Yet another interfaith experience and the inevitable post-event thought dump

[scarlettina]

wanton_heat_jet teaches church school (read "Sunday school") at a local Unitarian church of which he's a member. He's a staunch atheist, but has a deep interest in history and spiritual traditions and is very well read on the subject. He recently asked me to come to his class and speak about Passover; today was the class. The whole experience has been interesting

Comments

[mysticalforest]

I'm an atheist and I celebrate (well, Solstice) and Easter because in one you get gifts and the other you get chocolate bunnies. Those are very awesome.

Now, of course I don't do the whole Jesus thing for either one so I guess I don't really celebrate either, I just enjoy the trappings. And by trappings I mean gifts and chocolate bunnies. When I think of Easter I think of bunnies and chocolate, not of any sky fairies. When I think of Christmas I think of Solstice instead but then of red and green decorations and pretty lights and gifties.

So ... am I really celebrating either? Not really, but I fully understand the idea of celebrating without necessarily attaching religion to 'em.

[scarlettina]

Here's the challenge for me: When I see a church that includes on its calendar Maundy Thursday, Easter, and a Christmas service and a Hallelujah chorus sing-and-play-along, what I see is a Christian approach. You just don't celebrate those days--in any way--if you're Jewish or Muslim or Buddhist. And when a theoretically flavorless church includes observance of no other tradition's holidays on its calendar--like Chanukah, Passover, Ramadan or Obon--I find it challenging to accept the idea that a church celebrates aspects of every faith. It seems to me that there's a contradiction there

[mysticalforest]

Eww, yes, it certainly looks that way... :(

[willowgreen]

What a great post! And thank you, on behalf of UUs everywhere, for doing this class with your friend

[scarlettina]

Thanks for the clarification. It puts a number of my perceptions into a different light. I appreciate it.

I'm curious: How has the pagan infusion been received by more traditional members of the church?

[willowgreen]

I think most people like it. We had an intern minister a few years ago who was a pagan, and we've had pagan-leaning members and a Solstice ritual as long as I've been around. So it's really not new to the congregation.

The thing to understand about my congregation is that it was founded over 40 years ago by a group of people whose leanings were very secular-humanist, and it's become more accepting of "God-talk" and spirituality over the years. So our older members are some of the most secular, and I don't think most of them really care whether the spirituality they encounter is Christan or Pagan. On the other hand, some of them do have a hard time with changes in style, like the seating formation being changed from straight rows to a semicircle. But overall, I'm proud to say that I belong to a church whose members--even the older ones--cope remarkably well with change.