So, I just finished reading A Chosen Faith by John A. Buehrens and Forrest Church. It was recommended to me as the best book to read as a new UU and seems to be the main book presented by the UUA for more in-depth discussion of issues as opposed to the other more outline-type books. I did enjoy reading it--it's beautifully written, both authors clearly being excellent writers, intelligent and thoughtful men.
But there's a big but--for a book acting as the introduction to a diverse faith, the authors are not diverse. They are both white men of extremely similar age. Both come from Christian backgrounds and seem to embody the Liberal Christian UU path, though they do have interests in other paths. None of those thigns are bad and none would bother me if this were a book by one author. But this is a book of essays, a format that by its very nature allows for multiple viewpoints.
Where is the book I want to see? I want a book of essays by women and men from various backgrounds, who came to Unitarian Universalism in different ways and followed different paths under the UU umbrella. I want to see a book of essays that wouldn't leave the reader with the impression that Unitarian Universalism is mainly a liberal branch of Christianity. I want to see a book that lets UUs who follow pagan or Buddhist or atheist paths tell their stories, a book that would be more welcoming and inspiring to people who don't come from a Christian background.
Maybe there's a book like this out there, and I'm just not aware of it. That would be awesome, really. I'm going to try to ask the minister about this at my class tomorrow night.
I am glad that I read the book, and I'll most likely go back and read parts of it again later. I learned a lot about the background of the church, and I read things that made me think and a few things that moved me. I do have great respect for the authors, I just also have respect for the great diversity at which their writing only gave me a glimpse.
2 comments:
This is ivy03--followed you from over on lj. I'm just dropping by because I, through clever use of wikipedia, have realized I'm a Christian Universalist. This is a sect that is so small it was eaten by the UUC sometime last century. I've never been to a UUC service and am not sure it's the thing for me, but as of right now, I don't have anyone to talk to about universalism, so hai!
In typical fashion for me, I've gone and bought $70 worth of books on differing viewpoints on universalism and christianity. I think I need a new shelf. Let me know if you find any books that are particularly helpful.
Hai! :) I'm like that with the books, too. I've only bought the one so far, but I spent a couple of weeks trawling the web for documents and such. I'll probably buy another book this weekend, though I don't know what yet.
There's a group of Universalism books at the UUA website here. I don't know if that's any help. One book that was pretty highly recommended in my class is The Jefferson Bible.
You might try out going to a service sometime if there's one near you. Mine generally has some good not-necessarily-religious music and a well-written sermon to make you think. Which, if you feel like you want to do some kind of group thing (as I do at the moment) is nifty.
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