What I Believe In

I believe in the human spirit. Not a soul, as some people would call it, but the goodness and reason in a person's heart. Humanism states that you should do your best for others because it's just the kind thing to do, not because anyone told you to, or because you think that you will get something from it.

I believe in the strength of love and compassion. Society as we know it is stitched together and held firm by human kindness, and even when it falters, someone will notice and rush over to patch it up. That is what I admire most about our species – that we tend to each other's wounds.

I believe in science, in logic, in discovering things for ourselves. Being unsure of things such as the beginning of life is half the fun of it. Why "know" everything when you can explore the infinite number of possibilities laid out before you? Asking questions keeps the mind flowing, if not overflowing, and asking questions can make life a lot more interesting.

I believe in the never-ending cycling of the earth. Once a life ends, the body returns to the earth to be reused to support other life. I think that there is no afterlife, truthfully, though I find the concept of reincarnation very interesting. It would be nice to that there is another chance at life after you die, though I don't have enough information backing it up to actually believe it.

I believe that "good" and "evil" are too abstract of terms, and are not to be trusted. Throughout history, people have used the term "evil" to describe anyone who looks, acts, or thinks differently than themselves. Even "good" can be used in the wrong ways – people occasionally have used "doing good" as a way to justify doing horrible things such as genocide.

I believe that if one is faced with the challenge of what to do in a given situation, religious texts are not the only places that answers can be found. Typically, people themselves have pretty wise ideas, and so asking them might be smart. Ideas can b drawn from non-religious literature as well.

In my mind, attending a Unitarian Universalist church is like having a second family who you know will always be accepting of you. I think that the community feel of a church is one of the reasons that some people of other faiths attend theirs, as well. Belief-wise, the things that people discuss at 1st UU are good at making people think, instead of simply stating what is and what isn't. That's something about it that I enjoy.

Everyone has one chance in life. Nothing comes after you die, and mistakes cannot be fully forgiven. Since you won't have another chance at life after this one, you should try your best to live life to its fullest. Enjoy the small pleasures. Don't do anything you'll regret. Leave a positive impression on the earth. Explore.