March 6-March 8

This week I finished scanning the documents of the 1960 folder and compiled some metadata. After examining so many documents I feel that I am qualified to talk about the specific beliefs and world views of the Unitarian Church. The Unitarian Church has a long history that stretches back hundreds of years ago to New England. In 1819, Reverend William Ellery Channing, an ancestor of Reverend John Channing Fuller, gave a sermon titled "Unitarian Christianity" where he rejected the trinity, rejected the belief that all men are borne sinners, stated the importance of reasoning and maintained the dignity of human nature. This was most likely done in response to the religious movement of known as the Great Awakening that was enforcing Calvinistic ideals on the American population. Indeed, Reverend Channing's resistance to such Calvinistic concepts as original sin and predestination mirrors Reverend Fuller's future resistance to the Evangelical ideals of his fellow protestants in the 1960's. Another American religious movement that would effect Unitarianism in the 1800's was Transcendentalism. Walt Whitman and Ralph Emerson would have a strong influence on Unitarian beliefs. Transcendentalism stressed the importance of the soul of an individual and his\her own ability to experience something vaguely known as the "divine." Also, Ralph Emerson's father was a Unitarian minister who is referenced in some of Reverend Fuller's sermons. Another parallel between past and present can be seen in how Walt Whitman is quoted in many of Reverend Fuller's sermons. One sermon Reverend Fuller gave at a Unitarian conference outside of Orlando opened with a poem by Walt Whitman.

But how do these beliefs work? Unitarianism had its roots in the Protestant Reformation in Europe and yet Unitarianism's beliefs are so different from other Protestant denominations. How did this happen? The answer can be found by examining Unitarian beliefs in more detail. The first thing that must be recognized is that Unitarianism is more of a movement than a religion, as stated by Reverend Fuller in a 20th century sermon. Members of the Unitarian Church are "seekers" who each try to use their human reasoning to discover the truth. Their human reasoning is divine because that is what gives them a measure of control in the universe. Reverend Fuller points out that yes, we are insignificant parts of the greater cosmos but our ability to understand and learn about the universe around us makes mankind special. But even if we are special, how do we use our reasoning? Unitarians say we use it by looking at the figures of the past as examples. Reverend Fuller repeatedly denied the divinity of Christ in his sermons but he still saw Jesus as an exemplary human teacher that taught important humanist values. He also listed mystics such as Meister Eckhart and even secular teachers like Freud as men whose teachings are worth learning about. Even teachers belonging to other religions are looked to. This is not viewed as unusual by Unitarians. A key belief of Unitarianism that Reverend Fuller was fond of pointing to was the "Brotherhood of Man." Unitarianism fully upholds the equality of mankind and states that we are all equal. Men are not drenched in sin but are rather made to do good by others. Reverend Fuller criticizes his fellow ministers who use threats of hell fire to keep their congregations in line. Reverend Fuller's defining belief, and perhaps the key belief of Unitarianism, is the inherent goodness of man and his/her ability to find his own salvation.