Fourth Principle

One of these days, I will post on time.

Now, on to one of my favourites. A free and responsible search for truth and meaning.

Part of this one is to allow everyone to search out his or her own path. UU's seem to follow this one very religiously. As do druids. Every druid I've seen has her own way of practising. Both groups have some core bits that define their paths, and they allow for many variations on the theme.

The other part is the hard part, responsibility. You are responsible for how your views affect others. Not only is it hard, many ignore it. This is also why I take issue with libertarian ism. There are some aspects of it that are good, like not forcing people to conform. It, and much of modern American culture, unfortunately don't take how things affect others into account. It is all about the individual doing what he or she wants. If it negatively affects someone else, that is that someone's problem.

This is related in many ways to the principles about community and interconnectedness. When we search for truth and meaning, we have to think about how our beliefs will affect others. Some beliefs, say the number of gods you believe, don't affect anyone but yourself. However, there are belies, the ones about how we interact with the world and with others, that influence how we treat others. This is where we need to take responsibility for our beliefs.