UUA Board of Trustees Statement on

Religious Practice of Faithful Dissent, Noncompliance,

and Civil Disobedience

On September 20, 2026, the Board of Trustees of our Unitarian Universalist Association released a statement on Faithful Dissent, Noncompliance, an Civil Disobedience. This statement grounds resistance to authoritarianism in our UU history and Values.

“Rooted in our powerful history of religious witness for just action and faithful dissent, we declare that Unitarian Universalists must stake our faith tradition today on the urgent call to act for liberation in our country and condemn the anti-democratic forces of authoritarianism. Such a call encompasses civil disobedience, noncompliance, and direct actions of protest, as it has in the past, while preserving our commitments to human dignity and democratic society. This commitment is essential to sustain with integrity our UU religious values of justice, equity, interdependence, and pluralism, and our Constitutional rights and freedoms,” says the statement, which was unanimously passed by the UUA’s Board of Trustees at its August meeting. The Board of Trustees exercises the highest level of authority delegated by the General Assembly, which is the core ecclesiastical body of Unitarian Universalism.

UUs have actively resisted the growing authoritarianism coming from the current federal administration and its allies for a decade. Since January 2025, and during the first term of this administration, UUs have exercised their First Amendment rights to protest and speak out against policies and actions they believe are harmful. Some UUs have been assaulted and faced physical violence from law enforcement. Many UU leaders and people in the pews have been arrested – and some have been convicted — as a result of the exercise of their First Amendment rights.

The full statement can be found here: https://www.uua.org/pressroom/ingoodfaith/faithful-dissent-statement-2026