Doug Muder is a contributing editor and columnist for UU World . His articles have also appeared in Religious Humanism, The Humanist, and Public Eye. He blogs at The Weekly Sift and Free and Responsible Search, and is a member of First Parish in Bedford, Massachusetts.
Learn more about Doug Muder on UUA.org.
By Doug Muder
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Merry Christmas, HumanistsDoug Muder
Millions of Humanists celebrate Christmas joyfully, meaningfully, and authentically, without pretending to be Christians or grinchishly trying to take anything away from them.
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Onward and upward forever?Doug Muder
The realities of an individual life—and of aging—reveal the limits of unlimited growth and expansion.
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Even acknowledging my own racism is controversialDoug Muder
Seeing my own racism is like any other kind of self-knowledge: Unpleasant, but very real.
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Of course I’m racistDoug Muder
Unlike many Unitarian Universalists, I was brought up openly racist. I’ve made progress, and I still have a long way to go.
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How far can Unitarian Universalism’s First Principle go?Doug Muder
As national events chip away at my First-Principle practices, I have to wonder: What will be left?
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Reframing the health care conversationDoug Muder
The persistent myth that poor people need less is putting them at risk.
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Let’s get started, togetherDoug Muder
When our values are threatened, a congregation is an anchor against despair.
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Class background, Unitarian Universalism’s hidden diversityDoug Muder
Three books explore the white working-class experience in America.
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Fantasize together and waitDoug Muder
A really big decision defies visualization, because the choice itself changes who I will become.
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Love your neighbor first, not secondDoug Muder
I told our UU middle school ‘Building Bridges’ class that Humanism begins with loving all of our neighbors.
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Cross my heart and hope to dieDoug Muder
When my end comes, I hope I will have the power to die well.
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The doubt mongersDoug Muder
The doubt industry doesn’t have to convince the public that a product is harmless, only that the harm is in doubt, and the cost of change may be high.
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Live better, help often, wonder moreDoug MuderThe Sunday Assembly movement shares Unitarian Universalism's values, but has a lot more fun expressing them.
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Political empathyDoug Muder
Demonizing your political opponents doesn’t change anyone’s mind, but empathy can.
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Is religion broken?Doug Muder
There’s a movement that attracts millions of people and encourages them to become their best selves—but it’s not a church.
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My bloody closetDoug Muder
I found five tags that say "Made in Bangladesh," but I don't know what to do next.
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The surprising success of lifeboat faithDoug Muder
Unitarian Universalism cannot thrive if we don’t at least understand the appeal of religions that give people identity and direction.
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The gravity of familyDoug Muder
All my adult life, I have valued my chosen relationships over the ones I was born into.
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It takes all kindsDoug MuderGeneral Assembly needs good social action, but in our diverse faith it needs other things, too.
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At my mother's funeralDoug MuderUnitarian Universalists are precisely the people who can't believe whatever they want.
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A candy bar for deathDoug Muder
I remember exactly when I first became afraid of death in a more-than-childish way.
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Before wordsDoug Muder
Spirituality is an awareness of the gap between what you can experience and what you can describe.
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Stop the elevator; I'm not doneDoug MuderIf someone on an elevator asked you what Unitarian Universalism is, could you answer before one of you reached your destination?
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Reclaiming KryptonDoug Muder
Why a generation that grew up with Buffy and the Power Rangers will demand a different Unitarian Universalism.
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Sudden deathDoug MuderThe real sting of death is the thought that all life’s possibilities were supposed to wait until I got around to paying attention.
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What dreams may comeDoug MuderWhere should we assign the burden of proof for ideas about the afterlife?
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The catchDoug MuderI haven't played chess in decades, yet somehow I've ended up with a chess player's worldview.
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A world that is all about youDoug MuderThe problem with ‘corporate personhood’ is what it’s doing to human personhood.
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Christmas nostalgia for the family we never wereDoug Muder
I never rode in a one-horse open sleigh or saw visions of sugarplums dance in my head.
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The DIY spiritual practiceDoug MuderA spiritual practice my wife and I cobbled together, the Unitarian Universalist way.
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Message or culture?Doug MuderAre Unitarian Universalists more committed to spreading liberal religion or to preserving our congregational culture?
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Graduation dayDoug Muder
Parenthood makes life serious and challenges you to push past limitations you have accepted too easily. But those issues don’t go away when you decide not to have children.
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Holding the centerDoug MuderReligious liberals reject the idea that a religion is a collection of beliefs that are either true or false.
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A religion for hard timesDoug MuderFaith is what’s left when you stop responding to radical uncertainty with panic and denial.
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The ghosts of Unitarian ChristmasDoug Muder
It was Christmas Eve, a time when any sensible person stays safe in his house with a good book. But then Ben’s reading lamp burned out.
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Assembly of a lesser godDoug MuderBelief and worship are powerful tools for organizing thought and behavior. If others get control of those tools, they can make us dance like puppets. But if we’re careful, we can learn to pull our own strings.
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Forgive us our secretsDoug MuderPeople keep secrets for all kinds of reasons, even Unitarian Universalists.
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The stages of restDoug MuderFour stages of burnout and recovery as the church year draws to a close.
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Unfinished with ChristianityDoug MuderMost Unitarian Universalists live in some kind of tension with Christianity. I wish we talked about this more.
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Mike Gravel's Unitarian UniversalismDoug MuderDemocratic presidential candidate identifies as a Unitarian Universalist; UUA support for publication of 'Pentagon Papers' an enduring bond.
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Pete Stark's untroubled humanismDoug MuderRegaled by a secularist group for his nontheism, the Unitarian Congressman can't fathom what the fuss is about.
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Not my father's religionDoug MuderIf my working-class father started attending a UU church, I'm not sure who he'd talk to.
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Does humanism need to be new?Doug MuderA Harvard conference offers a 'new humanism,' but how does it differ from the old?
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Who's afraid of freedom and tolerance?Doug MuderWhy are fundamentalists so frightened by liberal family values? A look at competing worldviews.
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The conservative worldviewDoug Muder
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#YesAllWomen and the continuum of aggressionDoug Muder
When a man fully grasps the continuum of aggression, it’s hard to claim that he’s never played any role in perpetuating it.