Linking Justice with Faith

Like the Hebrew prophets of old, Unitarian Universalists are called to “speak truth to power” and “let justice roll down like waters and righteousness like an ever-flowing stream.

“Prophetic Unitarian Universalist congregations …

  • draw from the deepest parts of Unitarian and Universalist theology, committing themselves to the wisdom of those theologies,
  • … embody radical caring—radical in the sense of the very roots of the place, its central mission, and
  • … orient themselves squarely toward the future [grounding themselves in a hope that is a spiritually disciplined commitment to action].” (Rev. Meg Riley)

As Unitarian Universalists, our work for social justice is religious or spiritual work and must be firmly grounded in our Unitarian Universalist heritage, theology, and values.

As so, when we speak out, stand up, and take action for social justice as Unitarian Universalists, “we need to speak out not simply as liberals, but as religious liberals. Supporting liberal causes and taking liberal positions on political and social issues are not enough—we need to show that these positions are religiously grounded. To speak “religiously,” [however,] does not necessarily require the use of traditional religious language. It simply requires [us to identify our] religious faith or values as one of the sources of [our] social witness or action.” (Rev. Paul Rasor)

And it is our faith–our faith that the moral arc of the universe bends towards justice and that “we are the ones we’ve been waiting for”–that gives us the courage, strength, hope, and compassion to persevere in our work for justice when the road is hard and the night is dark.

Resources for linking the social justice work of Unitarian Universalists with our faith through worship, small group ministry, music, singing, prayer, reading, reflection, learning, discussion, study, and personal spiritual practice, include: