We have a new Pope!

[Jessica Leigh]

Originally Posted by WelshWitchPMD

The Unitarians except jsut about anyone into their church. Even Wiccans.
http://www.uua.org/

ummmm how does that work? i mean... if someone is wiccan... wouldn't wicca be their religion? why would they also want to join another religion? or do you mean if they convert?

[DrummerDeanna]

Originally Posted by WelshWitchPMD

The Unitarians except jsut about anyone into their church. Even Wiccans.
http://www.uua.org/

You're like the fifth person who has suggested Unitarian to me

I have been to one Unitarian mass...not sure that's totally what I'm looking for at this point - though I do like how inclusive of all they are...I'm really not ruling anything out at this point - I think for the next few months I'm just going to go church hopping

[WelshWitchPMD]

Originally Posted by Jessica Leigh

ummmm how does that work? i mean... if someone is wiccan... wouldn't wicca be their religion? why would they also want to join another religion? or do you mean if they convert?

I got this from their website.

Unitarianism and Universalism were both technically Christian denominations right up until they merged in 1961.

I say technically because from the 1850's-1950's, starting with the Transcendentalists (Emerson, Thoreau) and ending with effects of the 1930's Humanist Manifesto, both Unitarianism and Universalism became accepting of beliefs outside of traditional Christianity.

By 1961, when the two denominations were together writing the beliefs statements of the forming Unitarian Universalist Association, their congregations included people from many faith backgrounds. The UUA ended up being formed as a non-creedal religion: we have no statement of religious belief, Christian or otherwise.

Since 1961, the UUA has become even more welcoming of people with non-Christian beliefs, including many Humanists, Pagans, Buddhists, and others.

You ask why people with no theistic belief (i.e. atheists) might want to participate in worship services. Many people who don't believe in a deity (god) have very deep and meaningful spiritualities. Some atheists believe in the holiness of the world or people, or in the soul or afterlife, or in other aspects of religious existence despite their belief that there is no divine being. Others find great meaning in religious community, and in celebrating shared moral values. Others just like to sing in the choir, or hear interesting sermons. There are many different reasons.

[WelshWitchPMD]

Originally Posted by DrummerDeanna

You're like the fifth person who has suggested Unitarian to me

I have been to one Unitarian mass...not sure that's totally what I'm looking for at this point - though I do like how inclusive of all they are...I'm really not ruling anything out at this point - I think for the next few months I'm just going to go church hopping

I have always wanted to check it out but I never actually got the nerve up to go. I'll tell you what church was weird. The Spiritualists. Well, I had a bad experience when I went to one here, anyway. Never Going Back Again.

[WelshWitchPMD]

Just a silly side note. Yesterday when the new Pope was announced some people at work called him John Ratzenberger. We had this running joke about Cliff Claven being head of the Catholic Church.

[amber]

Originally Posted by WelshWitchPMD

Just a silly side note. Yesterday when the new Pope was announced some people at work called him John Ratzenberger. We had this running joke about Cliff Claven being head of the Catholic Church.

strangely, that's exactly what I thought of as well.

[catinthedark]

Originally Posted by DrummerDeanna

You're like the fifth person who has suggested Unitarian to me

I have been to one Unitarian mass...not sure that's totally what I'm looking for at this point - though I do like how inclusive of all they are...I'm really not ruling anything out at this point - I think for the next few months I'm just going to go church hopping

Are Unitarians like the United Church of Canada? It sounds like Lutherans may be similar, too. I'm not sure. Would they be Protestant, or still categorized as Catholic? ('Scuse my ignorance; I am interested, though). The UCC is Protestant - very liberal, very accepting of any and all. I've always wondered what the equivilent is in the US.

[BTFLCHLD]

Originally Posted by Gypsy-Rhiannon

What happened with the smoke? Pip

love your sig

[DrummerDeanna]

Originally Posted by catinthedark

Are Unitarians like the United Church of Canada? It sounds like Lutherans may be similar, too. I'm not sure. Would they be Protestant, or still categorized as Catholic? ('Scuse my ignorance; I am interested, though). The UCC is Protestant - very liberal, very accepting of any and all. I've always wondered what the equivilent is in the US.

I don't think Unitarians are even seen as a Christian sect anymore - because as I understand it they pretty much embrace all religions.... But what Pattie got from their website says it better than I can....but yeah - I don't think it's the equivelant of the UCC

[gldstwmn]

President's younger brother served with then-cardinal on board of relatively unknown ecumenical foundation

http://www.nynewsday.com/news/nation...02,print.story

BY KNUT ROYCE AND TOM BRUNE
WASHINGTON BUREAU

April 21, 2005

WASHINGTON -- Neil Bush, the president's controversial younger brother, six years ago joined the cardinal who this week became Pope Benedict XVI as a founding board member of a little known Swiss ecumenical foundation.

The charter members of the board were all well-known international religious figures, except for Bush and his close friend and business partner, Jamal Daniel, whose family has extensive holdings in the United States and Switzerland, public records show.

The Foundation for Interreligious and Intercultural Research and Dialogue was founded in Geneva, Switzerland, in 1999 to promote ecumenical understanding and publish original religious texts, said a foundation official.

Besides then-Cardinal Joseph Ratzinger, founding board members included Rene-Samuel Sirat, the former chief rabbi of France; Jordan's Prince Hassan, a Muslim dedicated to religious dialogue; the late Prince Sadruddin Aga Khan, another prominent Muslim; Olivier Fatio, director of the Institute of the History of the Reformation; and foundation president Metropolitan Damaskinos, a Greek Orthodox leader.

Gary Vachicouras, a theologian and foundation official in Geneva, would not explain in a telephone interview yesterday why Bush, who has no clear public connection to religious causes, was on the first board.

"He was interested at that particular time," said Vachicouras of Bush. But like some other initial board members, Bush is no longer involved, Vachicouras said. Ratzinger also left a few years ago and was replaced by Archbishop Michael Fitzgerald, who is responsible for ecumenical relations for the Vatican, said Vachicouras.

Still active is Daniel, a Syrian American who has family active in the Orthodox Church in Geneva, said Vachicouras. "This is an Orthodox lay person," he said.

Neither Bush, now president of the educational software company Ignite! Learning, based in Austin, Texas, nor Daniel returned calls for comment.

In his highly publicized divorce last year, Bush revealed he and Daniel are co-chairs of Texas-based Crest Investment Co., which pays him $60,000 a year for consulting. Recently, Crest Investment officials used Bush's name as a reference in cutting an exclusive deal with Texas officials on construction of a liquid natural gas storage facility that will guarantee Crest payments of at least $2 million a year, according to the Los Angeles Times.

In the divorce proceedings, Bush also revealed that while he was in a hotel in Asia, women on at least three occasions came into his room and had sex with him. Daniel hosted Bush's second wedding at his home.

Daniel reportedly became acquainted with Bush in 1991, the year the federal Office of Thrift Supervision sanctioned Bush for having "multiple conflicts of interest" in his role as a director of Silverado Savings and Loan, a Colorado thrift whose failure cost taxpayers $1.3 billion. Bush paid $50,000 in a settlement.

The foundation, based at the Orthodox Center of the Ecumenical Patriarchate in Geneva, is listed by Dun & Bradstreet business credit reports as a management trust for purposes other than education, religion, charity or research. But Vachicouras said the designation must be a mistake of translation to English because the foundation is a private nonprofit established under Swiss law. He said the foundation is being "relaunched" on its mission to publish the original text of the Bible's Old Testament in Hebrew, its New Testament in Greek and the Quran in Arabic.

Fatio, who left the board three years ago, said the foundation "never had any money." Vachicouras declined to discuss finances.

He said, "We keep a low profile because that makes it easier to get work done."

[amber]

Weird.......

[DrummerDeanna]

that is pretty weird...