The long title of the article: Why Open-Humanistic Unitarian-Universalism is at the Heart of Things in 21st Century?
In recent times I have signed off my communication, “May I not hope to be heard with candor? God deliver us all from prejudice and unkindness, and fill us with the love of truth and virtue.” These are the words of William Ellery Channing, delivered at the Ordination of Rev. Jared Sparks in The First Independent Church of Baltimore on May 5, 1819. Why Open-Humanistic Unitarian-Universalism? Because the alternatives are the dishonesty in the early 21st century, and, as we have seen in the first quarter of the century, it has been in the shadows: the scheming of Donald Trump, Vladimir Putin, and Xi Jinping: and these being the global archetypes of all other shadow dwellers. It is not conspiracy. It is wilful ignorance or blindness. Or the three monkeys: see no evil, hear no evil, and speak very little honesty; honesty for instrumental sake.
These are the alternatives to Open-Humanistic Unitarian-Universalism because the doctrinal position is the honesty, even with what persons wish not to hear. The doctrine is this: we need to choose to be open and most humane to all other persons, seeking unity and universality with all life form in correct belief. Counter to the lies spoken by cynics (“there is nothing to be meaningful”), hyper-skeptics (“there is nothing to know”), we do find a measure of unity and universality. The point is how far do we scope out in our comprehensive education? How far do we wish to open ourselves up to the world. To the extent that Jesus, Buddha, etc., did, or are we, as individuals, more at the other end of the spectrum?
None of us have all answers. Neither me, nor William Ellery Channing. Channing (1780-1842), who was the ‘first’ American Unitarian minister who acted as an intellectual, was not a transcendentalist, although he was among the chief influences on the New England Transcendentalists. Channing believed in a fair and open unity of believers and a universality which, yes, for a man of the early nineteenth century was terribly conditioned. Yet he was forward-thinking in his “Baltimore Sermon” of May 5, 1819. The Baltimore Sermon is a study in the cognition of Open-Humanistic Unitarian-Universalism. In the 21st century the doctrine is a reference to both all monism and all pluralism, bringing thinking together, and, of course, it is not how the early nineteenth century Channing understood his world. Nevertheless, Channing’s call for openness of thought was based on his challenge to the closed mindedness of his own times:
To the views now given, an objection is commonly urged from the character of God. We are told, that God being infinitely wiser than men, his discoveries will surpass human reason. In a revelation from such a teacher, we ought to expect propositions, which we cannot reconcile with one another, and which may seem to contradict established truths ; and it becomes us not to question or explain them away, but to believe, and adore, and to submit our weak and carnal reason to the Divine Word. To this objection, we have two short answers. We say, first, that it is impossible that a teacher of infinite wisdom should expose those, whom he would teach, to infinite error. But if once we admit, that propositions, which in their literal sense appear plainly repugnant to one another, or to any known truth, are still to be literally understood and received, what possible limit can we set to the belief of contradictions? What shelter have we from the wildest fanaticism, which can always quote passages, that, in their literal and obvious sense, give support to its extravagances?
We object, particularly on this ground, to that system, which arrogates to itself the name of Orthodoxy, and which is now industriously propagated through our country. This system indeed takes various shapes, but in all it casts dishonor on the Creator. According to its old and genuine form, it teaches, that God brings us into life wholly depraved, so that under the innocent features of our childhood is hidden a nature averse to all good and propense to all evil…
There would be fools who read these works in early nineteenth century literalism. Resist the temptation. Look at the words openly and think openly. For this reason, Open-Humanistic Unitarian-Universalism is at the Heart of Things in 21st Century. It is the search for open heartiness.
Featured Image: Open-Hands.jpg. Purchased.
Neville Buch
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