R U A UU?

As a follow-up to the last post on Evolution Sunday, here's the "floral display" they had in the UU church today. Actually, it's unrelated to Evolution Sunday. That whole topic is irrelevant to this church, since it (the topic) has to do with reconciling the teachings of science with religious beliefs on how everything got here -- and UU is creedless -- therefore explanations on how all this stuff got here are not given, and definitely not part of a doctrine. Below, after the link, is a listing of what is generally believed there, taken from their website.

First Unitarian Universalist Church of Austin

• We believe that we’re a part of Life, and owe something back to the world for the gift of life.
• We believe that almost all religions are saying that we are precious people who need to treat everybody else as though they are precious, too.
• We believe that we are supposed to live in such a way that, when we look back on our lives, we can be proud, and can make those we care about proud.
• We believe that truth, justice and compassion are requirements for living.
• We believe that love is better than hatred, understanding is better than prejudice, and that if there is ever to be a better world, people of widely differing beliefs will have to help each other build it.
• We believe that, down deep, all people of goodwill hold these same beliefs and that every individual should feel encouraged to develop a fulfilling philosophy of life.

So, OK, it's a nice little bulleted mix, pick and choose the parts you like. Also, there are other atheists going there, along with Muslim, Jew, Pagan, Buddhist, on and on, you name it... you can believe in as many or as few gods as you like -- your choice -- and it's a liberal haven when it come to social issues and civil/human rights. So, back to the floral display with monkeys -- Dr. Loehr has been speaking on on the topic of animals for a few weeks, with a few to go. All about how their emotions, customs, empathy, even politics relate to our species (they don't call Dubya "the Chimp" for nothing! actually, he could use a few lessons in wisdom and civility from some chimps)