I have friends who hate those famous UU lists. They find it vaguely distasteful and particularly like to point out the historic famous UUs can’t be as Unitarian Universalism is itself a contemporary phenom birthed in the consolidation of the American Unitarian Association and the Universalist Church in America in 1961. But I think they miss the tribal thing. All humans belong to clubs, and it is a venerable tradition in our more mutable American culture to want to expand the boundaries of our clubs.
So, here I was, surfing around the web when I revisted Making Chutney’s delightful website where the contest for who is the most influential living Unitarian Universalist had just posted it’s winners. The contestants included, of course for my generation novelist Kurt Vonnegut and folk-singer social justice activist supreme Pete Seeger. Also Matt Groening, creater of my favorites TV cartoons the Simpsons and Futurama was there. Internet inventor Tim Berners-Lee and MSNBC news host and commentator Keith Olbermann were all finalists. On earlier lists were writer/ministers Forrest Church, Robert Fulghum and Scotty McClennan and minister social justice activist as well as former president of both the UUA and Amnesty International, America, Bill Schultz. UU Bloggers Chris Walton and ChaliceChick had their followers. Others were desparately seeking proof Martha Stewart is in fact a Unitarian Universalist. And the list(s) goes on.
But, for the winner, click here!
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