Blue Boat of Youth and Young Adult MinistriesOh, Unitarian Universalist Nation!
UUism on the Colbert Report
Stephen Cobert brought his steely regard to bear on Unitarian Universalism in a segment about evangelical Christian minister Billy Graham removing Mormonism from his list of “cults” after his endorsement of Mitt Romney. Colbert goes on to expound about other religious groups that Graham considered cults, including, “Jehovah’s Witnesses, Mormons, the Unification Church, Unitarians, Spiritists, Scientologists, and others.”
He sarcastically describes “the dangerous Unitarians” with rules “so loose that their three sacred texts are the Old Testament, the New Testament, and Free to Be You and Me.”
The clip where UUism was mentioned is available here. Begin watching at around the 3 minute mark to get the full context of the clip. Watch the full episode here.
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4 Responses to “Oh, Unitarian Universalist Nation!”Leave A Comment
I think we could do worse for a recruitment pitch than Biblical roots leading to freedom of expression. Thanks for the plug, Stephen!
So for a young adults group, how do we incorporate this perception into our RE class / YRUU?
I think there are a lot of different ways you could incorporate this perception into any sort of youth or young adult ministry. You could use it as a jumping off point for talking about the seven principles and six sources , and how we can’t “believe whatever we want.” You could also use this as an encouragement for people to really hash out what they believe. Maybe model them after NPR’s This I Believe, and record them either on audio or video?
You could also talk about the Hebrew and Christian scriptures, and although we don’t necessarily take them literally within our faith, they are a serious part of UU history and identity. Anecdotally, many UU youth and young adults have a poor understanding of their importance in our history. And as biblical literacy is an important part of politics and modern life in the United States, understanding its place within the liberal religious tradition is important!
SO WELL SPOKEN! I AM PROUD OF MY NEPHEW!