With the arrival of the month of May, we begin effectively here in the South not only the season of Summer, but we take up a new theme. That new theme, the Gift of Pluralism, is based on what is very likely to become a new expression of one of our Unitarian Universalist principles at General Assembly.
Pluralism. I’ve heard the word all of my life. It almost always had a secular context–we live in a pluralistic society, our nation is made up of pluralistic cultures, educational ideas are pluralistic and so forth. I was in seminary before I heard the word mentioned in a religious or theological context. As we began to prepare to write reflections for this month, the question came up among us, Unitarian Universalists: Just what does pluralism mean?
Here is the draft being proposed by the Unitarian Universalist Association for our new set of principles. Pluralism is one among several principles, and while our current set of principles does not use the word, you will likely recognize several things that we have long valued and held dear. This is how we understand pluralism from our Unitarian Universalist context.
“We celebrate that we are all sacred beings, diverse in culture experience and theology.
We covenant to learn from one another in our free and responsible search for truth and meaning. We embrace our differences and commonalities with Love, curiosity and respect.“
There are some powerful ideas and images for us to explore here, and no doubt those writing these words of reflection this month will lead us into some of the possibilities:
–we are all sacred beings
–diversity in culture, experience and theology
–we learn from one another
–we have a free and responsible search for truth and meaning
–we embrace our differences
–we embrace our commonalities
–Love, curiosity and respect guide us in this gift of pluralism.
~Bob Patrick
