17. Is Esperanto compatible with Unitarianism? Unitarian religion?

Many leading Esperanto speakers in the United States have discovered Unitarian Universalism. Here is a list of people, nearly all are active in both the Esperanto Movement and the Unitarian Religion in the US and abroad. (Periodically people of many persuasions have been active for Esperanto, most notably Bahai, Spiritism-in Brazil, Oomoto-mostly in Japan, Catholicism, and Quakers but that will be for a much longer article-I do posess a bibliography of Esperanto literature from 100 religious organizations.) Atheism is also organized within the Esperanto movement. The religious/philosophical influence of L.L. Zamenhof, born Jewish, buried in the Jewish cemetary of Warsaw, cannot be ignored (in many existing articles elsewhere.)

Nicholas Nevan corresponded with me in 2012 on Ipernity. When we met at UK-2012-Hanoi he told me he was raised at the Prague Unitarian Church. He is married and living the Malaysia for some time and part of a handful of founding Esperantists in that region, in contact with Tailand Esperantists as well.
He spent some time in Portland Oregon where he met Unitarian Esperantists Jim Deer and wife along with  Ann Whitaker, known to have left some wealth to the Unitarian Church of Portland.

"Neil Blonstein" neil_nachumcxeyahoopunktocom, New York and Florida "Allan Boschen" aboschencxegmailpunktocom, Massachussetts "Mar Cardenas" mar-kardenascxegrupoamikemapunktoorg, California "John Dale" , globuulojcxeyahoopunktocom, Arizona "Den Drown" dencxjocxehotmail.com, Florida planning on Montreal "Steven Farrington" stevenfarringtoncxeyahoopunktocom, New York "Erik Felker" ejfelkercxedslextremepunktocom, California "Charlie Galvin" cxarlicxeidiompunktocom, California "Ronald Glossop" rglossopcxemindspringpunktocom, Missouri "Tara Gregers" gregers03cxeyahoopunktodk Denmark at the same church as Tara: Torkil Olesen torkilocxecomxnetpunktodk "Sue Good" suecxeaberdeenfairtradepunktoorgpunktouk, Skotlando, UK "Lucy Harmon" LusiHarmoncxeaolpunktocom, California "Dorothy Holland" dorothyjeanhcxegmailpunktocom, California "Jerry Johnson" jerrygjohnsoncxemindspringpunktocom, Missouri "Karen Klahr" karenacxeesperanto-mepunktoorg, Maine Sally Lawton slaw-ocxecrockerpunktocom, Massachusetts "Pam Lieber" liberperlocxehotmailpunktocom, New York "Neal McBurnett" nealcxebcn.boulderpunktocopunktous, Colorado "Rick Miller" Wisconsin "Maria Murphy" winson148cxehotmailpunktocom, Florida "Chris Nelson" musiccxeuufnnpunktoorg, Nevada "Scott Page" swpage24cxeverizonpunktonet, New York "Orlando Raola" oraolacxegmailpunktocom, California "Stecxjo Schwichow"schwichscxegmailpunktocom, California "Allan Simon" mclaresimoncxehotmailpunktocom, Canada "Mato Spekuljak" mspekuljcxegmailpunktocom Croatia "Julie Spickler" pjspicklercxegmailpunktocom, California "Sherry Wells" esperantosherrycxetmpunktonet Michigan

"Peter Benson petebensoncxestarpowerpunktonet

OregonPete is both a famous Esperantist, due to his English-Esperanto dictionary, and an isolated Esperantist, often living far from organized clubs, based on e-mail from March 23, 2009) After a pause in activity, we were eager to see him at EUSA National Convention, 2010, in Washington, D.C. Aug 8, 2009 07:20:25 AM

Jessica Seminara, who participated in several regional Auxtuna Esperanto Renkontigxoj, and lived in Harrisburg, Pennsylvania, and is relocating to Syracuse, N.Y. in 2013, identifies as Unitarian for some time. 

On Sally Lawton:

Lawton, a retired art teacher, began studying Esperanto when she was 59 years old. She learned of it from Boschen at a Unitarian conference in 1984 and then found a book at the Forbes Library in Northampton written in a comic book format, which appealed to her.

-- Gvidanta Au'strala/Brita Esperantistino, Jennifer Bishop, informis min (cxe Post-Kongreso en Polio) ke sxia avo (patrina flanko) estis aktiva skota unitariano. The leading esperantist, Steven Brewer, grew up with Unitarian activity, along with his brother Philip and mother Lucy--all known in the Esperanto movement. We discussed this at Silver Bay, N.Y., Regional Esperanto Meeting, October, 2010. Based on the blog of Rev. Scott Wells and a Norwegian Esperantist: Knut Heidelberg responds: November 2009 at 2:50 am Do not think much of the classical American Unitarian texts are found in Esperanto. But I will look into it. Here in Norway the Unitarian church rent meeting place in the Esperanto Office in Oslo. In fact we are planning to start regular Services using Esperanto. The Bible is of course in Esperanto too, so we have the basic text for our use. And there is an Esperanto ecumenical book of liturgy available (Adoru. Ekumena diserva libro). Byron Windhorst byronintcxenewwindpunktocom Oregon Dennis Newton Unitarian participants met the pair at General Assembly in Portland, Oregon where they are locals. Jeff Blakeslee New York (2009 Prezidanto de ESNY) James O'Neil (Unitarian Minister) has a large blog sympathetic to Esperanto http://www.arionshome.com/ Wisconsin Edwin P. Grobe informed me today, February 15th, 2011, that he was for many years active in the Unitarian Church of Phoenix. He is known for his translations of Edgar Allen Poe, which was recently reissued. He is now 84 years old. His wife passed away two years ago. Didn't he once publish a regional newletter? He is a bit isolated, not on-line. Cxe means at in Esperanto and replaces @ for anti-spam and security purposes. Punkto replaces a dot. Thanks to Ron Glossup for much of the paperwork. We know of several others with strong interest in both movements but we lack contact information: John Mayer in Niagara, Canada Early in the 1990's I met with Rel Davis, minister of the Unitarian Universalist congregation of Hollywood, Fl. We spoke in Esperanto and he told me he occasionally spoke about Esperanto or taught it in his congregation. Rel is now available at Facebook and resides in Arkansas. Dori Vallon Wheeler has been a Yearbook delegate for peace in San Mateo California where she is active in the local UU church.

During the Raleigh, North Carolina, National Esperanto Conference 2013, some 11 participants went to the Raliegh Unitarian Church on Sunday.
https://www.facebook.com/media/set/?set=a.10151634839988964.1073741905.670528963&type=1&l=851d8cd783

I have tried to keep a brief history of activists in both movements who are recently deceased: 1.This would include Jay Tilman Williams (2008), former Mayor of Garden Grove, California. I may have been the last visiting Esperantist. He was hospitable to many Esperantists and local dignitaries. We visited the Anaheim UU congregation with his wife, Nina. 2.Rudiger Eicholz (around 1980) was born in Germany but lived many years in Canada, where he published a large bilingual book on Esperanto. He also published a booklet on Unitarianism in Esperanto, shortly before the unification with Universalism. 3.Another Canadian of German backround was Paul Ronald (2008). Quebec Esperantists have documented that Paul was a founder of organized Esperanto in Montreal. Paul's parents forsaw difficulties for German Jews and left for South Africa for several years before settling in Canada. Paul told me that he was Unitarian at his last visit to Lake George regional Esperanto meeting. 4. I discovered that Paulo Ereno (2004) was Unitarian. He was a founder of Unitarianism in Brazil. In my final conversation with him, at the Social Forum, Porto Alegre, in January, 2005, I saw the word 'unitariano' in his e-mail address. He passed relatively young. This Portuguese statement of a friend of Paulo states that Paulo founded the Unitarian movement in Brazil, was interested in Budhism and Esperanto. Falecimento de Paulo Ereno Jun 6, '05 5:50 PM by Bruno for everyone brunomaroneze Faleceu, no último dia 31, Paulo Isaías Ereno, amigo e companheiro UUista. Ele foi o primeiro brasileiro a se interessar pelo UUismo, e contribuiu muito para a difusão da religião no Brasil e na América Latina. Era esperantista, e praticava também o budismo da linha theravada. No encontro de UUistas latino-americanos, em janeiro, na Argentina, celebramos juntos seu último aniversário. Perhaps a Unitarian Sermon by Polly Guild-2005--Such a person was Paulo Ereno, a teacher in Brazil. He encountered Unitarianism through his interest in Esperanto. After attending a Unitarian church in Cambridge, England, he wrote, “I confirm that there are indeed millions of Unitarians in Brazil - only they do not know they are Unitarians. Once I was one of them. When I was 16 I broke with the evangelical church..... but I longed for the religion which as Voltaire put it, “would make men better without making them believers in the absurd.” For many years I thought such a religion did not exist and that I was a freak - until I happened to find the Unitarian church.”  5. Mary Jackson Gibson is the only Unitarian Esperantist here to be discovered posthumously. According to Esperanto-USA, Mary Jackson worked 14 years as a Social Worker and for 54 YEARS WAS ACTIVE AT FRESNO UNITARIAN UNIVERSALIST CHURCH. Impressive!

6. Cathy Schulze was one of the USA's best known Esperantists till she passed away in 1999. Sherry has confirmed she was involved in Unitarianism. According to Esperantic Studies Foundation, I suspect she was among the most generous Esperantists posthumously (http://www.esperantic.org/). I found that Cathy lectured on Unitarianism in front of 150 people at the Universal Congress in Helsinki on the 29th of July, 1969. It was part of several talks on religion. It was published as: La Hombildo de Diversaj Religioj : kolekto de la referaĵoj prez. en la Interreligia Kunveno Esperantista (IRKE) or The Human-picture of Diverse Religions: collection of reference works presented at the Interreligious Convention of Esperanto Author: Yoshimi Umeda Publisher: [Kameoka], 1970. Series: Interreligia Kunveno Esperantista, 1; Kolekto de la referaĵoj prezentitaj en la ... Interreligia kunveno esperantista, 1

Edition/Format: Book : Esperanto Here is my English translation from the Esperanto: I can speak to you about Unitarianism, but I bring to your attention that nobody can speak about Unitarians. Because as it is with Esperantists, they consist of very diverse types of people. Unitarianism began as a branch of Christianity by people who didn't accept the "tri-godliness' of the father, son and the holy spirit/ghost, the "trinity", thus the name of the religion. For lack of strict dogma, Unitarians have the right to freely use the mind to find their own philosophy. Thereby, among them you'll find God-believers, atheists and agnostics. Even though Unitarians honor Christ as one the sagest philosophers in human evolution, they pay homage to many other philosophers: Socrates, Mohammed, Goutama, Abraham, Jefferson, Tolstoy, Gandhi and many others. The lives of Albert Schweitzer and Martin Luther King reflect the ideals of a Unitarian. The main trait which characterizes Unitarianism is that it is more active than passive. Unitarians actively work for bringing about changes and improvements. In modern life they tend to sympathize more with the youth than the establishment. Before praying they send resolutions to parlamentarians and other authorities who make the laws and decisions about human rights, nature conservation and everything that is valuable in our life. One of the early martyrs of the American battle for the human rights of African-Americans was a Unitarian--Pastor Reet, who marched with Martin Luther King. Unitarian pastors coucil young people who conscientiously oppose military service and to serve in prisons, hospitals and for the poor as an alternative. I've given as an outline a picture of Unitarianism. Finally and briefly, individual dignity is important for the Unitarian and in that respect Unitarianism is quite similar to the neutral humanism/homaranism of Zamenhof. A booklet on Unitarianism exists in Esperanto. 7. Jim Deer, iama gvidanto de Portland, Oregonaj Esperantistoj (lau' informoj de Sxeri Welz) 8. ESCONDIDO Kathlyn W. Loftus, 94, died Friday, Oct. 10, 2003, in San Diego of pneumonia. Born Jan. 27, 1909, in El Cajon, she lived in Escondido for 22 years. She was a retired schoolteacher for the Los Angeles County School District. She was a published poet. She was a member of the Herb Society of Vista, Esperanto Club, PEO and Palomar Unitarian Universalist Fellowship. She enjoyed gardening, music, reading and traveling. Mrs. Loftus was preceded in death by her granddaughter, Megan Larmer, in 1976; and husband William Loftus in 1978. She is survived by her sons and daughters-in-law, Eugene and Cathie Davis of Manteca and Willard and Paula Davis of La Selva Beach; daughter Lynn Davis of San Diego; grandchildren John, Kay, Pam, Jim, Joanna, Scott and Katy; and seven great-grandchildren. A memorial service is scheduled for 1 p.m. Sunday, Nov. 2, at Palomar Unitarian Universalist Fellowship in Vista. Her ashes will be scattered.

Here is a complete photo-copy of the booklet on religious diversity. I sold 10 copies of it in Montreal 2008 joint USA-Canadian conference.        https://www.facebook.com/media/set/?set=a.10152290694568964.1073742291.670528963&type=1&l=7a354ccf77

The very well-known French Esperantist, Henri Mason, has linked friendship between Urban Planner-Esperantist, Howard Ebenezer and Unitarian Ralph Waldo Emerson. https://www.facebook.com/photo.php?fbid=483587785019334&set=a.348332581878189.83013.100001043514223&type=1&theater

Unitarian activity for Esperanto in 1906: Christopher Ruess:
http://impofthediverse.blogspot.com/2015/03/unitarian-minister-enquires-about.html