Unitarian, Universalist and Unitarian Universalist Martyrs

For my congregation’s Day of the Dead service on Sunday I am reading a list of Unitarian, Universalist and Unitarian Universalist martyrs. The list includes a number of proto-Unitarians or proto-Universalists. I include these people because they were killed because they held a unitarian or universalist theology. My source for this list is primarily This Day In Unitarian Universalist History by Frank Schulman (who following up on my last post had Jewish ancestry). If anyone out there has some additions they’d like made to the list let me know…
 
Ludwig Hetzer, beheaded and burned for renouncing the doctrine of the Trinity, Switzerland, 1529.
Katherine Weigel, burned at the stake, Poland, 1539.
Stephen Dolet, burned at the stake for denying the Trinity, France, 1546.
George Van Paris, burned at the stake for Unitarian beliefs, England, 1551.
Michael Servetus, burned at the stake for his anti-Trinitarian beliefs, Switzerland, 1553.
Patrick Patingham, burned at the stake for his Arian views, 1555.
Giulo Guirlada, executed by drowning for his membership in a Unitarian society, Italy, 1562.
Giovanni Gentile, beheaded for Unitarian Beliefs, Switzerland, 1566.
Ferancesco Sega de Rovigo, executed by drowning for his membership in a Unitarian society, Italy, 1566.
Hermann van Flekyk, burned at the stake our denying the Trinity, Flanders (now Belgium), 1569.
Francis David, died after being imprisoned for his beliefs, Transylvania, 1579.
Matthew Hamont, burned at the stake for denying the divinity of Christ, England, 1579.
John Palaeogos of Chios, burned at the stake for teaching that Christ should not be worshiped, Italy, 1585.
John Tyscovicius, beheaded when he would not swear an oath to the Trinity, Poland, 1611.
Iwan Tyzkiewiczm, beheaded for refusing to renounce his Unitarian Faith, Poland, 1611.
Bartholomew Legate, burned at the stake for advocating Unitarian beliefs, England, 1612.
Edward Wightman, the last person in England burned at the stake for heresy, a Unitarian, 1612.
John Biddle, died from a disease contracted in prison after being jailed for heresy, England, 1662.
Henry Vane, beheaded for Universalist beliefs, England, 1662.
Stanislaus Lubieniecius, Jr., poisoned, 1675.
Thomas Aikenhead, hanged for blasphemy, Scotland, 1697.
Norbert Capek, creator of the Flower Celebration service, this Czech Unitarian minister was murdered by Nazis, 1942.
James Reeb, killed during the marches for civil rights in Selma, Alabama, 1965.
Viola Liuzzo, killed during the marches for civil rights in Selma, Alabama, 1965.
Toribio Quimada, a Universalist minister assassinated by people opposed to his work as a liberal religious leader, the Philippines, 1988. 
Greg McKendry and Linda Kreager, Unitarian Universalists killed during a congregational event, 2008. 
And the many jailed or exiled for their beliefs including Joseph Priestley, Abneer Kneeland, Richard Coppin, Michael Cellarius, John Webberly, Tobias Arcissevius, Jeremiah Felbinger, Faustus Socinus, Coelius Secundus Curio, Conrad Vorstius, Claude of Savoy, Laelius Socinus, George Blandrata, Matteo Gribaldo, Christopher Sandius, Paul Best, Thomas Emlyn, Harry Toulmin, John Matthews, Samuel Naeranus, Conrad Vorstius, George de Benneville, Nicholas Dumler, Jonas Schlichtingius, Sebastian Franck, Martin Cellarius, Hermann Montanus, Andrew Wissowatius, Jr., Bernardino Ochino, Christopher Crellius and John Assheton.

POSTED BY Administrator ON 10.30.09 @ 3:50 pm | 2 Comments

The First American Congress of Liberal Religious Societies

As someone who was raised Unitaran Universalist but has both Jewish and Protestant ancestors I have always been interested in the intersections between Unitarianism (and now Unitarian Universalism) and various variants of Judaism. While researching something else entirely today I stumbled across a reference to The First American Congress of Liberal Religious Societies. The Congress met at Sinai Temple in Chicago and represented Unitarian, Universalist, Reform Jewish and Ethical Culture congregations. The proceedings of the meeting are available on-line and maybe sometime I’ll get around to reading them. This is also not the first time I’ve stumbled across interchanges between Reform Jews and Unitarians. While researching the curriculum I am writing as part of Tapestry of Faith last year I discovered a whole series of speeches by Rabbis given at the May Meetings of the AUA in the 1900s and 1910s. There’s a great essay waiting to be written by someone on the interchange between Unitarianism and Judaism out there…

POSTED BY Administrator ON @ 2:51 pm | 0 Comments

Beyond the Burning River

Preached at the Unitarian Universalist Society of Cleveland, October 25, 2009

Over the next decades Greater Cleveland will survive and thrive or struggle and decline as a single entity. Cleveland Heights, Beachwood, Shaker Heights, Lakewood, Lorain, the city of Cleveland itself or any other community in the region will rise or fall with the region as a whole. Our future is, in the words of Martin Luther King, Jr., caught up in "an inescapable network of mutuality, tied in a single garment of destiny." This point was brought home to me this past summer when my family and I were in Paris. 

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POSTED BY Administrator ON 10.27.09 @ 3:10 pm | 2 Comments

Four More Sermons On-line

Four recent and not so recent sermons are now on-line:

Standing on the Side of Love (October 4, 2009)
The Bounty of the Earth (March 22, 2009)
In Search of Redemption (March 8, 2009)
Generation to Generation (March 1, 2009)

POSTED BY Administrator ON 10.20.09 @ 3:48 pm | 0 Comments

What the Bible Really Says About Homosexuality

Preached at the Unitarian Universalist Society of Cleveland, October 11, 2009*
This should be a very brief sermon. The answer to today’s rhetorical question is actually delightfully short. To the query "What does the Bible say about homosexuality?" one should respond nothing. Unfortunately, the confusion that some people have over what the Bible says and the subsequent way that they use their confusion to try to oppress members of the GLBT community requires a longer response.
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POSTED BY Administrator ON 10.16.09 @ 2:52 pm | 0 Comments

A Rough Outline of Leviticus

My project of reading the Bible is going a little slower than I hoped. At this point I had planned to be through Judges but today I just finished Leviticus. Outlining the books, even when I am just working writing my first impression outline rather than creating a refined one, seems to take quite a bit longer than I had anticipated. I suspect that this means I might not finish the project of reading the whole Bible by June. If that happens it will be no great tragedy. I will just continue to plug away until I complete both scriptures. With that said, my rough outline follows below.

Leviticus Outline

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POSTED BY Administrator ON 10.15.09 @ 3:27 pm | 0 Comments

Five New Sermons On-line

This week I put five of my sermons on-line. Over the next few months I should complete put up the backlog of sermons I acquired while our web-site was in transition. Read the new sermons on-line by clicking on the links below:

The God of Abraham (September 27, 2009)
A Joyful Welcoming Religious Community (September 20, 2009)
In Every Generation (April 19, 2009)
Trauma and Recovery (April 12, 2009)
An American Religion (April 5, 2009)

POSTED BY Administrator ON 10.01.09 @ 9:46 am | 0 Comments