Only in America? The so-called Universal Life Church (ULC) is notorious for ordaining literally anyone to its "ministry", including Playboy employees and explicit atheists. OK, they don´t ordain dogs and cats. Or do they?
But...it turns out that even this super-inclusive Church has split and that most people "ordained" by it have really received their certificate from a breakaway faction informally known as The Monastery. It´s apparently a former gay-oriented night club housed in a vacated church building in Seattle?! They were offically recognized by the original ULC at one point, but then decided to strike out on their own, appropriating the ULC designation in the process. It seems the neo-ULC is currently larger than the paleo-version!
The ULC was founded over a century ago by one Kirby J Hensley. His actual religious beliefs seem somewhat unclear. Perhaps a soft-core version of New Thought coupled with a heavy dose of California-style liberalism? Or was it libertarianism? At one point, he explicitly referred to himself as a "con man". It´s rather obvious that his Church was really a business operation, since most people "ordained" also bought products through the ULC´s mail order service or websites. After Hensley´s death, the ULC apparently paid over a million dollars to the IRS in back taxes.
Apparently, there is also a third group based on Hensley´s ideas, but they don´t call themselves ULC and actually have three doctrinal statements (well, kind of), whereas the paleos and the neos have exactly none. I kind of wonder what would happen if people on the Alt Right would ironically get ordained by the ULCs as a provocation? Would that force these Churches to finally issue a formal creed openly espousing West Coast values? But perhaps the Alt Right isn´t *that* ironic, after all...
Again: Only in America. On planet Earth.
And under US law the "ordained" can perform legal marriages.
ReplyDeleteAt least most of the time. Here is Wiki on Universal Life Church: "Appellate courts in Virginia have held that they will not recognize marriages solemnized by ULC ministers,[9] with litigation on the question ongoing as of 2025,[10] while appellate courts in North Carolina have held that such marriages may be voidable.[11] Courts in Indiana,[12] Mississippi,[13] Pennsylvania,[14] Texas,[15] and Utah[16] have specifically held such marriages to be valid, while government officials in Alabama,[17] South Carolina,[18][19] and Washington[20] have opined that the marriages are acceptable under each state's respective laws."
ReplyDelete