"Faith of the Free"

[uufreespirit]

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(--Part One of the "Religion Lite or Religion Liberated?" Project--)

"The Ultimate Reformation"


"There will be a long struggle, fought out now on one field and now on the other,
but the cause is one. A wider question is at stake and a deeper one than many see--
not merely a question between the Mass and the Bible, but a question of the freedom
of the human spirit for all time to come."

-- William of Orange

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-- Is Unitarian Universalism a "religion," or is it...well...something else? That's a debate that's been going on for years, even generations now. (It's right up there with the seemingly endless back-and-forth about whether or not we're "Christian.") Whether it's a religion or not, or even Christian or not, is, I believe, irrelevant--but it does point to something distinctive, even unique, about what we have to offer the world of religion--something that really does deserve more attention. Ours is a faith unlike any other: The rules are different here, and even the language used is somewhat different. (I think that's why, generation after generation, it so utterly confounds those of us who still insist on measuring it according to the old rules, the old languages.) I really do think Unitarian Universalism is more a "religious movement" than a static body of faith, doctrine or liturgy. More specifically, it's a movement of ongoing "reform." While it may not be so easily compartmentalized according to the old rules and the old definitions of "a religion," it is very much, and very deeply (even passionately) involved in religious, spiritual, moral and ethical questions and concerns. More and more, as the years go by, I am convinced that we should look there--in our "reformation roots and spirit"--to find the very core, the "very heart and soul," of Unitarian Universalism.

Talking about the "Reformation roots" doesn't have to be deep and complicated. (Seems to me that it doesn't even have to be a "Christians-only" conversation.) All that's really necessary to remember is that the word "pro-testant" is actually a "pro" word, not an "anti" one. So, to "protest" is really supposed to be a positive, constructive thing. And, the word "reformation" is equally well-intentioned: It's about "reforming" something--a system or set of practices-- that you've become convinced is not working so well, is being significantly abused and is therefore in need of a major overhaul. Sometimes this "reformation process" can happen in a short time, but in some cases the road to reform is a very long and seemingly endless one. Such, I believe, is the case with our own "radical-Reformation movement" in religion, the highly liberative, broadly inclusive movement we now call Unitarian Universalism. When we say that UU is rooted in a rich, deep, and honorable centuries-old tradition of "stubbornly protestant, radical Reformation," what we're really saying (whether we know it or not) is that we share a legacy of "both passionate "protest" of--and relentlessly trying to "reform"-- things that just aren't working as well as they should--various irrelevances, encumbrances, deceptions, corruptions and abuses--and trying to find (and employ) ways to make things work better...not to destroy the product, but to improve it. To me, that's our role, our birthright, and our special contribution to religion--to all religion--one of ongoing, never ending, still unfolding, forward-moving, "protest and reformation."

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"He [Pilgrim minister John Robinson] took occasion also miserably to bewail the state and
condition of the Reformed Churches, who were come to a period in religion and would go
no further than the instruments of their Reformation... they could not be drawn to go beyond
what Luther say.... And...you see the Calvinists, they stick where he left them---a misery
much to be lamented; for though they were precious shining lights in their times, yet God
had not revealed his whole will to them...The Lord had more truth and light yet to break forth
out of his holy word."

--- Edward Winslow

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The Reverend John Robinson, minister to the famous "Mayflower Pilgrims," probably had no idea, when he delivered those words, that he was really describing such a fundamentally different approach to religion--a tradition of "radical movement and reform" which still continues today, some four centuries later. It seems somehow fitting that the church established by the Pilgrims at Plymouth, Massachusetts, was one of the first in the "New World" to become Unitarian, and that the words of "More Light and Truth Yet to Break Forth" are still prominently displayed inside.

Whatever else can be said about Unitarian Universalism, I believe that it is indeed a "movement" which has a religious, spiritual and ethical core. It's a modern expression of that same centuries-old "radical-Reformation impulse"--a spirit, attitude or response toward religion that, even today, remains unfinished...stubbornly refuses to "come to a period." It's refuses to stop moving, for its reason for being -- its "mission of reform"-- is never completely done. Where other such "movements" throughout history have come to a point--where they are content to rest (and to resist further change)--our legacy is a far different one. To us the goal is to keep on unleashing that "Reformation spirit" in every generation, employing that "protestant principle" to its fullest---not to let it rest, but to set it free to go wherever it must, as far as it must.

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"Protestantism itself is a continuous history of the breaking of images."

--- Paul Tillich
(...from "Religion and Freedom," 1958)

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"Protestantism means movement. And when we say this we pronounce its justification. . . .
For what but movement is the destination of man in this moving world? Creation moves
from everlasting to everlasting. This universe of things, whose sum no thought can grasp,
is not a fixture, but a movement, and the quantity of movement is the measure of vitality.
He who moves all things with His thought has not willed that any spirit should stand still,
and the Church, the communion of spirits, must move or die."

--- Frederic Henry Hedge
(...from "Ecclesiastical Christendom," The Christian Examiner, July, 1851)

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"What is a man born for, but to be a Reformer, a re-maker of what man has made;
a renouncer of lies; a restorer of truth and good; imitating that great nature herself,
yielding us every morning a new day, and with every pulsation a new life?"

--- Ralph Waldo Emerson
(...from Man, the Reformer)

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What we know today as Unitarian Universalism has emerged over the course of at least five centuries, and arguably extends even farther back in human history. This "Faith of the Free" came about, in its present form, largely through the intersection (and interaction) of two influences -- between Christianity's "radical Reformation" of the 16th Century, and the "Age of Enlightenment" of the 17th and early 18th Centuries. Those words "radical Reformation" are actually very appropriate in describing the "roots" of our liberal faith, because the term radical actually means "root," and the entire Reformation process was about striving to "get to the roots" and to "re-form" a system of religion which (to the reformers) had gone astray. Our spiritual ancestors, in effect, wanted to go even farther than most--to "get to the very root" of the matter-- and they saw no need to stop until they reached their goal. They were convinced that the efforts of Luther, Calvin and others had stopped short of achieving the Reformation's ultimate mission of rescuing and liberating the higher spirit of Christianity from the abuses and excesses of its orthodox custodians. They felt that this necessary "Reformation process" still had a long way to go in its efforts of liberation and "purification.." I believe that we, as descendants of that "radical Reformation legacy," also understand that this "movement of liberation and purification" in religion--this struggle for "the freedom of the human spirit for all time to come"-- is still not over, and still has a way to go. We're still committed to unleashing and applying that "protestant principle" to its fullest and allowed to go wherever it must.

Today, in the radically liberative, broadly inclusive religious faith-- which we've come to know as Unitarian Universalism-- we carry that same standard with us, the "banner, spirit and mission of radical Reformation," so "stubbornly protestant" that it no longer can be considered exclusively Christian...for it refuses to be confined by the boundaries and barriers of any one religious tradition, culture or discipline. While we do not seek to destroy what is most ultimately worthwhile in any of them, we "dare not fence the spirit."

But it doesn't stop there: From these "radical Reformation" foundations eventually came some of the major inspiration for the "Age of Enlightenment" as well, and some of the major inspiration behind the rise of "Western democracy." It combined the celebration of human capability and human responsibility with an unquenchable curiosity and desire to better understand the natural universe in which we live, along with increasingly more naturalistic--rather than supernatural and unquestioned scriptural-- assessments of truth and meaning (through human observation, personal experience, and critical, scientific inquiry). In such a boldly questioning, "Enlightenment faith," even honest doubt had (and ,of course, still has) a legitimate and valuable place at the table.

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"A 'no' uttered from deepest conviction is better and greater than a 'yes' merely
uttered to please, or what is worse, to avoid trouble."

--- Mahatma Gandhi

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"Once you have caught the vision of virtue---of the ideal of goodness as a goal for your life;
of the ideal of truth by which to understand it; and of beauty to enhance it...you are no longer free.
The vision will not let you go. It consumes you and galvanizes your actions. To hear it and to
fail to heed it is to leave yourself feeling unworthy or guilty...Once you have really that vision,
the idea of a God upon his throne surrounded by all the angels in Heaven does not make your
sense of obligation one whit more compelling. such is the power of virtue. No decree, even
one that is divine in origin, can make it more demanding."

--- Rev. Duncan Howlett

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Underlying it all, however, were those basic foundations and premises of a "radically liberal and catholic," rational and pietistic (and to some extent mystical) outlook in Christianity, which understood true religion (e.g. the moral teachings of Jesus of Nazareth) to be a vehicle for unity and brotherhood more than divisiveness and strife. Some five centuries later, I believe that's still our core-mission-- the still unfinished attempt to liberate, reform and "purify" religion itself toward those lofty goals of respectful unity and universal brotherhood--whatever it takes. We Unitarian Universalists are committed to something distinctive--even unique--in religion, something that William of Orange seemed to understand centuries ago.

So, the real birth of our UU faith was not in 1961, or in 1985 with the "principles and purposes," but was a gradual process of movement...of "ongoing reformation." Underlying it all were those centuries-old "core-premises" of a reforming--and still reforming--kind of religious movement, an effort to liberate religion itself. It involves an increasing interaction between some of our most basic human needs for the continued survival of our species---individuality, community and universality. It's the most "stubbornly protestant" and "broadly catholic" of all religions-- so adamant in its advocacy for personal "soul-freedom" that it insists upon the right to "think for ourselves" in matters of religion, and refuses to allow any outside interests to dictate what we must believe...and so thoroughly "catholic" that the domain of our "communion" reaches far beyond the boundaries of any particular religious tradition or culture, and our differences and our diversity are seen as a sacred gift and strength rather than an obstacle.

It's been said that religion's "next great revolution" may be just that: a fundamental "sea-change" within the makeup of religion itself, a change in the direction of greater human liberation, of mutual respect and cooperation. If so, then I believe our "Faith of the Free" may play a significant part in such a revolution. After all, reform and revolution are hardwired into our very DNA, as it has been for centuries. At every point in which people have stepped outside and beyond the narrow road of tradition and rule because he found some new truth and a new way of life---there was the religious free-spirit. Wherever a person saw the oppressions laid upon the minds and bodies of their fellow human beings and revolted against them in the name of justice and righteousness, there too was the religious free-spirit. Wherever a person, or group of persons, stood out against the pack, speaking and acting for peace, religious freedom or release from mental or bodily slavery, and wherever there were people who, seeing the horrible effects of a cruel theology on the minds of people, threw off such a smothering blanket of fear...there were the religious free-spirits.

Those, in each and every generation, who approach life with the "mind and heart of the free spirit" are, first of all, people of faith. They start with the implicit assumption that religion is important, and that promoting the free, honest and open search for truth is equally vital. They tend to seek "a more direct and first-hand communion" with the spirit of the holy, a level of authenticity which (they feel) rigid orthodoxies and hierarchies are unable to adequately deliver. But, like our "Reformation" ancestors, we also have problems with the inadequacies we find in the religious belief-systems (and sometimes the institutional structures) that have been handed down to us from the past.

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"But above everything one must insist that (religious) liberalism is first of all a spirit, an attitude,
a state of mind, rather than a body of ideas. (Religious) liberals are not known by their conformity
to a set of views, or by their fidelity to a system of thought. They are known, rather by their loyalty
to the unending pursuit of truth, and by their obedience to the enlarging vision of mind and heart."

--- Rufus Jones
(American Quaker leader)
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"The church which did for the fifth century, or the fifteenth, will not do for this. It must have our
ideas, the smell of our ground, and have grown out of the religion of our soul...The church that is to lead
this century will not be a church creeping on all fours, mewling and whining, its face turned down,
its eyes turned back. It must be full of the spirit of the day, keeping also
the good of times past."

--- Theodore Parker

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A few years ago I was told, by a retired UU minister, that the mission of Unitarian Universalism is to "institutionalize religious liberty." But I believe it goes a little deeper than that: I now believe that our mission--our "reason for being"--that "unique niche" that our "Faith of the Free" occupies among the world's religions--and what we have to offer to the world most of all-- is not so much an institutionalizing of religious liberty, but an ongoing, deliberate overhaul of religion itself, a systemic rethinking of religion, right down to its very roots, in order to increasingly liberate it from its layers of entanglements and perversions.

What a grand heritage we have -- in this never-ending effort of "ongoing reformation and revolution" in religion! Schleimacher's words "the Reformation must continue" are the fitting "battle cry" of progressive religion even today, as we vigorously refuse the temptation to rest on past accomplishments, and resist the tendency to "let other people make our decisions" for us; and we constantly strive to free the human mind and heart of all unnecessary entanglements and encumbrances, and to transcend the boundaries and barriers of any one religious tradition, culture or discipline.

Our "Faith of the Free" stands at the very forefront of an ongoing "revolution" in religion--- heralding the incorporation of individuality with connectedness; of utmost freedom within a context of responsibility; of personal honesty and authenticity in religion more than unquestioning acceptance of beliefs (as prepackaged by others); of diversity with unity; and of the pursuit of unity more than uniformity. It's a reformation and revolution in religion which supports the maximization of individual liberty and opportunity consonant with social and planetary responsibility. It advocates the extension of participatory democracy and the expansion of the open society, standing for human rights and social justice. Free of supernaturalism, it recognizes human beings as a part of nature and holds that values-be they religious, ethical, social, or political-have their source in human experience and culture. A grand heritage, indeed!

Our core-mission-- the still unfinished attempt to liberate, reform and "purify" religion itself, for the good of humanity, toward lofty goals of respectful unity, brotherhood and civility, whatever it takes --remains the same. While we do not seek to destroy what is most ultimately worthwhile in any of them, our liberative movement in religion dares not “fence the spirit.” Perhaps now more than ever before---we insist that the responsible freedoms of the body, the mind and the heart are sacred, and must never be allowed to be diminished or violated. In religion, just as in all other matters of social and political governance, the struggle for the right of people to control their own lives---and against all who have designs upon running the lives of others--- is ongoing: There is so much more work yet to be done.

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-- End of Part One --

_________________
-- Ron

"Beyond the ideas of right-doing and wrong-doing there is a field. I'll meet you there." -- Rumi
"The Reformation Must Continue!" --- Friedrich Schleiermacher
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