Alice Blair Wesley writes "Religious liberals put less emphasis on formal beliefs and more on practical living. Our interest is in deeds, not creeds. We appreciate the biblical text, "Be ye doers of the word, and not hearers only."
How do we understand "deeds not creeds?" Is this a narrow call for everyone to be involved in the work for social justice? While working for social justice is a good thing, for religious liberals it must arise from and be an expression of our spiritual lives. It can not be a substitute for a spiritual life. Doing justice work must be soul work.
So what did "deeds not creeds" mean to Unitarians when they first used this term. I think Unitarians like James Freeman Clarke meant lived religion, something closer to what Sharon Salzburg means when she writes:
A way to discover intimacy with ourselves and all of life is to live with integrity, basing our lives on a vision of compassionate non-harming. When we dedicate ourselves to actions that do not hurt ourselves or others, our lives become all of one piece, a "seamless garment" with nothing separate or disconnected in the spiritual reality we discover.
In order to live with integrity, we must stop fragmenting and compartmentalizing our lives. Telling lies at work and expecting great truths in meditation is nonsensical. Using our sexual energy in a way that harms ourselves or others, and then expecting to know transcendent love in another arena, is mindless. Every aspect of our lives is connected to every other aspect of our lives. This truth is the basis for an awakened life.
When we live with integrity, we further enhance intimacy with ourselves by being able to rejoice, taking active delight in our actions.
For the Unitarians, who with Clarke helped create our distinctive way of being religious, it didn't matter what one believed in a dogmatic sense, but rather what counted was the religion one lived in the world. "Deeds not creeds" wasn't about works righteousness, or social action. It was about lived religion.
Overcoming colonialism through faith and action.
The call to "deeds not creeds" has more in it for Unitarian Universalists than you give Alice credit for. Too many times I have seen individuals postpone any work with a concern about doing it the 'right' way, taking too much time to build consensus before doing anything. For example, recycling is a value I want my children to share, so it has to be incorporated into the lives. It is not a family priority for us that we give our lives and free time to recycling; but that we follow the leadership others have given, instead of striving to be the leader or constantly critiquing the leadership of others unless we are prepared to work.
This seems to plague our people in particular.