UUs and the Peace Corps

UUFSC Members

This service commemorated the 50th anniversary of the Peace Corps, March 1, 2011. As of February 2011 our fellowship had 135 members. 10 of those 135 are Returned Peace Corps Volunteers. Depending on how you figure, that is 100 - 300 times the average of the general population. Five of them spoke to the question - "What is it about Unitarian Universalism that attracts RPCVs, or what is it about the Peace Corps that attracts UUs?".

Not all of our RPCVs spoke, and not all who spoke sent a copy of their remarks to the web master. See below for a list of all 10.

As a child, I attended a community church that was non-denominational and included people who called themselves Unitarians. When the church became a Congregational Church, the Unitarians left. At the age of ten, I was told that Unitarians were smart but lacked faith in Christianity and questioned our religion too much.

When I was eighteen, I left home and went to college. Now I was beginning to ask the questions. I joined a UU Channing Murray campus group. Four years later, I graduated from college and immediately joined the Peace Corps in 1966. Why? Because of the military draft, my only other option was to "join" the military or leave the country as a draft dodger. (I eventually was drafted and served in Vietnam.)

In 1972, I married my now ex-wife who was a VISTA volunteer and VISTA volunteer trainer. We joined a small UU fellowship in Merced. When we moved to Modesto in the early 1980's, we joined this Fellowship. From that time until now, I have worked in social services and federally funded health care programs. My wife and I also have recently become Americorps volunteers.

I guess you could say that I was a Peace Corps volunteer before I was a UU member. But I had participated in organized UU collegiate activities before joining the Peace Corps. I also think that the Kennedy/Johnson presidential administrations were responsible for the existence of the Great Society, the War on Poverty, the Peace Corps and the Vietnam conflict.

[Glenn Frew served in Venezuela from 1966-1968.]

Today I'm going to offer some of my ideas on what it is about the Peace Corps that attracts UUs. I was a raised a UU. I attended Religious Education in this very church over in the Johnson Building. I was taught to respect all walks of life, to be tolerant of religious ideas that were different from my own, to value the diversity of all people, and to form my own theological beliefs. When people have never heard of Unitarian Universalism and ask me what my religious instruction was like, I usually sum it up by saying, "I was taught to be a good and decent person."

Our congregation back then, much like today, consisted of folks young and old, queer and straight, abled and disabled, black, white and brown; it was very diverse. Everyone was treated equally; no one was treated differently for their age, sexual orientation, capabilities, or color of their skin. That type of atmosphere that the members of the congregation created was a wonderful example for me as a child, as I'm sure it was for all the other children. It made diversity the norm for me.

During our religious education, we were taught about the basic doctrines of all major religions: Christianity, Judaism, Hinduism, and Buddhism are the ones I remember most learning about. We were taught in a unimposing, matter of fact way and encouraged to process what we learned and to gather our own conclusions. I appreciated even as a child not being told I had to believe in something, rather I was inspired to think for myself and to take what I liked, and made sense, from each faith to apply to my own theology.

William Channing created goals for UU religious instruction in 1833 and one of those goals is "Not to impose religion upon them in the form of arbitrary rules, but to awaken the conscience, the moral discernment." I believe that is exactly what my religious education and my parents did for me. I have always felt a strong moral obligation to volunteer as part of the ethical principles I've created for myself to live by. To help those in need and do it in a way that respects their dignity.

I grew up hearing many stories about my father's Peace Corps experience. Many times at circle dinners. Sometimes there were other UU Returned Peace Corps Volunteers sharing their stories as well. My favorite part of circle dinners when they were at our house, besides the dessert, was seeing dad's slides of his Peace Corps service after everyone ate. We would all gather around and look at the pictures he took of the local market, his hut, his students, the way people dressed, and the way women stretched their earlobes with weights. Maybe some of you remember those slides. I was hooked. I knew from a young age that I wanted to join the Peace Corps and have my own adventure, while serving people in another country.

I believe certain UU principles such as: Promote the inherent worth and dignity of every person; justice, equity and compassion in human relations; a free responsible search for truth and meaning; and the goals of world community with peace, liberty and justice for all, encourage young UUs to go out in the world and do just that. They are looking for a way to foster good relations with people from other cultures, to promote peace and good-will towards others, to find their calling in life or some sort of direction, and to help those asking for assistance in a sustainable, dignified manner. Becoming a Peace Corps Volunteer is an excellent way to achieve these goals.

I was drawn to Peace Corps for a number of reasons. As I mentioned earlier, my mind was made up at a young age thanks to my father's stories and slides. He never pressed the idea on me or encouraged me to join. In fact, I think he was surprised when I told him that I had applied. He simply stirred up the idea without realizing it by sharing his experiences with me. I wanted to be surrounded with diversity, push my comfort levels, and live in a different culture where I could learn from people. I wanted to learn about their way of life, their customs, and their beliefs. I also wanted learn about myself. I wanted to do all this while giving back. To be able to use my skills and knowledge to help people. In my case, this ended up being Peruvian adolescents. The Peace Corps allowed me to accomplish all of these things.

I wanted to share an anecdote with you all. While in training, I wrote down the UUA principles on a piece of paper and asked my Spanish tutor to help me translate them, so I could explain to folks at my site about my religion and what I believed in. (I had been told that a lot of people were going to ask me about my religion.) I never actually got to explain those beliefs to a Peruvian because when people asked what religion I was the conversation went something like this:

"Heather eres Christiana?" Heather are you Christian?
"No."
"Eres Catolica?" Are you Catholic?
"No."
"Que religion eres?" What religion are you?
"Unitaria Universalista." Unitarian Universalist. (Then when come the funny look and pause followed by:)
"Crees en Dios, no?" You believe in God right?
"Si."
"Que bueno." Oh good, or thank goodness. (Relief washing over their faces.)

That was a good enough answer for them and probably the extent of they wanted to hear about my religious beliefs.

[Heather Pack served in Peru from 2007 - 2010 as a youth development volunteer and then as a HIV prevention coordinator.]

I was one of those people who was a Unitarian Universalist and didn't know it.

In the fall of 1960, then-candidate John F. Kennedy proposed the organization that became the Peace Corps. I was in the seventh grade. Our social studies teacher, hoping to make current events come alive, ask each of us what we would do to help people in the developing world. About half of my classmates got up and said that they would bring the word of Jesus Christ to the poor benighted heathen. My parents were nominally Christian, but they had always told us that other religions were equally valid for other people.

When it was my turn, I told my classmates that, knowing other people believed in their religion as strongly as we believed in ours, I would be an engineer and build bridges over rivers, so that the people in poor countries could get to school and market without being eaten by crocodiles.

That day at lunch several of my classmates asked me if I believe that and said didn't I know that Christianity was the only true religion. It was the first time I realized that some Christians thought they had the One True Path.

Time passed. Candidate Kennedy became president Kennedy. I went off to college. I did become a Peace Corps volunteer, but I was an English teacher, not an engineer. I did help some people in one poor country. As a friend of mine said "there are not a lot of texts on electrical engineering written in Iban." (Iban is the name of a tribe in Sarawak. Their language is Iban also. Some of my Iban students went on from our little school to universities in Canada and Australia.)

My students came from three ethnic groups; Iban, mentioned above, who were either Christian or Animist; Chinese, most of whom followed the traditional Chinese religions; and Malay, who were Muslim.

Their religions worked for them, they got along, and I got to go to holidays from four different religions, all of which featured festive foods, and three out of four of which featured generous quantities of beer.

As a side note, the hospital admission form in Sarawak gives you five choices for religion;
•  Chinese
•  Christian - Roman Catholic
•  Christian - Protestant
•  Muslim
•  Pagan
but, if you are of European heritage and you check "Pagan" the admitting nurse will say "tsk-tsk" and make you pick another one.

My two years in Sarawak convinced me, by example, that different religions were "different paths up the same mountain." When I came back to the United States, I looked for a church that would accept me. I found the UU Fellowship, we fit, and I've been happy here ever since.

[Ted Pack served in Sarawak, Malaysia from 1971 - 1972 as an English teacher.]

Here is a complete list of our RPCVs:

Bob St. John, Ethiopia, 1970 - 1974, Agriculture
David Simons, Nigeria, 1967 - 1969, Secondary Education
Elaine Arnold, Thailand, 1972 - 1975, Nutrition
Glen Frew, Venezuela, 1966 - 1968, Community Development
Grace Simons, Nigeria, 1967 - 1969, Secondary Education
Heather Pack, Peru, 2008 - 2010, Community Development
Jerry Jackman, India, 1966 - 1968, Community Development
John Arnold, Thailand, 1971 - 1975, Agriculture
Ken Wilmarth, Peru, 1967 - 1968, Community Development
Ted Pack, Malaysia, 1971 - 1972, Secondary Education

[Historical note: Rev. Grace Simons retired in October 2011. The UUA has a "No Contact" policy for retired ministers, so she and her husband David are no longer members.]

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