UU Humanist Association

Have you ever felt like you go through the motions every day but it all seems meaningless? Did you know that you can use science to help you find a sense of life purpose? Wait, but science can’t answer life’s big questions – that’s the job of religion, right? Well, a wave of recent research in psychology, cognitive neuroscience, and other disciplines has explored how we find meaning and purpose in life, with or without belief in a deity!

I wish I knew that when I was growing up. I struggled with gaining a sense of life meaning and purpose throughout my teenage years and young adulthood. I remember experiencing the sense of meaninglessness as an emptiness deep in the pit of my stomach. Read more about A Humanist Take on Meaning and Purpose »

There’s an all-too common view in the United States that religion and science are in conflict.  While this conflict takes many forms, none is more prevalent than that associated with the evolution/creation debate.  Simply put, there are some who proclaim loudly and often that one can’t be truly religious if evolution is accepted.  The basic premise of this position is that people must choose between their religion and modern science; that it is impossible to embrace both.

In fact, however, despite the volume of these claims, this position is very much at odds with what a huge majority of devout individuals understand.  In an attempt to share this message as broadly as possible, I created a grassroots organization that has grown to more than 15,000 clergy members.  This organization, The Clergy Letter Project, has three clear and simple goals: Read more about The Clergy Letter Project: Demonstrating the Compatibility of Religion and Science »

In the wake of the terrorist attacks in Paris, we’re forced once again to ask a question of moment for UU Humanists:  Is religion the problem? Read more about Is Religion the Problem? It Depends. »

When a distinguished scientist and an eminent theologian agree on what is meant by God we should take notice.  The scientist is complexity theorist Stuart Kauffman whose recent book is entitled Reinventing the Sacred.  Like many he has left traditional religion behind, but he wants to retain a sense of the sacred nature of life, and he finds that sacred quality in creativity.  Creativity, he suggests, is at the heart of things and in the very nature of the universe.  In fact he identifies creativity with God, suggesting that what he means by God is simply creativity.  He writes: “God is our chosen name for the ceaseless creativity in the natural universe, biosphere, and human cultures.”  He comes to this conclusion because “This creativity is stunning, awesome and worthy of reverence.” Read more about “God” as Creativity »

I am a humanist. That’s not something I always share with others, especially here in South Carolina, where the first question people generally ask upon meeting you is, “So where do you go to church?”; where people regularly talk about God as their co-pilot and Jesus as their fishing buddy; where prayer is considered a viable solution to every problem, from ending drought to finding a parking place. Publicly admitting that you are a humanist – or an atheist, agnostic, skeptic, free thinker, or any other variety of nonbeliever – anywhere in America is about as risky as burning a flag in an American Legion hall. Where I live, being a nonbeliever can get you denied a promotion and fired from your job. It can get you disowned by your family and deserted by your friends. It can get your house or car vandalized, and it can get you physically harmed. Prejudice against nonbelievers may be the last socially acceptable bigotry.  Read more about Coming Out as a Humanist »

Walt Whitman sang The Body Electric. Let us sing The Mind Electric for its soaring imagination. Nothing distinguishes our species more than our creative capacity and need for story telling. Stories can be grounded in fact and history or wildly fantastical. Both avenues define our culture, our selves, and our species. They are tools for passing down learning and expressing our hopes, desires, needs and are the major source of entertainment. For millennia, they were told person to person, or person to persons, especially around campfires and hearths in the evening. The invention of writing not only aided their spread but also their saving. In the modern world, story telling is the staple of radio, movies, television, and the internet. Read more about The Story Telling Animal »

They’ve been hung from the rafters of a 19^th Century barn hosting a progressive dinner dance in rural Michigan, paraded by youth for the plenary delegates at General Assembly in Providence, held by parishioners as a “living ribbon” at the close of several UU Sunday services around the country, and have welcomed customers from the walls of a neighborhood Starbucks as part of a local art walk on the south side of Chicago.   As this is written, the twenty six fabric art panels that comprise Ribbons Not Walls, a UU Humanist sponsored project on immigrant rights and culture, grace the walls at the UU Congregation of Las Vegas, for a month long program titled “Borders and Boundaries.”  It is the 50^th venue for “Ribbons” since the spring of 2012, and will raise the number of viewers who have directly interacted with the art to over 8,000. Read more about Ribbons Not Walls Reaches Fifty! »

NoelieTREX does a great job of explaining Unitarian Universalism on her YouTube channel, as well as why she, an atheist, chose a UU church. Check out her videos below!

What is Unitarian Universalist?

Atheist and Unitarian Universalist

Read more about NoelieTREX Explains It All on YouTube »

The sermon was delivered on Sunday, October 19, 2014, at All Souls Unitarian Church in Tulsa, Oklahoma, by James Croft, Guest Speaker.

What is the point of Humanism?

"To safeguard human dignity while maintaining intellectual integrity. To put people first."

At GA in Providence this last June, some brave souls, including UUHA president John Hooper, were invited to Pledge Over the Edge in support of the Rev. Terry Sweetser Fund for Stewardship of the UUA. Here are some pictures of John and his friend from the UUA President's Council, Les Polgar, from California, rappeling down the side of the Providence Convention Center. 

Stepping Off

Half Way

They Made It!

It's hard to see through the harness, but John (on the right) is modeling his UU Humanist t-shirt. Great job, Les and John! Read more about John's Excellent Adventure »