Unity--Part 1

I apologize for the long time between posts. Life can keep one busy. But I have been promising to talk about Unity for some time, so I'll just get to it.

When I first started going to Unity, they had a pamphlet on "The Five Basic Principles of Unity." On the current Web site, http://www.unity.org, one click will get you to a section titled, "What We Believe," and under the heading "What are Unity's basic teachings," you will find a less formal version of the five basic principles.  I am quoting from the site directly.  Number one is: "God is the source and creator of all.  There is no other enduring power.  God is good and present everywhere."  The Unity ministers and teachers I've known have usually interpreted this to mean that there is no such thing as Satan, because if God is truly all-powerful and everywhere, how could there possibly be room for a force of supernatural evil?  All of the evil present in the world is thus the result of human error--if people really knew what was good for themselves as spiritual beings, they would get themselves into proper alignment and communion with God, and no one would want to hurt anyone else.  But there is not some spiritual entity out there trying to tempt us into any form of damnation.

Number two: "We are spiritual beings, created in God's image. The spirit of God lives within each person; therefore all people are inherently good." Unity doesn't believe that we are, for instance, born in original sin.  The story of Adam and Eve and the snake and the apple is to a Unity student a metaphor for believing we are somehow immeasurably separated from God, instead of knowing that God is in us and everywhere around us.  People may make mistakes, and yes, do terrible things to each other because they are damaged and don't know any better--but it's the things and the actions that are bad, not the people who do them.  They still have a spark of God inside them--sometimes it's just really hard to get to.

Number 3:  "We create our life experiences through our way of thinking."  See my previous discussion of noetic science.  Thought is powerful!  See also The Secret by Rhonda Byrne.  But most of us have known lots of people who are down on themselves and who say things like, "I'm never going to be able to find a good man (or woman)," and sure enough, they don't....  Or if they expect people they meet to be mean or deceitful, well, often they'll find that they are.  But people who see the good in others, and the good in any given situation, are usually pretty happy people.

Well, I can't believe I've spent this much time on only the first three Unity basics.  I'll have to pick up the rest, and make a few other points, next time.

Blessings,