Now let’s explore how the 7 Principles of Unitarian Universalism interact with Pagan beliefs and ethics. You don’t have to dive too deeply to see how compatible the two are.
1st Principle: The inherent worth and dignity of every person;
2nd Principle: Justice, equity and compassion in human relations;
3rd Principle: Acceptance of one another and encouragement to spiritual growth in our congregations;
4th Principle: A free and responsible search for truth and meaning;
5th Principle: The right of conscience and the use of the democratic process within our congregations and in society at large;
6th Principle: The goal of world community with peace, liberty, and justice for all;
7th Principle: Respect for the interdependent web of all existence of which we are a part.
There is also an 8th Principle in the process of becoming an official thing: Journeying toward spiritual wholeness by working to build a diverse multicultural Beloved Community by our actions that accountably dismantle racism and other oppressions in ourselves and our institutions.
As a progressive, a feminist, and a proponent of process theology, the 1st and 2nd Principles are kind of a given. Even a terrible person is a person with the same right to exist with dignity as I have, and they became what they are both by their own choices/mistakes and by the systems and institutions that helped them become that way. That’s just reality, not an excuse; but knowing how a toddler got a gun doesn’t stop you from taking the gun away, does it?
We all have some measure of creative freedom in our lives. Principle #2 points out that our lives exist in relationship with others (meaning everything and everyone we interact with, human or otherwise), and (in my set of values) the only way to live within the Divine Web is to make sure our relationships involve justice, equity, and compassion.
The 3rd Principle is one of the things that drew me to UU in the first place: As I said before, you can believe in whatever suits you as a UU, or nothing at all, as long as you share our values and are willing to work together with your fellow travelers to keep nudging that long arc toward justice. With that plurality of belief comes the importance of Principle 4: A free and responsible search for truth and meaning. To me this means learning all you can about the varied ways humans interact with the Divine Web (free), but also respecting the practices of other faiths and cultures (responsible). Cultural appropriation has historically been an issue in UU congregations as much as it has in Wicca and other NeoPagan traditions but both are working to address it.
If you’re an anarchist at heart the 5th Principle may rankle, but then again, you’d be less likely to consider joining a church in the first place, right? UUs believe in the democratic process, though we acknowledge its flaws and how, in practice, it has become so corrupt in America in particular. But it still seems like one of the best systems going, so as long as the system can be changed for the better, we’re all up in it.
When it comes to Principle 6 I don’t know of any NeoPagan tradition that believes in racism, misogyny, environmental degredation, and homophobia. But although I’ve never encountered an entire trad that held these beliefs but I have seen individuals and groups within the trad that did. I usually refuse to call any path “wrong,” but if your religion does promote any of these things, it is WRONG. WRONG WRONG WRONG. It needs to go sit in its little circle of wrongness and be WRONG and stay away from me and mine.
When we bring in the 8th Principle – in a word, antiracism – we really dig into our philosophies on justice and liberty. Just as a lot of people don’t think legislation protecting women’s rights is necessary because the Constitution “already covers everyone,” there are people who think the 8th Principle is redundant based on the other already-existing principles. But in truth, racism is so endemic to our society that you can’t just *say* everyone is equal and have it come true. In our culture we have to actively work to create systems that are antiracist. If deep down you believe in the American promise of equality and freedom, then looking around you must see we have neither, and it is our responsibility (everyone’s!) to change this.
Ask the average (hahaha) Pagan UU which Principle they like best and many will probably say the Seventh, Respect for the interdependent web of all existence of which we are a part. The contributions of Earth-based religions weren’t part of the earliest versions of Unitarian Universalism, but unlike a number of other faiths UUs are quite pleased to evolve with the times, so Pagan ideas about nature became one of the primary sources for UU wisdom. The more intensely climate change ravages the planet the more important the 7th Principle becomes. #7 also fits in nicely with my own concept of Deity and the universe – at the moment I call it the Divine Web – which governs every form of connection I have with, well, everything. I’ll get more into the Web in a later post since it’s the fundamental metaphor of my personal tradition, but suffice it to say, I would have to name #7 as a favorite too.