Warning! UU Ahead!

You can expect more posts like the one above. Not lots more, but basically what I can manage on my already ridiculous schedule. This will not become a Unitarian Universalist blog, but remain a policy/politics blog that dabbles in religion on occasion.

The first time I wrote about my faith, I received mixed reviews. Mostly I received roaring silence, but a couple folks from my church – including a former charge from my youth group advisor days – rolled in to say they liked the post.

Another reader emailed in to say NOOO! His/her concern was that the Pages not devolve into a personal blog. The email said something like, “First this, then you’ll be posting pictures of your cats.” Fair enough concern; no one needs to see this:


But I’ve decided to post more about being a Unitarian Universalist for a number of reasons. In no particular order:

1. Religious liberals tend to believe – as my emailer does – that religion is a private matter, so we don’t talk about it much. This is one reason that conservatives feel free to paint us with the Godless gloss. In point of fact, most of my friends are Christian, are more religious than I and more liberal than I. Barak Obama addressed this, but I’ll go one further: Conservatives have put us in a corner so we no longer have the luxury of keeping our faith to ourselves.


2. Blackwell may talk about believing in religious pluralism, but UUs live it. In my congregation we have Christians, Jews, pagans and animists as well as people who embrace Unitarian Universalism as a faith in itself. We live the constant challenge of keeping the congregation together. As such we can and should witness to the challenge and the joy of true religious pluralism.


3. I love my faith, but not many people know about it. In fact, “Universalist” isn’t in Word’s spell check dictionary – kind of like “blogger” except without the excuse of newness. I’ve admired Jill’s “What Jews Do” project. Dropping a little “What UUs Do” knowledge on my readers seems a worthy goal for this blog.


4. One of my "interests" is religion and politics. My take on role of religion in society is colored by my religion. Talking about religion without discussing my faith feels a little like talking about race without mentioning that I’m white.


5. We UUs have an admirable blog network. Not surprising – a old joke says that given the choice between “Heaven” and “Talking About Heaven,” UUs invariably pick door #2. I’m into communities and hope to become more a part of that one.


6. The two other members of my congregation with blogs have rolled me as a UU blogger. I need to live up to that.


7. I’ve been designated my congregation’s coordinator for our membership in We Believe. I tend to blog the stuff I’m doing, and so will inevitably have material from that. I could also blog about how I have far too many damn volunteer projects going, but that would be one of those personal things.

So, having considered the above, fair warning – you’ll get more church posts. The symbol at the top of the post – a flaming chalice inside linked circles – is the symbol of the Unitarian Universalist Association. This symbol will head any UU post. If you don’t like it, you can scroll past.

And I’ll give fair warning before the next cat picture.