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Universalism


Cynthia

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from a www.google.com search for "universism"

 

Universist Movement | Universism | Future of Religion is Faithless ...

Universism seems to have put a succinct label on my beliefs. ... Universism is

a personal religious philosophy or worldview which unites all freethinkers, ...

universist.org/ - 22k - Cached - Similar pages

 

Frequently Asked Questions about Universism - Universist FAQ

Universism seeks to "cope with and redirect the religious impulse rather ...

What does Universism mean when it says there is no universal religious truth? ...

universist.org/faq.htm - 101k - Cached - Similar pages

[ More results from universist.org ]

 

Universism: A progressive natural philosophy

Universism does not answer these questions. Universism elevates these questions

and proclaims that the search itself is paramount to our existence. ...

www.religioustolerance.org/universism.htm - 23k - Cached - Similar pages

 

Universist Movement | Universism | Future of Religion is Faithless ...

Universism seems to have put a succinct label on my beliefs. ... Universism will

likely appeal to a large percentage of those UUs who seek more rationalism ...

www.universism.org/ - 22k - Cached - Similar pages

 

Gimme that New-Time Religion || kuro5hin.org

"But Universism is about realizing that faith's great power is also its great

... What I like about Universism is that it's a very democratic institution. ...

www.kuro5hin.org/story/2004/7/25/155628/061 - 125k - Cached - Similar pages

 

Society: Religion: Universism - Open Site

Universism is a modern rational religious philosophy that began in 2003 with ...

Universism argues that religious philosophy should not be defined in terms ...

open-site.org/Society/Religion/Universism/ - 8k - Cached - Similar pages

 

Deism and other Free Thought Philosophies

Why Bring Free-Thinkers Together in a United Movement Like Universism? ...

These different philosophies are brought together in Universism: A united ...

www.deism.org/freethought.htm - 10k - Cached - Similar pages

 

Universism's new leader aims to go nationwide

An upstart religion called Universism, founded in Birmingham by a UAB medical

student, ... UAB medical student Ford Vox started Universism in 2003, ...

www.al.com/religion/birminghamnews/ index.ssf?/base/news/1126257470185571.xml&coll=2

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Just saw this on a blog:

 

Beliefnet reports that a fledgling religion known as Universism has named Todd Stricker as its new executive director. A native of Chicago, Stricker has plans to make Chicago the national headquarters. From the article:
University of Alabama-Birmingham medical student Ford Vox started Universism in 2003, saying that Christianity, Islam, and to a lesser extent other world religions are harmful because they attempt to impose their own version of moral certainty on others.

 

Through the Internet, Universism has recruited 8,000 atheists, deists, freethinkers and others who rally around the notion that no universal religious truth exists and that the meaning of existence must be determined by each individual.

 

Apparently, Mr. Vox thinks it's wrong to impose one's version of moral certainty on others. I wonder if he's certain about that. And if he is, how is what he and his fellow "believers" are doing different from the world religions they are protesting? In the case of actions taken by some Muslims, I think the charge of trying to impose a certain view on others sticks. However, for reasons I offered in a previous post, I don't think that Christians or other religious people seeking to persuade others of their views constitutes their "imposing" their perspective on others as though by force.

 

The truth of the matter is that every worldview gives rise to prescriptions concerning human conduct, including Universism. Its premise that no universal religious truth exists leads to the conclusion that each individual must determine the meaning of existence for him or herself. A corollary of this belief is that it is wrong for me to try to get you to adopt my interpretation of life. But that's the very thing Mr. Vox and his associates are seeking to do every time they attempt to convince others that their philosophy of life is superior to others.

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Maybe the best thing for Mr. Vox to do would be to take his entire entourage with him and visit the week-long Burning Man Celebration in the Black Rock Desert in N. Nevada next year. He'll find plenty of counter-culture rebels who can't tolerate being told what to believe there. It would probably be a fertile recruiting ground for him, if he could only cut through the purple haze and talk them into believing what his group's advocating. Eight thousand dogs chasing their tails I think!

Edited by flowperson
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The Christian way? There is no such thing. There are as many different versions of Christianity as there are people. Ever meet two people who believed *exactly* the same thing?

 

It is a shame humanism is given such a bad name in Christianity. Usually out of a lack of real education on the topic.

 

As a psych major I learned that if you held to anyone philosophy you were pretty much doomed to failure. It was better to be eclectic and pull from the different philosophies what worked.

 

Same goes here.

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I was a philosophy major in college and I know what you're saying. That said, I learned from Christianity that "the wisdom of the world will reject and see as foolish the Wisdom of God." ; )

 

But, agreed, there are varieties of Christianity, not just one homogeneous way..

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I was a philosophy major in college and I know what you're saying.  That said, I learned from Christianity that "the wisdom of the world will reject and see as foolish the Wisdom of God." ;  )

 

But, agreed, there are varieties of Christianity, not just one homogeneous way..

 

 

In college I learned that all truth comes from God. That includes the truths in Humanism.

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I hear new age people like Louise Hay and Wayne Dyer talk about the universe all of the time as a substitute for God. I wonder if Universism is much different than Zen Buddhism. Alan Watts wrote a great book,THE WAY OF ZEN, which made it clear to me that any way to enlightenment is a zen way. Some Zen Masters make it a point not to teach anything at all so that those seeking enlightenment realize that there is no particular way to enlightenment but that each seeker must create a unique path. I believe that Christianity lays down some basic rules and then allows us to create a unique path. I don't believe any particular religion has a monopoly on wisdom. I stay Christian because it works for me. Why would I give up so much tradition, wisdom, discipline, experience, theology? Nevertheless the emerging church (what I like to call The New Church for the New Age) needs to embrace so much more than we did in the past. This is quite a challenge and we all resist the challenge, the change, to some extent.

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I hear new age people like Louise Hay and Wayne Dyer talk about the universe all of the time as a substitute for God.  I wonder if Universism is much different than Zen Buddhism.  Alan Watts wrote a great book,THE WAY OF ZEN, which made it clear to me that any way to enlightenment is a zen way.  Some Zen Masters make it a point not to teach anything at all so that those seeking enlightenment realize that there is no particular way to enlightenment but that each seeker must create a unique path.  I believe that Christianity lays down some basic rules and then allows us to create a unique path.  I don't believe any particular religion has a monopoly on wisdom.  I stay Christian because it works for me.  Why would I give up so much tradition, wisdom, discipline, experience, theology?  Nevertheless the emerging church (what I like to call The New Church for the New Age) needs to embrace so much more than we did in the past.  This is quite a challenge and we all resist the challenge, the change, to some extent.

 

That's very true. In his book "The Zen Teachings of Jesus" K. Leong states that he left the church at 16 to find the Tao, and at age 40 he realized he could have found the Tao in Jesus.

 

 

MOW

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MOW wrote: That's very true. In his book "The Zen Teachings of Jesus" K. Leong states that he left the church at 16 to find the Tao, and at age 40 he realized he could have found the Tao in Jesus.

 

+++

 

I think people who switch from one religion to another gain something and lose something. They gain a new perspective especially because they can practice their new religion without a lot of cultural baggage. But they lose some of the good stuff which comes with the cultural baggage. I have great respect for our culture and other cultures but I also can see that each and every culture has a lot of problems. I believe that many of the problems mainline denominations are facing are due to a lot of negative cultural baggage.

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I have read that when people ask the Dali Lama if they should become Buddhists he always tells them to go deeper into their own tradition (usually Christianity). He believes some Westerners will find a home in Buddhism but doesn't really advocate it in any way.

 

 

--des

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I have read that when people ask the Dali Lama if they should become Buddhists he always tells them to go deeper into their own tradition (usually Christianity). He believes some Westerners will find a home in Buddhism but doesn't really advocate it in any way.

 

--des

 

Yes. So we need to put a lot of energy into strengthening the true Church which repudiates the claim that our faith is the only true faith and that our faith must be forced on others.

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