Dr. Anthony Pinn is the Agnes Cullen Arnold Professor of Humanities and Professor of Religious Studies at Rice University. He serves as a trustee of Meadville Lombard Theological School. This article is abridged, with permission, from one published in Religious Humanism (Winter-Spring 1998)....

Sometimes, freedom is a long time coming. It may take generations upon generations for justice to be won. Our Unitarian ancestor Reverend Theodore Parker said, "I do not pretend to understand the moral universe: the arc is a long one...

Read the story aloud, and ask the questions as they come up to encourage interaction and deeper thinking about the concepts. Or, if you are familiar enough with the ideas, tell the story in your own words, being sure to emphasize the four themes: freedom of thought, or noncreedalism; on-going...

Juliette Hampton Morgan was the only child of Frank and Lila Morgan of Montgomery, Alabama. Her white skin and family pedigree gave her entrance to the finest shops, restaurants, galleries and concert halls. For much of Juliette's life, her privilege meant someone else did her laundry, cooked her...

In 1951, the congregation of First Unitarian Church of Cleveland decided to move from its building at the corner of 82nd and Euclid in downtown Cleveland to suburban Shaker Heights. This move was motivated by the economic decline of the Hough (pronounced "how") neighborhood where the church was...

In February of 1965, the United States was at another turning point in the Civil Rights Movement. The Civil Rights Act had been passed in 1964, but critical rights were still not legally secured for African Americans. Black men and women routinely faced physical violence, biased "literacy tests,"...

James Reeb's calling emerged slowly, but steadily. He had grown up in Casper, Wyoming, where he met and married his wife Marie. A devout and conservative Christian, after college James began preparation for the Presbyterian ministry. While in seminary, he began to question his faith....

Adapted from a story by Jessica York. The song is an African American spiritual. This story is best told in pairs. One volunteer sings the song at the beginning and later in the story, while the other volunteer narrates the story....

Ain't gonna let nobody Turn me 'round Turn me 'round Turn me round Ain't gonna let nobody Turn me 'round Gonna keep on a-walkin' Keep on a-talkin' Walking up to freedom land. — African American spiritual The protesters sang and chanted on the 50-mile march from Selma to Montgomery, Alabama. The...

Copy the story, and distribute the individual narratives to participants to read aloud. Eliza Cabot Follen My name is Eliza Lee Cabot Follen. In the early 19th century, I was an active member of abolitionist societies in Boston and Cambridge, Massachusetts along with my husband, a Unitarian...