The Doctrine of Democracy - Jill McAllister - November 25, 2012

In 1452, Pope Nicholas V issued a decree that specifically sanctioned and promoted the conquest, colonization, and exploitation of non-Christian territories and peoples. Hundreds of years of decisions and laws continuing right up to our own time can ultimately be traced back to this “Doctrine of Discovery”—laws that invalidate or ignore the rights, sovereignty, and humanity of indigenous peoples in the United States and around the world. The delegates of the 2012 UUA General Assembly, last June, called on all congregations to study this history and aim to eliminate its presence from the current-day policies, programs, theologies, and structures of Unitarian Universalism.