AUBURN, Ala. (WRBL) - An east Alabama church is condemning the hate speech they discovered scrawled in red spray paint on the church’s welcome sign.
Reverend Chris Rothbauer is the minister at Auburn Unitarian Universalist Fellowship, located along east Thatch Avenue. Saturday morning members discovered their sign vandalized with a queerphobic and transphobic epithet, “F___ the LGBT.” This isn’t the first time the church has been targeted.
“In recent years, our yard signs and banners have been stolen and vandalized, but this is a definite escalation. It is an attempt to intimidate us with hate and get us to back down. Let me make this unequivocal: I will not back down. I am proud to serve a community that affirms people from many walks of life, some of whom find no other spiritual home in our area,” said Rev. Rothbauer.
A report has been filed with Auburn police, who are investigating.
“This is a reminder of the hate that permeates our political discourse right now. If you hate LGBTQIA+ people so much that you feel the need to vandalize an affirming religious community, you may be part of the problem. If you are filled with such senseless bigotry and anger, maybe you need to get to know us rather than condemning us without ever even talking to us,” said Rothbauer.
Auburn Unitarian Universalist Fellowship has a long history in our community. The church began in 1961 as a place where everyone was welcome to worship the Lord. The Fellowship purchased the former Ebenezer Baptist Church, a restored historic building, from the Auburn Historical Association in 1981.
During the nineteenth century, Universalists advocated for spiritualism, women’s rights, and the abolition of slavery. Today, they advocate for racial equality, and LQBTQ+ quality.
“As the singer-songwriter, Holly Near once wrote, "We are a gentle angry people/and we are singing, singing for our lives." Love will prevail. The arc of the universe is long and it bends towards justice,” said Rothbauer.
The history of Unitarian Universalism in the United States intertwines with the history of American religion, politics, and culture. Many of our nation’s founders, including John Adams, Thomas Jefferson, and Benjamin Franklin, embraced Unitarian principles of rationalism towards religion and respect for science as they constructed the Declaration of Independence and Constitution. Several of America’s greatest thinkers and creators have identified as Unitarian, Universalist, or Unitarian Universalist. The list includes Paul Revere, Julia Ward Howe, Louisa May Alcott, Ralph Waldo Emerson, Ray Bradbury, Buckminster Fuller, and Morris Dees, to mention a few.
In East Alabama, the Auburn Unitarian Universalist Fellowship (AUUF) provides a sanctuary of Unitarian Universalist values and a place to put these values into action.
Mission Statement: Auburn Unitarian Universalist Fellowship is a community dedicated to affirming a reverence for life and enriching the spiritual lives of its members. Here we honor the one and the many; here we welcome a diversity of thoughts, beliefs and passions; here we speak without fear and listen with open hearts. We gather to care for one another, share our burdens and joys, and celebrate life’s passages.
Strengthened by this fellowship, we bring a liberal religious presence to our larger community, and work for a safe and just world.
For more on the general history of Unitarian Universalism, see http://www.uua.org/beliefs/history/our-historic-faith
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