One key distinction of AUR is the commitment not to offer false consolation on the cheap, whether its the sort of “bow to dogma and your soul will be spared” comfort of conservative churches or the “I’m okay, you’re okay, nothing we believe really matters” comfort of liberal churches.

Spiritual peace is not won by reciting a confession or catechism as if it were a magic spell, or by impulsively tossing your life over to God like a hot potato for which you can abdicate all responsibility.

Nor is spiritual peace achieved through conflict-averse relativism or laissez-faire creedlessness, what Unitarian theologian James Luther Adams described unflatteringly as religion “you can’t flunk.”

Spiritual peace is achieved only through a resolute struggle, by committing of one’s character to moral growth and accepting a higher Good beyond one’s individual interests. Continue reading →