Not Otherwise Specified

If you've ever looked in the DSM IV (the diagnostic manual for psychologists and psychiatrists) you'll notice a category of diagnosis at the end of each section. For example, at the end of all the different kinds of depression and very specific symptoms that are present in each one, there is always a category called NOS. That means the problem meets some of the criteria of the ailment overall, but doesn't fit into any of the categories already mentioned. It's sort of the miscellaneous category. I'm beginning to wonder if the Unitarian Universalist churches aren't the same.

UU churches have no creed or statement of belief that each member must recite. There are probably more atheists than theists in the UU movement. But, any belief or path to the divine or whatever you want to call it is appreciated. That means you have Christians, Buddhists, Pagans, Humanists, and God (?) knows what else represented in the movement. This means that none of them are acutally in the position of saying that the movement represents them. It's more of a movement of the miscellaneous. Personally, I like it that way. I've never fit in very well in any organization, so this isn't unusual for me. But, many people have real problems with it. See, they don't fit in with their natural group either. They consider themselves Christians and want to have a Christian environment or common language in their church. But, other Christian churches are too conservative, and they don't fit in there either. Likewise, there are some people in the subgroups that consider the other groups misguided, and don't like having them around. One of the common complaints among UU Christians is that the UU Humanists ridcule them and try to push them out of the church. If not actually true, it's true that they feel that way. I think the opposite is happening as well. I understand that Humanists feel pushed to the sidelines by the believers.

It's strange, but I think that probably each group under the umbrella of this Church of the Miscellaneous feels like it on the edge and not respected. Now, isn't that ironic? The one place that this group of "misfits" can fit in, due to it's nature of accepting all misfits, leaves each individual feeling still a misfit.

- posted by Marcos @ 2:01 PM (0) comments