What I Believe And Why
Hal Moore
April 4, 2004
The January February 2004 issue of UU World opens with these words from The Rev. Theodore Parker (1810-1860) a Unitarian minister’s landmark sermon, “A discourse on the Transient and Permanent in Christianity:" So the Christianity of Jesus is permanent, though what passes for Christianity with popes and catechisms, with sects and churches, in the first century or the nineteenth century, prove transient also.... Let the transient pass, fleet as it will.... God send us a real religious life....
What is real and permanent (if there is such an reality as permanence) and what is cultural and temporally conditioned has been a concern of mine for over 40 years. I am still working on it. I offer the following as a contribution to further discussion and reflection on this issue.
These statements of belief are a starting point for discussion and exploration. They are flexible and situated in time.
We desperately need a community wide and national discussion of our values and our morals, our fundamental beliefs, these fundamental assumptions which form the foundations of our actions now have us quite divided on several different fronts both locally and nationally. But rigidity and absoluteness make dialogue impossible.
These statements can be expressed in many language idioms, and this secular idiom deliberately omits all “God-talk”.
For me God-talk language, traditional religious language, doesn’t communicate with the people I work with or with whom I associate. We need speak in plain everyday English.
I believe human life emerged and developed from a physical foundation through biological evolution over the millennia, and the record of that evolution and development is recorded today, as best as we are able to understand it, in biology and history. We are biological, historical, and cultural beings.
The common uniting factor among all peoples everywhere is our biology. Our history and culture based in part on our differing geographies is a testament to our historical and cultural diversity which should add to the richness of the human endeavor. Furthermore, any responsible theological and religious reflection today must be based first of all in our biology and secondarily in our history and culture, not in sacred texts though they contain much wisdom and attest to the historical evolution of religious ideas.
I believe all of humanity is one, indissolubly interlinked in a thousand ways. What any one of us does affects everyone else, just as in physics, the laws of which also apply to us.
This is one of my primary convictions and one that holds so much of the rest of this statement together. This is implied in the Judeo-Christian tradition and in the ethics of many other religious systems. It is also a fundamental insight from biology and the emergence of life.
I believe each one of our lives is a united and indivisible whole which cannot be segmented into religious, political, economic, professional and social dichotomies. For me, the religious, political, economic, professional, familial, and social are different aspects of the same reality, just as our cells and organs are different parts of the same body and cannot function in isolation.
Just at the heart cannot say to the liver, “I’m not sending you any blood this week,” and expect to live itself, so it is with the segmented nature of modern life. All is interrelated and interdependent. This is also a reference to holonomy.
I believe there is a mystery within the universe, a mystery embedded within each of us as within all reality. That mystery expresses itself with the breaking of the new and the unexpected into the universe and into our lives, and is embedded in our connectivity to one another and the rest of the natural world. It is our obligation to honor that mystery within ourselves, within one another, within the earth and the universe. We need to respect and dignify that mystery which lies within and behind (beyond) the reality perceived with our senses. Many people would call this the sacred, the spiritual, the religious or the “awe” factor.
All religions, belief systems and varieties of religious experiences and practices are human constructs which have been created by human beings in response to what we understand to be the ultimate point of reference for our lives both individually and collectively. How we experience and express our awareness of this mysterium has evolved through the ages and has expressed itself differently in different cultures.
I believe the way we live our lives is a reflection of our deepest beliefs. Thus what we believe is expressed more through our actions than through our words. Watch what we do, not what we say. Our actions carry ethical implications, and we must struggle both personally and socially, individually and collectively, with these concerns, because our decisions do affect the enhancement or the detriment of life itself. Religious beliefs are delusional unless they address injustice and suffering, particularly among the least fortunate among us wherever on planet Earth they may be. In consequence, no religious beliefs are totally private for and they are revealed in the way we live our lives, and everything we do affects all other life. We cannot dichotomize our lives; the sacred and secular are one.
Again, we cannot segment our lives into neat little compartments. Through our interdependence and interrelatedness the ways in which we consume the earth’s material resources and our attitudes toward those who are not like us have profound effects on them, and they in turn on us. How do 6 billion plus people share this shrinking planet that we all may have life?
Truth is neither fixed, singular, nor rigid. Our understandings of truths are multiple and evolve over time. There is no such thing as attainable absolute truth. Our understanding of truth is at best partial, conditioned, and evolving. The reification of truth as we understand it is both religiously demonic and socially destructive. We move toward a better understanding of truths through honesty and respectfulness in dialogue and struggle, and in compassion with others toward those with whom we are engaged in the struggles and issues confronting us. Our engagement with others needs to be compassionate, just and honest whether it be our own children and grandchildren, spouses and partners, co-workers and adherents of other religious, political, or social orientations.
One of the biggest problems underlying our community wide and national divisiveness is the reification (the rendering of a symbolic abstraction [God] into thing or a “he” as if it had concrete material existence) of a particular truth claim as the eternal unchanging truth. Such truths become idols and lead to disaster if they do not fall of their own weight. What is required of us? In my view it is to walk humbly on this earth, and to treat all others with honesty, justice, and compassion.
Finally, I believe this mystery in which we are immersed has evolved towards increasingly complex life forms, and that it is our human obligation to work for the sustenance and enrichment of life on all levels, everywhere, and for everyone. We human beings are intimately linked to and totally dependent upon all of the rest of the natural order, and as we despoil and disrupt that order we undermine the earth’s ability to generate and sustain life in the future. I see that we as human beings are destroying the means of our beautiful planet to generate and sustain human life, and possibly all life. This means that people of all belief systems need to cooperate and work together to confront and challenge the forces that would degrade the biosphere that undergirds our lives. The primary task of religious people across the planet is to cooperate with every group working to protect the planet from the forces of human greed and self-centeredness that would destroy life support systems. We save ourselves from impending ecological collapse by saving one another and the planetary life support systems. We do this in part by creating a more just, compassionate and hopeful humanity.
The despoliation of the earth is one of humanity’s greatest challenges today. As humanity has grown beyond the carrying capacity of the earth, it threatens the planetary life support systems. People of all religious faiths and convictions must find ways to join hands with those who are religiously indifferent or antagonistic to work together for a liveable world. One of the central concerns of all religious belief systems as I understand them is the enhancement of life among the living, though that is defined quite differently among different populations. But the continuation and sustenance of life rather than its destruction is one starting point from which all people everywhere should be able to work together, and in doing so, engage in dialogue with each other about their fears, values, and understanding of life itself.
These beliefs draw on our imaginative dimension as does music, poetry, the arts and all that gives expression to the human spirit. Life lived by these principles is for the seeker and perpetual traveler; it is for the meaning maker. These beliefs would have us cherish the very best in our various religious, artistic, musical, literary, and scientific traditions. I believe that to explore, develop, and live this vision of life with others is to create meaning both individually and collectively. It is our responsibility, our challenge, our adventure, our joy and our hope for the future.
Unitarian Universalist Congregation of Duluth
Promoting the inherent worth and dignity of every person