Dear Friend,

Rev. Ian White Maher and I witnessing at Occupy Wall Street last Sunday

It was a bright, beautiful Sunday afternoon that brought me to Zuccotti Park here in New York. I answered the call of my own curiosity as well as the summons for clergy of every faith to bear witness to an extraordinary grassroots movement for democratic process and economic justice. Walking along lower Broadway with my sisters and brothers of faith, being cheered by passersby — and even being joined by a few — energized me in a way I haven’t felt for some time. 

The Occupy movement is a growing moral and political force that has the potential to change our nation and our world. It gives productive voice to the fear and frustration of ordinary people who know something is wrong with this country that we love — something deeper than party or political position.

And even though there are other voices that seek to target the most vulnerable among us as the cause of our current malaise, the determined people of Occupy Wall Street and Occupy sites throughout the country — people of every race, religion, age, sexual orientation, gender expression, and immigration status — have chosen to end the silence about the economic and spiritual nightmare that threatens the future of us all.

We Unitarian Universalists have long echoed in our own General Assembly (GA) the outcry that has arisen in the General Assembly here in Zuccotti Park (also known as Liberty Park). In 1964, our GA general resolution described “poverty in the midst of plenty” as “intolerable to the religious conscience and incompatible with our principles of economic justice.” The threat to our common lives has only intensified since that GA resolution, and it is increasingly clear that we are approaching a state of emergency.

If you feel as I do, please join me in voicing your support for the work and witness of the Occupy movement, for though it started in New York City, it has spread to thousands of cities and towns around the world. Please sign UUSC’s open letter supporting the Occupy movement.

In partnership with the Unitarian Universalist Service Committee, we can join our liberal religious voices with those of thousands of other people who recognize this nation's current economic crisis as one symptom of a larger human-rights issue that affects us all.

Thanks for your attention.

Faithfully,

Rev. Rosemary Bray McNatt, Senior Minister
The Fourth Universalist Society in the City of New York