Growing up in Durango, our parents and adults in the community shared an ethic: You don’t lie, brag, bully, swear or call names. Our father, a conservative Republican, World War II veteran and son of a major general, lived by a code of honor that required him to intercede whenever he witnessed bullying, bigotry or cruelty. But the most he would say of the perpetrators was that they were “ignorant.” He refused to demonize his fellow citizens and granted grace for growth. My father co-founded the Unitarian Universalist Church in Durango.
Earlier this month, Defense Secretary Hegseth ordered 180 religions, including Unitarian Universalists, purged from the list of faiths recognized by the military. Four former U.S. presidents, numerous founding patriots, hundreds of other famous Americans including six Supreme Court justices, defense secretaries, scientists, inventors and authors, and thousands of military veterans have identified as Unitarians. Likely Hegseth was ignorant.
What then of the purging of the other religions? What of Hegseth’s other actions, like blocking the promotions of women and minority officers? Or ordering the killing of hundreds of unarmed men in boats off our coasts?
Our mother, the first woman on the vestry of St. Mark’s Episcopal Church, was less charitable about “insecure little men,” and would have labeled current U.S. leadership un-Christian, dishonorable and disgraceful. I believe my father and my ancestors – who include decorated military veterans and religious leaders extending back to the American Revolution – would have agreed. They cannot act or vote from the grave. We can.
Robert Bowman
Durango
