One year on: how our movement is responding to the Trump administration
Last year the General Assembly passed a resolution, expressing concern about the Trump administration’s “brazen disregard for the truth, demonisation of diversity and vulnerable minorities, and increasingly belligerent rhetoric towards other sovereign nations.”
We pledged solidarity with the Unitarian Universalist Association and asked our congregations to write to their MPs.
Now, as events in the US escalate, we’re seeing how that disregard for the truth is playing out. Thousands of Unitarian Universalists have joined clergy from all faiths and none to stand up for human rights in Minnesota. They marched and sang and prayed in Minneapolis, sending a powerful, unified message: that love is greater than ICE. But as this video from UUA minister Rev Dr Oscar Sinclair shows, ministers face arrest and persecution just for bearing witness to the events.
Now our congregations are standing together to show their support for our allies in the States. Unitarianism has always moved against injustice and this is no different.
What’s happening now
A number of Unitarian ministers have released a statement condemning the Trump administration. They write:
“As Unitarian Ministers we are appalled to witness the collapse of good governance at the highest office of the American state. In current American domestic policy we see a pattern emerging which has chilling echoes of the worst times in European history. Therefore we condemn especially all those who enable and facilitate this domineering, corrupt and incompetent leadership both in the American system and worldwide.”
They specifically condemn the actions of ICE and Homeland Security against marginalised communities, the invasion of Venezuela and appropriation of its resources, and the belligerent rhetoric toward other nations.
The ministers call on congregations to “amplify the concerns expressed in this letter and to address them to their parliamentary representatives. We will protest against further compliance with the Trump administration in any form.”
Across congregations, people are responding in different ways. Some are writing to their MPs. Others are incorporating these sentiments into worship. Some are reaching out to sister congregations in America, and others are sharing information, listening, thinking it through with others.
If you want to help, please see our Facebook video here, or email global@uua.org with your messages of solidarity. They are well-read by our friends in the UUA across the pond, and they are very grateful for your support.
Full statement from Unitarian ministers
As Unitarian Ministers we are appalled to witness the collapse of good governance at the highest office of the American state. In current American domestic policy we see a pattern emerging which has chilling echoes of the worst times in European history. Therefore we condemn especially all those who enable and facilitate this domineering, corrupt and incompetent leadership both in the American system and worldwide.
We stand unequivocally with our ministerial colleagues in America both from our sister denomination the Unitarian Universalist Association and allied denominations and faith groups who gather in Minneapolis to actively resist the repressive policies enacted by ICE agents and Homeland Security forces and we join with our colleagues and all people of good faith who protest and decry the victimisation of marginalised communities in Minnesota and elsewhere.
We also condemn the invasion of Venezuela, the kidnap of its leader and the appropriation of its resources as illegal under international law and a clear contravention of the UN Charter Article 2(4). We believe that this action contributes to de-stabilisation and continues the precedent seen in Ukraine and in Gaza that seems to present might as right, and projects armed power as the only arbiter in political or territorial dispute. This we reject utterly.
We note with alarm the warlike comments made by President Trump and his administration regarding Greenland and we deplore the ethical weakness demonstrated by leaders of the international community who fail to explicitly resist President Trump and his administration. We believe that International law based on acknowledged moral principles must be upheld regardless of regional interests.
We call on our congregations and our leadership to amplify the concerns expressed in this letter and to address them to their parliamentary representatives. We will protest against further compliance with the Trump administration in any form including state visits or other activities that may encourage or normalise its actions.
Rev’d. Jo James, Rev’d. Peter Hewis, Rev’d. Lynne Readett, Rev’d. Margaret Kirk, Rev’d Sue Wooley, Rev’d. Anna Jarvis, Rev’d. David Usher, Rev’d. Jim Corrigall, Rev’d. David Steers, Rev’d. Adam Slate, Rev’d. Arek Malecki, Rev’d.Stephanie Bisby, Rev’d. Chris Goacher, Rev’d. Kate McKenna, Rev’d. Andi Phillips, Rev’d. Elizabeth Harley, Rev’d. Feargus O’Connor, Rev’d. John Carter, Rev’d. Winnie Gordon, Pastor Kath Forder, Rev’d. Lewis Rees
General Assembly resolution 2025
This General Assembly of Unitarian and Free Christian Churches
i) recognises, with concern, the increasingly authoritarian stance taken by the Trump administration in the USA and particularly notes the administration’s:
a) brazen disregard for the truth
b) demonisation of diversity and of vulnerable minorities
c) disempowerment of women
d) increasingly belligerent rhetoric towards other sovereign nations
ii) stands in solidarity with the Unitarian Universalist Association of America and with all Americans who uphold the truth and the marginalised
iii) recognises, with sadness, the need for greater caution regarding US influence over UK public life and policy.
Accordingly, it requests that Unitarians write to their MPs, and that the Chief Officer writes to the Prime Minister, urging that the UK Government resists making concessions to court favour with the Trump administration.