Survey of BUF Spiritual/ Philosophical/Religious Beliefs & Practices
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The purpose of the Beliefs and Practices Survey was to present a snapshot of the spiritual/philosophical/religious beliefs and practices of BUF members and friends who attend BUF services. The service on March 22 was chosen as a representative Sunday for conducting the survey.
The survey asked respondents to select from a list the one choice that best summed up their spiritual/philosophical/religious beliefs and practices. One hundred eighteen surveys were returned, and 156 responses were provided, because some people gave multiple responses. As a result, the results are somewhat skewed, although the survey results, in general, give an informative view of beliefs and practices among those attending BUF services.
The table that follows shows (a) all responses combined, (b) responses when only single choices are counted, and (c) responses for those who chose multiple spiritual/philosophical/religious paths.
A significant number of people provided comments describing the effects of experiencing nature firsthand. Individuals wrote that being in nature inspires them, enables them to experience peace, establishes a profound connection to the divine or that which cannot be named, fills them with awe and wonder as they contemplate life, etc. No other choice of belief or practice had so many detailed descriptions as Earth/Nature Centered.
Other comments included:
As Chris Hitchens says: As a nonbeliever, I don't feel the need for a label…I can live with the Atheist label.
I cannot place myself in only the religious tradition as I find that I am always seeking to blend at least 2, sometimes 3 or even 4 [traditions]
Kinda, sorta mild agnosticism with strong leaning to UU.
I don't believe in any god; my spirituality lies in the miracle of the natural world and our inter-connectivity of us (nature); I believe humans create problems and only we can solve them.
You can see from the erasures that I don't feel especially certain about my path, at least my one path. There are aspects of most organized religions that I could embrace.
Doing justice, loving kindness, walking humbly with my God.
For me, Judaism is a sense of history, culture, and of values.
Humanitarian Unitarian striving for equanimity.
I have no idea and I guess I don't think about it too much.
Kindness is my religion" from the Dalai Lama.