John_Graves@cellbio.duke.edu (John Graves) (06/06/91)
In article <Jun.5.00.06.51.1991.16653@athos.rutgers.edu> tblake@bingsuns.cc.binghamton.edu (Tom Blake) writes: In article <Jun.3.01.57.35.1991.2882@athos.rutgers.edu>, chappell@symcom.math.uiuc.edu (Glenn Chappell) writes: |>I believe that no appreciable difference has been found between the divorce |>rate for Christians and that for non-Christians. Of course, the people who |>gathered this information may very well have been using a rather loose |>definition of "Christian". It is interesting to note, however, that divorce |>is apparently nearly unknown among Christians who read the Bible daily. An article appeared recently in _The United Methodist Review_ on a survey of 113,000 adults performed by sociologists at CUNY. People were simply asked "What is you religion?", their answer to this question was then compared with their answers to a number of other questions. (The researchers were interested in how the participants perceived their religious identity.) While I don't see any specific results dealing with comparitive divorce rates of Christians and Non-Christians, there is some similar data. "Greater percentages of people with no religion stay single. Greek Orthodox have the lowest rate of divorce, Unitarians the highest. Roman Catholics run about even with mainstream Protestants." ____End of Quote Unitarian Universalism has the highest percentage of converts in its membership of any of the top 100 denominations in the United States. Not surprisingly, a number of these converts are divorced persons. Why? Simple. There is no stigma attached to being divorced within our denomination. We offer support to women (and men) who are looking towards new beginnings. We offer a home to the many people who have been shunned by their birthright denominations. Further we are open to gay and lesbian people, many of whom have come out after years in a heterosexual marriage. According to that poll we are the 18th largest denomination and are one of the fastest growing. My own church has grown from 190 to 450 adult members over 16 in just 5 years. The denomination is experiencing growth everywhere in the country and a large percentage of it is young single parents with children who are looking for religious education for their children. The same goes for same sex couples with children. I would be interested in seeing the results of a poll which compared the divorce rates of birthright UU's to those who converted to Unitarian Universalism. John Allan Graves Unitarian Universalism Duke University An inclusive religion! and all its components () including the Divinity School, \__/ disavow anything I say. II
rb65@prism.gatech.edu (Butera, Robert J.) (06/07/91)
In article <Jun.5.23.49.00.1991.1263@athos.rutgers.edu> John_Graves@cellbio.duke.edu (John Graves) writes: >John Allan Graves Unitarian Universalism >Duke University An inclusive religion! >and all its components () >including the Divinity School, \__/ > disavow anything I say. II In your comment (and the sig file above) you refer to Unitarian Universalism as a religion. Can you really call it that ? I have three friends who are practicing Unitarians, and in my opinion I would classify it more as a school of philosophical thought than a religion. Religion is defined in my dictionary as "belief in and reverence for a supernatural power recognized as the creator and governor of the universe." I'm under the impression that not all Unitarians share this belief (primarily the school of thought espoused by Universalists before they merged with the Unitarians). Also, do you consider youself to be a Christian? From my own observations and conversations with Unitarians, I do not, but I have heard others argue otherwise. -- Robert J. Butera, Jr. Georgia Tech Research Institute Internet: rb65@prism.gatech.edu "My opinions, not Georgia Tech's"
John_Graves@cellbio.duke.edu (John Graves) (06/10/91)
In article <Jun.6.23.09.21.1991.8258@athos.rutgers.edu> rb65@prism.gatech.edu (Butera, Robert J.) writes: > I have three friends who are practicing Unitarians, and in my opinion I would > classify it more as a school of philosophical thought than a religion. > Religion is defined in my dictionary as "belief in and reverence for a > supernatural power recognized as the creator and governor of the universe." One of the shortsighted problems of dictionary creators is the tendency in pocketbook dictionaries to use only the most commonly accepted definitions of a word. Fortunately the IRS recognizes Unitarian Universalism as a religion. Fortunate since without Unitarians there would probably not be a system of voluntary tax payments nor democracy as we know it. However, to get back to the dictionary, my Mirriam-Webster's (MW), Webster's New Collegiate Dictionary gives as definition 4 for religion: a cause, principle, or system of beliefs held to with ardor and faith. That this would be similar to their definition of Philosophy of Life (MW that is): 1: an overall vision or attitude toward life and the purpose of life. That religion is often a philosophy of life or embodies one and that the terms are almost synonymous is not really surprising. Even a belief in the supernatural would still be part of a philosophy of life. The main difference appears to be what Webster notes, i.e. held to with ardor and faith. Most Unitarian Universalists have a zeal and a faith that UUism is the best religion to belong to because of whatever caused them to join (circular but you get the idea). Some UUs believe in a version of the many Judeo-Christian gods (not multi-gods, but the changing descriptions of god through the writing of the Bible, both OT and NT). Many call themselves Christian as I do because we believe that Jesus was a great prophet who has had an enduring effect on western civilization. Most of us are not believers of Jesus Christology as set forth in the creeds, and many of us would answer with Jesus' question, Does it not say that ye are gods? (paraphrase - my Bible is not next to me today). Others have come to Unitarian Universalism with such painful experiences in reactionary Christian churches that they find it hard to relate to Jesus at all. We accept them anyway. P.S. I'm not sure what you meant about Universalists but it is generally the Universalists who are more likely to call themselves Christians and who are more comfortable using terms like soul, god, prayer, Christ. John Allan Graves Unitarian Universalism Duke University An inclusive religion! and all its components () including the Divinity School, \__/ disavow anything I say. II