As Trump Takes High Office, Our Focus Remains

We have already pledged fealty to

a just, compassionate, and sustainable world community

Washington, D.C. — Following coverage of the 2025 inauguration and the various statements of intent with Executive Orders and other policy pronouncements by the incoming President of the United States, Donald John Trump, Pablo DeJesús, Executive Director of UUSJ, stated:

“The crisis of conscience in the U.S. is official. A suspect ‘national emergency at our southern border,’ declared. A dubious ‘national energy emergency’ paired with a ‘drill baby drill’ pledge proclaimed. The formation of an ‘External Revenue Service’ to enforce tariff tolls. An admonishment that there are only two genders — ‘male and female.’ The Gulf of Mexico, will be renamed the Gulf of America. Mt. Denali in Alaska renamed back to Mt. McKinley. The U.S. will wrest control of the Panama Canal.

“In the next four years, we will face many challenges. The stream of bigger than life claims will continue. The mendacious and misleading statements will continue. The onslaught of pernicious policy proposals will gather momentum. The unofficial oaths of fealty above and beyond the constitution will abound. The vitriol will spew. It appears the autocrats have taken the bully pulpit. The oligarchs have moved to the front offices. Plutocracy and cronyism shall rule the day. It is a new dawn for Christian Nationalism in America, with eyes set on Theocracy. The root harms will metastasize and spread.

‘We ask our supporters to stay focused on the stakes for our democracy and the communities we hold in care. We will need to defend immigrants, LGBTQ, and Trans people in particular. We must decry attacks on civil servants and poor Americans. We shall show solidarity with frontline communities as they struggle with the climate crisis. We are obliged to share power with the marginalized and disenfranchised. We must defy the racism and ethnic hate.

“We remind our people that we are in it for the long haul, not the loophole. Our faith tradition teaches the power of love and the opportunity for redemption. We will not lose sight of that. We can survive, rebuild, and eventually thrive. The arc of transformation and evolution we inhabit is for justice. That arc is long enough to bear the weight of this impending season of travesty, tragedy, and injustice. When it is over, we will be sure we did everything possible to mitigate and stop the worst outcomes, the deadliest damage, and the heinous harms.

“We know that policy is dynamic and flows from the community to the state to the federal framework–and back again. The work ahead of us is ‘both, and.’ We believe advocacy, witness, and education are the cornerstones of defiance. We know action is the antidote to despair. We maintain community and fellowship are the fiber of resilience. We trust that joy is the taproot of liberty.

“Hope remains–the vote margins are narrow, so very slim. Several in the Senate and a handful in the House can stop the worst inclinations of America’s new leadership cabal. But we have our work cut out for us. Recent votes in both chambers show that too many elected officials are failing to find their steel. How will they respond when the White House calls?

“We center the threat to our faith, families, freedoms, and futures. We have meaningful, impactful work we can do. Our fealty is to a vision for a just, compassionate, and sustainable world community. Our fidelity is to advancing equitable national policies and actions aligned with UU values. Now, we must live to that vision and mission.

“We ask our membership to continue with us and side with love. Advocate for love.”