What's a Uvangelist?

Uvangelism is a word I first saw online maybe a decade ago on a Unitarian Universalist website called UniUniques (see http://www.uniuniques.com/Uvangelist/Uvangelism.htm). It's usually spelled UUvangelism, due to the quaint habit we UU's have of doubling the letter U in funny acronyms etc.

In any case, the original word is evangel, which comes from the Greek 'εὐαγγέλιον' whose roots mean "true/good" and "message/news"; so evangel means "true message" or "good news". An evangelist is a person who carries/spreads the good news (e.g. about their faith).

So...by extension, a Uvangelist is a UU evangelist. In other words, a Unitarian Universalist who believes that the "good news" of their Unitarian Universalist faith is worth sharing with other people.

Unfortunately, the word evangelism is often confused in the U.S. with the word proselytism (which means "to make a proselyte", proselyte meaning "one who has converted", from the Greek 'πρόςηλυτος', or "went toward" i.e. converted). Thus, a proselytizer is someone who is trying to convert another to his/her faith, whereas an evangelist is simply sharing his/her faith with people. Uvangelism is an attempt by UUs like myself to enhance the meaning of evangelism (by proudly bearing the title "Uvangelist" and spreading the Good News!), while at the same time avoiding the negative connotations of proselytizing. Of course, if one believes that their news is worth sharing one would also hope that others will share this belief...but such belief cannot and should not be compulsory or forced.

Ask me anything cultural, especially about language, music, sexuality, religion and faith.

formspring.me question: I've written a distant future novel where humans have evolved an ability to naturally trans-gender based on preferences with their partners. What about it: same sex partners gradually becoming opposite sex partners (and having kids)? Good thing or not?

Although not entirely the same concept, this reminds me of a movie I saw called "Zerophilia" where certain people (i.e. "zerophiliacs") change gender after becoming aroused. As far as I'm concerned, if people don't feel that their physical sex matches their intended or felt gender, and they can naturally remedy the situation, I don't see why they shouldn't. The catch for me is...if they are same-sex partners in a same-sex relationship, why would they *want* to change genders?

So I guess my short answer is...if they switch gender out of love (for self and for partner) and for a sense of personal integrity, then I would go with "good thing". If it's for a whim, or to "fit in" and to "be normal", then I would say "bad thing". Very bad thing.

Besides, if God *really* wanted us to exceed the earth's carrying capacity for human populations, thereby bringing about our own ruin and leading to the extinction of countless other species along the way, we would all be born straight and fertile with extraordinarily high libidos. ;-)

Tangent: It might be a controversial theory, but it just seems to me that the closer a population gets to the limits its environment can withstand, the more widespread homosexuality seems to become as a natural population curb. That's not scientific fact, just speculation....Gaia has to protect herself and her children from destroying themselves.

Ready. Set. DEBATE!

Ask me anything cultural, especially about language, music, sexuality, religion and faith.