Note Bene: This is a revised version of the original petition. Please sign this petition noting the name of the congregation you are a member of. Thanks!

A RESPONSE TO THE PROPOSED REVISION OF THE UUA PURPOSES AND PRINCIPLES

TOGETHER WE CAN DO BETTER

We undersigned members of UU congregations, are grateful to the Commission on Appraisal and  Board of Trustees of the UUA for their efforts, and to those individual UUs who have contributed to this conversation so far. However, since discussion is permitted at General Assembly on the proposed revisions of Article II of the UUA By-laws, but amendments to the proposal are not, we call for further Association-wide discussion for a period of one year, by means of a vote by GA delegates to either table or turn down the proposed resolution at the 2009 GA.

Among other things, we wish to discuss whether the narrative history created by putting the sources portion of the article first, adequately describes either Unitarianism or Universalism, or the nearly half century of development of Unitarian Universalism.  And if this one narrative among many is accurate, is it the most appropriate one to represent our religious movement to newcomers and to the world. Does it tell our story?

We also wish further discussion on whether claims such as UUism being "rooted in thousands of years of Jewish and Christian teachings" and "draw(ing) from the teachings, practices and wisdom of the world religions" accurately represent the range of religious practices and positions that make up our present day movement, or are adequate to carry us into the future.