Action of Immediate Witness: World on Fire: Humanitarian Work and Climate Change

Primary Proposer: Amelia Hanley of One Island Family in Key West, Florida
Additional Proposer: Rev. Robert Murphy of St. Petersburg, FL

Immediate Concerns: The National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration (NOAA) reports that the year 2023 was the hottest year in recorded history for planet Earth. Major storms, wildfires, droughts, and other disasters were reported on all of the inhabited continents.

More floods, more heat waves, and more tornadoes have developed during recent days. NOAA and the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention anticipate intense storms because of climate change, with increased food insecurity and an increase in illness caused by extreme temperatures. People have lost their homes because of climate change. The European Court of Human Rights ruled in April that the climate crisis is a human rights crisis.

Organized religion can be helpful before, during, and after community disasters. The impact of climate change has arrived during an era of social division and conflict. Systems of power, privilege, and oppression have contributed to the climate crisis and social injustice has made a bad situation worse. Unitarian Universalists can reduce alienation and suffering by working with marginalized groups to support community and labor organizing. Mutual aid and celebrations of liberation, resistance, sustainability, and accountability are needed in every season.

Theological Grounding: The Bylaws and Rules of our Unitarian Universalist Association identify the purpose of our Association. “The Unitarian Universalist Association shall devote its resources and exercise its corporate powers for religious, educational, and humanitarian purposes. The primary purpose of the Association is to serve the needs of its member congregations, organize new congregations, and extend and strengthen Unitarian Universalist institutions and implement its principles.” (Article Two, UUA Bylaws.)

The principles of our Association affirm and promote justice, equity, and compassion in human relations and the goal of world community with peace, liberty, and justice for all. Unitarian Universalists respect the interdependent be of all existence of which we are a part.

“Systems of power, privilege, and oppression have traditionally created barriers for persons with particular identities, ages, abilities, and histories. Unitarian Universalists pledge to replace such barriers with ever-widening circles of solidarity, and compassion.” (Article Two, UUA Bylaws.)

Immediate Actions: The General Assembly calls on the President of the United States to invoke the Stafford Act and the National Emergencies Act to recognize that a public health emergency now exists in the United States caused by climate change.

The impact of climate change brings Unitarian Universalists into a new era for religious,
educational, and humanitarian programs. The movie Cooked: Survival by Zip Code helps to explain the situation. The General Assembly asks Unitarian Universalists to listen to the oppressed and to respond in appropriate ways. Advocates for racial justice, houseless people, undocumented immigrants, the very young and the very old, indigenous people, and other marginalized groups, can identify community needs and opportunities for cooperation. Cooling stations, emergency transportation, and wellness checks will be needed in some places. Religious leaders will be asked to visit detention centers, labor camps, prisons and other institutions, and camps for houseless people, to support health care and legal services, and to assist with mass evacuations when needed.

People who are houseless or living in inadequate housing are exposed to extreme weather. The General Assembly is grateful for the religious and secular organizations that help people who need housing assistance. Drinking water and energy assistance are often requested. The case of City of Grants Pass v. Johnson is now before the United States Supreme Court. Regardless of the ruling, the General Assembly will stay in solidarity with people who need essential services. The General Assembly condemns the criminalization of the poor because of their poverty.

Climate change has created new problems for working people. All workers need adequate
protection, compensation, and representation. The General Assembly supports the organization of democratic labor unions. At the end of each summer, workers should be honored. Congregations are asked to celebrate the Labor Day weekend and harvest holidays with appropriate activities.

Individuals have been denied healthcare and social services because of their gender identity or sexual orientation. The General Assembly supports amendments to the Civil Rights Act of 1964 to prohibit discrimination against LGBTQI plus people. Federal money should be withheld from emergency services programs and other programs that permit unlawful discrimination.


Update 6/14: The Proposer of this AIW agreed to some changes to the text received at the listening session. The text above has been altered to reflect any changes.

Ballot Result from General Session IV
This Action of Immediate Witness was Affirmed. It received more than 2/3 vote of support.

Action of Immediate Witness: Centering Love Amidst the Ongoing Impact of COVID-19

Primary Proposer: Meghan Garvey of the First Unitarian Church of Rochester
Additional Proposers: CB Beal, Rev. AJ van Tine, Rev. Sarah Caine, Rev. Caitlin Cotter Coillberg, and Samara Powers

Whereas, the emergency declaration for COVID-19 was terminated in 2023 without sufficient strategies in place to manage the persistent challenges of the virus, exacerbating its disproportionate impact on marginalized groups (i.e., disabled, uninsured and underinsured, incarcerated, BIPOC, LGBTQIA, older adults and youth, especially those of intersecting identities); and

Whereas, the current U.S. governmental approach to COVID-19 management still jeopardizes the lives of higher-risk individuals and leaves many unknowingly susceptible to the potential long-term impacts of COVID-19 infections; and

Whereas, the aforementioned governmental approach is creating a continuously growing void in COVID-19 information and management, exemplified by the discontinuation of data collection processes and vital public health interventions (i.e., dependable testing, access to vaccines and treatment, prevention and harm reduction education) and the limited support for Long COVID research; and

Whereas, the current political climate increasingly fosters disregard and even hostility towards individuals still exercising COVID caution, resulting in growing social and legal pressures to remove masks from public life and forcing higher-risk individuals to choose between essential participation in public life or avoiding COVID-19 infections; and

Whereas, our faith proclamations of love and justice call us to confront the ongoing disregard for those most vulnerable in our world and meet it with liberating counter-cultural norms in our communities; and

Whereas, in the current political, economic, and environmental climate, the importance of inclusion and living into communal interdependence is of the utmost life-saving importance; and

Whereas, in the absence of an appropriate governmental response to the ongoing risks of COVID-19, grassroots organizations and nonprofit organizations are leading efforts for the continuation of protective measures in the U.S.;

Therefore, be it resolved that the 2024 General Assembly calls for:

Congregational & Member Organization Action

● To communally examine and process the impact of the pandemic on our communities, particularly any urgency we’ve experienced to relinquish COVID-19 protocols for the sake of returning to “normal.” Unitarian Universalists hold a
sacred tradition of questioning the status quo, and it is in that tradition that we must reflect on what “normal” we long to sustain. Given the lessons our communities learned living into the 2021 Action of Immediate Witness “The
COVID-19 Pandemic: Justice. Healing. Courage”, particularly how we learned to include those who were already experiencing isolation and exclusion from our communities in a 2019 version of “normal,” we are called to reflect upon any
barriers keeping us from holding onto the pandemic-induced community care practices which so effectively countered isolation and fostered radical inclusion.

● To build off of the aforementioned community reflections and recommit to making our spaces accessible for our congregational/member organization participants and staff who are higher-risk, otherwise identify as COVID-cautious or were already experiencing isolation and exclusion from our communities in a 2019 version of “normal.” While the wording of this AIW intentionally leaves flexibility for communities to adopt practices that make the most sense for the particular
(likely complex and possibly competing) accessibility needs of their communities, at minimum, this AIW is asking communities for:

  • continuing the shift to mask-affirming culture
  • openness to experimenting with different community-created gathering approaches to maximize access for all, centering the needs of higher-risk, disabled, and otherwise COVID-cautious people in the decision-making
    processes
  • protocols to ensure that congregational/member group participants and staff can refrain from attending in-person events while they are experiencing symptoms of acute illness or have been recently ill
  • moves toward meeting the ventilation and filtration standards consistent with the scientific standard laid out in ASHRAE 241 Control of Infectious Aerosols (as financially possible)

Congregations and member organizations are additionally asked to carefully reconsider their community’s potential need for the adoption of additional disease transmission precautions, including, but not limited to, two-way masking practices
and social distancing practices. If, in adopting any updated practices, a community chooses to integrate masking requirements, such requirements should include exceptions for people for whom mask-wearing is inaccessible and
ensure the availability of free masks for individuals for whom masking is cost-prohibitive.

● To identify and work to form partnerships with local disability organizations working on COVID-19 justice, and community-organized “mask blocs”. Partnerships might include offering event space, plate offerings for supplies,
storage for their supplies, hosting their community stands, or supporting their efforts to respond to local community and legislative challenges to COVID caution.

Unitarian Universalist Association Action

● To create channels of support for congregations and member organizations in brainstorming, implementing, and troubleshooting the aforementioned community care and accessibility approaches while modeling such practices in
UUA-sponsored events and meetings.

● To work to form active partnerships with organizations leading the way in COVID-19 policy advocacy so that Unitarian Universalists can get involved in this work with accountability to the most-directly-impacted populations. This advocacy
may address, but not be limited to:

  • Contesting mask bans
  • Reinstating vital public health interventions (i.e., equitable access to vaccines and treatment and public health messaging reflective of the state of COVID science)
  • Improving hospital-based and community-based data collection processes
  • Clean air practices in healthcare and carceral settings
  • Funding for installation of air purifiers and improved ventilation in public
    spaces consistent with the scientific standard laid out in ASHRAE 241 Control of Infectious Aerosols
  • Funding for Long COVID research and care resources

Update 6/14: The Proposer of this AIW agreed to some changes to the text received at the listening session. The text above has been altered to reflect any changes.

Action of Immediate Witness: Solidarity with Palestinians

Primary Proposer: Rev. DL Helfer of Westminster Unitarian Church
Additional Proposers: Lena Gardner, Rev. Katie Romano Griffin, and Rev. Abhi Janamanchi

Our Unitarian Universalist faith draws on the moral imperative of radical love, and despite all odds, calls us to uphold a world where liberation is real and we all thrive.

Our faith community has long recognized the horrors of violent antisemitism against generations of Jewish people and we reaffirm our commitment to their safety. Our support for Jewish well-being was never meant to undermine the rights and lands of Palestinian people. We seek a world where our Palestinian and Jewish kin are safe. We believe that until Palestinians are free, none of us is free.

We decry all the violence of October 7. We further acknowledge that we cannot possibly contextualize all that led to this point but note that Israel’s occupation and repression in Gaza has been decades long.

Unitarian and/or Universalist congregations and communities around the world have issued calls for peace, justice, and reparations in the Palestinian territories for decades. In 1948, 750,000 Palestinians were forcibly displaced, and at least 280,000 were displaced in 1967 when additional Palestinian lands were violently occupied against international law. UUA General Assembly resolutions 19 in 1982 and 2002 called for ending the occupation of Palestinian lands and a 1982 UUA Board of Trustees resolution 8 declared that “criticism of the policies of the government of Israel should not be equated with or confused with anti-Semitism.”

Today, we recognize that Zionism is increasingly intertwined with supremacy and nationalism which our faith has consistently rejected as unjust and discriminatory. In recent years, major human rights organizations have published reports documenting the apartheid policies and practices of the State of Israel. 57

A growing number of Unitarian Universalist communities and individuals are calling for ending unconditional military aid to the State of Israel and affirming solidarity with Palestinian safety, support, and self-determination, including Black Lives of UU, Diverse Revolutionary Unitarian Universalist Multicultural Ministries, Unitarian Universalist Service Committee, UU College of Social Justice, Unitarian Universalists for Justice in the Middle East, Unitarian Universalist Association senior leadership, and thousands of UU religious professionals, lay leaders, and congregants. With the U.S. providing Israel the highest amount of military aid in the world, UUs in this country bear a responsibility to speak out against these policies.

Since October 7th, Israel has subjected Gaza to indiscriminate bombings with US-made weapons, resulting in civilian casualties, including journalists, aid workers delivering food and medical supplies, and healthcare workers. As of May 25, 2024, over 40,000 have been killed, including over 8,000 children, counting identified Palestinians and bodies under the rubble, 20,000 orphaned, and nearly 80,000 wounded, including thousands of amputees. Israel has blocked necessary aid delivery, depriving Palestinians of food, water, and medicines and causing famine with starvation deaths in the hundreds and 1.6 million in danger. The targeted and widespread destruction of medical, cultural, agricultural, educational, and religious sites constitutes ethnic cleansing. 48

At the same time, Israeli settlers are conducting violent attacks on Palestinian communities in the occupied West Bank and the Israeli settlement movement is being hosted in U.S. synagogues to sell illegally confiscated land in the occupied territories.

The Israeli military’s deliberate targeting of Gaza’s hospitals and healthcare infrastructure, along with the killing of health workers and the withholding of food and water, is causing a humanitarian crisis that threatens the survival and well-being of the Palestinian population. The International Court of Justice has labeled these actions as plausible genocide and has urged countries that are parties to the Genocide Convention to halt any actions that could contribute to this grave situation.

The persecution of the Palestinians is also connected to a global commitment to profits over human lives and parallels greed-fueled conflicts in Sudan, Democratic Republic of the Congo, and Ethiopia. While we call for the liberation of Palestinians, we also call for the liberation for all persecuted people across the globe. At the core of our Unitarian Universalist faith is the belief that life is sacred. Amidst global efforts to tamp down on speaking up for the lives of Palestinians, Congolese, and all oppressed people, we must find our courage to live and speak our beliefs into the broken, breaking world.

Solidarity with Palestinians faces escalating repression in the United States. Thousands of students are staging peaceful protests against the massacres, with universities enabling police forces to conduct hundreds of arrests. These demonstrations are also met with attacks on free speech, providing a pretext for both state and paramilitary violence. A bill declaring criticism of Israel to be antisemitic, based on a controversial definition 68, has been approved by the House, and the Senate is expected to affirm it as well.

Over 325 groups have signed the Apartheid-Free Communities solidarity initiative 78of the American Friends Service Committee, including four major denominations: Alliance of Baptists, Disciples of Christ, the South Central Yearly Meeting of the Religious Society of Friends, and the United Church of Christ. Unitarian Universalist signatories include Black Lives of Unitarian Universalism, The Unitarian Universalist College of Social Justice, the Unitarian Universalist Service Committee, and Unitarian Universalists for Justice in the Middle East. Now is the time for the General Assembly of the Unitarian Universalist Association of Congregations to declare support for this movement.

Resolved: We, the delegates of the 2024 General Assembly, call on our UU congregations and communities to be in solidarity with Palestinians by engaging in the following actions based on the guidance of Palestinian and impacted partner organizations:

  1. Witnessing
    • Call for the liberation of Palestine and an end to the apartheid; declare our moral outrage and shared horror at Israel’s massacre, mass incarceration, torture, destruction of the land, and poisoning soil for future generations, and decimation of systems of care that support life in the region.
    • Call for an immediate permanent ceasefire, massive humanitarian aid, the release of all captives, and an end to genocide around the world.
  2. 2. Educating:
    • Hold teach-ins about Palestine and Israel that include sacred spaces for spiritual processing.
  3. Organizing and Advocating:
    • Engage with Palestinian-led groups and coalitions supporting liberation.
    • Sign, amplify, and carry out the Apartheid-Free Communities Pledge.
    • Support boycott, divestment, and sanctions against Israel and corporate enablers, and end US military aid to Israel, until it ceases its policies and practices of apartheid, military occupation, settler colonialism, and genocide.
    • Protect the freedom and safety of solidarity activists by supporting protests and opposing legislation and policies that restrict First Amendment rights.

References, Resources, and Endorsements 77


Update 6/14: The Proposer of this AIW agreed to some changes to the text received at the listening session. The text above has been altered to reflect any changes. 

Ballot Result from General Session IV
This Action of Immediate Witness was Affirmed. It received more than 2/3 vote of support.