Unitarian Universalists struggle with the idea of God, and some of our members tell me they reject all concepts of divinity. Other members have come from traditions that felt oppressive to them, that demanded belief without room for doubt or questioning. Others are hungry for spirituality, but unsure what to do with the concept of God. I hope to explore the question of God is a series of sermons, beginning March 28th, and continuing during the following two Sundays.
I was wondering to myself, “Why do I want to preach on the topic of God. Where does it come from in my own heart?” I think it is partly because of the anger I feel at fundamentalism. Fundamentalism in any variety puts “God” into a box--fundamentalists will tell us exactly what “God” is, and then use “God” like a weapon to condemn anyone who doesn’t fit their idea of the good and right, including me and you. Some use “God” to go to war or to commit acts of terrorism against innocent people. In my view, anytime we think we have a solid idea of “God,” then we’d better smash that idea, because if “God” can be put into a box, that is idolatry, not divinity.
But I also get angry at some of the recent public atheists, like Richard Dawkins, Christopher Hitchens, and Sam Harris, who’ve written books debunking “God.” The problem, expressed eloquently by Karen Armstrong, is that their critique of God “has focused exclusively on the God developed by the fundamentalisms, and all three insist that fundamentalism constitutes the essence and core of all religion.” But I don’t believe in that kind of “God” or in that kind of “religion” either. I feel their criticism puts exactly the wrong kind of religion in the limelight, and obscures everything that might be illuminating to people who are wondering about spirituality, and other questions of meaning and mystery.
Some would suggest that spiritual searchers should abandon the word “God,” because it has been too corrupted by all that has been done under its auspices. But that makes me angry too--that people have stolen the word, perverted it really, and in so doing, have built barriers around the possibilities of curiosity and enlightenment.
Now that I’ve put the topic into my worship calendar, I can see that there is too much to explore for even three Sundays, but I hope to at least start a conversation that can move beyond the fundamentalists. I remember in one of the theology classes that I taught, we did a continuum about whether people believed in God. They stood in a line with No on one end, Yes on the other end, and lots of room in the middle. It was telling that when I asked why people were positioned where they were, a person on the NO end, and a person on the YES end expressed almost identical beliefs. It is when we get past the question, “Do you believe in God?” that the conversation gets most interesting.
I hope you’ll join me in the conversation.
March 28 Gods I Don’t Believe In
What’s in a word? Unitarian Universalists struggle with the idea of God, and some of our members reject the concept of divinity. I hope to explore these questions in a series of sermons, beginning today with an account of the “Gods” that I don’t believe in. During the next two week, I will take a look at some alternative understandings of divinity that UUs have found more worthy of their faith.
April 4 Go Lifted Up
During this celebration of Passover and Easter, I will explore liberating stories from the Jewish and Christian tradition, stories about God that inspired people in trouble to believe in their own dignity and hope for justice.
April 11 Threads of Connection
What if a god were not a god? What if a god were a force, an energy, like gravity or electro-magnetism? What if god was the energy linking all that exists? What if we were all part of this force? The mystics say we can feel it--the experience of the unity of everything.
