Our religious teachers, ministers and lay-men alike—from Thomas Jefferson to William Ellery Channing to Adlai Stevenson—have urged us to honor always the primacy of conscience over any external authority which we believe to be immoral... Thus it is natural that some of our young men must regard...

We consider the House Committee's inquiry into speakers, meetings and activities of the church an attack upon our institution and on all organized religion and our nation's tradition of the free conscience and the open mind....

Those who find the more conventional communities unsatisfactory sometimes band together to form a new kind of community—an experiment. The kibbutz, Brook Farm, Amana, and Summerhill are diverse examples of such communities. On a limited basis, LRY is also an experimental community. Sharing...

Those of us who are alive in these times have a clear and evident mission. We have a compelling moral purpose that can direct our lives and our energies: We are about saving the world. So what is our part? The place is to begin at home—that is, with ourselves. Notice what is life-denying and...

...though we are forced to dissent from them in matters of church discipline, yet our dissent is not taken up out of arrogance of spirit in ourselves, whom they see willingly condescend to learn of them, neither is it carrier with uncharitable censoriousness towards them, both which are the prope...

...the citizen, before fighting, is bound to inquire into the justice of the cause which he is called to maintain with blood, and bound to withhold his hand if his conscience condemn the cause. — William Ellery Channing This week, when reading, watching, or listening to the news, pay attention to...

Oppression and war will be heard of no more Nor the blood of a slave leave his print on our shore, Conventions will then be a useless expense, For we'll all go free suffrage, a hundred years hence. — Frances Dana Barker Gage, in her 1875 hymn "A Hundred Years Hence" Few of the early women's...

As the Unitarian denomination should be ashamed of its antislavery conduct as a religious body, so it should be justly proud of the men and women who as individuals chose love of freedom over thoughts of expediency. — Douglas Stange, in "Patterns of Antislavery among American Unitarians,...

We would have every path laid open to Woman as freely as to Man. Were this done, and a slight temporary fermentation allowed to subside, we should see crystallizations more pure and of more various beauty....

I do not pretend to understand the moral universe; the arc is a long one... And from what I see I am sure it bends towards justice. — Theodore Parker, 19th-century Unitarian minister and abolitionist Reflect on your reasons for participating in this workshop series. What do you hope to learn or...

We humans are deeply, fundamentally, inescapably, relational beings. Our spirituality, our experiences of the sacred, revolves around how we relate to ourselves, to each other, to the cosmos. — Rev. Peter Morales, in Bringing Gifts, a publication of the Latino/a Unitarian Universalist Networking...

With humility and courage born of our history, we are called as Unitarian Universalists to build the Beloved Community where all souls are welcome as blessings, and the human family lives whole and reconciled. — from "A Vision for Unitarian Universalism in a Multicultural World" by the Unitarian...

Unitarian Universalists have a role to play as healers and repairers of the broken world we have inherited from our ancestors. Our congregations have a role to play as places to practice—to rehearse—Beloved Community for the benefit of future generations. — Taquiena Boston, Director of...

In my vision of a beloved community, I see a dazzling, light-filled, breathtakingly beautiful mosaic, a gigantic, all-encompassing mosaic, where each of us can see, can really see, and deeply appreciate each piece. We know that each piece is of immeasurable value....

It seems likely that the problem of the twenty-first century will be that of the multiple color lines embedded in the American social order. — Claire Jean Kim, Asian American scholar Read Handout 2, Not By Ourselves Alone, and reflect on the Rev. Bowens-Wheatley's words. What images or phrases...

It is far better to see the same place through 100 pairs of eyes, than 100 different places through the same pair of eyes. — Marcel Proust Examine your notes, artifacts, and photos from the field trip and reflect on new insights you have gained. Prepare to share three new insights at the next...

The second kind of (multicultural) community consists of a time and place where these different monocultural communities can encounter each other in true dialogue. This requires the leaders of the communities to be intentional about drawing culturally diverse people together. — Eric H. F. Law, in...

Wherever I go this year, leaders are telling me stories of what their congregations are doing to address issues of race and class. From film series to book groups to newly formed congregational task forces to deal with issues of oppression, the actions of UU congregations tell me that the 2006...

... for all the significant identities that constitute each of us, there is a personal essence that defines who we are, a singular soul that is hidden deep within beyond the layers of identity that protect it. When we make initial contact with each other, we only see the outside of that soul at...

Our schools and the social environment in this country have not prepared us to be competent dealing with race and multiculturalism. This is unfinished business in America, in the UUA, and in our congregations. — Paula Cole Jones Notice in your own life where you participate—or could...