I am preparing a sermon on Evil, and on that personification of evil, Satan. Seems like a perfectly ordinary Unitarian Universalist topic to me.
Explore Evil, talk about "evils" and the idea of Evil itself. Introduce the Prince of Darkness and talk about his history in Hebrew Scriptures and early Christianity.
Help the listeners decide whether they believe in an array of evils, or whether their is something to the idea of Evil itself. Contrast this to non Western non-dualisms.
I mention this topic to some of my colleagues and they wondered how I could get away with that topic in a UU church. The devil and Evil, next you'll be preaching about Sin and Redemption. Well Passion 'sunday is coming up, and Easter too.
I do get away with it. I think it is because I use words like "Let me suggest..." and "or you might look at this way."
No witnessing. Much probing.
That sounds interesting. I'd like to know more about evil, or the closest concept, in non-Abrahamic religions.
Fantastic! Do you ever post your sermons here?
Sounds like just the right approach to me. If you do it the right way, I wouldn't expect that any topic would be off-limits. I'd certainly attend if the newsletter listed the sermon topic as "Satan" or "Sin and redemption." Too bad your sermons won't be available as podcasts.
This doesn't sound like a problem to me. I'm not sure why you couldn't get away with it. Surely, UUs aren't expecting to agree with everything they hear from the pulpit?