Copyright Ian Ellis-Jones 2012 - All Rights Reserved.

1. UNITARIANISM AND DISNEYLAND
By The Rev. Dr Ian Ellis-Jones
Unitarian Ministries International Clergy, Columbia, South Carolina, United States of America
Former Senior Minister, Sydney Unitarian Church, Sydney, New South Wales, Australia
When I was a young boy, one of my favourite television shows was Walt Disney's
Disneyland.
The show's introduction went like this ...
First, there was this voiceover ... "Walt Disney's Disneyland ..."
Then there was heard the song "When You Wish upon a Star", sung by Cliff Edwards,
which was written by Leigh Harline and Ned Washington, and which was introduced in
the 1940 Walt Disney movie Pinocchio.
That was followed immediately by the same voiceover ... and these immortal words:
“Each week, as you enter this timeless land, one of these many worlds will open to you:
Frontierland, tall tales and true from the legendary past; Tomorrowland, promise of
things to come; Adventureland, the wonder world of nature's own realm; Fantasyland,
the happiest kingdom of them all."
Each of those lands is a themed area at the famous theme park Disneyland in Anaheim,
California.
... And so it is with Unitarians - and Unitarianism - throughout the world.
Some Unitarians draw their spiritual inspiration from the direct experience of that
transcending mystery and wonder, affirmed in all cultures and in the liberal arts and
sciences, as well as music, which moves us to a renewal of the spirit, and from the
words and deeds of great and courageous men and women of the past which challenge
us to continue to confront powers and structures of evil with justice, compassion and the
transforming power of love – Frontierland, if you like.
Other Unitarians draw their spiritual inspiration from the world of science and
technology, people such as Sir Isaac Newton, Joseph Priestley, Charles Darwin (the
Father of Evolution), Samuel Morse (the inventor of the electric telegraph and the Morse
Code), Alexander Graham Bell (the inventor of the telephone) and Sir Tim Berners-Lee
(the inventor of the World Wide Webb), demonstrating the interconnectedness of all
persons and all life – Tomorrowland, the promise of things to come.
Still other Unitarians draw their spiritual inspiration from the world of nature and, in
particular, from various earth-centred traditions which celebrate the sacred circle of life
and instruct us to live in harmony with the rhythms of nature, plants and animals, in fact
with all created things – Adventureland, the wonder world of nature’s own realm.
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2. Finally, there are those Unitarians who draw their spiritual inspiration and wisdom from
the world's great religions, legends and mythologies, as well as from humanist
teachings which counsel us to heed the guidance of reason and the results of science,
and warn us against idolatries of the mind and spirit – Fantasyland, if you like.
Most of us draw our spiritual inspiration from more than one of the above mentioned
lands, in varying degrees, according to our own unique interests, talents and goals. The
beauty and uniqueness of Unitarianism is that it allows each person to develop their
own individual theology or spirituality without the doctrine and dogma of organised,
traditional mainstream religion. Unitarianism welcomes people of all faiths and none ...
excluding no one.
Returning to the Disneyland introduction, for so many years that same voiceover went
on to say ... "And now your host, Walt Disney."
My special “host”, and elder brother, is Jesus Christ whom I regard not only as Way-
Shower but also, in my own special Unitarian way, as my personal Saviour and Lord, for
he shows me the way out of selfishness, which lies at the heart of all sin, and by means
of his vicarious spirituality and overcoming, delivers me out of what would otherwise be
a perpetual state of bondage to ego-self, self-centredness and self-absorption.
Whilst I accept the supremacy and moral leadership of Jesus, and see him as God’s
anointed Son of Man (God’s “best child”, so to speak), I am a non-exclusivistic Unitarian
Christian who is also a Buddhist, having taken the Three Refuges as well as the Five
Precepts. I therefore draw considerable spiritual and moral inspiration from the Buddha
(whom I regard, not as God or even a Son of God, but as the supreme “Awakened One”
and a “good friend” [his own self-description]). I also draw spiritual and moral inspiration
from other great religious teachers, leaders and prophets ... and all Unitarians are free
to do likewise.
-oo0oo-
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