No, It’s Not a Cult

Theists rest easy knowing there’s a God and His Will be done. UU’s rest easy knowing or not knowing God. Neither view is wrong. It’s simply a matter of which spiritual path provides comfort.

Nine times out of ten when people ask me about my Unitarian Universalist church I get a strange look. What they’re dying to know is are we some sort of cult. Nope, a bona fide religion. No devil worship or blood sacrifices. No groupthink.

But Laura, no Bible? no doctrine? No God? Lay led with only a part-time pastor?

The person usually looks genuinely confused. Pained. I have it seems, broken the rules of conventional church. UU’s have affirmations, not prayers, a chalice lighting vs. the body and blood of Christ.

I go on to explain that we follow seven values and principles, not doctrine.

Blank stare.

I explain that we’re open to believers and non (Because of this we tend to attract recovering religious types. Those who felt shamed, judged or damned).

We have lots of recovering (or current) Catholics, Episcopalians, Methodists, Lutherans and Baptists. Loads of Jews, pagans, Humanists, atheists…