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(82,333 posts) Wed Aug 3, 2016, 06:34 PM Aug 2016

Unitarian Universalists Sue For Right To Use Solar Panels, Cite Religious Freedom

BY JACK JENKINS
AUG 3, 2016 4:37 PM

A Unitarian Universalist church is suing the town of Bedford, Massachusetts for denying a request to install solar panels on its property, arguing that authorities are infringing on the congregation’s right to express their religious belief in clean energy solutions.

According to RLUIPA Defense, the First [Unitarian Universalist] Parish in Bedford applied for a “certificate of appropriateness” to install solar panels on its Meetinghouse earlier this year, only to be denied by the town’s Historic District Commission. In response, the congregation filed a complaint on June 27 based on an unusual argument: that the denial violated their congregation’s free exercise of religion, specifically the First Amendment to the U.S. Constitution as well as Article II of the Massachusetts Declaration of Rights.

“The decision exceeds the authority of the HDC, was legally untenable, unreasonable, arbitrary and capricious, and violated the rights of the members of First Parish to the free exercise of their religious beliefs…,” the complaint reads.

The complaint contends that the seventh (of seven) principle of Unitarian Universalism implores followers to “respect for the interdependent web of existence of which we are a part,” which the parish interprets to mean an abiding respect for the environment. Citing the Unitarian Universalist Association’s (UUA) longstanding support for conservation efforts and environmental protection, First Parish notes that it applied to the UUA to become a “Green Sanctuary,” a status that requires, among other things, installing solar panels to generate 75 percent of all energy used by the congregation.

http://thinkprogress.org/climate/2016/08/03/3804896/unitarian-universalist-solar-panels-religious-liberty/

https://www.rluipa-defense.com/wp-content/uploads/sites/9/2016/07/PLD-Complaint-As-Filed-00673674.pdf