Notable Unitarians and Universalists Quiz

Answer: Herbert Hoover

Some lists of famous Unitarians also include Thomas Jefferson in this number. While Jefferson agreed with many Unitarian principles and did identify himself occasionally as a Unitarian, he was never a member of any Unitarian congregation, making his identification as a Unitarian (as opposed to a nominally Episcopalian freethinker) problematic.

The Adams presidents, on the other hand, were fully identified with Unitarian congregations in Boston. Neither believed in the divinity of Christ and neither believed that G-d intervened in human affairs, though both professed great faith in Christian virtue and philosophy, and the younger Adams' Unitarian faith would be much in evidence in his post-Presidential opposition to slavery.

Herbert Hoover was a lifelong Quaker. Though he did not adhere to all Quaker tenets, such as pacifism and abstinence from tobacco and alcohol, Hoover would often cite Quaker principles as guiding forces in his life.

Answer: William Howard Taft

Taft's religion became an issue in the 1908 campaign against the devoutly Presbyterian William Jennings Bryan. Assisted by the personal appeal of good friend Teddy Roosevelt, Taft remained true to his principles and won the election handily. In 1912, Roosevelt challenged Taft for the Republican Presidential nomination, then ran on his own ticket when this challenge failed.

This tactic split the Republican vote, giving the victory to Democrat Woodrow Wilson. Taft, who won great accolades for intrepid leadership, lacked the personal charisma of the more gregarious Roosevelt.

More suited to contemplative work than the Presidency, Taft was appointed Chief Justice in 1921, a position he would hold until 1930. He is buried in Arlington National Cemetery.

Answer: Adlai Stevenson

Stevenson caught some flak at various times for appearing to court more mainstream religious voters by attending Presbyterian services. Most of those who knew Stevenson well, however - including some of his most vociferous political opponents - defended Stevenson's sincerity, pointing out that he only attended these services when in a city that lacked a Unitarian congregation.

Not unlike Taft, Stevenson may have lacked the practical "people skills" to be a national leader. This was crystalized by an offhand comment he made to a journalist who exclaimed that Stevenson had the vote of "every thinking American". Adlai rather snarkily replied that "unfortunately, it still takes a majority to win".

Answer: Susan B. Anthony

Though raised a Quaker, Susan B. Anthony attended Unitarian services throughout her life and became a member of the Rochester congregation in 1893. She remained a member of that church until her death in 1906.

Answer: Ralph Waldo Emerson

Though Unitarian services have been known to draw from practically any source of wisdom literature (I have personally heard a sermon based on a document from IBM), Emerson's work remains a pervasive influence in the faith, and he is still the dominant voice in some congregations.

Answer: Henry David Thoreau

Among Thoreau's more celebrated protest actions was his refusal to pay the Concord, Massachusetts poll tax because it was earmarked to support the Mexican War, which Thoreau saw as a campaign to extend slavery. Though this tax protest only cost Thoreau one night in jail (terminated the next morning when his aunt paid the taxes against his will), this incident provided the impetus for the landmark "Civil Disobedience" essay, which would prove to be a founding text for twentieth-century social activism.

Answer: Dorothea Dix

Dix was later named Superintendent of Nurses for the Union during the US Civil War, but did not generally count her role in the conflict with her successes.

Answer: Walt Whitman

In addition to being a continuing inspiration to many Unitarian Universalist thinkers (myself not included), Whitman was also a major influence on Bran Stoker, the author of "Dracula"!

Answer: Frank Gannett

A very active lay member of the same Rochester, NY congregation that counted Susan B. Anthony as a member, Gannett bucked the trend of politically liberal Unitarians. He campaigned for the 1940 Republican Presidential nomination in 1940 in a crusade against Franklin Roosevelt, losing to Wendell Wilikie.

He was not a reactionary conservative in the twenty-first-century sense of the term, however, as was belied by his call for a "Secretary of Peace" in the executive cabinet in the 1930s.

Answer: Ray Bradbury

Bradbury's cosmology is perhaps best summed up in this excerpt from his 2000 commencement address at Caltech:

"Now, why are you here? I'll tell you why you're here. You've been put here because the universe exists. There's no use the universe existing, if there isn't someone there to see it. Your job is to see it. Your job is to witness. To witness; to understand; to comprehend and to celebrate! To celebrate with your lives. ... you're here one time, you're not coming back. And you owe, don't you? You owe back for the gift of life."

Answer: Sylvia Plath

Plath's "Collected Poems" won a Pulitzer Prize in 1982, the first posthumous work to do so.

Answer: Christopher Reeve

When asked about why he joined the Unitarian Universalists after a life mostly without religious affiliation, Reeve said:

"It gives me a moral compass. I often refer to Abe Lincoln, who said, "When I do good, I feel good. When I do bad, I feel bad. And that is my religion." I think we all have a little voice inside us that will guide us. It may be God, I don't know. But I think that if we shut out all the noise and clutter from our lives and listen to that voice, it will tell us the right thing to do. The Unitarian believes that God is good, and believes that God believes that man is good. Inherently. The Unitarian God is not a God of vengeance. And that is something I can appreciate."

Answer: Buckminster Fuller

Though his philosophy was often criticized for being overly utopian, Fuller's work has nonetheless become a staple of modern architecture and engineering. His 1980 address from the Unitarian Universalist Church in Harvard Square can be found at: http://www.harvardsquarelibrary.org/unitarians/fuller.html

Answer: Robert Fulghum

Among the life-affirming quotes proffered by Fulghum is this gem of self-reliance: "The grass is not, in fact, always greener on the other side of the fence. Fences have nothing to do with it. The grass is greenest where it is watered. When crossing over fences, carry water with you and tend the grass wherever you may be."

Answer: Martin Luther King

Since paraphrasing Dr. King's address would be folly personified, I will let the great man's words speak for themselves:

"There are some things in our nation and in our world to which I'm proud to be maladjusted. And I call upon you to be maladjusted and all people of good will to be maladjusted to these things until the good society is realized. I never intend to adjust myself to segregation and discrimination. I never intend to become adjusted to religious bigotry .I never intend to adjust myself to economic conditions that will take necessities from the many to give luxuries to the few, and leave millions of people perishing on a lonely island of poverty in the midst of a vast ocean of prosperity."

For the full text of Dr. King's lecture, see http://www.uua.org/news/2005/050115_ware66.html

Please note that, with the exception of Dr. King, I have limited myself here to individuals who were active members of Unitarian congregations as opposed to historical figures who are often categorized as Unitarians because of their associations or convictions. Among those I passed over because of their more tenuous connection to the church were Alexander Graham Bell, Benjamin Franklin, Charles Dickens, Clara Barton, and many others. That being said, I could easily do several quizzes on confirmed Unitarian Universalists as distinguished as those above. As always, I am more than open to any feedback, positive or negative, that you might feel moved to give me.