Recent Entries

• Hypatia of Alexandria

  by Mark E. DeFillo January 19, 2021
  Hypatia has been on my mind. If the ULC had saints she would be a very apt choice to be one. She was one of the last great classical philosophers, at the sharp edge of the end of Mediterranean classical civilization.  Being both a woman and pagan philosopher and teacher, she became a target of...

• A Note on Bali

  by Mark E. DeFillo September 24, 2019
  An article on Bali has been on our newsfeed, and it seems to miss a most important detail. The article is mainly about a new law criminalizing extramarital sex. The article and comments both seem to believe that the Balinese are Muslim. In fact, Bali is part of Indonesia, and Indonesia as a whole is...
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• Advaita, Dvaita, Dvaitadvaita: Varieties of Vedanta

  by Mark E. DeFillo June 3, 2019
  Vedanta is the branch of Hindu learning which encompasses theology and the relationship of soul to God. It is based primarily on the section of Hindu scripture known as the Upanishads, and on the Vedanta-Sutra, a sacred text that seeks to condense and explain the teachings found in the Upanishads.&n...
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• Divinity Self-Education: Christianity

  by Mark E. DeFillo April 5, 2019
  Since the majority of the ministers who post actively on this, our networking site, appear to be Christian, and I am not, I will only offer a few suggestions of my own for self-education about Christianity and its many branches. I cordially and respectfully invite our colleagues who are Christian to...
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• The Balancing-Act of an Interfaith Church

  by Mark E. DeFillo March 29, 2019
  As part of an interfaith church, the underlying fact is that we all come into it with different beliefs, ideas and opinions. This is part of the "deal": before we sign up, the information provided tells us that people of all beliefs are welcome. This gives all of us the need and responsibility to pe...
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• Ordination before Education?

  by Mark E. DeFillo February 6, 2019
  As we all know, many people have issues with how the Universal Life Church gives ordination to people, and then encourages ministers to obtain appropriate training and education, whereas most mainstream religious traditions of the West do precisely the opposite: requiring candidates to complete exte...
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• Divinity Self-Education: Resources and Suggestions

  by Mark E. DeFillo January 22, 2019
  INTRODUCTION Among the credentials available to ministers of the Universal Life Church Monastery is the honorary Doctor of Divinity degree. There are more than one website affiliated with our church, and they describe the degrees slightly differently sometimes; as of this writing, the description o...
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• Towards a Theology of the Universe

  by Mark E. DeFillo January 21, 2019
  "We Are Children of the same Universe" Since this is one of the defining statements of the Universal Life Church Monastery, it behooves us to consider the "Universe" from a theological viewpoint, in the context of our interfaith fellowship. This article is just a beginning, far from the end. I do ...
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• On ULCM's Open Ordination

  by Mark E. DeFillo December 22, 2018
  I find myself thinking about ways that ministers could support this church, and indeed similar churches with the same or similar ideals and methods, in the face of disdain and/or official non-recognition from certain quarters.  The primary reason for such feelings from others is the ease of en...
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• Q: "Are My Feelings Unreasonable?"

  by Mark E. DeFillo December 20, 2018
  I was recently approached (via a messager service) by a friend for some counsel, since she was troubled by a possibility that her feelings after a significant other had a late-night conversation with a platonic friend might have been unfair or unreasonable to the others involved. She found my respon...

• Gita Jayanti

  by Mark E. DeFillo December 19, 2018
  The Hindu holiday of Gita Jayanti has just passed, it being the commemoration of the original speaking of the Bhagavad-Gita. This book is not only a sacred scripture for Hindus, but respected by people of many religions. So let us consider what it is, and why it is so highly regarded. To begin with...
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