ULAM Principles

February 23rd, 2025

I realized it’s time I defined some principles and practices of ULAM, so here goes, with some inspiration from the Humanist Manifesto and, surprisingly, the Satanic Temple Tenets (which are not what you’d expect):

Note

This is a living, pinned, post and is being updated semi-regularly (for the time being), so check back to see updates…

PRINCIPLES

The two points of religion are to answer two questions; here are the ULAM answers to them along with our guiding principles:

Where did we come from?

The universe is self-existing, and was not created by any supernatural entity – that would create an endless loop of “ok, who created them?” If they can self-exist, the universe itself certainly can.

How should we behave?

  1. Humans are a part of nature, emerging as the result of an evolutionary process. As such, we need to respect it and take care of it, minimizing our impact as much as practical without making life unnecessarily difficult.
  2. As a part of nature, we should not be ashamed of our bodies, nor any part of them. We are born naked, and the only reason not to be naked is for protection from the environment we happen to be in at a given time, or for fun or decoration. Nevertheless, one must be respectful of the social environment one is in when determining the level of clothing to be worn (or not).
  3. Whether clothed or not, people can be highly attractive to others, but that does not constitute an invitation. Consent must be obtained for encroaching on another’s personal space, and especially so for physical contact.
  4. Sex is part of our biology, and is nothing to be ashamed of. Nevertheless, it’s a privilege, not a right, and must be consensual.
  5. We are social creatures, and are stronger together, as a group that supports each other, than as separate individuals. Might Makes Right makes life better for a few individuals for a period, but weakens society overall, and cannot last.
    1. Corollary: One should not harm another being, physically or mentally, except in defense of self or others.
    2. Corollary: One should strive for justice in all matters of conflict.
    3. Corollary: Health care is not a right for an individual, it is a responsibility for society.
    4. Corollary: One should help those in need to the best of one’s ability.
  6. Diversity strengthens the group, allowing for a wide range of constructive viewpoints that can lead to the best outcomes. Divisive and destructive arguments lessen diverse inputs, resulting in poor outcomes.
    1. Corollary: One should not judge others when those others are not causing harm. The freedom to be or do only what others approve of is no freedom at all.
  7. Beliefs should conform to one’s best scientific understanding of the world. One should take care never to distort scientific facts to fit one’s beliefs – if one acts as though what one wants to be true, is, when in fact it is not, one won’t get the outcome one expects and desires, and can in fact cause harm to others as well as one’s self.
  8. We are expected to treat others with respect and dignity, and should not need the fear of a supernatural being to scare us into doing so (which clearly doesn’t work for a lot of people anyhow). Forgiveness for missteps is earned by doing one’s best to resolve any harm that came from the missteps and better behavior going forward, not by reciting some platitudes and then continuing the offensive behavior. Actions speak louder than words.

PRACTICES

Some specific practices we should adopt:

  1. As a part of nature, we should spend time communing with nature, at least an hour a week, without clothes separating us from it, when the temperature is conducive (>20C).
  2. Given no reason to wear clothes, we should avoid doing so – it’s more natural, it saves money, saves laundry, and is just more comfortable. Avoid wearing clothes as much as society and the environment will let you get away with.
  3. Every time you wear clothes, you have to say “Paenitet me vestimenta gero” 10 times in penance. (“I’m sorry I’m wearing clothes” – “I’m sorry I wore clothes would be better, but google translate turns that into “I’m sorry I’m dressed”, which isn’t quite right)

PRAYERS

Hail Naturism

Hail Naturism, full of beauty
The Universe is with thee.
Blessed art thou amongst mankind,
For blessed art those without clothes.
Holy Mother Earth,
Pray for us who have to wear clothes,
Now and at the hour of our death. Amen.

Ave, naturae plena pulchritudinis
Universus tecum est.
Beatus es in hominibus;
Beati enim estis sine vestibus.
Sancta Terra, Dei Genitrix;
Ora pro nobis, qui te induere oportet;
Nunc et in hora mortis nostrae. Amen.

Naturists Prayer

Naturism, hallowed be thy name.
Throughout the world,
naked we shall be, on earth as it is in heaven.
Take from us today our clothes
And forgive us when we must wear them,
as we forgive those who choose to do so.
And lead us not into the temptation to cover ourselves
but deliver us from such evil. Amen.

Natura, sanctificetur nomen tuum.
per totum mundum
nudi erimus in terra sicut in caelo.
Auferte a nobis hodie vestimenta nostra
Et dimitte nobis cum eis utemur;
sicut dimittimus eis qui hoc facere voluerunt.
Et ne nos indúcas in tentatiónem ad tegéndum nos
sed a tali malo libera nos. Amen.

Inspiration Comes in Many Forms

February 1st, 2008

A friend at work recently came in and said (essentially), “my fiance is interested in having you be the minister at our wedding because you remind her of Friar Tuck.”

OooooKkkkkk. I had to think on that one a minute as I burst out laughing. That just raises soooo many issues, but mainly how appropriate is it as a gay man and one who is pretty anti-religious in general to do something like that. And I suck at public speaking. But the romantic in me believes strongly in the idea of committing to each other, and, of course, if friends ask me to do something that important for them, I would be honored to do so.

So, online I went to see what I could turn up, and lo! The Universal Life Church popped up. Enter your name, street address and spam address and out pops an Ordination Certificate: I’m now The Reverend Alan Batie. Although I know a little about ULC from someone I know who’s a member, I checked, and their tenets are actually strongly in line with mine: A belief in freedom and doing what’s right. I can’t think of anything more important philosophically. My primary objections to most religions are that they train people to become pawns, which all too many people line up to be, and that they discourage critical thinking (not to mention that nasty tendency many religious zealots have to kill, or at the very least, oppress, those who don’t agree with them). I recognize that I don’t have the experience and/or vision to be much other than a pawn, but at least I try *not* to be one. Maybe now I’m a Bishop? I suppose Reverend will do for starters.

By leaving it up to the individual to direct their own lives within, essentially, the boundaries of “do no harm”, they almost require critical thinking, or at the very least encourage it.

As I thought about it more, I thought, “I’ve been handed a pulpit and a reason to preach: put up or shut up.” I always did talk too much, so here we are…  While I don’t think anyone is likely to make a movie about me, I hope it will give people something to think about!

Who You Are

December 22nd, 2024

A “higher power” that doesn’t make itself known is irrelevant. The choices you make define you: make sure they really reflect the kind of person you want to be, because those choices say more about you than they do about the religion you chose.

Spiritual Humanism

June 28th, 2014

I’ve been thinking “what is a religion?”, especially in the context of someone who doesn’t believe in supernatural beings.

The role religion plays in life is that of moral, ethical and spiritual guidance, where “spiritual” is basically “emotional well being”. None of that depends on some supernatural “parent” being to tell you what’s right or to love you even when you do bad things – the former can be worked out easily enough and the latter you can get from a dog (as long as you don’t mistreat the dog, in which case you wouldn’t deserve to be loved anyhow).

Another way of looking at it is: Science is about how and what we know, Religion is about how and what we feel.

Although Secular Humanism is kind of the anti-religion group, I think it’s more on the Science side, in that it’s promoting a rational, scientific, approach to dealing with the world – and they’re right as far as that goes.

Those who want some spiritual camaraderie or even guidance without having to rely on a mystical non-existent supernatural “something” (be it God or Gaia) still need someplace to turn. I call that Spiritual Humanism: a rational, realistic, approach to emotional and moral well being.

I’ve already posted a number of things that exemplify what I mean, but in time I’ll work out some key principles to define it.

Fear and Loathing

February 2nd, 2014

Yesterday, I saw a car on the freeway that had a big message plastered across the back window: “Fear God” and in smaller print under that: “and give him glory”.

Fear? Someone who is feared deserves loathing and condemnation, not worship and glory. You fear entities that you think will hurt you in some way – that is not something to love and worship. You love things that have qualities you admire – no one should admire or look up to anything that causes fear.

I suspect that the message they’re trying to convey is “be good or you’ll be punished”, but in this context, that message is probably in the vein of “everyone’s a sinner”. The fact of the matter is though, most people’s “sins” are pretty minor and not worthy of being afraid of being sent to hell for minor lapses. It’s neither healthy nor desirable to live in a constant fear of some infraction having severe consequences.

Live right because it’s the right thing to do: it’s good for everyone, including yourself. We don’t steal from or hurt other people because if everyone did that, we’d all be living in fear. Teaching others helps us learn ourselves. Helping others means there will be more people who will be in a position to help us when we’re in need. Smiles are much more pleasant to be around that snarls, and each is likely to be returned in kind.

It’s not a perfect world, and we do need to be wary, both of others who make antisocial choices, and our own inclination to unfortunate choices, but a life lived in fear is a life half lived: live life to the fullest, not in fear.

A-Saul-t on Children

May 30th, 2012

I’ve just been made aware of a group of “Christians” promoting genocide to elementary school children: How Christian fundamentalists plan to teach genocide to schoolchildren

They’re teaching morals and ethics alright: a really *evil* set of them. Although from my reading, it’s genocide as revenge rather than just because they were non-believers (as, apparently the “Good News” Club would have you believe), it’s still evil. Worse, teaching kids to follow blindly because they were told to makes them puppets to manipulated into all kinds of evil, because whether or not God was an active participant back in the day, he’s not now. There are nearly daily examples of people abusing religion for their own ends, from child abuse to the Vatican power struggles to the “Islamic” terrorists. And, it sounds like, the Good News Club falls into that category.

And frankly, is a God who ordered a genocide *really* a God you want to worship? That speaks volumes alone about one’s moral values…

Holiday Displays

November 28th, 2009

Tis the season to be jolly…unless you’re City Hall, and then some rabble rouser decides to take offense at the Christmas decorations.

The principle of separation of church and state is about making sure that the government does not give preference to one sect over another, creating an implicit “official” religion. That means that, yes, if you put up decorations for one religious holiday, you have to put up those for the others (I think you can be reasonable here: there are a pretty standard set, and if someone else in the community wants theirs celebrated, they should be accomodated comparably).

That does not however mean other religions (or anti-religions) have the right to use the space for denigration. If they want to have a holiday to celebrate rational thinking, or some event in their history, fine. Attacking others, whether it be against religion in general or one religion taking aim at another, belongs in a different venue.

Like it or not, Christmas is a huge part of our culture, and only a small part of it has anything whatsoever to do with religion. Like many things, whatever it originated as, it’s taken on a life of it’s own, and the secular spirit of Christmas giving is worthy of everyone’s attention, no matter where it came from.

Thou Shalt Not Kill

November 16th, 2008

I couldn’t say it any better, so won’t even try. Just go read what is probably the most serious thing The Onion has ever done, and as usual, they nail it: God Clarifies “Don’t Kill” Rule.

Why have an organized religion?

October 1st, 2008

Given the grief organized religion has caused world wide over the millenia, my first inclination is to say “we don’t”. People are quite capable of figuring out right and wrong on their own, though it might be a painful process for both them and those around them if they don’t have a good environment for learning it as they grow up. And in fact, religion or not, the environment kids have growing up is where they learn right and wrong.

Organized religion, for a lot of people, provides a primary venue for social interaction outside the family. Modern society has so many activities for people to do, and transportation (high gas prices or not) is so easy, that I think this is less of a factor than it used to be, but still, in many respects, it’s “one more activity of common interest”.

But it does have real value in its primary function: for all our strengths overall, all too often, humans are weak and forgetful. It is all too easy to bend the rules and let things start sliding down that slippery slope. Organized Religion has value in reminding us what our values are and helping us keep up our resolve to adhere to them. I think that’s why there’s so many different variations on the theme: because people choose different value sets, they need to find an organization that matches them reasonably closely, or else, in effect, they are told “you are a bad person because you don’t adhere to our way”.

One problem is that most of the time this “reminder” function is implemented in the form of an authority figure going “thall shalt”. What is mainly needed is a forum to discuss moral questions that arise periodically where people can weigh the pros and cons and come to a conclusion. Sometimes matters are a little too personal for public consumption, and you want a trusted third party to provide a view from a distance. Dare I say, this is one thing the Catholics almost got right with the confessional.

I shall have to see what I can do to help fulfill this need. While I can’t expect people to consider me a “trusted third party” (you certainly shouldn’t, unless you know me well!), I think a forum for weighing the pros and cons of day-to-day moral questions shouldn’t be too hard, combined with a wiki to capture the conclusions…

What is Religion?

June 28th, 2008

I confess, my first thought is that religion has been the cause of nearly as many wars as territorial battles. For some reason, all too often people seem to think that if you don’t agree with them, you’re evil spawn of the devil.

But that doesn’t answer the question: What is Religion?

Per dictionary.com, “1. a set of beliefs concerning the cause, nature, and purpose of the universe, esp. when considered as the creation of a superhuman agency or agencies, usually involving devotional and ritual observances, and often containing a moral code governing the conduct of human affairs.”

Basically, it boils down to “how did we get here and what should we do now that we’re here?” The first part of that is an interesting question that can’t really be answered, and it’s not really the part that is a big problem. The second part, on the other hand, is where people go off the deep end. In this context, “what should we do” is about morals: what’s “right” and what’s “wrong”. People tend to have strong feelings about such things, with the result that they have the attitude of “act this way or you’re evil spawn of the devil and you must die!” Fortunately, the last part is rare, but the rest isn’t, and all too often has a real impact on regular people just trying to live their lives in peace.

Part of that impact comes from the fact that people like to use religion as an excuse to avoid critical thinking. They go “well, it’s written here” or “I was told this by <religious leader>”, so that must be the way it is, whether what they’re told is contradictory or not (e.g. Leviticus). A corollary is that, once choosing to believe something, then “that is the One True Way”. This is another way of saying “I won’t even consider the idea that there are other ways of thinking”, and is the first step down the violent road all too many supposedly “peace loving” religions have taken (and I’m not talking just war here: the Inquisition and the Salem Witch Trials are just a couple of the more well known religious persecutions that have taken place).

The fact is, you choose your morals, whether you are religious or not. You may be lazy and just accept the ones you grew up with, really avoiding any thinking, or you may actively choose a set, either by choosing a religious sect to follow, or just by deciding what you think is right and wrong (which, admittedly, to do properly is a lot more work!). Though, in point of fact, many end up doing the latter even when they choose to follow a religion, picking and choosing the parts they like and those they don’t. In this way, religion is simply a shortcut, a menu you start with: I’ll take “thou shalt not kill”, but no, I think I like fornicating thank you very much (at least that’s what a lot of people seem to start with!).

Just remember: when you choose a religion, you are making a statement about yourself for others to fit you into a box with. People who don’t know you can’t know that you have discarded the less charitable aspects of the religion (assuming you have!). Likewise, realize that religion is, in the end, very personal, and everyone trims it to fit their real beliefs. Wait until you get to know someone and who they really are before jumping to conclusions. The world will be a far better place for everyone…

Blind faith

June 20th, 2008

I haven’t had the time to create the sermons I would like to put here, but recent events in the news compel me to comment on the followers of faith healing that take it to such extremes that they let children die painful deaths rather than get them basic modern medical care in the misguided belief that “it’s work of the devil”.

Ask yourself what sounds more like the devil’s work:

  1. Tricking you into believing that sitting by and doing nothing while you watch a loved one suffer a painful death is a good thing
  2. Figuring out what causes illnesses and how to cure them and save people’s lives

Is a deity who requires you to do the former someone you really feel is worthy of worship? What does that say about you as a person, given that you have so may choices in what to believe, none of which have any real claim to be “more right”?

If you believe in blind faith, you will be led around in the dark by those who choose to see, and you may not be taken where you would otherwise choose…