I have been thinking about what the terms liberal and conservative mean in religious terms. It is oft conflated with political leanings and the two do not always readily match up.
WIkipedia’s definition of Liberal Religion is not entirely correct because it excludes religious perspectives that may indeed have a doctrine. It is also not entirely correct because it is only using sources from the Unitarian Universalist tradition to define it. Liberal Religion is a category of which Unitarian Universalism is a sub-category. The two are not synonymous words. Yet, when I do a google search, one would think the two are synonymous terms, excluding all others.
Yet, when I think of Liberal Religion; I think of United Church of Christ, Unity, Religious Science of Mind, and the Union of Reformed Judaism. I am sure there are others that would fit under a Liberal Religion category.
The beliefs of these and of Unitarian Universalists are varied and across the spectrum. United Church of Christ (UCC) is a mainline protestant denomination firmly rooted in the Christian Reformed tradition. The Union of Reformed Judaism is a movement within the Jewish faith and is the largest Jewish movement in the United States. Unity and Religious Science of Mind have their roots in the 19th century following, among others, Ralph Waldo Emerson’s philosophy ( A Unitarian Minister, making these groups distant cousins of Unitarian Universalism) but expanding it into what is known as the New Thought Movement.
But what makes them liberal in contrast to conservative? Because our society is defined by its majority religion, Christianity, one of the definitions has to be how one would read the Hebrew and Christian texts aka the Old and New Testament. What lense does one use in reading these texts?
I believe it is safe to say that all of these liberal religions read the Hebrew and Christian texts as the story of a people of faith who are journeying together learning who they are in relation to their world and to their God. These are humans who are applying what they know and sometimes they succeed and sometimes they fail. When taking the story as a whole; for Jews it is the whole of the Torah; for Christians it is the whole of the Hebrew Scriptures and Christian Scriptures; they discover that there is an evolution in how God operates in the world which is with increasing generosity of mercy, with justice, and with loving kindness for all of creation. So this becomes the lense through which these texts are read by liberal religious people.
- Revelation and truth are not closed, but constantly revealed.
- All relations between persons ought ideally to rest on mutual, free consent and not coercion.
- Affirmation of the moral obligation to direct one’s effort toward the establishment of a democratic (a just and loving) community.
- Denial of the immaculate conception of virtue and affirmation of the necessity of social incarnation. Good must be consciously given form and power within history.
- The resources (divine and human) that are available for achievement of meaningful change justify an attitude of ultimate (but not necessarily immediate) optimism. There is hope in the ultimate abundance of the Universe.
A conservative lense reads these texts as not just as a story of a people but as the word of God. There fore there is power in the text itself. Revelation is closed. There is no new revelation of the divine that could be revealed that is not already revealed in the sacred texts. The Book of Revelation closes with a statement that anyone adds or substracts to this will receive the afflictions included in the book. Many conservative religious read this as referring to the whole of the Bible and not just the text known as the Book of Revelation. It is a fairly strict command. But it exemplifies how conservative religious view their faith in a theological context.
This explains the animosity between conservative religions and science. Science being the new revealed revelation that cannot be true because revelation is closed. So it is difficult for conservative religions then to reconcile science’s evolution to the Genesis story of Creation. Even tho from a liberal point of view, the Genesis creation story as an ancient metaphor fits nicely with the Big Bang theory of all that is around us.
It explains the animosity Conservative religions have regarding societal changes towards justice for all people. Because there are texts in the Bible that dictate other things. A liberal reading would argue that these edicts were attempting to address specific problems in a specific societal context and therefore do not mesh with today’s societal mores. A conservative reading states no, the word of God is unchanging and therefore if it was wrong three thousand years ago it is still wrong today.
I believe there may be a difference in how a liberal and a conservative religious would define the phrase “a living faith.” For a Liberal undestanding, a living faith is a faith that lives and breathes in todays context. There are always new understandings to be found and integrated into ones view of their world. One’s biases and prejudices are confronted with this understanding of a living faith. For a conservative understanding, I think it refers more to becoming more like the image of people living in the bible. To put on the mind of Christ is to embrace the characteristics of what are considered righteous living in the Bible rather than what is considered righteous living for today.
I realize as I am writing this that I have a strong bias towards liberal religious thought. So perhaps some of our more conservative religious readers could help us out with their understanding of how to live a conservative religion’s perspective. Blessings,
Liberal Christianity has a history, names, churches. You gave some. Reform (Liberal) Judaism has the same.
There is a reaction to Liberalism we can label Fundamentalism and there is the orthodoxy liberalism was reacting against we can call liberalism.
But the point is Liberal Religion is really pretty much a Christian and Jewish thing. We really don’t have much in the way of Liberal Islam, or Liberal Buddhism, or Liberal Hinduism. (Correct me here and I’m sure there are exceptions, but I don’t think there are significan Liberal variants within these Faiths).
So when we speak of Liberal Relgion, I think for the most part are talking about Liberal Christianity and maybe Liberal Christianity taken out to Humanism.
Otherwise I don’t think there is such a thing as Liberal Religion. At least without having to nail down what exactly the speaker means by it.
sorry… I meant:
….reacting against we can call conservative.
When one googles the term “Liberal Religion” the first thing that one sees is a wide number of Unitarian Universalist posts including these:
http://www.harvardsquarelibrary.org/lib_rel/abridged_1.htm
http://www.liberalreligion.org/
http://www.meadville.edu/LL_JournalLR.htm
http://www.jjnet.com/archives/sermons.htm
http://www.uuf.org/liberal-religion-garmon.shtml
this wonderful video at http://current.com/watch/181055552
All of these however are Unitarian Universalist in origin. The video hints at liberal religion being broader than UU’s.
So there is a leaning at least, in assuming that Unitarian Universalism is THE liberal religion but that is not the case. And there are “liberal” Muslims those who do not believe the fundamentalist Muslims are displaying the true message of the Qu’ran. And from what I undersand about Sufi Muslims that they may be the most liberal of this faith.
Thank you for posting.
In my experience both the Society of Friends (Quakers) and Disciples of Christ are also religiously liberal Christian groups. Buddhism can definitely be said to have a liberal faction (or factions). I’m thinking here of groups like the Order of Interbeing with its emphasis on engaged Buddhism; and the teaching that one must always question even the core teachings since their truth is revealed in experience. I don’t know enough about Hinduism to say.
I’ve found it more accurate to think in terms of multiples of any faith group (e.g., Christianities), as there are often significant differences between sects. Quakers and Roman Catholics are both Christian groups – but significantly different in both doctrine and practice.
I follow Liberal Islam do the extent there is one. It’s small and receives little acknowledgement from any UUs.
Liberal Religion is basically us.
I wouldn’t say that liberal Islam “receives little acknowledgement from any UU’s.” On the contrary when the media portrays Islam as only being about restrictive dress and behavior codes and violent jihads; UU’s have been very vocal in pointing out that this is an extreme conservative approach to Islam. Not all Muslims interpret Islam in this manner. There have also been some wonderful coalitions forming in the States between UU congregations and Islamic centers.
Yet, when I look for Liberal Religion as a category with many subsets, I don’t find many references beyond Unitarian Universalism.
Here are the words of Ayatollah Borujerdi when arrested in Iran. They’re very UU like yet you wouldn’t hear Rev Sinkford raise a word in a fellow Cleric’s behalf. It’s a huge shame we let this slide simply because of our own politics at home I fear.
…Tell the world that Boroujerdi did not fear death…. He defended an Islam which promotes love and kindness not the Islam that these lot advocate which has brought poverty, corruption, prostitution, addiction ….I don’t want you to risk your lives for me, I just want you to tell the world what happened here,.
Ours is a pretty narrow sort of Liberalism if we can’t show solidarity with a noble man like Boroujerdi.
And we as a Church don’t.
Maybe we ought reconsider our Liberalism.
Generally, I think “liberalism” in any sense means “willing to accept change”. So, religious liberals are willing to accept change in historical religious thoughts and practices. “Conservatism” means “defending the status quo”. So, religious conservatives accept the old ideas, beliefs and structures of their religious tradition.
Using these definitions, I would include UCC, the Episcopal Church and some other denominations in my definition of “liberal religion”. There are some denominations that are more liberal than others (UUs) but Unitarian Universalism is not the only liberal religion or denomination.
Yes, I agree that there are other denominations and religions that would fit a liberal religion definition. I am not sure that your definition applies well to religion however. I know too many Unitarian Universalist congregations who do not accept change too willingly. The ol’ argument that ‘we have never done it that way before so why should we try to now.’ comes to mind. And I know of too many Conservative congregations that have been on the forefront of the most innovative worship and structural styles that we have seen in recent decades, they certainly are not defending the status quo.
The American Heritage Dictionary gives this definition pertaining to Religion: “A 19th-century Protestant movement that favored free intellectual inquiry, stressed the ethical and humanitarian content of Christianity, and de-emphasized dogmatic theology.” While this pertains to a specific time period the specific groups you mention certainly fit under the second part of this definition as well as Unitarian Universalists.
Blessings,