https://getpocket.com/explore/item/the-convert
Do not be misled by the title; this woman was raised a conservative Muslim and as an adult freed herself from an extremist husband and escaped to America. This is why we must keep Islamophobia in check among us; the Muslims we alienate by being bigoted about their religion could be our allies and even fellow UUs someday instead.
I've been told that people have quit UUism because they did not like its political activism. Note: if you just want something to make you feel good, you don't want religion, just entertainment. Religion is about improving yourself and the society we live in, why make it useless?
I could have sworn there was a post here this morning attacking Islam. It's gone now, but similar posts have popped up in Facebook UU groups as well, which do not seem to be a coincidence, especially since for Muslims the month of fasting called Ramadan just began. It seems certain people are out to drive a wedge between UUs and Muslims. So I will repeat here what I said on Facebook.
Always remember this: if you are going to bash Islam for its violence and sexism, you should also condemn ANY religion descended from the beliefs of the ancient Hebrews who wrote most of the Old Testament, including Judaism, Christianity, and the Baha'i Faith. And yes, that does include UNITARIAN UNIVERSALISM itself, for we too are descended from Christianity. None of us are completely clean and innocent. But we need not be limited by our past either. We need to criticize Islamic dogmas and practices that we disagree with but not bash anyone just for being Muslim. Those who don't know the difference will always have a hard time among UUs.
I invented a concept called "spiritual orientation" after looking at the idea of one having an unchangeable sexual orientation and thinking that many people do not really choose their religion, but are driven out of a religion or are drawn to another because if their own emotional and intellectual needs. Then I wrote a series of essays about this concept. I invite all UUs to read them and give me input on if you find them useful.
https://www.reddit.com/r/exmormon/comments/adbgtl/just_in_case_you_were_wondering_this_is_why_we/
There I made the following comment:
Why bother to resign at all? You can show you reject Mormonism by joining a non-Mormon church.
To which someone replied:
I personally wouldn't want to join another church. I might consider showing up to the odd meeting of the satanic temple, but there don't seem to be any groups organized in Utah.
So I took a risk there and said:
Not even a Unitarian Universalist church?
Apparently, he had never heard of us! He then said:
Just looked at the Wikipedia page. Actually sounds kind of interesting. Maybe I'll give it a try at some point.
Someone else endorsed us there, saying:
Big fan of UU. I would describe it as "spiritual, not religious".
The exMormon subreddit has EXPLODED in popularity over the past several months. We should do more to reach out to people of Mormon background and offer them information about UUism. If we don't, some other religious groups, including other destructive cults, will.
WWUUD stream 