Unitarian Jihad is a nascent satirical religious/humanist movement which opposes religious extremism of all kinds through peaceful means. Satire is a literary technique of writing or art which exposes the follies of its subject (for example, individuals, organizations, or states) to ridicule, often as an intended means of provoking or preventing change. ... Fishers of men; Oil on panel by Adriaen van de Venne (1614) Religion—sometimes used interchangeably with faith or belief system—is commonly defined as belief concerning the supernatural, sacred, or divine, and the moral codes, practices, values, institutions and rituals associated with such belief. ... Humanism is an active ethical and philosophical approach to life focusing on human solutions to human issues through rational arguments without recourse to a god, gods, sacred texts or religious creeds. ...

The concept of the Unitarian Jihad originated in a column by writer Jon Carroll which was originally published in the San Francisco Chronicle on April 8, 2005. The column intentionally juxtaposed the Unitarian Universalist principles of a creedless faith and rational discussion with the Islamic concept of (militant) Jihad, and used the conceit of having received an anonymous communique from the then non-existent group. The San Francisco Chronicle, the self-described Voice of the West, is Northern Californias largest newspaper. ... April 8 is the 98th day of the year in the Gregorian calendar (99th in leap years). ... 2005 is a common year starting on Saturday of the Gregorian calendar. ... The flaming chalice is the universally recognized symbol for Unitarian Universalism. ... This article discusses faith in a religious context. ... Islam ( Arabic al-islām الإسلام,  listen?) the submission to God is a monotheistic faith and the worlds second-largest religion. ... Jihad (ǧihād جهاد) is an Islamic term, from the Arabic root ǧhd (to exert utmost effort, to strive, struggle), which connotes a wide range of meanings: anything from an inward spiritual struggle to attain perfect faith to a political or military struggle to further the Islamic cause. ... Communiqu is the second album by British rock band Dire Straits, released in 1979 (see 1979 in music). ...

Excerpt:

The following is the first communique from a group calling itself Unitarian Jihad. It was sent to me at The Chronicle via an anonymous spam remailer. I have no idea whether other news organizations have received this communique, and, if so, why they have not chosen to print it. Perhaps they fear starting a panic. I feel strongly that the truth, no matter how alarming, trivial or disgusting, must always be told. I am pleased to report that the words below are at least not disgusting:

Greetings to the Imprisoned Citizens of the United States. We are Unitarian Jihad. There is only God, unless there is more than one God. The vote of our God subcommittee is 10-8 in favor of one God, with two abstentions. Brother Flaming Sword of Moderation noted the possibility of there being no God at all, and his objection was noted with love by the secretary.

Both links to Carroll's column, and the text of the column, were distributed on the Internet. Some people who read this proclaimed themselves to be members of the Unitarian Jihad. Whether Carroll condones or endorses the movement inspired by his article is not clear at the present time. It is also unclear whether any of the self-proclaimed members of the Unitarian Jihad intend to take action other than communicating with each other online. The term God is capitalized in the English language as a proper noun when used to refer to a specific monotheistic concept of a Supreme Being in accordance with Christian, Jewish (as G-d - cf. ...

Following Jon Carroll's satirical lead, the people who have declared themselves members of the Unitarian Jihad talk about committees, a model common in Unitarian Universalist congregations. They also follow Carroll's lead in using names like "Brother Flaming Sword of Moderation" in order to parody both the language used by Islamic militant groups and the principles of Unitarian Universalism. The flaming chalice is the universally recognized symbol for Unitarian Universalism. ...

External links

• Original article by Jon Carroll
• LiveJournal community for Unitarian Jihad (known as the International Unofficial Unitarian Jihad)
• Video Communique for World Peace by Unitarian Jihad cell (not worksafe)
• Myspace group for Unitarian Jihad
• LiveJournal community for the UK cell of the IUUJ
• LiveJournal commmunity for the San Francisco/Bay Area cell of the IUUJ
• LiveJournal commmunity for the Greater New York region cell of the IUUJ
• LiveJournal Community for the Seattle area cell of the IUUJ
• Unitarian Jihad Name Generator
• First Reformed Unitarian Name Generator
• A Unitarian Jihad Cafe Press store
• Unitarian Jihad at UUWiki
• Unitarian Jihad at Yahoo Groups
• Unitarian Jihad at Everything2
• About Unitarian Universalism from the Unitarian Universalist Association (USA)
• Who We Are from the Canadian Unitarian Council (Canada)
• About the GA from the General Assembly of Unitarian and Free Christian Churches (UK)
• What is ICUU? from the International Council of Unitarians and Universalists