To split this group, or not?

[E_Pluribus_Unitarian]

Over at the religion group we have been talking about the possibility of a subgroup dedicated to Unitarian Universalism and radically free-thinking religion in general. Seems to me that the "Progressive People of Faith" part of this group's title might work well with what I am proposing. Do any of you have any thoughts on that?

Or, we can try to grow the UU presence here at this group. We have many UU's of liberal (ethically-centered, non-dogmatic) Christian faith, although our understanding of liberalism is likely more radical and freedom-driven than other liberal Christian denominations. Of course there is a lot of overlap between us all, as we work together and support one another in many areas.

Again, we welcome your ideas and suggestions.

Ron S.

(...admin of the Faith of the Free FB page, at... https://www.facebook.com/pages/Unitarian-Universalism-Faith-of-the-Free/83274552762 -- and the "Unitarian Universalism" FB group, at... https://www.facebook.com/groups/2204654293/

[kwassa]

1. I don't think it a good idea.

Having grown up in the Unitarian church, a cradle Unitarian, so to speak, I now find the church, um, parochial.

There are many sources of liberal religious practice out there, but Unitarians think they are the only one and the only bulwark against the fundamentalists, which merely shows the limitation of their knowledge, in my opinion. Most mainline Protestant denominations are predominately liberal, as are reform Jewish congregations. There is little unique about UU.

And the Unitarians, though they won't admit it, as a group are fairly prejudiced against Christians. They are much more accepting of other religious practices, though UUs are also fairly anti-theist in general. The G-word will never be heard in most Unitarian sermons.

The question that never gets answered for me is: why do UUs retain the format of a Protestant church service when it retains none of the content? I think it would more properly be labeled an ethical society, rather than a religion.

The other problem is that this discussion group as it stand now had very low traffic. The only group related to religion that has higher traffic is the Religion group, which is an endless debate between atheists vs. theists about the existence or lack of existence of God.
Splitting low traffic even further is not productive. The demand isn't there.

[xmas74]

2. If it's what you want

but I hate the idea of splitting up groups. Are there really enough members to support both groups separately? I don't think there is. We have a hard time as it is getting people to post on here.

I also don't like the idea of putting everyone in an "us vs. them" sort of scenario. Christian Liberals and Progressive People of Faith are similar in their views overall on issues such as social justice. To divide everyone may not work well in the long run and actually bring about the closing of both groups.

I want this group to include all who are interested from all branches, including non-Christians. The only thing I hope to see out of this group is a bit of civility in discussions. Instead of breaking everything up we need to find ways to build more traffic to the group.

[GreenPartyVoter]

3. I agree. I would be very sad to split the group, as I feel we have so much more in common than not.

[xmas74]

4. We do have more in common than not

and I do hope that we can all realize it. We need to come together and all make this place what we want it to be, instead of thinking about other options.

[GreenPartyVoter]

5. Perhaps that's where we need to head next; work out what we are looking to get from this group or do

with it?

[xmas74]

6. We do need to do something along those lines.

I will post a thread about that shortly, asking for suggestions.

[azmaximillian]

7. Not to be schismatic

I think you could have two groups one "Christian Liberals" and one "People of faith" . There are many faiths under the son, they range from traditional to new age. They are all "faiths" ie .. belief systems. I , personally do not have any problem with people believing differently than I do. When you say "Christian" this is is a very specific belief system. That is not to say that we all could not post and cross post, share and support each other. I have a good friend that is a Unitarian, we have been friends for more than 20 years. He has been to my "church" and I have been to his. We believe very differently, yet we respect each other.

[GreenPartyVoter]

8. I would be okay with it if we dropped "Christian liberals" from the title as I feel

"Progressive People of Faith" would include liberal Christians and many others as well. (Editing to note that I would understand if others feel differently about not doing that because they identify strongly with the Christian faith.)

[JustAnotherGen]

9. I agree

I'm a UU convert (8 years now) - if you can call it a conversion. I do have a belief in God - but I simply do not believe the most basic tenets of Christianity. I.E. Virgin Birth, Jesus Made Deity, Resurrection, etc. etc. I believe because he lived not because he died a horrific death at the hands of Roman Rule. . . See - even right there - I'm not a believer in the Status Quo. By the by - in my 20's I was a baptist Sunday school teacher and was raised in the Baptist Church.

To ask me to call myself a Christian/identify as one is insulting not only to me - but to mainline Christians of all shades of thought.

I like Progressive People of Faith.

[Thats my opinion]

10. It long been my hope that this group would become much me aggressive in debating

issues of faith both within the Judeo-Christian tradition, and in inter-faith concerns, Being a "safe" group we have shied away from any vigorous conversation. Many of us who are in "religion" are tired of it having been taken over--in the main--by atheists who use it for the sole purpose of castigating all things religious.. But by '"safe" I don't mean neutral about the issues before the religious world. Limiting us UUs would be a mistake, while the UU position should be a major player here.

How do we encourage those who are interested in the discussion of serious religious issues and values to come aboard?

[GreenPartyVoter]

11. Well, one option is to do the debating in the Religion thread, but I think we can bet

that it would be joined by people from outside of the circle you want to hold the discussion.

The other option is asking the group to choose to have thread pinned at the top where healthy debate could be held. That way those who want to participate have a place to go, and those who do not can still count on this group being the place of comfort and serenity they desire.

My biggest concern here really is that the group is just so quiet. We need more people or at least more activity among those of us who do visit here. I worry that people don't bother to come in because it seems like nothing is going on here.

[Thats my opinion]

12. There is more evidence all the time that the people tentatively filing in "religion"

is both growing and helpful. Once they are not run off by the atheists who do not want discussion but just eager to attack everything religious, we can have productive discussions across all kinds of lines.

So more of us--get in the discussion in "religion" and just don't pay any attention to the attacks.