Beltane Universalism

Last updated on: May 2, 2010 at 6:29 pm by John Beckett

Beltane Universalism 2010-05-02T18:29:00-06:00 John Beckett

LOGO Patheos Explore the world's faith through different perspectives on religion and spirituality! Patheos has the views of the prevalent religions and spiritualities of the world.

Last night’s multi-group Beltane celebration was excellent. We had representatives from six different Pagan groups from Texas and Oklahoma – I didn’t get a final count but it was somewhere in the 35-45 range. When the crowd thinned down to those of us who were camping, we gathered around the fire and a series of conversations began.

I talked at some length with a woman attending her second Pagan circle. Her situation is similar to mine 17 years ago: she grew up in a fundamentalist Christian environment, she can’t honestly believe what she’s being told she has to believe, she feels a call to this path, but she’s afraid to leave the faith she’s known all her life. And, like me, she wants to be certain she’s doing the right thing. After all, her religious leaders have told her eternal torment awaits if she chooses the wrong religion.

I have quoted others and I have said it myself: Unitarian Universalists need to stop defining ourselves by what we aren’t and what we don’t believe and start defining ourselves by who we are and what we do believe. We have too many members who are just so happy to be away from fundamentalist Christianity or traditional Catholicism they never take that next step from not-Christian to active UU. At least in my congregation, we need many many services and sermons on how to take that next step.

But last night’s conversation is a stark reminder that Unitarian Universalists – and Pagans – should never stop preaching universalism.

What follows is my case for universalism: what I said to the woman (who I don’t think wants her name plastered on a Pagan blog) last night, plus a few things I wish I had said.

Universalism means everything is going to work out OK in the end, for everyone. Universalism (with a capital U) is a Christian concept that says everyone will eventually be reconciled to God, if not in this life, then in the next. Or, more bluntly, there is no hell. That’s a gross oversimplification that ignores some pretty deep religious thought, but that’s the essence of it.

In a non-Christian setting, universalism (with a lower case u) means the same thing, but without the Christian scripture and doctrine to back it up. As far as I know, Christianity and Islam are the only religions that claim their “true” followers are going to heaven and everyone else is going to hell. For other religions, universalism is assumed.

Fundamentalism is demonstrably false. Yes, I’m a good non-judgmental UU. Yes, I understand that some people need the simplicity and certainty that fundamentalism provides. But it rests on concepts that require willful ignorance to accept.

In the Baptist church where I grew up, the foundation was not the Bible (as they said), but the concept that the Bible is the literal, inerrant and unchanging “Word of God.” When I studied the Bible and its origins, I learned (for example) that Genesis was not written by Moses, it was written by at least two authors and edited by another. Studying history, I learned that the laws of Deuteronomy (which those who oppose full equality for gay people love to quote) were written by Jewish exiles trying to hold on to their national identity in a foreign land – and not by a God who attached eternal significance to what kind of clothes we wear and what we eat for dinner. And those are just two of many examples.

I recommended Karen Armstrong’s A History of God for some of the religious history I was never taught in Sunday School. I’m sure there are other good choices – that one was helpful to me.

When the foundation of scriptural inerrancy falls, fundamentalism falls. This is why fundamentalists fight so hard against evolution (another topic where they are willfully ignorant) – if humans weren’t created in our current form by God, their whole historicized mythology is no longer reliable and the black-or-white fundamentalist doesn’t know what to believe… whereas the liberal Christian and the Buddhist and the Pagan can see that “do unto others as you would have them do unto you” is a pretty good way to live, regardless of where it comes from.

A God who would cast any – much less the vast majority – of his creatures into eternal torment is a god unworthy of worship. Calvinists (currently experiencing a resurgence in Baptist churches) attempt to get around this by claiming that humans are “totally depraved” and thus born deserving of hell and that God is “sovereign,” meaning he can do whatever he wants and by definition it is good. As I’ve stated before, this is a misunderstanding of the concept of sovereignty.

This is the argument that set me on the road to universalism as a young child. If God is wise enough and powerful enough to create the world and everything in it, then why can’t he save everyone? God’s “plan of salvation” is the human sacrifice of his own son? And it doesn’t cover everyone, only those who by the luck of the draw of where and when they are born follow the right religion? That’s a pretty lousy plan! Either God is not all-wise and all-powerful, or he is not good.

Or, as I believe, the whole concept of infinite punishment for finite violations of arbitrary rules is a mistake.

If the Muslims are right we’re all going to hell. When I say that to fundamentalists, inevitably they launch into an attack on Islam. They’re missing the point: namely, that there is no such thing as religious certainty. This is not an easy concept for people who like things to be black or white – it’s why so many are willing to overlook the unbelievably unlikely foundation of biblical inerrancy and literalism. But what in this life and in this world is certain? Nothing. And why should religion be any different?

If there is no One True Path, then what are we to do? Follow your heart. For some, this means being a Christian and following the teachings of Jesus. For others, it means being a Humanist and demonstrating that we are capable of living good, moral lives without any supernatural assistance. I realized I would do far more good as a committed Pagan than as an unenthusiastic Christian. That was one of the major milestones in my journey from fundamentalist Christianity to Paganism and Unitarian Universalism.

“Follow your heart” is easy to say and hard to do – particularly when you’ve been bombarded all your life with the idea that the “saved” are going to heaven and everyone else is going to hell. But this is the path I’ve been called to – to do otherwise would be to live a lie.

You have to choose. A traditional Wiccan initiation rite begins with this Challenge: “O thou who wouldst cross the boundary between the worlds, hast thou the courage to face the tests which will be required of thee? For I tell thee, it were better to throw thyself upon this sacred blade and perish now than to essay the trials with fearing in thy heart.”

While the Challenge is rather dramatic, the real challenge isn’t to enter the circle with no fear. The challenge is to have the courage to follow your heart and enter in spite of your fears. Trust in the love and goodness of God – the Goddess, the Universe, the All – and move forward boldly.

This has not been an easy journey for me, but it has been and remains a rewarding, fulfilling, and meaningful journey. I hope I was able to provide some reassurance and inspiration to the woman I talked with last night. I hope I was able to give her some information and some resources to find her way along her path, whether that is ultimately Paganism or some other path.

For as much as many of us need to grow up and move on, there are many others who still need to hear the good news of universalism.

Uncategorized

Previous Post

May 1, 2010

Beltane Next Saturday

Next Post

May 4, 2010 Gathering of the Tribes

Browse Our Archives

Select a Category Books Community CUUPS Druidry Foundations and Context Gods and Goddesses Magic Myth Nature Ritual Spiritual Practice Theology Travel Uncategorized Videos

Select a Month October 2026 September 2026 August 2026 July 2026 June 2026 May 2026 April 2026 March 2026 February 2026 January 2026 December 2025 November 2025 October 2025 September 2025 August 2025 July 2025 June 2025 May 2025 April 2025 March 2025 February 2025 January 2025 December 2024 November 2024 October 2024 September 2024 August 2024 July 2024 June 2024 May 2024 April 2024 March 2024 February 2024 January 2024 December 2023 November 2023 October 2023 September 2023 August 2023 July 2023 June 2023 May 2023 April 2023 March 2023 February 2023 January 2023 December 2022 November 2022 October 2022 September 2022 August 2022 July 2022 June 2022 May 2022 April 2022 March 2022 February 2022 January 2022 December 2021 November 2021 October 2021 September 2021 August 2021 July 2021 June 2021 May 2021 April 2021 March 2021 February 2021 January 2021 December 2020 November 2020 October 2020 September 2020 August 2020 July 2020 June 2020 May 2020 April 2020 March 2020 February 2020 January 2020 December 2019 November 2019 October 2019 September 2019 August 2019 July 2019 June 2019 May 2019 April 2019 March 2019 February 2019 January 2019 December 2018 November 2018 October 2018 September 2018 August 2018 July 2018 June 2018 May 2018 April 2018 March 2018 February 2018 January 2018 December 2017 November 2017 October 2017 September 2017 August 2017 July 2017 June 2017 May 2017 April 2017 March 2017 February 2017 January 2017 December 2016 November 2016 October 2016 September 2016 August 2016 July 2016 June 2016 May 2016 April 2016 March 2016 February 2016 January 2016 December 2015 November 2015 October 2015 September 2015 August 2015 July 2015 June 2015 May 2015 April 2015 March 2015 February 2015 January 2015 December 2014 November 2014 October 2014 September 2014 August 2014 July 2014 June 2014 May 2014 April 2014 March 2014 February 2014 January 2014 December 2013 November 2013 October 2013 September 2013 August 2013 July 2013 June 2013 May 2013 April 2013 March 2013 February 2013 January 2013 December 2012 November 2012 October 2012 September 2012 August 2012 July 2012 June 2012 May 2012 April 2012 March 2012 February 2012 January 2012 December 2011 November 2011 October 2011 September 2011 August 2011 July 2011 June 2011 May 2011 April 2011 March 2011 February 2011 January 2011 December 2010 November 2010 October 2010 September 2010 August 2010 July 2010 June 2010 May 2010 April 2010 March 2010 February 2010 January 2010 December 2009 November 2009 October 2009 September 2009 August 2009 July 2009 June 2009 May 2009 April 2009 March 2009 February 2009 January 2009 December 2008 November 2008 October 2008 September 2008 August 2008 July 2008 June 2008

TAKE THE

Religious Wisdom Quiz

What language was the New Testament originally written in?

Select your answer to see how you score.

Aramaic Latin Hebrew Greek