The Principles & UU Ethics
- May 30, 2022
- 1 min read
Updated: May 15, 2023
expl Article II
According to the UUA, "UUs have no shared creed, but instead each person is welcome to develop personal spiritual truths through responsible, thoughtful exploration. However, we all covenant together to affirm and to promote statements of shared beliefs. Congregations and members of the Unitarian Universalist Association covenant to affirm Seven Principles. These Principles encapsulate the ethics which all UUs agree to strive towards and uphold." Learn more about the Seven Principles.
One. The inherent worth and dignity of every person; Two. Justice, equity, and compassion in human relations; Three. Acceptance of one another and encouragement to spiritual growth; Four. A free and responsible search for truth and meaning; Five. The right of conscience and the use of the democratic process; Six. The goal of world community with peace, liberty, and justice for all; Seven. Respect for the interdependent web of all existence of which we are a part.
[8th Principle, moving towards adoption.] “The journey toward spiritual wholeness by working to build a diverse multicultural Beloved Community by our actions that accountably dismantle racism and other oppressions in ourselves and our institutions.”
Below is a graphic I created in 2021 to show how the principles might be viewed as balanced between individual and all. It includes the 8th principle which is still in progress of being adopted.
This is another graphic I created in 2021 for the "Children's Version" of the principles. It uses the well-known text, but also tries to fold two together and add the eighth! The rainbow is Pixabay clip art.
