Mailbox, Winter 2005

What our readers tell us.
By Jane Greer
Winter 2005 11.1.05

The launch of UU World’s new Web magazine uuworld.org in August was the occasion of much cheering. Among the fifty-two letters received for the Fall 2005 issue, five congratulated the staff on the new website. “Kudos for starting this e-mag,” writes Mark Williams of Seven Valleys, Pennsylvania. “This is great--I’d been hoping for something like this,” enthuses Paul Stetler of Bordentown, New Jersey. “Lively, eye-catching, engaging, and easy to navigate,” says the Rev. Randy Becker of Park Forest, Illinois.

Among the rest of the letters, we received seven reacting to the Fall cover story, “Who’s Afraid of Freedom and Tolerance?” by Doug Muder, four on Ken and Lois Robison’s crusade against the death penalty, three for Jon Luoma’s May/June story “Slaves to Energy,” and four reacting to letters published in the previous issue. In the eclectic “other” file were missives about the need to feature stories on the growing income gap between rich and poor, the nature of evil and the inherent worth and dignity of all, and a request for coverage of health and spirituality issues.

Also among the “other” letters were three commenting on the name “Unitarian Universalist.” The Rev. Charles Howe of Raleigh, North Carolina, laments the fact that the religious survey sited in the Fall news article “Students Surveyed on Spiritu-ality,” only allowed students to identify as “Unitarian.” “I realize that we UUs still have a long way to go before those in the outside world recognize that we’re no longer ‘Unitarian’ or ‘Univers-alist,’ he notes. Edward J. Kings-bury of Wellesley, Massachusetts, writes that it would be easier to share the good news of Unitarian Universalism if we had an easier name. He suggests “Unist” for purposes of discussion. Jim Arnold of Tuxedo, New York, believes that the name Unitarian Universalist is no longer accurate. “Can you imagine the impact if our denomination came out with a truly descriptive label?” He suggests the name “Diversitarians.”