WWUUD stream 
 | I am 28 years old and my parents joined the UU church when I was 3 months old. We never moved for my entire youth, so I attended the same church for 18 years. I attended preschool at the UU church where I met my best friends at 2 years of age who are still my best friends to this day. I attended youth group, OWL, Religious Ed where we traveled to different churches/religious communities weekly, Coming Of Age and LYLAS. I attended every retreat at the Mountain (iykyk) and went to camp there as well from 2009-2011. To be honest it has sometimes been hard living in a world where most people were raised very differently from me. I am not pinning it all on being raised UU- part of it is just simply how I am and how I think. I was taught to always speak my mind when I feel something is wrong… and it has taken me years to learn to not do this in my career as it’s only led to me being viewed as contrarian or problematic (for example, when a past company I worked for started firing people for being one single minute late twice in a month I wrote a petition against the policy and got almost all of my coworkers to sign it- then I got fired a month later lol). As we all know, most organized religions do not encourage its members, children in particular, to be open-minded free thinkers, so I was definitely seen as a bit eccentric as a kid- aren’t all UU kids just a bit eccentric lol? Growing up it was just plain hard to understand how close-minded many kids around me were. I thought it was inherently human to be open to others perceptions and views, but I learned the hard way at 9 when my neighbors tried to convert me, without talking with my parents obviously, by having my sister (12 at the time) and I for dinner. My sister grabbed my hand and told them we were leaving and explained to me what was happening. For years after this I avoided telling other people about being Unitarian for fear of judgement. In 8th we had a mandatory sexual education class in gym. Of course by this point I’d already taken OWL twice, so was incredibly confused and angered by my teacher encouraging abstinence and only focusing on the dangers of sex. I’d raise my hand to say things like, “but you can be tested for STDs and use protection, it doesn’t have to be scary or dangerous”. That didn’t go over well. But the issues I’ve encountered from my mindset are rooted from a place of love, passion, and righteousness and I wouldn’t trade it for the world. Being raised UU has helped me understand that there is always something good to be found, even in the worst of times. That everyone is valuable, deserving, and capable of change, and that people deserve to have their voices heard. That proper sexual education can be life saving for children and teens. That most organized religions are very similar and inherently well meaning, yet the loudest voices within these organizations will deny it with their life and rephrase everything to suit their “objective”. That the only way for things to progress is through science, unity, and open-mindedness. I feel sorry for people who spend their lives filled with anger and fear. They were children whose voices were surely quieted at one point. Do I feel angry at the actions of fear-mongering, angry people? Yes- big time. But I can still see that it’s not always their fault that they are how they are. I haven’t been back in years but have missed it deeply and hope to restart soon. My fiancé was raised catholic but hasn’t practiced since he was a teen and is agnostic/atheist. I can’t wait for him to experience the UU church and he is very open to it! I will definitely be raising any future kids of mine in the warm, accepting and loving community that is Unitarian Universalism. Pic of me and my family in ‘02, just 2-3 years before I was exposed to the religious judgement of others, at the UU Christmas Eve event (do they still do these)? [link] [comments] |
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