A Unitarian Universalist Crisis of Faith

I am a Unitarian Universalist. At least, still am. In January 2026, I attended the “Side with Love” meeting of the UUA online. At one point, the moderator was listing the things that make us, as UUs, against Donald Trump. One thing she listed was that Trump captured Nicolas Maduro and then, she took great care to emphasize that Maduro was the “duly elected” president of Venezuela.

Well, not really. Not really at all. We may not believe what the US State Department lists at their website: that 50 countries don’t recognize him as the duly elected leader, but many independent sources question the results of that election, such as the January 2025 article by Javier Corrales and Dorothy Kronick “How Maduro Stole Venezuela’s Vote” in the Journal of Democracy. I think it’s safe to say that Nicolas Maduro was most certainly NOT duly elected.

My point isn’t to say that the moderator kind of goofed, but to point out that she emphasized the goof in such a way as to make it crystal clear that it wasn’t about the actuality - it was about saying everything Trump did was bad in order to bolster the political left wing position of Unitarian Universalism.

I don’t know about you, but that’s not what I want from my religion.

Here’s the thing, it isn’t really about truth anymore, it’s about confirming our own bias, using questionable or blatantly false statements to verify our own beliefs. Both sides do it of course. But why is religion in the business of just being and confirming any bias, rather than establishing truth?

Despite its artificial nature, I asked AI (specifically Google’s Gemini) “What happens when instead of seeking truth, you seek justification of your own political views?” a question without the religious overtones of my previous paragraphs.

Here’s its answer: “[that] it leads to confirmation bias, motivated reasoning, increased polarization, and the formation of echo chambers, where facts are ignored or twisted… fostering an environment where misinformation thrives, eroding trust, and hindering productive discourse because individuals become more entrenched in their beliefs, even when presented with contrary evidence.“

Despite my question itself having some bias to it, I still think it’s a valid question.

And, here’s a leap: I do think it's a big part of the continued decline in membership of Unitarian Universalist congregations since 2010. It could actually be that when people seek religious or spiritual belonging that they are not looking for a club that justifies a type of political belief.

I was reviewing a sermon by Rev. Dr. John Morgan from the earlier days (about 1995) of the revival of Unitarian Universalism in Central Pennsylvania when I took pause and remembered the Side with Love meeting. In 1995 Rev. Dr. Morgan said Unitarian Universalism was growing at a rate of 2%, less than the 5% reported in 1940, which, by the way, even in 1940, Rev. Dr. Morgan noted that Frederick May Eliot, the President of the then “AUA” thought that 5% growth wasn’t enough.

Today, when I googled if Unitarian Universalism was still growing, I got this:

“Unitarian Universalism (UU) in the U.S. has seen a decline or stagnation in official membership numbers since its peak in the 2000s, with figures dropping from over 160,000 to around 150,000 members in recent years, though it attracts a larger group of self-identified individuals, [it] is not experiencing significant percentage growth. 

While official membership declined, a 2024 Public Religion Research Institute (PRRI) study found around 1.3 million Americans identified as UU, suggesting a broader cultural resonance or affinity beyond formal congregational ties.”

Jay, my husband, thinks that the ever-growing activism of many liberal religions like the UUA and UCC make it a hotbed of confirmation bias and not of truth. It may be easier for us to see that that is what has happened on the right in the USA with conservative religion, than to take a hard look at ourselves.

Now, just like it said about more people identifying with the ideas of UUism without being members of UU congregations, we have people growing in conservative right wing beliefs with christian nationalist views without actually belonging to a religious organization. And that seems to be turning into our current government.

I think that’s only increased our polarization and all of the pitfalls of that polarization.

So what do we do about this?

I, for one, think that we should respond to people’s needs. If they are cold, make them warm. If they are hungry, feed them. If they are being hunted and imprisoned without due process, protect them. We can do those things without attacking those who believe differently or telling falsehoods to help justify why we don’t like a political leader.

If we are not in armed conflict, we don’t protect others by putting ourselves in harm's way, because then there may be no one left to protect or do the protecting. Instead, we plan how to do it legally, and have strategies that can harbor and hide. That’s how slaves were helped and slavery eventually ended. It wasn’t done confronting rampaging slave owners in the street. Why? Because it was too late when the slave catchers arrived.

I know. But where can we go when the whole country has no geography that could be at least somewhat safe? 

You know what? Fugitive slave laws also covered the entire country, over a period of about 70 years up to the civil war. Think about that, and think about committing to something that may not be just up to the next election. Never mind that Congress could write and pass immigration laws that made things clearer and made much less of a mess of immigration.

We can hope that the current state of affairs won’t lead to more civil strife that becomes an actual civil war, but our crystal balls are a little dirty - with our confirmation bias.

Let us, right now, commit to where we are, who we can help here, and get to work doing just that. There are cold people. There are hungry people. There are those seeking refuge. Pick one of these things and start today.