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June 26th, 2006
 | 01:46 pm - It was on fire when I lay down it.
When I was a youngster, the Robert Fulgum books (Everything I needed to know I learned in Kindergarten...etc.) were very popular. (Okay, so I was in HS/college) His third book, It was on Fire When I Lay Down on It was always my favorite if only because it led with the title story: The firemen rescued a guy who was sleeping on a burning mattress. They asked him how the fire started. His reply? "I don't know. It was on fire when I lay down on it." I don't remember a thing about the rest of the book. That was enough to convince my mother would love it, and I bought her the three book boxed set.
This purchase caused a shouting match with my brother who didn't understand why I would buy a bookset written by a Christian minister for my mother. I explained to him about the value of humour and moral teachings, regardless of the source. I don't remember if he understood. That's neither here nor there, really.
This comes up because I was just asked a question about why I defined something a certain way. And of course, the answer is, I didn't, it was on fire when I lay down on it.
Current Mood:  tired
Current Music: Red Sox baseball
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| From: |  mskala |
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| Date: | June 26th, 2006 07:21 pm (UTC) |
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written by a Christian minister
Well, Unitarian, anyway... I thought Unitarians were Christians. Unitarians can be just about anything. From the UU webpage: With its historical roots in the Jewish and Christian traditions, Unitarian Universalism is a liberal religion.
Are Unitarian Universalists Christian?
Yes and no.
Yes, some Unitarian Universalists are Christian. Personal encounter with the spirit of Jesus as the christ richly informs their religious lives.
No, Unitarian Universalists are not Christian, if by Christian you mean those who think that acceptance of any creedal belief whatsoever is necessary for salvation. Unitarian Universalist Christians are considered heretics by those orthodox Christians who claim none but Christians are "saved." (Fortunately, not all the orthodox make that claim.)
Yes, Unitarian Universalists are Christian in the sense that both Unitarian and Universalist history are part of Christian history. Our core principles and practices were first articulated and established by liberal Christians.
Some Unitarian Universalists are not Christian. For though they may acknowledge the Christian history of our faith, Christian stories and symbols are no longer primary for them. They draw their personal faith from many sources: nature, intuition, other cultures, science, civil liberation movements, and so on.
Though practices vary in our congregations and change over time, UUs celebrate many of the great religious holidays with enthusiasm. Whether we gather to celebrate Christmas, Passover, or the Hindu holiday Divali, we do so in a universal context, recognizing and honoring religious observances and festivals as innate and needful in all human cultures.
| From: | mskala |
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| Date: | June 26th, 2006 07:36 pm (UTC) |
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Ask N Unitarians "Are you Christian?" and you'll get more than N answers. Some of them self-identify as Christians; others don't; many will attempt to make the answer more complicated than a straight yes or no. (e.g. "If Jesus Christ was a Christian, then so am I.") The Wikipedia article suggests that the ones who'd choose "yes" over "no" when forced to choose one or the other are a minority, citing a publication from the Unitarian Universalist Association. Although I usually call myself "neo-pagan" now, my own background is in New Thought. That has a different history from Unitarian Universalism but seems to be very close in terms of doctrine, to the point that my Dad, a New Thought minister, is regularly invited as a guest speaker by the local Unitarian church. |
