When Strangers Come Knocking---Part 4

 This is the next installment of my series to be published the first Monday of each month.

There are members of false sects, like Jehovah's Witnesses, that come knocking door-to-door hoping to convert you. Instead of ignoring them, it is we who should try and convert them. In 1 Peter 3:16, our first Pope writes, "But in thy hearts revere Christ as Lord. Always be prepared to give an answer to everyone who asks thee to give the reason for the hope that thou hast. But do this with gentleness and respect,..." Before the Great Apostasy, the Church would send missionaries to the ends of the Earth to make as many converts as possible. 

Those in false religions don't always come (literally) knocking at your door. It may be a Hindu at work who wants you to try yoga. It could be a "Christian Scientist" who lives next door and invites you to come to their reading room. Each month, I will present a false sect. Unlike the Vatican II sect, I do not see them as a "means of salvation" or possessing "elements of truth" that lead to salvation. That is heresy. They lead to damnation, and the adherents of the various sects must be converted so they may be saved.

In each month's post, I will present one false sect and give an overview of:

• The sect's history
• Their theology
• Tips on how to share the True Faith with them

Unitarian Universalism (UU)

The UU logo called "The Flaming Chalice." Even the UU sect itself cannot agree on what it means. 

The quintessential "all religions are equal" sect is the Unitarian Universalists (hereinafter "UU"). If you should ever walk into one of their "Congregation Halls," it looks like an empty Veterans of Foreign Wars (VFW) hall with folding chairs. The walls are usually white, and there is a small stage with an American flag and a podium. The place is devoid of all religious symbolism except for "The Flaming Chalice" (see picture above) usually displayed on the wall behind the podium. There is an actual "chalice" with a candle in it which they light during their services. Even The Flaming Chalice (both symbol and the physical object) is not always depicted the same way, and there is no officially sanctioned explanation as to what, exactly, it means. According to the UU website:

Unitarian Universalist congregations are free to use the UUA's logo in their congregational work, but they are not required to do so. Because of this, you may see many different styles of flaming chalices and other images used by Unitarian Universalist congregations. (See https://www.uua.org/beliefs/who-we-are/chalice). 

As to the meaning, a pamphlet on "The Flaming Chalice, " by one Susan J. Ritchie informs us:

It suggests the transformations that take place when we are held within religious community. When we light the chalice in worship, we illuminate a world that we feel called upon to serve with love and a sense of justice. (Whatever that means).  As I was researching the UUs, I couldn't help but think that in a few years this is exactly what the Vatican II sect will become. If you can grasp the concept (hard to do at first), they are committed to having no commitments, and believe that beliefs don't matter. The history of this amalgamation of self-contradictions will be examined first. 

A Union of Heretical Teaching 

Unitarianism is the heretical belief that arose after the Protestant so-called "Reformation" that God is not One in Three Divine Persons (The Most Holy Trinity). Rather, it adopts a Judaic or Islamic view of God being One. They reject Christ as God Incarnate, and the Holy Ghost is usually seen as an impersonal force. There are various sects that can be labeled as "unitarian" (with a lower case "u") because they teach the same about the nature of God (e.g. the Jehovah Witnesses). Unitarians (with a capital "U") come from the 16th century movement just described, and which spread first to England, and then the United States of America. 

Universalism is the heretical belief that every person will be saved. The early Church Father, Origen, believed in apocatastasis, the ultimate restoration and reconciliation of creation with God, which was interpreted by Universalists to mean the salvation and reconciliation with God of all souls which had ever existed, including Satan and his demons. The Church condemned Origen for this heresy. The Universalist movement died out, but was revived in the 18th century, especially in England. In the early 20th century, the sect came to the United States. 

In America, the two groups became cordial to one another, as they shared many beliefs and attitudes. The two groups merged officially in 1961, forming the Unitarian Universalist Association. When speaking of themselves, UUs frequently refer to themselves as simply "Unitarians" for short. 

A Sect Devoid of Theology

UU has adopted the "least common denomination" approach to theology. They espouse theological pluralism, as they became more and more adrift from anything even remotely resembling Christianity. It makes it extremely difficult to give an exposition of their worldview. They are without an official creed, having adopted The Seven Principles by which they operate. According to UU headquarters in Boston, these principles are "...drawn from sources as diverse as science, poetry, scripture, and personal experience."

Each congregation elects its own Board of Directors, and they work together. However, they are not hierarchical in any way, and are not bound to follow what their Boston headquarters proposes (although all congregations do, in fact, choose to accept the Seven Principles). 

Their clergy may be male or female and are called by the title "Reverend." Most of the clergy is female. They are elected by the congregation, and usually have some schooling in how to be politically correct and not offend anyone (I'm not being sarcastic). Once more, UU headquarters states the Seven Principles are 

Jewish and Christian teachings which call us to respond to God's love by loving our neighbors as ourselves; Humanist teachings which counsel us to heed the guidance of reason and the results of science, and warn us against idolatries of the mind and spirit; Spiritual teachings of Earth-centered traditions which celebrate the sacred circle of life and instruct us to live in harmony with the rhythms of nature. (See https://www.uua.org/beliefs/what-we-believe/sources). 

They welcome any belief, as long as they conform to the Seven Principles. They specifically make a place for atheists, agnostics, Buddhists, Christians, Jews, Moslems, Buddhists, Hindus, and Neo-pagans. What are these Seven Principles that can unite such divergent beliefs, you ask?

• The inherent worth and dignity of every person; (Yet they affirm the "right" to murder innocent unborn babies by abortion since its inception. They were calling for legalized abortion 12 years before Roe v. Wade. The sect officially calls itself "strongly pro-choice." They also affirm the "right" to doctor assisted suicide since 1988.)

• Justice, equity and compassion in human relations; (They were the first sect to allow openly practicing sodomites as clergy, beginning in 1970. They came out in favor of same-sex "marriage" in 1996, and are committed to "LGBTQ+ rights.")

• Acceptance of one another and encouragement to spiritual growth in our congregations; (There is no "One True Faith" to the exclusion of all others. All beliefs are equal as long as they subscribe to the Seven Principles. In their own official words, Unitarian Universalists have many ways of naming what is sacred. Some believe in a God; some don’t believe in a God. Some believe in a sacred force at work in the world, and call it 'love,' 'mystery,' 'source of all' or 'spirit of life.' We are thousands of individuals of all ages, each influenced by our cultures and life experiences to understand 'the ground of our being' in our own way. Unitarian Universalists are agnostic, theist, atheist, and everything in between.--Emphasis mine)

• A free and responsible search for truth and meaning; (People are free to make up their own set of beliefs and morals as long as they are not imposed on others and don't hurt anybody.)

• The right of conscience and the use of the democratic process within our congregations and in society at large; (There is no Divine authority. Humans are the ultimate authority and everything gets put to a vote.)

• The goal of world community with peace, liberty, and justice for all; (Whatever that means. Sounds more like the motto of Superman from the old 1950s TV series with George Reeves.)

• Respect for the interdependent web of all existence of which we are a part; (This is about their acceptance of Neo-paganism, New Ageism, environmentalism, and feminist worship of "Mother Earth." There is actually a popular course offered by many UU congregations called "Cakes for the Queen of Heaven" which teaches UU women about "goddess and nature worship.")   

The typical "worship service" (I'd like to know who the atheists are worshiping) consists of child-like, non-denominational hymns (Think: Michael Row the Boat Ashore with the Most Holy Name of Jesus, and the word "Lord" redacted and replaced with something secular and "non-offensive"). There will then be the lighting of The Flaming Chalice and a sermon given by the feminist reverend. Said sermon will tell everyone that there may or may not be an afterlife, so concentrate on bettering the environment, supporting the most left-wing fringe elements of the Democratic Party, and if there was such a person as the Antichrist, it's President Donald Trump. (Once more, a friend of mine attended a service of the UU out of curiosity not too long ago. It's basically what really happened). 

Proselytizing UUs

The average UU is either a baby-boomer or a millennial from a relatively wealthy background. They reject authority and don't like to be told what to do. Ironically, the want the government to control everything. Being a UU allows them to "Do as thou wilt," while feeling "spiritual." In the 1990s, they began to try and convert people to form a "one world faith" that will bring "universal peace and justice." Hence, you may be invited to a Sunday service so you can (allegedly) keep your own beliefs while following the Seven Principles to make the Earth a better place to live. Here are some general rules when engaging a UU:

1. Ask what they personally believe. Find out where they stand ideologically. UUs are all over the place. You could be talking to an atheist or a feminist pagan. It is important to find out what they believe so as to point out the inconsistencies and internal contradictions of their beliefs when combined with the UU membership.

2. The UU attack on exclusivistic religious beliefs is self-refuting and illogical. Show them. 

• It is impossible for UUs to exclude all exclusivistic positions since the very act of excluding them is itself an act of exclusivism. This act, in turn, would have to be excluded, which is yet another act of exclusivism needing exclusion, and so on. This is demonstrably illogical and self-refuting 

• All must accept the Seven Principles, and those who do not are excluded  

• They believe that those who accept the Seven Principles are right and those who don't are wrong. This is an exclusivistic claim to truth 

• Traditionalists are the most inclusive; we want all people to join us in the One True Church

3. They use broad terms that sound nice, but have no real meaning apart from Christianity.

• Both Traditionalists and UUs denounce racism and the Ku Klux Klan. However, only Traditionalists have an objective basis for doing so, because it is rooted in Divine Revelation and taught by Christ's One True Church (See e.g. Galations 3:28, and its interpretation by theologians). The UU has no objective basis for calling racism wrong. The UU can claim they don't like it, but that's just a personal feeling. They cannot appeal to any holy book or religious authority, since they accept all religions as good and true, so why should I believe this particular authority over another? If the UU responds that "all religions reject racism," you could point out that Satanism does not. Do they want to exclude Satanists? Aren't they against exclusion? If they appeal to the Seven Principles, ask what makes them objectively true. Is it because Boston Headquarters has a Divine mission, or that's simply the way some people voted? Being a UU necessarily means you don't believe in objective moral values 

• What exactly does the "inherent worth" of every human being mean? Why are unborn babies, with their own separate DNA, excluded from having such worth? The UUs support abortion on demand. Who decides when human life begins? If you don't know, shouldn't you prohibit abortion because it might be human life and you must err on the side of life? Just because you claim you don't know when human life begins, it does not logically follow that there is not a correct answer 

4. Beliefs in the UU are mutually exclusive; they cannot possibly work together or pray together.

• To give but one example, how do theists and atheists "pray" together? The latter excludes the very possibility of prayer itself. How do the UUs' vague Seven Principles apply to specific cases? Respect for the interdependent web of all existence --Principle Seven--will mean something very different to a pagan than to an atheist

• UU becomes very much like Masonry. You can believe whatever you want as long as you subscribe to the beliefs of the Lodge as Supreme. Doesn't that sound like the Seven Principles? 

Conclusion

Unitarian Universalism is a mass of self-refuting, contradictory beliefs. It started when two heterodox offshoots from Protestantism merged in the United States back in 1961. Adopting the liberal religious pluralism and Indifferentism of its surroundings, it seeks to unite all beliefs and no beliefs (atheism) under their Seven Principles; nice sounding statements that can have no application in the practical order. UU allows people to stay as they are without having to change their behaviors or beliefs so they can feel "spiritual."

Doesn't this sound like where the Vatican II sect will be in about ten years? They have creeds and rules that no one needs to obey in the practical order. They see all religions as having "elements" of the Church of Christ and are a "means of salvation." The R&R is, in a sense, already there. As long as you "recognize" Bergoglio, you can accept or reject what you like. You can attend the Novus Bogus and accept the new ecclesiology, or attend the Traditional Mass and reject the new ecclesiology. To do the latter is better, but if you do the former, you're "still Catholic." I shudder and think, "Can the One World Religion with the false prophet predicted in the Book of the Apocalypse be far behind?"