I suggest that we keep the name, “Thomas Jefferson Unitarian Universalist Church” in honor of our third president, the author of the Declaration of Independence, and the visionary behind the Louisiana Purchase, to name a few of the many accomplishments of this great American, who promoted religious freedom and separation of church and state, advocated higher education, and articulated a belief that slavery should be abolished, even though he failed to free most of his own slaves, which he had inherited, along with the expenses and other issues related to those legacies, from his father and his wife’s father.
Alan Roles
While I agree it is always a good idea to start with a positive on any issue, I cannot honestly think of any valid reason to change TJ’s name.
When the church was founded, the name was voted on among several other suggestions. Apparently, our founders did not feel that his ownership of slaves (which was well known) outweighed all the good that he had done, nor affected their own morality.
If we try to sweep all the things we don’t like in our history under the rug, there is a grave danger we may repeat it. Maybe we could also get out Social Justice Center (which interestingly does not have any minorities nor apparently doesn’t want to form joint relationships with any minority groups, so the white privileged of TJ can run the show) , could work on a justice project to destroy the Declaration of Independence since he wrote it, and tear down the Jefferson Monument or move it to a museum or graveyard as has been suggested by some, to remove statues of people who might have had questionable of activities in their past.
It has been said that some people had an issue with the name, but my experience is that the name they had much more of an issue with Unitarian, not Thomas Jefferson. They seemed to think we were some kind of heathens. Also, young people are reportedly against the name. Many of the people here know my grandson, Brandan, who has a black girlfriend. They don’t come often anymore, but not because of the name, but because they both work on weekends.
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Someone suggested that they had seen people turn away from our booth or tables at various activities, but it could have been because of what we were standing for, LGBTQ, abortion etc. I usually turn away from tables which don’t support my beliefs or interest.
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We are well known in the community for our social activism. With a name change, it may take awhile to be recognized and gain our reputation back. It may even affect Winter Fair.
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Interesting there are two schools (with the name Jefferson) in our city, in a large area of minorities. I have not seen any protest to change their names.
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If I had more time or space, could probably think of other reasons not to change, but for now will add just one more, and that is the expense,
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We keep saying we are having to adjust to not having enough money from pledges, and this can’t be cheap. All of the legal changes we would have to make, plus signage, stationary, etc, not to mention t-shirts, mugs etc.