[Amy31584]

I would like to know more about the Unitarian denomination. I understand it is sort of a mixture of all religions. Does that mean all Christian religions, or all religions? If all, how do Unitarians determine which 'rules' to follow? How do they determine which God to worship?
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Name : Amy31584, Gender : F, Race : White/Caucasian, Age : 29, City : Yorktown, State : VA Country : United States, 

[Jack]

All of them. It's generally recognized as a Christian Denomination, but many Unitarians follow other gods. For example, there are Unitarian pagans (I think it's the CUUPS?)

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Name : Jack, Gender : M, Sexual Orientation : Gay, Race : White/Caucasian, Age : 19, City : Oshkosh, State : WI Country : United States, Occupation : Student, Education level : High School Diploma, Social class : Middle class, 

[Tim]

The Unitarian denomination, like every other denomination, started out as a Protestant (Christian) group. In fact, it goes back to the 1700s in Transylvania, where a certain ruler allowed religious freedom and a group that believed the then-common belief in the Trinity was not based on the Bible (the references in the Bible being later additions stuck in by the Church authorities to support their theology). They proposed that God was a Unity, not a Trinity -- one Person, not 3 in 1. Jesus was seen as sent by the Father and the Holy Spirit as the will of the Father in action, but only the Father was seen as God. So, it started out as a Bible-based group in opposition to the (Catholic) Church as authority. Over time, it took in free thinkers and religious liberals and it evolved into a much more open and accepting religious movement. In the USA, the Unitarians merged with the Universalists to form the Unitarian Universalist Association in the 1960s. In other countries, the Unitarians and the Universalists are not merged - they are separate and distinct. This gives the US version (UUism) an even more broad outlook -- as the Universalists were distinguished from other Protestant (Christian) denominations by their believe in the Universal Salvation, that God had not pre-ordained anyone for Hell, as opposed to the then-common belief that some were pre-destined for Heaven and the rest were going to Hell. Over time, this merged theology and the free thinkers it attracted has led today's UU Church to be VERY open to spiritual paths outside of those most would consider Christian. Most of the Sunday services are very Protestant in terms of the ceremonies and what is done when (choirs, responsive readings, prayers, sermons, collection plates, etc) -- but the sermons are very likely to come from non-Christian sources, including Buddhist, Wiccan, Native American, Islamic, and other religious traditions. It would be over-simplifying to say that the UU Church has no doctrine as a Church, for it does have the doctrine of openness to spiritual inspiration from any source. But in terms of the usual Christian denomination that includes a long statement of faith, it is unique in having no such thing.

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Name : Tim, Gender : M, Sexual Orientation : Straight, Race : White/Caucasian, Religion : Unitarian, Age : 46, City : Memphis, State : TN Country : United States, Education level : 4 Years of College, Social class : Middle class, 

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