The UU Salon

September's Big Question: What I did on my...

2011-09-01T11:06:00.000-07:00

...summer vacation! You may have noticed the UU Salon has been empty for a few months. We decided to take a long break, due to extreme busy-ness over the summer months for both of us. Did you miss us?

We're back!

Here's the big question for September: What did you do on your summer vacation, that made you stop and really think about your faith and/or your theology? Did it bring you new insight, or reinforce what you already believed? Inquiring minds want to know!

The Salon is OPEN!

May Big Question

2011-05-07T18:51:00.000-07:00

"I wanna know what love is..." or at least what it means to us. We use that word a lot, we Unitarian Universalists who are standing on the side of love.

We love our neighbors - good. We also love broccoli (some of us), or the latest Julia Spencer-Fleming novel. Hmmm... Do we use the word too much, too casually? What do you think?

The Salon is OPEN...

Inner Light, Radiant Life: Love, What is this thing called

The Wonderment: Practice of Love, Love God

What is Your Great Passion?

2011-04-12T07:22:00.000-07:00

You're out in public -- say, in a mall -- and you hear a group of people, their backs toward you, talking about something.

What would they have to be talking about in order for you to walk over, introduce yourself, and say, "I'm sorry, but I couldn't help overhearing ..."?

Supposedly, this can give us an indication of what our great passion is.

This month, the UU Salon gets personal. We want to know what your great passion is. What fires you up, gets your motor running, makes you want to leap into the fray?

The Salon is OPEN.

"What's Your Passion? at A Free Faith

Questions?

2011-03-11T06:42:00.000-08:00

A bit of housekeeping this month. The question -- no need to write about it on your blog, just put it in comments -- what questions would you like to see The UU Salon ask?

February Big Question

2011-02-02T07:30:00.000-08:00

In Good Without God: What a Billion Nonreligious People Do Believe, Greg Epstein writes:

"Do you believe in God?" is a totally meaningless question. The real question all people - whether secular or religious - ought to be asking themselves and one another is "What do you believe about God?"

That's the Salon Big Question for February. What do you believe about God? (Regardless of whether you believe in God or not.)

The Salon is open...

Inner Light, Radiant Life: The Big Question -- God
Finding My Ground: What Do You Believe About God?
Earthbound Spirit: A Believing Nonbeliever

January Question

2011-01-01T08:00:00.000-08:00

Has Unitarian Universalism outgrown congregational polity?

Edit:Please include your definition/understanding of congregational polity.

The Salon is OPEN.

CERG Staff Blog: The Once and Future Congregation

Earthbound Spirit: Congregational Polity - Salon Big Question

Inner Light, Radiant Life: The Big Question - Polity

December No Question

2010-12-13T15:52:00.000-08:00

We're taking a break. One of us just survived finals week - the other is in search. Neither of us is ready for the holidays...

Our best wishes to all of you for a merry holiday season, however you celebrate!

LE & EBS

November Question: What is a Unitarian Universalist?

2010-11-03T14:35:00.000-07:00

I've heard a District Executive say that it's all about being in a covenantal relationship with a UU Church -- if you're not a member of a Unitarian Universalist Church, you're not a Unitarian Universalist. Peter Bowden talks about being a freerange UU. There's been talk about lapsed UUs, affiliated/non-affiliated UUs, self-identifying UUs, and the old joke about a UU being an atheist with children. So, then, I ask you:

What is a Unitarian Universalist?

The Salon is OPEN.

Inner Light Radiant Life: The Big Question - Who is UU?

Insert Meaningful Name Here: Freedom and Meaning

The Journey: What is a Unitarian Universalist?

Yuu're a What?: November UU Salon Topic: What is a Unitarian Universalist?

October Big Question

2010-10-01T10:46:00.000-07:00

What is sacred to us?

Here's some context: I officiate at a number of weddings, mostly for people who are not Unitarian Universalists, but have gotten my name from one of the several UU churches in my area. One couple I worked with recently had inquired about the possibility of renting one of the opulent downtown cathedral for their wedding, and were told they could not because neither of them was Catholic. They found a Protestant church that was more than happy to allow the ceremony, but the minister there would not officiate because one of the partners had never been baptized in any Christian faith.

In thinking about the boundaries other groups put on the use of their spaces, I started wondering what was sacred to us - so sacred that we claim exclusive rights. Do we allow a non-UU couple to light the chalice in their wedding ceremony? Do we require any couple being married in a UU church to be married by a UU minister?

What say you? What is sacred? Where do we draw the line? Or, is there even a line to be drawn?

The Salon is OPEN.

Inner Light, Radiant Life: UU-Specific "Sacred"

Insert Meaningful Name Here: Searcing for Sacredness

Chalice Spark: UU Salon--What is Sacred?

September Big Question

2010-09-01T08:00:00.000-07:00

What is the nature of evil?

Let that question take you where it leads you. Or, if you want more prodding ... what does evil look like? What makes up evil? Where does it come from? Can people be evil? Can nature be evil? What are the limits of evil? If you find the concept of God to be useful, what do you understand the relationship between God and evil to be?

The Salon is OPEN:

Inner Light, Radiant Life: The Big Question - Evil

Strange Attractor: UU Salon - An It Harm None...

Earthbound Spirit: Between the Evil and the Good

The Journey: Evil

August Big Question

2010-08-01T00:01:00.000-07:00

First, watch the movie trailer...

If you've read the books, you know that Harry really has more than one possible answer - and this one is incomplete.

So, this month's Salon question is: Why do you live?

Take out your parchment & quills and begin. And please, answer more completely than Harry.

The Salon is OPEN.

Inner Life, Radiant Life: The Big Question - Why Live?

The Journey: Why I Live, or "The Time of My Life"

Earthbound Spirit: Livin' This Life ...

Ms. Kitty's Saloon and Road Show: Why Do I Live?

Nagoonberry: I live to understand

UU Momma: Why Do I Live?

Seeking Divinity: Why Live?

July Big Question

2010-07-01T07:23:00.000-07:00

Salvation!

What is it, who gets it, how do you get it?

Answer it on your blog, then post your link in the moderated comments.

The Salon is OPEN.

Boston Unitarian: a present salvation

Inner Light, Radiant Life: The Big Question - Salvation

A Journey of Ministry: A Question of Salvation

Insert Meaningful Name Here: Gettin' on Board With Salvation

Ms. Kitty's Saloon and Road Show: What Must I Do to be Saved?"...

yUU're a what?: UU Salon’s July Big Question — Salvation

Liberal Faith Development: Salvation -- July 2010 UU Salon Topic

June Big Question

2010-05-31T00:00:00.000-07:00

Universalism, the "other U." What does it mean to you? Do you resonate with Universalism, or not? What about the Universalist perspective challenges or comforts you? This is what I've been thinking about lately, and I'll post on it over at Earthbound Spirit in a day or two.

But now The Salon is open! Leave a comment if you blog about this question & LE or I will add it to the post!

~Rev. Earthbound Spirit

Inner Light, Radiant Life: The Big Question -- Universalism, Take 1
Inner Light, Radiant Life: The Big Question -- Universalism, Take 2

Moxie Life: The Other U

Chalice Spark: UU Salon -- Universalism

REBT Unitarian: My Relationship to Our Universalist Brethren

Ms. Kitty's Saloon and Road Show: Universalism Got a Hold On Me

A UU Deist in Texas: June's UU Big Question -- The Other 'U'

Insert Meaningful Name Here: What's Universal About Universalism?

Boston Unitarian: Complete Harmony and Perfection

A Southern "Universalist Church" History: UU Salon - Universalism

UU-ing, thoughts about being an Unitarian Universalist: UU Salon - Universalism

Boy in the Bands: My Universalism in June Post

The Challenge of Universalism

Liberal Faith Development: Universalism in Our History and Where We Are Today

The Journey: Universalism and Mission

YUU're a What?: Big June Question

Sermons in Stones: Universalism: Redemption is always possible

May Big Question

2010-05-01T00:00:00.000-07:00

What is a soul?

Does it exist before we are born? Does it disappear when we die? It is unchangeable, or capable of growing/shrinking/strengthening? Can you lose your soul, or gain one?

Answer it on your blog, then post your link in the moderated comments.

The Salon is OPEN:

Monkey Mind: THE BALLAD OF TOM JOAD: A Reflection on That One Big Soul

The Journey: THE SOUL

Boston Unitarian: stretched in smiling repose

MissDRE and Wonder: Soul?

Strange Attractor: Soulfully Agnostic

CUUMBAYA: What is a soul?

Finding My Ground: The Soul

Insert Meaningful Name Here: Soulful Strut

Inner Light, Radiant Life: The Big Question, Soul

Seeking Divinity: UU Salon: May - The Soul

Sparks in the Dark: What's a Soul?

REBT Unitarian: What is a Soul?

Welcome to the UU Salon!

2010-04-29T15:42:00.000-07:00

I miss the UU Blog Carnival. When a bunch of folks all post on the same topic, it's better than the sum of the parts. A conversation develops, with one impacting the other.

So, here's my attempt to get something similar going. Once a month, a Big Question will be posted. (Feel free to email Lizard Eater with proposed questions.)

Answer it on your blog. Goal: to give your answer. Not what you've read, though you certainly can reference those books and writers who have influenced your answer. Your answer, and the meaning you've found.

Come back, and put the link to your blog post in comments. After a quick look-see to make sure it fits The Fine Print, your post will be added to the roster answering that question.

The Fine Print

2010-04-02T17:18:00.001-07:00

Your blog post will be added to the roster of answers if:

a) It avoids abusive language
b) Stays on-topic
c) Is written from a Unitarian Universalist viewpoint*

Further rules can be added at the discretion of any of the blog moderators

*Because that's the point of the blog. It's a UU Salon.