Manish is a genius - Faith Development for UUs

I've been stomping around for 4 years now telling everyone who would listen that one of the challenges we face is that when people come to UUism from a religious tradition that didn't work for, or even harmed them, these people almost have to start over in their faith development. This, I posited, is similar to how people in recovery re-visit earlier emotional developmental tasks that were drank through. (A friend of mine called this re-teening)

I mumble about wanting to look at closer at the idea that developmental stages had to be revisited, and that we, as UUs assume a tremendously high faith developmental level out of our adults and then are ticked off when our adults don't function on that level.

Well, now I don't need to, because Manish Mishra is a genius. Well, maybe not a genius as much as really really really smart. He wrote very nearly what I would write if I were to actually get around to writing it only with footnotes and way more research than I have time for. And with beter speling, and he's probably smartrer.

The Journal of Liberal Religion posted his essay, "Developmentally Challenged: Understanding Unitarian Universalism's Lack of Mass Appeal." Go read it.


Then discuss it with someone.

("UU adult religious education curricula, on the other hand, tends to assume a minimum of 4th order thinking, and actually operate on a level beyond 4th.")