While I suppose it would be technically accurate to say that UU is "more in the direction of Christianity" than any other religion, the "more" is very small. If there was such a thing as the Church of Secular Humanism, UU would be closer to that than Christianity.
Even UU churches exist on a spectrum; the congregation I was raised in was quite liberal. I got a church-run sex ed course before hitting puberty, for example. Quite a lot of Sunday School was the equivalent to a college-level course in Comparative Religion.
As a young adult, I viewed this education as having been successfully vaccinated me against religion. While UU has only one official piece of dogma, "belief in God", and our own congregation wasn't likely to even insist on that, I *didn't* believe in God.
I viewed the 'family church' as providing (for the adult congregation) the functions of social contact and, when needed, moral support. I had lots of friends outside of church, and enough arrogance to believe I needed no support, so as soon as I was allowed to, I walked away. (I discovered, many years later, that I left just before the youth field trips that functioned, unofficially, as the *practical* round of sex ed...)
These days, I have significantly more respect for spirituality than I once did. And I know many people who manage to be part of an organized religion without falling into prejudicial fallacies. But I'm still very dubious about organized religion on principle, and don't foresee ever joining one.
I really value having had this 'vaccination', and think it was a good way to have been raised. But at the same time, I definitely don't consider myself to *be* a Unitarian. Hence, 'lapsed Unitarian' feels accurate. At the same time, I like using the descriptor because it makes most *actual* Unitarians laugh :-)
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Even UU churches exist on a spectrum; the congregation I was raised in was quite liberal. I got a church-run sex ed course before hitting puberty, for example. Quite a lot of Sunday School was the equivalent to a college-level course in Comparative Religion.
As a young adult, I viewed this education as having been successfully vaccinated me against religion. While UU has only one official piece of dogma, "belief in God", and our own congregation wasn't likely to even insist on that, I *didn't* believe in God.
I viewed the 'family church' as providing (for the adult congregation) the functions of social contact and, when needed, moral support. I had lots of friends outside of church, and enough arrogance to believe I needed no support, so as soon as I was allowed to, I walked away. (I discovered, many years later, that I left just before the youth field trips that functioned, unofficially, as the *practical* round of sex ed...)
These days, I have significantly more respect for spirituality than I once did. And I know many people who manage to be part of an organized religion without falling into prejudicial fallacies. But I'm still very dubious about organized religion on principle, and don't foresee ever joining one.
I really value having had this 'vaccination', and think it was a good way to have been raised. But at the same time, I definitely don't consider myself to *be* a Unitarian. Hence, 'lapsed Unitarian' feels accurate. At the same time, I like using the descriptor because it makes most *actual* Unitarians laugh :-)