“Deists, Humanists, Atheists: All Welcome Here!”

A Sermon by the Rev. Marjorie Montgomery

Delivered at Red River UU Church on February 27, 2005

Deists, humanists, atheists: all welcome here. We could also say Christians, theists, existentialists, mystics: all welcome here. What, all? Yes, all. How can this be? We call ourselves a non-creedal church, meaning we do not have one particular set of theological beliefs that all members must affirm. But, we are not really a non-creedal church; rather, we are multi-creedal church. Every individual is encouraged to develop his or her own personal set of theological beliefs. How can people with a variety of beliefs come together on Sunday morning to share an hour of worth-shaping? How can this be?

We are a product of our 400-year history. We have evolved over the centuries into a community that trusts each individual to do his or her own reasoning about religious questions. Our history is a fascinating story of people searching for a faith based on fact and reason.

Our history can be briefly summarized. During the Protestant Reformation in the sixteenth century, there were many attempts to reform Christianity. Some thinkers affirmed the oneness of God, rather than the three-part God taught in the doctrine of the Trinity -- Father, Son and Holy Ghost. Those who believed in the unity of God were called Unitarians. They saw Jesus as a great teacher, a wise human guide, but not a Savior, and not the same as God.

Other Reformation thinkers believed that a God of love would never condemn anyone to hell, and therefore, all people would be admitted into heaven. They affirmed Universal salvation for all, and therefore, were called Universalists.

These heretical thinkers existed inside Protestant Christian churches in Europe and in England and eventually migrated to America. Unitarians settled mainly around Boston, and Universalists settled first in Glouster, Mass., Pennsylvania and New York State. The vast majority of our churches, even today, are in the northeastern United States. These ancestors of ours continued to question the deity of Jesus and the final judgment of God, and eventually broke from traditional Christian churches and became denominations in their own right.

From our very beginnings, we have consistently insisted that fixed creeds are restrictive, that blind faith is harmful, and that reason and experience are the best authorities on which to base one’s faith.

As settlers moved west across this land our churches attracted independent thinkers, educators, innovators, and social reformers. New ideas and new perspectives were welcomed. So, today, we are a diverse people. We have evolved that way.

The glue that keeps us together is twofold (if glue can be called twofold). We have in common shared values and shared questions. We share the values, which are described in our denomination’s Principles and Purposes:

“We, the member congregations of the Unitarian Universalist Association, covenant to affirm and promote:

Not only do we share the same values, we are all asking the same basic religious questions. Did you know there are really only three basic religious questions?

First is the question of origin -- where did we come from? Second is the question of meaning -- what is the meaning of life? Third is the question of destiny -- Where are we going?

Origin, meaning, destiny. Birth, life, death.

On a more personal level, we ask, “Why do I exist?” Not “how” -- that is a question for science to answer. The religious question is “Why do I exist? What meaning is there to my life? What will happen to me after death?”

Under the general categories of these three questions there are others: why must I suffer? Where will I find strength to live nobly, bravely, honestly? How can I love well?

Organized religion tries to answer all these questions. I guess one could say that we are dis-organized in this regard. We do not believe there is any one right answer to these questions. Rather, they are matters, which each individual must think through for him or herself. We have chosen the hard path of living with ambiguity, with flexibility, with answers that change as we gain new knowledge and new experience. We embrace the hard tasks of study and thought. We prefer that burden over the burden of blind faith and not thinking.

Now, I want to be very specific and offer up six different theological views, which are present in Unitarian Universalist congregations. There are others, no doubt, but let us begin with these six.

First, Christian Liberalism. I understand Christian liberalism to be a pragmatic response to the great religious questions. This view says that humans were created to populate a world where human beings will prosper in peace and harmony -- the abundant life, as predicted in the Biblical concepts of a Kingdom of God. God’s will is that we will love one another, and the best teacher of how to love well was Jesus. Christian liberals see the life and teachings of Jesus as true, effective and progressive guides for the moral life. When Thomas Jefferson took a pair of scissors and cut from the New Testament the basic events of Jesus’ life, Jefferson was acting as a Christian liberal, trying to sort out the moral wisdom, which would provide guidelines for building a better society and for the fulfillment of individual human personality. Jefferson’s book is entitled “The Morals of Jesus.”

Another Unitarian Christian, Charles Dickens, wrote “The Life of Our Lord” for children, making the same attempt to learn from the life and lessons of Jesus. The emphasis is not on Jesus’ divinity, but on Jesus’ love for God and neighbor.

A second view is Naturalist Theism. When scientists study nature they discover order, logic, and an evolutionary process, which consistently, creatively, promotes life. Naturalistic theists look at natural law and conclude that it must come from some “first cause” -- poetically named the God of Creativity. This God is not usually thought of as a Supreme Being or an anthropomorphic figure. It is an abstract God, a cosmic force. This God operates within the natural law and is not in any way supernatural. Rather, this God is the “force” present in every occasion of innovation. You and I were created to companion one another as we participate in the on-going process of being and becoming. Henry Neilson Weiman and Taillard de Chardin are writers for Naturalistic Theism.

Third is Deism. Although the term is rarely heard today, many liberals remain true to this position. A deist believes that some kind of first cause put the world into motion -- rather like the clock maker who makes the clock, winds it up, and then goes away. The clock keeps ticking, with no apparent end in sight. God is seen as no longer active in the universe, but the physical laws of nature continue to govern the system. There is also a system of moral laws, which we can discover by studying nature. Writings of Robert Audrey and Edward O. Wilson are examples of deism. The highest and most meaningful life is one devoted to living in harmony with natural law, so that life can be sustained and preserved for further generations. Such thinking has spawned among us a passion for environmental awareness, recycling, picking up litter, and when we are at our best, a desire for simpler, less consumptive lifestyles.

Fourth is Existentialism. The existentialist often is atheistic, in the sense that he or she denies the existence of any form of God or first cause and believes creation to be an accident. The order and logic in nature are seen to have evolved by accident, without a purpose, over eons and eons of time. Creation came into being, without a purpose. You and I exist by accident, without a purpose. The only meaning our lives can have is the meaning we decide to give them. We have total responsibility for our own decisions and for our attitudes. We are basically alone and exist in a darkness of radical and total freedom, no longer bound or sustained by older ethical sanctions or moral laws. It is a position that can lead to despair, or what is called existential “angst” (pain). It can also lead to joy and fulfillment when one is able to define things of worth, make meanings and use one’s freedom to promote chosen goals. Jean Paul Sartre writes about the existential search for meaning in a universe that has no ultimate meaning.

Fifth is Mystical Religion. The mystic bypasses revealed religion, that is the teachings of the Bible and traditional church, and instead, the mystic seeks to attain a sense of oneness directly with God through meditation or by communing with nature. The mystic has learned to trust personal intuition about that which is divine. American Transcendental poets like Ralph Waldo Emerson and Henry David Thoreau are examples. James Kavenaugh, an ex-Catholic priest, wrote about his mystical intuitions of divinity when he said, “My easy God is gone” (meaning the God of dogma and tradition). “Now I have the mountains that whisper secrets held before men could speak; I have the ocean that belches life on the beach and caresses it in the sand…. I stand in the Heavens and on earth. I feel the breeze in my hair. I sense the call of creation.”

Sixth and last for today is Religious Humanism. Here the focus is on human beings, their strengths, frailties and potential. It is an optimistic and hopeful faith that human beings have within themselves the power to create a better life through a better society. Science and reason are the main tools. Understanding why we were created is not so important as making the most of the fact that we are here, and we belong here. We connect with the ultimate reality through the arts, the social and natural sciences, and through the quality of our relationships. Humanism is also a pragmatic response to ultimate questions, with an emphasis on the here and now and on the supreme dignity and worth of every person. Our passion for the democratic process, justice and freedom is nurtured by religious humanism. John Stuart Mill was a humanist spokesman.

If you try to put yourself into one of these six boxes you may have trouble. For example, the existentialist may decide to take a leap of faith and commit himself to humanist values. The Christian liberal may also be a deist, combining Jesus’ love ethic with insights from natural law. The mystic may experience oneness with God from studying science and evolution, as do naturalistic theists.

There is power in diversity. Our basic value of seeking truth means we want to be in a setting where we can ask questions, can hear ideas that are new to us, can be challenged by points of view that are new to us. Our basic value of respect for all persons creates an accepting and tolerant climate, which has been redemptive for many. Our basic value of human service has challenged many to serve, and thus to shape meaning in their lives.

Atheists I have known and loved in our communities love reason, and freedom, and autonomy. They remind us to keep thinking, to keep questioning, and to remember there are many choices we can make. Humanists I have known and loved in our churches remind us of human potential and human concerns. They remind us of causes to participate in, votes to cast, messes to clean up so that justice and fairness and beauty will brighten the lives of people here and now. Deists remind us that nature and reason are great sources of truth. They ask us to stay sensitive to nature, to love and preserve it. Theists remind us of the awesome wonder and mystery of this universe in which we live. Mystics remind us of the possibility that there may be dimensions of reality beyond what reason has revealed to us so far.

The final beauty of our diverse body is that no one has to force their thinking to fit into pre-conceived patterns. We can be as creative as we wish to be, as long as we adhere to the guidelines of our shared values, as expressed in our Principles and Purposes.

In the final analysis, we judge ourselves by our deeds, not by our creeds, and I believe that whatever path we follow -- deism, humanism, theism or whatever -- we finally arrive at similar conclusions about love and service. In love and in service to others, we all may give expressions to our individual faiths.

So may it be.