American Unitarian Conference Forum

My last couple of walks around Lake Bella Vista have enjoyed a change of emphasis from "Training Walks" to "Nature Walks". And, most enjoyable they have become!

Yesterday, I found myself closely observing and reflecting upon the abundant and beautiful insect life all about me in the lavish vegetation, much of it in bloom, everywhere around me.

Amazing how it had scarcely existed for me during my "training walks". (tip of my hat to Rev Dorris for his comments on "Ping Pong".)

Insects are, of course, arthropods and as such enjoy all the benefits and suffer from all the drawbacks of Exoskeltons.

How like Insects are so many people are with their "Exoskeleton Belief Systems". As with Insects, growth is a difficult and painful process, requiring the complete shedding of one belief system and the endurance of a tender and vulnerable stage of development while their new one hardens into certainty.

But yet, exoskeletons seem to serve the Arthropods very well: Insects are arguably the dominant form of life over the suface area of our world and are very likerly to survive for a long, LONG time after the upstart Vertebrates are distant memories of Planet Earth.

Increasingly, as I get older, I admire Benjamin Franklin and his religious attitudes. As with the vertebrates, growth was NEVER a painful process for him and he seemed enormously content with his amorphous and rather poorly formed religious position. Somehow, with all his enormous wisdom and knowledge, he NEVER comes across as a know-it-all but quite aware of the narrow limits of his understanding and always intersted in learning more.

Well, I guess Ben is never mentioned as an early Unitarian, yet, increasingly, I see him as the Father of the Thought-System I am struggling towards.

Can we still be friends?

Fred

To recall some of Benjamin Franklin's Deist thinking I found these selections:
Note the 2nd to last where he comments on Priestley

http://www.infidels.org/library/historic...ter_4.html

"The faith you mention has doubtless its use in the world. I do not desire to see it diminished, nor would I desire to lessen it in any way; but I wish it were more productive of good works than I have generally seen it. I mean real good works, works of kindness, charity, mercy, and public spirit, not holy-day keeping, sermon-hearing, and reading, performing church ceremonies, or making long prayers, filled with flatteries and compliments, despised even by wise men, and much less capable of pleasing the Deity" (Works, Vol. vii., p. 75).

"It is pity that good works, among some sorts of people, are so little valued, and good words admired in their stead. I mean seemingly pious discourses, instead of humane, benevolent actions. These they almost put out of countenance by calling morality, rotten morality; righteousness, ragged righteousness, and even filthy rags, and when you mention virtue, pucker up their noses; at the same time that they eagerly snuff up an empty, canting harangue, as if it were a posy of the choicest flowers" (Works, Vol. vii., p. 185).

"By heaven, we understand a state of happiness, infinite in degree and eternal in duration. I can do nothing to deserve such a reward. He that, for giving a draught of water to a thirsty person, should expect to be paid with a good plantation, would be modest in his demands compared with those who think they deserve heaven for the little good they do on earth. ... for my part, I have not the vanity to think I deserve it, the folly to expect, or the ambition to desire it" (Works, Vol. vii., p. 75).

"With regard to future bliss, I cannot help imagining that multitudes of the zealously orthodox of different sects, who at the last day may flock together in hopes of seeing each other damned, will be disappointed, and obliged to rest content With their own salvation" (Works, Vol. x., p. 366).

"When religious people quarrel about religion, or hungry people about their victuals, it looks as if they had not much of either about them" (Works, Vol. vii., p. 438).

"I agreed with you in sentiments concerning the Old Testament, and thought the clause in our [Pennsylvania] Constitution, which required the members of the Assembly to declare their belief that the whole of it was given by divine inspiration, had better have been omitted. That I had opposed the clause; but, being overpowered by numbers, and fearing more in future might be grafted on it, I prevailed to have the additional clause, 'that no further or more extended profession of faith should ever be exacted.' I observed to you, too, that the evil of it was the less, as no inhabitant, nor any officer of government, except the members of Assembly, was obliged to make the declaration.

"A Swedish minister having assembled the chiefs of the Susquehanna Indians, made a sermon to them, acquainting them with the principal historical facts on which our religion is founded, such as the fall of our first parents by eating an apple; the coming of Christ to repair the mischief; his miracles and sufferings, etc. When he had finished, an Indian orator stood up to thank him. 'What you have told us,' said he, 'is all very good. It is indeed bad to eat apples. It is better to make them all into cider. We are much obliged by your kindness in coming so far to tell us those things which you have heard from your mothers. In return, I will tell you some of those which we have heard from ours. In the beginning, our fathers had only the flesh of animals to subsist on; and if their hunting was unsuccessful, they were starving. Two of our young hunters having killed deer, made a fire in the woods to broil some parts of it. When they were about to satisfy their hunger, they beheld a beautiful young woman descend from the clouds, and seat herself on that hill which you see yonder among the blue mountains. They said to each other, it is a spirit that perhaps has smelt our broiled venison and wishes to eat of it; let us offer some to her. They presented her with the tongue; she was pleased with the taste of it, and said, 'Your kindness shall be rewarded. Come to this place after thirteen moons, and you shall find something that will be of a great benefit in nourishing you and your children to the latest generations.' They did so and, to their surprise, found plants they had never seen before; but which, from that ancient time, have been constantly cultivated among us to our great advantage. Where her right hand touched the ground they found maize; where her left hand touched it they found kidney- beans.' ... The good missionary, disgusted with this idle tale, said, 'What I delivered to you were sacred truths; but what you tell me is mere fable, fiction, and falsehood.' The Indian, offended, replied, 'My brother, it seems your friends have not done you justice in your education; they have not well instructed you in the rules of common civility. You saw that we, who understand and practice these rules, believed all your stories, why do you refuse to believe ours?'

"Remember me affectionately to good Dr. Price, and to the honest heretic Dr. Priestley. I do not call him honest by way of distinction, for I think all the heretics I have known have been virtuous men. They have the virtue of fortitude, or they could not venture to own their heresy; and they cannot afford to be deficient in any of the other virtues, as that would give advantage to their many enemies; and they have not, like orthodox sinners, such a number of friends to excuse or justify them. Do not, however, mistake me. It is not to my good friend's heresy that I impute his honesty. On the contrary, 'tis his honesty that brought upon him the character of a heretic" (Works, Vol. x., p. 365).

Here is my creed: I believe in one God, the Creator of the universe. That he governs it by his providence. That he ought to be worshiped. That the most acceptable service we render him is doing good to his other children. That the soul of man is immortal, and will be treated with justice in another life respecting its conduct in this."

Eruonen, I really want to thank you for these quotes. I have never seen any of them before, but you can imagine how they add to my affection for our Dr. Franklin. It is an odd fact that I lose interest quickly in many quotes similar to these, but the words of Franklin always amaze me with their wit and wisdom and seem to energize me in a way that is rare for me.

I have loved Franklin ever since I read his Autobiography too many years ago to remember. Whenever I play my little game of "What historical figues would you want to invite to a Dinner Party?" with my kids he is always my first choice. He is, indeed, my Patron Saint and the person I'd most like to be more similar to.

I don't know how he is thought of by most Unitarians, but for me, much of his thought forshadows the best of Unitarianism and was an obvious heavy influence on it.

Fred

I love the work of Dr. Franklin. The man was a genius. Quite honestly I've come to deeply admire all of our Founding Fathers-Franklin, Adams, Jefferson, Madison, Washington. They were all intelligent men-and all along the Deist/Unitarian vein. For an interesting read on the subject I'd recommend "Moral Minority" by Brooke Allen-she did her homework in analyzing their personal beliefs.

Shame there aren't more like them anymore!

I have a biography, inherited from my father's book collection, by Van Doren (I believe the father of the "Quiz Show" movie Van Doren character" that I intend to read)...the snippets of Franklin I have come across have always amused and impressed....I totally agree Fred..what a dinner guest! Add Mark Twain, Robert G Ingersoll, Thomas Paine and a few others like Chesterton, Mencken etc. for color commentary and you have a riotous dinner party...cigars and dare I say it....whiskey all around. Ok..I know you would skip those indulgences! But what an evening to remember!

Wow. That sounds like me. I've always thought Benjamin Franklin was pretty darn cool. There was a snippet of his Autobiography in one of my English textbooks in high school, ever since then I've only wanted to read more of his work.

I just went back and reread this topic, top to bottom. Wonderful!

I find myself wondering what positions Ben would take on the issues of our day. Is there anyone in Public Life like him? What would church leaders make of him? Could he be induced to join AUC?

As I said, I've read his Autobiography and one of the major Biographies currently available. I think it's time for me to pick up another and learn more of him.

Fred