanding of religion. Much to my surprise, I actually had a difficult time trying to find a universally accepted definition of what religion is supposed to be. Even the on-line Bible otherwise known as Wikipedia said it was hard to find one specific interpretation of the term. Certainly, all the dead, white, European, male theologians, who consumed far too many of my weekends in college and graduate school, haunted me with their own complicated and convoluted descriptions, all of which included some form or another of a higher power. However, I found the MacMillian Encyclopedia of Religions to have the most compelling definition to date. They say that religion is the organization of life around the depth dimensions of experience—varied in form, completeness, and clarity in accordance with the environing culture. -
The Making of Manifesto I Shows, Six Years Later an Attempt at Improving the Document Failed for Want of Support
fied by a belief in their transcendent real battle of religion is not that of conflict References nature, in their absoluteness independent with other religions, but of a religious fol- Bouquet, A. C. 1948. Hinduism. London: Hutchin- of human initiative. Yet, because they are lower within himself, in order to try to son. not transcendental, not of divine origin, preserve the true values of his faith. Findlay, J. N. 1963. Language, Mind, and Value. they can be easily set aside by the pres- London: Allen & Unwin. This article is excerpted from Raymond Firth's forth- Richardson, Alan and Bowden, John (eds.) 1963. A sure of individual or group human inter- coming book Religion: A Humanist Interpretation New Dictionary of Christian Theology, London: ests. As many wise men have seen, the (Routledge 1996). SCM Press. with its falseness. As Wilson's book The Making of Manifesto I shows, six years later an attempt at improving the document failed for want of support. The last chapter of the book briefly mentions Humanist Manifesto II (1972) Herbert A. Tonne and indicates that Edmund Wilson was recognized as editor emeritus but fails to hen Edmund Wilson was eased out state that Manifesto II was in large mea- Wof his job as Executive Director of "Stripped of embroidery and sure written .by Paul Kurtz. There has the American Humanist Association, he padding, Manifesto l is a state- been some discussion of the development soon thereafter (1967) founded the ment of nonbelief in traditional of a Humanist Manifesto III. Since 1933 Fellowship of Religious Humanism. religion that, nevertheless, does and especially since 1972 there has been During the period in which I was treasurer not wish to offend traditionalists:' so much diversification in opinion among of the Fellowship, Corliss Lamont gave humanists that it would be impossible to the organization $10,000 a year, of which Evolutionary Humanism would become do justice to all versions. -
Catholics, Culture and the Renewal of Christian Humanism
religions Article Catholics, Culture and the Renewal of Christian Humanism John Sullivan Theology Department, Liverpool Hope University, Liverpool L16 9JD, UK; [email protected] Abstract: If Catholic educators are to equip students to engage with contemporary culture in a way that is credible and winsome, they need first, to be able to draw upon the living tradition of their faith appreciatively, critically and creatively, and second, to articulate a renewed form of Christian humanism. This paper addresses the second of these prerequisites by taking two steps towards the development of a Christian humanism for our times. First, I propose a rationale for the task of rethinking the case for Christian humanism as a resource for both cultural engagement and for educational practice. Second, I consider three potential sources and guides for becoming confident and competent in communicating this renewal of Christian humanism: Jacques Maritain, Romano Guardini and Pope Francis. Keywords: culture; Christian humanism; Catholic education; Jacques Maritain; Romano Guardini; Pope Francis Catholic educators have always had to draw upon and respond to the cultures in which they are embedded. The transmission of faith and the invitation to participate in God’s life never occurs in a cultural vacuum. The language used in Catholic education, the features of the faith to be given salience, the prevailing assumptions about knowledge, the aims of education, pedagogy, curriculum and the teacher-student relationship, even Citation: Sullivan, John. 2021. the tone and shape of the theology that underpins and illuminates Catholic education—all Catholics, Culture and the Renewal of these are unavoidably and deeply influenced by the nature of the society and culture which Christian Humanism. -
HUMANISM for IDEAL SOCIETY Original Research Paper Mathematics
IF : 4.547 | IC Value 80.26 Volume-6, IssueV-9,olum Speciale : 3 | IssueIssue :September-2017 11 | November 2014 • ISSN • ISSN No N 2277o 2277 - 8160- 8179 Original Research Paper Mathematics HUMANISM FOR IDEAL SOCIETY Smt. Sunkara. Lalitha Senior Lecturer, Department of Mathematics The Hindu College, Machilipatnam ABSTRACT Humanism is a philosophy, world view, or life stance based on naturalism-the conviction that the universe or nature is all that exists or is real. Humanism serves, for many humanists, some of the psychological and social functions of a religion, but without belief in deities, transcendental entities, miracles, life after death, and the supernatural. Humanists seek to understand the universe by using science and its methods of critical inquiry-logical reasoning, empirical evidence, and skeptical evaluation of conjectures and conclusions-to obtain reliable knowledge. Humanists affirm that humans have the freedom to give meaning, value, and purpose to their lives by their own independent thought, free inquiry, and responsible, creative activity. Humanists stand for the building of a more humane, just, compassionate, and democratic society using a pragmatic ethics based on human reason, experience, and reliable knowledge-an ethics that judges the consequences of human actions by the well-being of all life on Earth. KEYWORDS : INTRODUCTION values imparted by bonae litterae or humane learning. Those who Humanism is a progressive life stance that, without have spoken Latin and have used the language correctly do not give supernaturalism, affirms our ability and responsibility to lead to the word humanitas the meaning which it is commonly thought meaningful, ethical lives capable of adding to the greater good of to have, namely, what the Greeks call φιλανθρωπία (philanthropy), humanity.