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By Rev. A. Powell Davies D.D.
A Declaration of Faith and
Purpose, first presented at the United Unitarian Advance Meeting,
Boston. May 27, 1943
Universal Freedom
"We hold these truths to be self-evident; that all men are created
equal; that they are endowed by their Creator with certain
inalienable rights; that among these are life, liberty and the
pursuit of happiness." —Thomas Jefferson, Author of the
Declaration of American Independence, 1776, and Prophet of Unitarian
Free Religion as the Faith of the Future.
Unitarian Free Religion
"I am a living member of the great family of all souls....This is
the bond of the Universal Church: no man can be excommunicated from
it but by the death of goodness in his own breast." —William Ellery
Channing, Founder of American Unitarianism, 1819.
Note: The source of spiritual authority, for Unitarians, is the
individual conscience. While there is a general body of belief,
modern-minded and progressive in its emphasis, the variations which
enrich it are unusually wide. All members of the fellowship are
free to hold their own beliefs and equally at liberty to state them.
The present Declaration was prepared upon the basis of contributory
statements from groups of Unitarian Ministers and Laymen, whose
conviction is that in their heritage of free religion, as held by
Jefferson and Lincoln no less than Channing, Emerson and Parker, and
historically centered in the struggle for a universal, free
humanity, they find the faith that meets the challenge of the
present hour.
Religion without barrier of race, class or creed
AT A TIME 0F WORLD UPHEAVAL when all things are called in question,
it is well that men should search their hearts and know what faith
they hold, and whether it can shape the present miseries towards a
happier future. Many beliefs once confidently held have crumbled
with the coming of the modern age; others are falling now before the
fury of the storm. To cling to these beliefs means trusting in the
ineffectual. We cannot build the future with a worn out creed. Nor
can we build it out of emptiness and unbelief. We need a faith that
truly reckons with an age of transformation; that knows the inner
meaning of events; that sees the coming victory of humanity within
the present tragedy and loss.
This faith has long been growing and has now begun to claim the
future. It was held by Jefferson and Lincoln as the hope of
universal liberation and in rejection of the creeds. It was
proclaimed by Channing as the essence of original Christianity; by
Emerson as pure religion; by Parker as the faith that builds the
brotherhood of man. Walt Whitman prophesied it as the true religion
of tomorrow. It has been voiced by prophets, sung by poets,
declared by pioneers of liberty through many centuries, in every
land. It is the faith behind freedom.
FROM THE BEGINNING, man has struggled to be free. Through countless
generations, he has fought to liberate himself from limitations in
the natural world about him, from fear and ignorance, and from the
tyrannies imposed by other men. In this he has fulfilled a natural
law of life, which, as it climbs to higher levels in the scale,
requires the growth of freedom. Once reached, this higher level
cannot be debased without disaster. Retreat from freedom,
therefore, or its degradation, is defiance of a natural law which,
now as always, must invite calamity. Man, to be equal to his
future, must be free.
But freedom cannot live unless it grows. The time has come to make
it universal. When in the I8th century, it was declared that all
men are created equal and endowed with freedom as a natural right,
not only was a new and different kind of nation dedicated to a
universal principle, but the declaration heralded the freedom of the
world. This is the deeper issue of the present war. The age-long
struggle has achieved its universal scope. The earth is now a
neighborhood. Mankind is bound together in a common fate. Freedom
must in the end be indivisible. And therefore,
WE BELIEVE THE WORLD MUST COME TO BE A SINGLE, FREE COMMUNITY.
Until it does, wars will increase and nations, strong or weak, must
face the ever-present danger of destruction. The world is now too
small for anything but brotherhood; and brotherhood, before it can
be universal, must be based upon the principle that all men are
created free.
THIS IS THE HOPE OF FREEDOM, BUT BEHIND IT THERE HAS ALWAYS BEEN A
FREEDOM-BUILDING FAITH. Freedom cannot be maintained by faiths that
foster ignorance and superstition, and thus become the natural tools
of tyranny. Whatever fears the naked light of truth will seek its
shelter in oppression. Only beliefs which in themselves are
liberating are equal to the purpose of a liberated world. Hence,
WE BELIEVE THAT FREEDOM GROWS FROM FREE RELIGION, THAT ONLY A FREE
RELIGION CAN BE UNIVERSAL. AND THAT EVERY OTHER FREEDOM IS BASED ON
FREEDOM OF THE MIND. A true religion knows no barriers of nation
race or class, and no exclusions through a creed. Its unity is in
its purpose; its covenant is brotherhood. As no man can be good
enough to be the master of another, so no man can be wise enough to
bind another in belief. Hence, we reject all orthodoxies and
proclaim the Free and Universal Church.
And in the freedom of this Church, knowing that all beliefs derive
their substance from the meaning that we find in life and from the
faith we have in man, we make the following affirmations, offering
them to all to whom they are persuasive and as the basis of a faith
for freedom-loving men:
WE BELIEVE that religion and life are one and that the spiritual
world is part of the natural world. We take our stand with modern
knowledge, knowing it as fallible but knowing also that it
supersedes a less enlightened past. We choose, in freedom, from the
ancient world, those teachings which persuade us, and revere the
prophets of all ages and of every land. We look upon the precepts
Jesus taught as being original Christianity. But we remember that,
no matter what our heritage, it is the living truth that makes us
free.
WE BELIEVE that man is both a child of earth and of the wider
mystery of the universe. We face the facts of contradiction,
ignorance and tragedy without evasion or pretence—and equally
without dismay. For man is not imprisoned by the limits of his
understanding. He has the power of moral growth, of loving and
creating beauty; and, through spiritual awareness, great intensities
of insight and imagination. He is no matter what the mystery of his
being, a living soul.
The meaning of his life is not defined by what degrades it but by
what it moves towards. The truth that man resists takes deeper root
within his conscience, and though he crucifies his benefactors,
memory never lets a prophet die.
We repudiate the fear that brings retreat to many modern minds: that
human progress has resulted in insoluble dilemmas and incurred the
wrath of God through being due to human pride. No moral benefit
ensues from such distortions of the facts of human evil, none of
which are curable by superstitious fear. The evil man creates is
grim and tragic; but it must be conquered by humility combined with
moral courage—-not abasement—and through the free religion that can
build a better world. Modern man is not condemned by modern
progress but by the insufficient spread of it. It is ancient
ignorance and, ancient fear, together with all other ancient evil,
that have held him back. It is wider freedom, leading to greater
brotherhood, that will bring him on his way.
WE BELIEVE experience reveals a Mystery more sublime and wonderful
than can be measured by our human life, and which exceeds our
understanding. In this we see the source of mind and spirit. We
recognize that each of us must name this Mystery as his thought
directs, but that the language of the heart has called it God. We
cannot hope to comprehend the Uttermost; we know it as 'a power in
the life,' upon which we may rely. But we believe that God in human
history must think through human thoughts and work through human
hands. No thought of God is true that undermines the need for
courage or lessens our responsibility. Hence, man is challenged by
the highest measure of his spiritual awareness as well as by
conditions in the world about him to achieve a life of freedom
through his power to think and choose and share the guidance of his
destiny. This is the soul's emancipation, the source of sacredness
in human rights, the final and religious ground of freedom.
BELIEVING IN THIS FAITH and in its power to shape the future, we
desire that from the present struggle of the nations shall come A
MORAL VICTORY FOR ALL MANKIND.
Our purpose is to build a World Community of free and equal men,
dedicated to equality of human rights and obligations, and governed
by the laws that free men make. To such a World Community we look
for lasting peace, knowing that peace is built on unity, and unity
on freedom. No world, half-slave, half-free, can bring us lasting
peace. We seek complete and universal freedom.
Our purpose is a world of liberation not only from war but from the
tyranny of hate and greed, and from the barriers of race and class.
And we look for freedom through a better regulation of the world's
prosperity, freedom from poverty, freedom from want. We seek a
world more equal in its opportunity, free from hereditary privilege
and from entrenchments that defy the common good. We look for equal
Justice, equal economic treatment, equal education, equal
privileges, irrespective of color or creed. There is no room for
prejudice or persecution in a free man's world...And we seek these
things here in America, having in mind especially our
fellow-citizens the Jews and Negroes, that we may be worthy of our
place among the nations and of the coming freedom of the world. We
earnestly desire an end to nationalism, that love of country may be
freed from selfish interest. Above the State must be the family of
nations, and beyond all other love, the love of all mankind.
Finally, we look for growing freedom through cooperation, freedom in
the service of the World Community, freedom through the Brotherhood
of Man. But we realize that when we have said these things, we have
not done them.
We propose to do them, both as citizens of a free country whose
freedom is their birthright, and as disciples of a free religion to
whom it is a sacred trust. Mankind is buying with its blood and
agony, the chance to build a better world. Let us begin to build it.
The time of opportunity is now.
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