I can understand the Pentagon wanting to cut down on the number of religions it recognizes and the omission of some of the more marginal faiths, but I was shocked by the omission of Unitarian Universalists and do not think it was either thoughtless or accidental. Unitarians are not a small denomination, and they provide a religious safe harbor for many interfaith families as my own experience illustrates. A member of a lay Christian church, I nevertheless wanted a clergy-person to officiate at my wedding and wanted it held in a church. My fiancé was concerned that his Jewish parents would not feel comfortable in a Christian church, so we settled on the Unitarian pastor in my hometown and were married in her church.
Unitarians sent missions to Nazi-occupied Europe to rescue Jews. They helped to organize the white ministers who marched from Selma to Montgomery with Martin Luther King Jr. And it will not surprise you to know that Unitarians are in the vanguard of many anti-ICE protests. That, of course, is the real reason they have been struck from the Pentagon’s list of acknowledged faiths. Their omission is yet another attack on free speech and should be vigorously protested to the highest levels of government.
Kathe Geist
Charlemont