A Somewhat Deeper Introduction

November 19, 1989

Host: Barbara Thompson ..................................... Invited Guest: Karl Puechl

Barbara: Good Morning! Thanks for joining us again this morning on the Seekers Forum! We are continuing to deal with the various questions received from you, our listeners. And our guest this morning, Karl Puechl, of the Unitarian-Universalist Fellowship, promises togive us some responses that may be giving us a much different perspective than we have encountered os far. In fact, Karl has grouped some of the various questions together for response so we'll be dealing them, you can say, in groups today, rather than individually as we have done before. Those of you who have been with us on a fairly regular basis may remember our interesting interview with Karl in the latter part of April, this year. At that time Karl gave us some good specific information about the Unitarian-Universalist Church. One thing he told us which I'm going to put into effect right now is that the use of the first letters of the names is not only acceptable but encouraged sowe, as of now, going to refer to it as the ":UU Fellowship". And with that, Karl Puechl of the UU Fellowship, a warm welcome back to the Seekers Forum!

Karl: Thank you, Barbara. I'm glad to be here to represent the local Unitarian Universalist Fellowship. I should explain that in UU terminology, a Church has a minister while a Fellowship is a congregation that does its own thing without ministerial guidance or constraint. Both the UU Churches and Fellowships are an integral part of the Unitarian Universalist Association which is headquartered in Boston. The Congregation here in the Valley is a true Fellowship. I am representing the Fellowship simply because the Congregation elected me as its President; by profession, I am a nuclear physicist who has absolutely no theological background.

Barbara: Could you give us a brief summary that, in layman's language defines the UU denomination?

Karl: First, I would say that one's religion should have great impact on one's set of values, one's behavior, and how one interacts with his fellow man. Religion should pave the way for a better life both for the individual and for the total society of humanity. Religions, in general, can be divided into two classes: (1) those that believe that they have answers which are eternally valid and hence they have no need to change; and (2) those that believe that mankind is in the constant process of learning (through practical experience, through scientific investigation, through trial and error, etc.) and, therefore, that religion, to be relevant, must also evolve and must address new issues as man gains new insights. The Unitarian Universalist religion is of this latter variety. We don't profess to have absolute answers; only tentative answers and many doubts and questions. Accordingly, we are great listeners. Each UU enjoys hearing about someone else's beliefs so that he or she can rationally accept that which seems to be applicable to him or her, and can discard that which seems contradictory. To receive no answers from a higher authority (be it a minister, guru, or scripture), only food for thought, requires a great deal of self-reliance. Probably, a characteristic that can describe most Unitarian Universalists is their high degree of self-reliance.

Barbara: This introduction of yours seems to have anticipated a number of questions that we received from our listeners. You indicated that Unitarian Univeralism is evolving along with mankind and that you are willing and perhaps even eager to address new issues as they arise. We have had a number of questions that are concerned with new issues. Where do UU's stand relative to abortion, over-population, euthanasia, world hunger and deprivation, homosexuality, and marriage and the changing family?

Karl: On none of these issues can I speak for all UU's. However, I can say with some assurance that most of us have a deep concern for the human race and for its survival; also, we have confidence in human beings, confidence that, in personal matters, each can make the right decisions for him- or herself without need for the rest of humanity to pass judgment or to interfere. Further, we tend to take a rational approach to addressing current problems. Accordingly, most of us give financial aid and support governmental policies aimed at alleviating human suffering. Short of nuclear war, most of us see over-population as the major threat to the survival of the human race; we cannot continue to exploit our planetary environment as needed to sustain an ever-growing population. Accordingly, we are for ecological education and are strong advocates of population control via voluntary birth control. On the other issues you asked about, abortion, euthanasia, homosexuality, marriage and the changing family, most of us believe that the individual who is faced with a particular situation is best qualified to make the appropriate choice for him- or herself. A person should be free to make his or her own choice, and is to be respected for making the choice even if it is counter to conventional mores.

Barbara: One question that was asked a number of times by our listeners was "Why are there so many different churches?" and then the additional comment was made: "And so many of them seem so sure THEY'RE the only ones with the really right answers. SOMEBODY has to be wrong, don't they?" Also asked were: "Why are the old traditional churches losing members to new churches with no history, no traditions, no real tie with Christianity?" and "I keep reading about this 'new age' religion but I don't understand what it's all about. How is it different and why does it pose such a threat to our regular churches like the Methodist, Presbyterian and Baptist and so on?"

Karl: Frankly, I wonder why there are so few different churches since one's religion is a very personal thing. Religion, primarily, is a vehicle to alleviate man's fears. In prehistoric times, man had little understanding of his surroundings. Many things were unexplainable and because of their unpredictability, they were feared. To overcome these fears man invented gods and then sacrifices to win the gods over to his side. Later as mankind became somewhat more knowledgeable, his fears tended to become more personal; foremost in his mind were fear of his own death and fear of people that were not of his own clan. One god, who was always on the side of one's clan or nation and who promised continuing life in a here-after, did very nicely. Still later, man's fears became still more personal; they became the deep-seated fears that, if excessive, are today treated by psychologists and psychiatrists. These fears, instilled in us during early childhood, primarily, make man insecure, and because of this insecurity man has trouble accepting his insignificance in the universe and he has trouble interacting with his fellow man. Accordingly, the most successful religions today are those that address this personal insecurity; that provide quick psychological fixes which treat the symptoms but not the cause. The traditional churches that are not primarily concerned with this personal psychological level are stagnating. Also, the "new age" religions tend to address the question, "Is this all there is?" by providing some degree of unproven mysticism which can be soothing to some people. Since no two people have identical fears instilled into them, it can be expected that no two people have identical religious needs. It surprises me that so few religions can satisfy the varied fear-alleviating needs of so many individuals.

Barbara: To drastically change the subject, we also received a number of calls that questioned some of the more universal Christian beliefs. "Is there a God?"; "Why is the Sabbath so special?"; "What is this 'Eternal Life'---'Life Hereafter'? Sounds like 'Pie in the Sky' to me."; "Isn't the Bible just ancient history? I don't see what it has to do with my life here and now."; "Did Jesus exist and did he really die for me?"

Karl: Most Unitarian Universalists don't believe in what I would call the Christian god. In fact, we don't think that it's important whether you believe in a god or not, or how you might define your god if you believe in one. What is important is how your religion affects your everyday living, not the specifics of your beliefs. Similarly, most UU's don't believe in a hereafter; the only immortality that you can achieve is the memory of you that will live on in the minds of others that are still alive. When it comes to the Bible, because of the evolving nature of Unitarian Universalism and its associated rationality, we view this book as a part of our cultural heritage but with little relevance for today. In order to interpret any document, the reader must be able to place himself in the environment that existed at the time the document was written. Often times, this is impossible even when the document was written a few short years ago. It is certainly impossible, and it is naive to think that it might be possible, when the document was written more than a thousand years ago.

Barbara: Now, Karl, do you have any closing comments that you would like to make?

Karl: I believe that Unitarian Universalists are more willing to listen to, to debate, and to respect the beliefs of others. I like to think that we provide a forum for interchange of ideas where there is complete freedom to express opinions. Basically, this comes about because we cherish our doubts as much as we cherish our beliefs. Our membership has always been a small percentage of the population because it is difficult to be a Unitarian Universalist--we don't have any answers--we are seekers--and to be comfortable without answers requires self-reliance which is always in short supply. Also, since we know that we don't have the answers, don't have any TRUTHS, we don't proselytize. If you also feel that you don't have all the answers, you will be welcome into Unitarian Universalism, but we will never say that you should join us, that it is better to join us than some other religion, or that you will derive any particular benefit if you do join us. All we can promise is comradeship with fellow "seekers".

Barbara: Karl, thanks very much for another very interesting and thought provoking half hour on the Seekers Forum. We'll look forward to doing it again in the near future.