I just got back on the forum this evening (log-in issues), so I apologize for missing this hot topic. No way I’m going to read all this. I just would like to share a little about my understanding of the reason this forum was started.
There are lots and bunches of Unitarian websites and discussion sites, and God bless you all and all of the Unitarians. They are accepted and beloved of God. THIS, however, is a site whose very inception was for the purpose of reaching out to EVANGELICALS who do think that Unitarianism (not just for its nontrinitarian doctrines, but for other reasons as well) is a betrayal of the gospel.They just do. Whether or not this is an accurate representation is beside the point. This website was started in order to facilitate the introduction of EVANGELICAL Christians to the concept of Universalism, discussing it as a doctrine that does in fact integrate well with EVANGELICAL doctrines.
That’s NOT to say that our many wonderful and lovely and loving non-Evangelical brothers and sisters aren’t welcome here, or that they are not **very **much appreciated and encouraged to continue to engage in discussion of their viewpoints. No one here (so far as I know) considers any of our nontrinitarian members to be betrayers of the gospel. They’re doing their best to seek out truth and be faithful to the leading of the Holy Spirit. They–all of them–are very welcome to hang out in this Evangelical living room, drink coffee, sip tea, quaff brewskis, and chew fat. That said, it is still an Evangelical living room, and the tenets of this house are basically Evangelical. There are lots of living rooms of Unitarian houses, and in those hang-outs, such a remark (as Robin Parry’s) would be inappropriate. In THIS living room, the whole point is to introduce Evangelicals to a Universalism that does not negate or violate their foundational doctrines. Dissenting friends are always welcome, and encouraged to make themselves at home, but they don’t get to make it into a general public room. It’s still the living room of an Evangelical house.
I hope this doesn’t hurt anyone’s feelings, and the LAST thing I want to do is to make anyone feel unwelcome. It’s just that we do need all kinds of houses, and we need this one to be what it is.