For people who are new to Unitarian Universalism,
the following principles may be surprising:
Reason, Tolerance, Democracy, & Diversity.
And long-time UUs will be pleased to note
that an online community can exemplify
the basic principles we all endorse.

    Other religious movements are based on
the authority of special persons and texts.
But the FUUCI operates to promote
the free and responsible search for truth and meaning.

    Cyber-sermon are selected by vote of the members
—not because the views conform to any preconceived dogma.

    After cyber-sermons are released, members
(and others who receive the cyber-sermons by e-mail from friends
or discover the cyber-sermons on the Internet)
are invited to engage is vigorous rational discussion
of the original cyber-sermon and the responses of other readers.

    This contrasts sharply with any doctrinal religious system,
in which 'discussion' might consist mainly of claims
that the views presented do or do not correspond
with the accepted beliefs of that denomination
or a particular interpretation of a holy text.

    Because Unitarian Universalism is a creed-free religious movement,
without any doctrinal test for membership in any UU organization,
all points of view are welcome in the FUUCI.
FUUCI welcomes proposals for cyber-sermons from anyone.
No proposal is ever turned down, for example,
because it does not represent 'main-stream UU thinking'.

    In fact, the FUUCI has already identified more than a dozen
different spiritual paths within Unitarian Universalism
that might be represented in our on-line congregation:
Jewish UUism, Paganism, Christian UUism, Deism,
Earth-Centered Spirituality, Panentheism, Green Spirituality,
Pantheism, Transcendentalism, Process Theology,
Humanism, Existential Spirituality,
Women's Spirituality, Feminist Spirituality, Buddhist UUism.
Other spiritual paths can be added to this list at any time.

    Different intellectual systems are also welcome
to use the FUUCI to share their perspectives.
Our UU movement (and this on-line community) has no orthodoxy
with respect to sociology, psychology, philosophy, etc.
All views have an equal chance to be expressed in cyber-sermons.

    An intolerant religious organization
would promote only the views of the denomination,
the authorities in control of that religious movement,
or the content of the holy texts upon which that religion is based.

    Other forms of intolerance could be
the personal beliefs and commitments
of the leaders and members of the organization.

    But no such intolerant control by leaders or members exists in the FUUCI.
The current members only choose the next cyber-sermon.
Anyone may propose a cyber-sermon.
Not every proposal will lead to a cyber-sermon.
But every proposal has an equal chance to be selected
by a direct vote of the FUUCI members.
Could any organization be more tolerant than that?

    Democracy means belonging to the people.
The FUUCI is an example of pure, direct democracy.
Representative democracy is less direct
because the people elect representatives
who make decisions for them in and in their name.
For example, in most UU congregations,
the members select the minister
by a complex but democratic process.
Thereafter the minister decides the content of all sermons.

    In the FUUCI there are no layers
of representatives, administrators, or committees
between the people and the cyber-sermon.
The people vote directly to decide
which proposal becomes the next cyber-sermon.
Every e-mail address has exactly one vote.
And each vote has precisely the same weight.
Could any organization be more democratic than that?

    A less democratic religious organization
would be controlled by the leaders and members
—and perhaps by denominational authorities—
who would decide who is permitted to preach
and who is not authorized to preach.
Even if the gatekeepers believe they are making
the wisest selection for the organization,
this is not as direct as asking the members
to decide which will be the next cyber-sermon.

    Altho some members themselves might be
(1) dogmatic, (2) irrational about certain subjects,
and (3) individually intolerant of views that differ from their own,
the method of direct democracy
overcomes any such narrowness of perspective.
The FUUCI trusts the majority of members to vote
with reason, open-mindedness, and tolerance for diversity.

    The First UU Church of the Internet actively invites
persons of all points of view to propose cyber-sermons.
In contrast to most other religious organizations,
there is no doctrinal point of view.
The FUUCI embraces diversity of emotional responses,
intellectual arguments, & spiritual paths.

    Certainly, the members individually
have their own personal responses,
intellectual opinions, & spiritual paths.
But these views have no bearing
on the decision about which cyber-sermon to publish next.
The selection of the next cyber-sermon
is a power reserved exclusively and entirely for the members.

    After the members have selected the next cyber-sermon,
and it has been published by the FUUCI,
all readers are invited to express themselves
in any ways that seem appropriate to them.
This creates a diversity of responses.
The original author receives all of the responses from readers.
He or she may decide to write individual responses
to these readers' comments and questions.
And the best of these questions and answers
are published on the FUUCI home page,
linked with the original cyber-sermon.
The author might decide to revise the original cyber-sermon
if inspired to do so by readers' responses.

    If some responder does not find this process sufficient,
he or she is welcome to propose
another cyber-sermon on the same subject
—perhaps expressing a completely different view.
As with all proposals, the members of the FUUCI
ultimately decide which proposals lead to cyber-sermons.

    Any member who finds that a particular cyber-sermon
falls short of being "the very best in living UU thinking"
is invited to seek out other expressions of UU thinking,
which will then be judged by the same system of direct democracy.

    A religlious organization that did not welcome
diversity of emotional, intellectual, & spiritual perspectives
would only invite sermons from preachers
who share the organization's opinions.
But the FUUCI goes out of its way
to invite proposals from every imaginable place on the UU spectrum.
And the FUUCI will continue to invite proposals from everywhere.

    As a further measure to promote diversity of thought,
each of the 3-5 proposals submitted to the members
for any given month is by a different author. 
The proposals do not have the author's names attached,
which further ensures that voters are choosing
"the very best in living UU thinking"
on the basis of the actual content
rather than based on the past reputation of well-known authors.

    The FUUCI embraces diversity
by promising never to turn down a proposal for a cyber-sermon.
Every proposal has an equal opportunity
to be selected by the members
to be the next cyber-sermon distributed by the FUUCI.