Comments on: What Exactly IS Congressman Stark?

By: Mriana

Mriana — Mon, 06 Aug 2007 17:51:21 +0000

I was too. I just hope it doesn’t affect his career.

By: Mikel

Mikel — Sun, 05 Aug 2007 20:39:00 +0000

I’m a godless Unitarian Universalist myself, and I was quite excited to hear Congressman Stark come out as such

By: Mike C

Mike C — Mon, 09 Apr 2007 15:45:45 +0000

More significant is the realization that many of us have that all beliefs about “God”, gods, and other things supernatural are constructs of the human minds that believe them.

I suppose that statement is true of pretty much any belief…

By: Brett

Brett — Mon, 09 Apr 2007 14:47:07 +0000

For most people, that raises an interesting paradox – an atheist who goes to church.

That almost sounds like a good idea for a book.

By: ninung

ninung — Mon, 09 Apr 2007 13:58:07 +0000

actually, i rather feel confuse about “what unitarian universalist is, actually?”
so, is it a religion or just a faith? some of their member said that they believe in god, but others believe in no god. so? i really feel that i can’t catch the idea…i’m a moslem, instead…

By: Bill Young

Bill Young — Wed, 14 Mar 2007 23:57:37 +0000

Unitarian and Universalist siince the ’50s. Nontheist, Agnostic, Atheist. Like Ingersoll said, They all mean the same thing. More significant is the realization that many of us have that all beliefs about “God”, gods, and other things supernatural are constructs of the human minds that believe them. It might be good if we could stop worrying about theological and non-theological terminology, learn how to live tactfully with those who have “god ideas” in their minds and just get on with our own naturalistic lives.

By: Mriana

Mriana — Wed, 14 Mar 2007 22:25:43 +0000

I think it’s wonderful he’s come out and said he is a non-theist. A word that has many meanings. Bishop John Shelby Spong, retired Episcopal bishop, calls himself a non-theist too. So, it doesn’t matter if you are in the UU or the Episcopal church- which has Christian Humanists.

In his article on Beliefnet called “The Theistic God is Dead- A Casualty of Terrorism” he said,
“Life has taught us that theism is dead. There is no supernatural God directing the affairs of history. Atheism, however, is not the only other viable conclusion. Supernatural theism is nothing but a human definition of God.”

Well, my answer was Humanism (long before I read his article), but some people stay with their churches for various reasons or go to the UU. Spong has been accused of being an Atheist, but the problem with that is, he believes in “a Ground of All Being” (which I could give more details if anyone is interested). So, he’s not exactly an Atheist, but he doesn’t believe in a Theistic god either. However, he too calls himself a non-theist, so the definition vary greatly.

I glad Stark came out and said he is a non-theist. We need more in office and more who will admit it too. We can only hope that people will start seeing non-theists, Atheists, Agnostics, Humanists, Freethinkers, Brights, Rationalist, etc in a different light by the end of the next decade. Stark, Hemant, and others are leading the way. If enough of us follow, maybe others who think less of us, will start to view us differently. We can only hope at least.

By: Ray Westergard

Ray Westergard — Wed, 14 Mar 2007 00:48:47 +0000

I’m a Unitarian and an atheist, and I think that all this analysis misses the point: An elected official in the United States had the courage to state that he was a nontheist. Let’s send Rep. Stark messages of appreciation in the hope that other public officials will exhibit the same courage.

By: Irishman

Irishman — Tue, 13 Mar 2007 18:37:30 +0000

Robert Tapp said,
> The phrase “is a Unitarian, but he does not believe in a God” makes little sense. Many Unitarian Universalists (including me) are nontheist. Why the “but”??

Unitarian Universalism is a church. For most people, that raises an interesting paradox – an atheist who goes to church. I think the answer is as simple as that. He goes to a Unitarian church and self-identifies as a “Unitarian”, but does not believe in a supreme being. “But” is fully justified for contrast value.

By: Ray Smith

Ray Smith — Tue, 13 Mar 2007 14:31:47 +0000

In the United States, historically, the Humanist movement derived part of its roots from within Unitarianism. While Unitarianism started as a form of monotheism centuries ago, by the 1950’s, many congregations were dominated by Humanists. Many leading Unitarian clergy have been atheists or agnostics. The merger of the national Unitarian organization with Universalists in 1961 did not mark the end of Unitarianism, as each congregation is self-governing. There are still “Unitarian” congregations out there, usually with strong Humanistic traditions.