Unitarian Universalists share a common history, beliefs

Fairbanks Daily News-Miner,  Dec. 8 , 1995

By RICHARD SEIFERT

Who are these Unitarian Universalists?

And what do they believe and practice as a faith? A good question! This article is an attempt to give Fairbanksans some answers.

Unitarian Universalism is a fairly new religious group. It stems from the unifications of the Unitarians, a liberal religious denomination with Christian roots that parted ways with Christian orthodoxy more than 590 years ago, with the Universalists, whom we'll talk about a bit later.

Unitarians have a basic disagreement with major Christian sects. We've followed a separate path on our spiritual journey since the third century A.D. when in the city of Nicea, a council proclaimed the Christian God a trinity: God the father, the son, and the Holy Spirit. The Unitarians, from unity, meaning “one God” didn't go along with this trinity, and ever since have been pushed and brutalized at times into the realm of heretics.

Later, during the renaissance, one of the most brilliant human lights of Unitarian thinking, Mi­chael Servetus, really began the epic of Unitarianism. Servetus, a leading thinker and scholar of Western Europe in his time, was lured to Geneva by the forces of John Calvin, where sadly he was subjected to an inquisition,, tortured and burned at the stake for heresy.

He is one of many Unitarians who were persecuted for personal religious beliefs.

Then came the Universalists. They were so named because they believe in universal salvation, and were renowned as the “no hell Christians.” Their atti­tude toward salvation relied on the faith that a merciful God would never condemn his greatest creation to eternal damnation. Universalists were a far cry from the hellfire and damnation style of many other Protestant religions.

Universalists kept pushing the idea of egalitarian salvation, fought slavery, and ordained the first woman pastor in the United States. Universalists were often asked where they stand on issues. A rich response was given by Universalist minister L.B. Fisher: “The only true answer to give to this question is we don't stand at all, we move.”

In the 20th century, the Unitarians and the Universalists began to see they had common goals and a history of religious tolerance, acceptance, and particularly recognized the dignity an worth of every human being.

In 1961, the Unitarians and Universalists merged to form the Unitarian Universalist Association, and have been joined in a positive liberal religious affiliation ever since.

There are eight covenants of Unitarian Universalism which the Fairbanks Unitarian Universalist Fellowship affirm and promote:

• The inherent dignity and worth of every person.
• Justice, equity, and compassion in human relations.
• Acceptance of one another and encouragement to spiritual growth in our congregations.
• A free and responsible search for truth and meaning.
• The right of conscience and the use of democratic process within our congregations and in society at large.
• The goal of world community with peace, liberty and justice for all.
• Respect for the interdependent web of all existence of which we are a part.
• Respect for earth-centered religions and their various practices around the world.

Please come and join in our Sunday morning services and experience our fellowship and our encouragement to spiritual growth and acceptance of one another. We meet each Sunday morning at the new Fellowship building on Pike's Landing Road. off Hoselton Road. The fellowship is directly across the street from the new Princess Hotel. We meet for fellowship at 11 a.m. (meeting time changed to 10:30 a.m. since this article appeared. -ed.) and religious education for children is available.