From: lars@beagle-ears.com
On 2025-12-29, rbowman wrote:
> On Sun, 28 Dec 2025 23:53:17 -0000 (UTC), Lars Poulsen wrote:
>> Yes - they range from King's Chapel in Boston, which just does not
>> believe that Jesus was divine, but otherwise still use a slightly
>> adapted version of "The Book of Common Prayer" for their rituals,
>> 100% atheist humanism from the pulpit. Many of them have a Buddhist
>> sangha embedded. In the Western states, Humanism is dominant.
>> And even in Boston, there is a Humanist UU congregation (Arlington
>> Street) just a few blocks from King's Chapel.
>
> I've no idea what the local flavor is.
For someone who is on the outside, you seem pretty well informed.
The reference to CUUPS tells me you have at least read up a bit.
Because the core of UU is "the shared search for truth and meaning",
UUs tend to be quite tolerant of different viewpoints. The first UU
congregation I found, more less shut down for 3 months in summer in
the fashion of the University. And when we reconvened in September,
the minister began his semon by asking for a show of hands, who would
describe themselves as
- Christians
- Buddhists
- Jews
- Atheists
- Humanists
- Moslems
... allowing for multiple overlapping "allegiances". At the time
in the 1980s, there were no Moslems, but a couple of Hindus. A
significant number of Jews, but most identified as lapsed CHristians,
now Humanists. And many had an overlay of Buddha on top of something
else. When traveling, people tried to visit UU congregations wherever
they were on a Sunday and were excited to see what it was like in that
congregation.
Becuse of the perspective that "most religions believe the same thing
in the end, they just use different language to describe it", UUs
make excellent hospital chaplains.
> There are several Buddhist
> organizations including EWAM a little north of here.
>
> https://ewam.org/centers/ewam-usa/buddha-garden
>
> They usually have an event of two during the summer that I go up for
> although Tibetan Buddhism is a bit ornate or something for me. The Open
> Way Sangha is the Thích Nhất Hạnh tradition. Big Sky Mind is another
> Tibetan type. I think the Buddhist scene is covered. I doubt it's CUUPS
> either but who knows. That might be fun.
My (second) wife left the marriage becuse she wanted to be a Buddhist
nun. With her alimony, she enrolled in a Master's of Divinity program
at University of the West (a Chinese-American university in Los Angeles)
in a program that was targeted to graduate Buddhist Hospice Chaplains.
And she was ordained into the "Order of Interbeing", a monastic group
affiliated with the Plum Villages - Thich Nhat Hanh's monasteries.
But even though she is technically accepted as a nun, she lives a
secular life; these days she is the resident grandma in my daughter's
house.
>> Zoom also makes it much easier for our 90 year olds to attend.
>
> At least one of the Catholic churches live streams the Mass. They haven't
> figured out telecommunion yet as far as I know.
The hardest thing about a hybrid zoom service is to have connection
between the online group and the in-house group. We bring the Zoomers
up on the big screens for the "Joys and Sorrows" segment. But at coffee
hour nobody stays by the screens; and the cameras in the sanctuary
are not set up to look outward from the screen to that corner of the
hall. Still, people tell us that we do hybrid better than anyone else
they have seen.
--
Lars Poulsen - an old geek in Santa Barbara, California
--- SoupGate-Win32 v1.05
* Origin: you cannot sedate... all the things you hate (1:229/2)
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