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Resistance and Transformation: Unitarian Universalist Social Justice History

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Resistance and Transformation: Unitarian Universalist Social Justice History RESISTANCE AND TRANSFORMATION: UNITARIAN UNIVERSALIST SOCIAL JUSTICE HISTORY A Tapestry of Faith Program for Adults BY REV. COLIN BOSSEN AND REV. JULIA HAMILTON © Copyright 2011 Unitarian Universalist Association. This program and additional resources are available on the UUA.org web site at www.uua.org/re/tapestry 1 TABLE OF CONTENTS WORKSHOP 1: INTRODUCTIONS................................................................................................................... 16 WORKSHOP 2: PROPHETIC, PARALLEL, AND INSTITUTIONAL ............................................................. 27 WORKSHOP 3: THE RESPONSE TO SLAVERY ............................................................................................ 42 WORKSHOP 4: THE NINETEENTH CENTURY WOMEN'S PEACE MOVEMENT .................................... 58 WORKSHOP 5: JUST WAR, PACIFISM, AND PEACEMAKING .................................................................. 77 WORKSHOP 6: RELIGIOUS FREEDOM ON THE MARGINS OF EMPIRE ................................................. 96 WORKSHOP 7: UTOPIANISM ........................................................................................................................ 106 WORKSHOP 8: COUNTER-CULTURE .......................................................................................................... 117 WORKSHOP 9: FREE SPEECH ....................................................................................................................... 128 WORKSHOP 10: TAKING POLITICS PUBLIC .............................................................................................. 144 WORKSHOP 11: CIVIL RIGHTS ..................................................................................................................... 166 WORKSHOP 12: RESPONDING TO CALLS FOR BLACK EMPOWERMENT .......................................... 180 WORKSHOP 13: THE WOMEN'S MOVEMENT ............................................................................................ 196 WORKSHOP 14: SEXUALITY EDUCATION AS A JUSTICE ISSUE .......................................................... 210 WORKSHOP 15: BEYOND BINARIES – THE STRUGGLE FOR LESBIAN, GAY, BISEXUAL, AND TRANSGENDER EQUALITY .......................................................................................................................... 226 WORKSHOP 16: IS THERE MORE? ............................................................................................................... 244 Note: If you add or delete text in this program, you may change the accuracy of the Table of Contents. The Table of Contents is an auto-generated list; if you change content and want an accurate representation of the page numbers listed in the TOC, click the table and click “Update Field.” Then, click “Update page numbers only.” Click OK. 2 ABOUT THE AUTHORS The Rev. Colin Bossen is a Ph.D. candidate in American Studies at Harvard University. He is a graduate of Meadville- Lombard Theological School, was ordained by the Unitarian Universalist Church of Long Beach in 2007 and served as minister of the Unitarian Universalist Society of Cleveland, Ohio, from 2007 to 2012. He writes at Colin Bossen: Writer, Preacher, Organizer. Rev. Julia Hamilton, a Harvard Divinity School graduate, was co-ordained in 2010 by the Unitarian Church in Summit (New Jersey) and the Fourth Universalist Society in the City of New York. Currently director of the Unitarian Universalist Legislative Ministry of New Jersey, a statewide action network, in May, 2011 Julia begins serving the Santa Monica congregation as assistant minister. Previously, she was a WorshipWeb coordinator for the Unitarian Universalist Association and has preached in congregations in Massachusetts, New York, Louisiana, and New Jersey. Raised a Unitarian Universalist in New Orleans, Julia has returned to lead volunteer groups working to rebuild the city. Prior to ministry, Julia worked in theater and television, living in Los Angeles and New York City. Julia, her husband Adam, their daughter Cassia, and their cat Smeagol live in the historic downtown of Jersey City. ACKNOWLEDGMENTS We would like to thank Neil McLean for setting us down the path of studying our Unitarian Universalist social justice legacy. Without him this program would never have come into being. We are grateful for our editor, Gail Forsyth-Vail. Without her patience, hard work, and helpful criticism, this project would be the lesser. The Rev. Dr. Mark Morrison-Reed, the Rev. Farley Wheelwright, the Rev. Victor Carpenter, and the Rev. Gordon Gibson all read and offered advice on segments of this program. We appreciate their wise counsel; any mistakes that remain in the manuscript are wholly our own. We thank the family of the Rev. Albert D'Orlando and the First Unitarian Universalist Church in New Orleans, the Rev. Jack Mendelsohn, and Michael Ferber for sharing their stories with us. Much of this work depended on information from the Unitarian Universalist archives at Andover Theological Library and the indispensable help of librarians Fran O'Donnell and Gloria Korsman. Additionally, we appreciate the support of our congregations and employers: the Unitarian Universalist Society of Cleveland, the Unitarian Church in Summit (New Jersey), and the Unitarian Universalist Legislative Ministry of New Jersey. Last, but not least, we thank our families for all the encouragement and love they have given us to complete this project. We gratefully acknowledge the use with permission of the following material: "Sharing the Floor: Some Strategies for Effective Group Facilitation (at www.uua.org/religiouseducation/adults/151805.shtml)," by Judith A. Frediani, from the website of the Unitarian Universalist Association. "Embattled Faith," by Neil Shister, which appeared in the July/August 2003 issue of UU World. "Prophetic Nonviolence" by Paul Rasor, which appeared in the Spring 2008 issue of UU World. Fundraising brochure prepared by the First Unitarian Church of Los Angeles in 1954. "The Church and the Draft Resisters," a sermon preached by the Rev. Jack Mendelsohn on October 22, 1967 at Arlington Street Church, Boston. Albert D'Orlando obituary from a March 3, 1998 New Orleans Times-Picayune article by Mark Schliefstein. The article (at www.ahaha.com/d%27orlandoalbert.html) is reprinted on the website of the annual D'Orlando Lecture on Social Justice. "Southern Unitarian Universalists in the Civil Rights Era — A Story of Small Acts of Great Courage," edited and excerpted from a presentation by the Rev. Gordon D. Gibson under auspices of the Unitarian Universalist Historical Society at the General Assembly of the Unitarian Universalist Association, June 23, 2000, Nashville, Tennessee. "Characteristics of Racially Integrated Unitarian Universalist Congregations" by the Rev. Dr. Mark Morrison-Reed. "Honor Thy Womanself — The Caucus" and "Freedom," written by the Arlington Street Church Woman's Caucus and published in the "Honor Thy Womanself" program by the Unitarian Universalist Woman's Federation, 1973. "Thirty Years of Feminist Transformation (at www.uuworld.org/ideas/articles/23905.shtml)" by Kimberly French which originally appeared in UU World, Summer 2007. Copyright Kimberly French 2007. 3 "There was a Young Woman who Swallowed a Lie," by Meredith Tax, from the text of the Arlington Street Church Women's Caucus worship service. "From Liberation to Health: The New UUA Sexuality Curriculum," by Dan Kennedy, originally published in UU World Sept/Oct 1999. Copyright 1999 by Dan Kennedy. All rights reserved. "Loving Our Whole Lives," a sermon preached at the Unitarian Church of Montreal by the Rev. Diane Rollert, March 1, 2009. "The Welcoming Congregation" by Donald E. Skinner, originally published in UU World, June 2, 2006. "Benediction" from Telling Our Stories, Celebrating Ourselves by the Women and Religion Task Force. Published by the Pacific Central District, UUA, 1998. PREFACE Certain names and events related to our social justice legacy have become familiar to many Unitarian Universalists, even if we cannot recite the details: The March to Selma during the Civil Rights movement, the abolitionist stance of ministers like Theodore Parker and Ralph Waldo Emerson, the work of women like Susan B. Anthony toward gender equality. However, these "high-profile" cases provide just a glimpse of the rich and complicated history of Unitarian Universalist engagement with social change. This program moves beyond familiar stories into a deep exploration of our history. It provides an opportunity for those who are interested in transformative justice work to delve into primary source material, to hear stories less commonly told but just as important, and to make connections between this history and modern Unitarian Universalist practice. Playwright Tony Kushner once said, "We must participate in the historical mistakes of our time." Unitarians, Universalists, and Unitarian Universalists have always been subject to the events, cultures, and understandings of the times in which we live and the struggles that define our era. We can find patterns of engagement and theological growth and examples of personal courage and institutional strength in the stories from our social justice history. We also find failures, disappointments, and ignorance. We can learn from it all. This program leads Unitarian Universalists to ask the justice questions that pertain to our lives, congregations, and society today, and provides models of action that inspire us to take on the social justice challenges of our era.
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