Re: Unitarians, Baha'i, and the Singularity

Joseph C Fineman (jcf@world.std.com)
Mon, 30 Aug 1999 17:40:45 -0400 (EDT)

On Mon, 30 Aug 1999, David Lubkin wrote:

> It's never been clear to me if Unitarians have a theology of their
> own.

Originally, the word meant a Christian who denied the Trinity, believing in only one Person of the Deity. The particular form of Unitarianism that is familiar to Americans began, according to my trusty Columbia Encyclopedia, in 1785, when King's Chapel in Boston removed the Trinity from its liturgy. During the 19th century it became influential thru the adherence of prominent literary people such as Ralph Waldo Emerson.

The Unitarians merged with the Universalists in 1961.

My own impression of present-day Unitarianism is that it is for people who want to have the social & ritual pleasures of churchgoing without the inconvenience of having to believe anything in particular.

> There's an old joke that Unitarian prayers start out "To Whom It May
> Concern".

Also, according to A. N. Whitehead, their creed is that "there is at most one God". Groups of bigoted Unitarians are said to burn question marks on people's lawns.

||: By _disillusionment_ we mean _transillusionment_. :||