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Saturday 20 June 2009

We have been with you from the beginning

I have just finished an article on the historical Pagan tendencies in Unitarianism (and UUism). Many people think that the Pagan or Earth Spirit element in Unitarianism started around 1980 with the foundation of CUUPs (Covenant of Unitarian Universalist Pagans) in America. In fact, it has its roots in some much earlier developments.

Both Paganism and Unitarianism are world-affirming, and share some important values - not least being the belief that the Divine is / deities are immanent in the world (held by most Pagans and many Unitarians). From this stems a belief in the importance of human reason (because we are inherently good), the tolerance of alternative visions of the world, and the importance of freedom to explore one's beliefs and values without constraint of creeds.
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2 comments:

  1. Unknown2 July 2009 at 04:46

    Lovely article- it will be a great resource. I was aware of some of these historical trends & groups like the emphasis the Transcendentalists put on nature, but it's nice to have some more detail and have it all together.
    Another thing to note is that humanism- a big influence on Unitarians goes back to ancient Greek philosophy.

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  2. Yewtree2 July 2009 at 09:57

    Thanks for the feedback. If you're interested in this aspect of Unitarianism, there's an excellent Paganism 101 course by Fritz Muntean of Vancouver Unitarians.

    You might also enjoy my previous article about Rammohun Roy and his legacy, which fed into the Pagan tendencies article.

    Yes indeed, it's true that humanism has always been part of it (though I suspect the meaning of humanism has changed over the centuries). I look forward to your article on that :D

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