All Discussions

“We Quit” Letter To:  UUMA Board of Trustees                                                               September 15, 2020 From:  Disaffected Colleagues We write to express our profound disappointment with recent developments in the UUMA and its new norms of thought, behavior, and procedure.  We highlight below three of the most relevant events of the past year or so. Public Letters of … Read more

At this year’s virtual General Assembly the Commission on Institutional Change (COIC) released its final report entitled Widening the Circle of Concern. This report was commissioned by the UUA Board of Trustees in April 2017 when they declared that the UUA was based on white supremacy culture.  Below is a review of that report by … Read more

The 7 Essays of Ms. Elissa Lowe “What the Gadfly Papers Gets Wrong” A Reply By Frank Casper   Section 1: It’s not OK to Be Wrong I think perhaps the first thing I want say of Ms. Lowes lengthy piece about Gadfly is that just on the surface, before any close reading, it appears … Read more

by Frank Casper It is important before reading this piece that the reader know that it is largely about theology, and specifically about theology at the UUA as presented at this year’s General Assembly. I am writing it because it is something I have always been interested in and believe to be important. I believe … Read more

With the close of the UUA’s 2020 General Assembly on June 28, 2020, there is one thing that is abundantly clear. There is now an official and concerted effort to redefine UUism. UUA leadership is not proactively responding to an uprising for change from individual members or local congregations. If the logic of the denominational … Read more

June the 6th I started a Facebook Group named after this site, Fifth Principle Project. The first post concerned some questions I wanted to ask of our new moderators, the Rev. Meg Riley and Charles Du Mond. I also emailed those questions to the moderators, with a link to the FB page,  at the email … Read more

June 12, 2020 All, Over a number of years the Rev. Dr. Todd Eklof grew increasingly alarmed by a disturbing trend he noticed in Unitarian Universalist leadership circles – a move away from the historic liberal, democratic principles that had drawn him (and many, many others) into the Unitarian Universalist community, towards authoritarian, dogmatic, top … Read more

From Ministerial Fellowship Committee to Rev. Dr. Eklof Dear UUA Religious Professionals and Lay Leaders – I write to inform you that the Ministerial Fellowship Committee (MFC) voted on June 5th to remove the Rev. Dr. Todd Eklof from fellowship with the Unitarian Universalist Association. The decision was made based on the Rev. Dr. Eklof’s … Read more

by Jay Kiskel I was reading the May 24, 2020 Sunday New York Times when I came across a full-page editorial entitled, “Why Does the U.S. Military Celebrate White Supremacy?” I immediately thought about the UUA. It is somewhat of an ironic marketing coup that the UUA has become so identified with such an odious … Read more

We, like everyone in the nation, altered our lives to address the coronavirus pandemic. We have found a new footing and rhythm with plans now to resume posting discussions before the end of April. Looking forward to your comments. Everyone, please stay safe and healthy.