The Bizarreness of the “Big Tent”

Unitarian minister Marilyn Sewell is back with an article in which she says her brand of tolerance only extends to people who agree with her beliefs. Sound absurd? Yep, it is.

… our modern-day UU churches have continued to provide space for those who cannot find a welcome mat elsewhere: atheists and agnostics, religious humanists, political dissidents. We UUs see ourselves as "broadminded," and so tend to say things like, "There is truth in every religious tradition. We respect all religious beliefs." In one of our services, you might hear a reading from the Bible, but just as likely from the Quran, Black Elk, Lao-tse or Starhawk. However, in spite of our long history and tradition of tolerance, I am finding myself increasingly intolerant — specifically, of the theology and practice of many evangelical Christians.

She aligns herself with atheists stating intolerance will not be tolerated, a wonderful bit of 1984-esque DoubleThink allowing only those “approved” ideas to be tolerated (and of course, her ideas are the only approved ones).

If she’s against intolerant people, yet she herself proclaims intolerance, will she not tolerate herself? Perhaps self-censor? I doubt it.

Of course, there’s a bit more. Notice a Unitarian “minister” believes … well, nothing. She’s quite accepting of any religious belief, or even nothing (atheism). You might remember her from a previous article as she interviewed atheist Christopher Hitchens, were she proclaimed:

I don’t know whether or not God exists in the first place, let me just say that.

Besides the logical absurdity of her intolerance while proclaiming tolerance, we’re reminded of the words of Jesus:

I know thy works, that thou art neither cold nor hot: I would thou were cold or hot.

Accepting anything (well, except Christianity) in the name of “tolerance” only means you can’t make up your mind.

There’s a coming church split into two groups: traditional, orthodox Christianity, and the anything-goes liberal group where the Bible and God say anything the group wants.

Anything, that is, except what God says. We can’t have that, can we?

Which group will you be in?

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Recommended Citation:
Yeager, Darrin "The Bizarreness of the “Big Tent”" (2023-11-23 14:45),
https://www.dyeager.org/post/the-bizarreness-of-the-big-tent.html
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