29 Replies to "Equal time"

• Sue April 11, 2007 (8:59 am)

  You beat me to it – I was going to mention WSUU in the other thread as an alternative to the bible-centered churches. It’s a wonderful community of people that meets at the Masonic Temple near the Alaska Junction, Sundays at 10:30.
  For those wondering what on earth a UU is and believes, check out: http://www.uua.org/visitors/6798.shtml

• Mike April 11, 2007 (10:48 am)

  I agree with Sue. WSUU (West Seattle Unitarian Universalist Fellowship) is a great community, with a full range of beliefs among its members. It’s a place to find God/Spirit/Meaning in a welcoming community, and in an ethical participation in the world at large. WSUU has a great minister, the Reverend Peg Morgan, and also has guest speakers/lay led services twice a month. For more info go to wsuu.org.

• Wes Olsen April 11, 2007 (10:51 am)

  Since we like to share ideas and opinions here is a great article on UU. Thanks
  http://www.carm.org/uni/unitarianism.htm

• Autumn Zuber April 11, 2007 (1:08 pm)

  Been a UU since 2004 and my life has been so fullfilled and blessed to have people who accept me for who I am and do not judge me for my disabilities. I live in Bellevue now but travel all the way to west seattle because I do not think I could find a community so loving and caring. Run by the best reverand ever Peg Morgan and a welcoming congregation. I feel like true equality exist in the relm of spirituality.

• Dana April 11, 2007 (1:37 pm)

  From the carm.org article:

  “It can plainly be seen that this is a religion based upon personal hopes and desires and not upon the the Bible.”

  Thank God! I would surely hate to follow a religious creed based soley on the Bible verses. To say the least, nearly all the humanist advances in the last 400 years would be lost, and we’d be burning people.

• Jan April 11, 2007 (2:38 pm)

  wes…you really don’t miss a chance to spew your judgement and your beliefs everywhere, do you. You might get more respect for your beliefs if you respect others beliefs more.

• Wes Olsen April 11, 2007 (3:53 pm)

  Jan, please stop offending me with your beliefs.
  Dana I wonder if those humanist views include those of Stalin, Hitler and Pol Pot?

• dq April 11, 2007 (4:22 pm)

  Wes, it seems as though you have “forgotten the message and worship the creed”.

• Wes Olsen April 11, 2007 (4:29 pm)

  What do you mean by that dq?

• Wes Olsen April 11, 2007 (4:59 pm)

  Maybe a repost….DQ what do you mean by that?

• Sue April 11, 2007 (5:41 pm)

  Wes, as a Unitarian Universalist, I certainly respect your right to your own religious beliefs and do not have any agenda of trying to change yours. Nor do I plan on prostelytizing about why I think my religion is better than someone else’s. But I do want to clarify some inaccuracies or misunderstandings brought up in that article.
  I did read the link that you shared from carm.org. I would not say that the first part of the article is accurate in regard to UU, or least not current beliefs (if at one time it was accurate). Because UUs don’t have a set creed, no one cannot generalize and say that they are or are not christians, or what they believe, etc. If you are interested in reading a little more current and accurate into about UUism today, please check out this link to the text of a publication called “100 Questions That Non-Members Ask About Unitarian Universalism”: http://www.uunashua.org/100quest.shtml which will explain a lot more about who we are and what we stand for. Additionally, FYI, this is the Unison Affirmation from the West Seattle Unitarian Universalist Fellowship:
  Love is the doctrine of this Fellowship,
  The quest for truth is its sacrament
  And service is its prayer.
  To dwell together in peace
  To seek knowledge in freedom
  To serve humanity in fellowship
  Thus do we covenant with one another.

  ———–
  UUism isn’t for everybody. But know that whoever you are, and wherever you are on your life’s journey, you are welcome here.

• Wes Olsen April 11, 2007 (6:00 pm)

  Thanks for the current information. I appreciate your time to direct me to this. The only question that I have is what UU’s believe true?

• dq April 11, 2007 (6:16 pm)

  think about it, Wes, and you’ll understand.

• Wes Olsen April 11, 2007 (6:22 pm)

  DQ, come on tell me what you think it means. To give you a specific answer, I need a specific explanation. I just don’t take things on face value.

• Ben April 11, 2007 (7:09 pm)

  Thomas Jefferson and Ben Franklin were Unitarians. Not bad company! Ben

• Dana April 11, 2007 (11:25 pm)

  “Dana I wonder if those humanist views include those of Stalin, Hitler and Pol Pot?”

  Not really directed to Wes. Just general statements that this post has reminded me of — and why posting here really doesn’t help “change anyone” — we just like to bicker. It’s the Human way.

  Just like all countries, American history is usually written from a nationalistic point of view. We can easily point out atrocities from other nations, creeds, dictators, and religions – but rarely our own. (And history – especially recent declassified history – certainly shows that this country has a penchant for atrocities as well.)

  But we all commit atrocities on one level or another — insititutions that “force” a belief system on others must use fear and force.

  And that is why I respect UU so much. The times I have participated I have never felt the fear and force that I have felt so often in other organized religions that appear to have a such a black and white image of what life’s journey is all about.

  And that’s just what life is – a journey. It’s my journey. I’m not going to let Man’s interpretations of a few “great” historical figures dictate that journey. But I’ll certainly keep an open mind to learn from them. And you can bet I won’t try to dictate your path in life either.

  But if we happen to meet up, I’ll be glad to share your company.

• flipjack April 11, 2007 (11:32 pm)

  I guess the uu should’ve used “thou” instead of I…wow!…like “Thou shalt not Judge”

• flipjack April 11, 2007 (11:35 pm)

  Interesting Ben…weren’t Tom Jefferson and Ben Franklin Free Masons also??

• Gunnar April 12, 2007 (8:53 am)

  Wes, just because the Unitarian Universalists don’t worship Christ doesn’t mean that they’re wrong. Didn’t Christ say that “God is a Spirit, and those that worship God must worship him in Spirit and in truth”? Did Christ ever tell his followers to worship him?
  Those of the U.U. persuasion more than likely love God just as much as you do, but they see the mountain from a different viewpoint. It is the same mountain, though.

• A dude April 12, 2007 (9:55 am)

  My Mercedes is better than your BMW which is better than his Ford which is better than her VW, which is better than the old guy who simply walks. We all think what we have is the best.

• Wes Olsen April 12, 2007 (12:15 pm)

  Gunnar, why are they not wrong because they do not worship Christ? Christ is God. He said He is God and that He and God are one. Christ said, if you believe in Him you believe in the Father. Jesus said that He is the way, the truth and the life. Does that help?
  So the question isn’t whether if something is better or not, but rather if it is true or not. Someone might think that beating children is better than not, but it doesn’t make it true or right.
  Lots of people believe in a God. So Gunnar what do you mean by God?
  These are all really great questions and reasons that you guys bring up.

• Gunnar April 12, 2007 (1:10 pm)

  God, the Son, and God, the Father, are two distinct Beings, according to Isaiah 53, II Corinthians 5, and numerous other places. Look at what John the Baptist proclaimed Christ as: “Behold the Lamb of God, which takes away the sins of the world.”
  Also, John 3:16 has been grossly misinterpreted through the ages. God, the Father, is the Subject of that particular verse, or sentence, if you will.

  I believe that there is one God, and that just like a mountain, we see this one God from different places. Mt. Rainier looks totally different when you’re looking at it from Ellensburg than it does when you’re looking at it from Seattle.

  It’s also so much more about you, as an individual, seeking God in sincerity and in faith rather than riding the coattails of the elders and getting your spirituality spoonfed to you from the pulpit.

  Tell me, Wes. Have you done the math that’s associated with the first 3 chapters of Revelations? Christ had John write 7 letters to 7 churches, and only 2 churches received letters of encouragment, while the other 5 received letters of pleadings, warnings and scoldings. Pretty sad odds with Christianity being less than 100 years old.

• Bill April 12, 2007 (2:46 pm)

  You’re all missing an important point. The feast is scheduled 4/21, for all those still hungry from the 4/20 celebration!

  Why do people of different religions supposedly rooted in love argue so easily? Wes, you’ll catch more flies with honey…

• Wes Olsen April 12, 2007 (3:12 pm)

  Gunnar, you are goin gto have to give me the specific verses that you are referring to. Also, how do you know that John 3:16 is grossly misinterpreted? What math do you speak of concerning revelation, or, what is your point? I believe that there is one God revealed in three people, the Father, Son and the Holy Spirit. So either what I know is right, and you are wrong, or, you are right and I am wrong, or, we are both wrong. But, we both can not be right. I actually read and study the bible daily. I seek the greek and hebrew texts and make sure that it flows all through out the Bible. I listen and read commentators and just take my time studying what I believe. I am not a “Sunday” and I don’t blame you for thinking most christians are perhaps that way, since most are good at spitting slogans they can not defend. This is not to say that I know everything, but whatever I do not know in the dark, Jesus Christ reveals in the light.
  Bill, I would never try to sweet talk you into something, just to get you to believe it. I would simply tell you in love the truth, even if it upsets any of you.
  Please understand that I do this out of compassion and love for you all. My tone should never be taken as a harsh one. But I believe Jesus, when He says that He is the way, the truth and the life. And that no man can come to the Father except through Him. That means He’s in control, and He has provided one way, not many, and I am thankful that I have even one way to the Almight God. His grace abounds! Now that’s love!

• Gunnar April 12, 2007 (6:40 pm)

  Wes,
  God’s grace is much bigger than most Christians have been led to believe. I invite your further dialogue if you choose to discuss this via .

• Antoine April 13, 2007 (1:56 am)

  “God is truth!” proclaimed the pulpit. Was God behind the Great Flood, killing every single living being, but a few? “God works in mysterious ways!” proclaims the pulpit.

  And so God continued in his mysterious ways, killing every first-born of the Egyptians. “Wicked men must die!” says the pulpit. And so the battle cry, the Lord proclaims “I will also send wild beasts among you, which shall rob you of your children!”

  We’re modern now, with our higher law and “Jesus Saves!” And so we justified bondage of inferior ones, for they were inferior. And good Christians made a good living, selling cotton and labor and souls.

  And in Christ’s name, bombs struck the abortion clinics — for they were evil! Satan’s work.

  Extremists say you? Seriously – what do you think the creation of Christianity and Judaism was for the world? Suicide bombers and self-sacrifice — that was Judaism & Christianity & it’s descendants bringing that one to plate.

  Intolerance was not Pagan.

  And so I’ll stick with my pink unicorn – for less damage to mankind has he done. Just as real (or unreal) as God – try and prove me wrong!

• Wes Olsen April 13, 2007 (6:59 am)

  Wow, Antoine, you sound like a fan of Richard Dawkins. I am not going to try and prove you wrong, not with a presupposition like that. I doubt you would sincerley listen. I would like to know however where in the Bible Christians killed people or were told to kill people? Also, do you believe in euthanizing animals? This last question I am just curious about.

• A dude April 13, 2007 (7:43 am)

  Yes, I’d like to know where the bible says to bomb abortion clinics also. Yet, in spite of the loss, he is FORGIVEN! Isn’t that magnificent! The worlds wars are attributable to religion and intolerance.

• Wes Olsen April 13, 2007 (10:18 am)

  A dude, how do you know if the bomber of an abortion clinic is forgiven? I agree that you have all pointed out the hypocrites in the church! Now consider Christ and find fault in Him. It is He that Christianity centers around. I believe that we should never judge a worldview based off it’s abuse, but rather who it centers around and whether it is true or not. Make sense?

Sorry, comment time is over.