The Modern Abolition Movement
Emily Richards and Douglas Taylor
3-29-26
Sermon Video: https://youtu.be/phpQUnoJUh0

Emily: Part 1

When we hear the word abolition we immediately think about tearing something down.  Abolition in this country in the 18th and 19th centuries was the movement that sought to end slavery and continues to be what first comes to mind for many people when we talk about abolition.

Today the conversations about abolition have shifted and it is common to see and hear messages such as abolish the police.  Abolish ICE.  Demands that we get rid of the systems that are in place.

Dr. Crystal T Laura shared “I think of abolition as the deliberate and intentional removal of imprisonment, isolation, punitive institutionalization as the foremost way that we address issues of harm and healing.”

Abolition is the deliberate and intentional removal of systems that cause harm yes, but abolition justice inherently also has to include the building of something new.  

Not REbuilding, which in many ways was what happened during reconstruction after the abolition of slavery in the United States, the old systems were simply shifted to continue to allow for the oppression and profit off of the people who were freed from chattel slavery.  

True abolition means creating something totally different.  And ideally better.  In order to do that you have to tear down these systems and start from scratch.

The challenge there is that these systems, these ideologies, are so ingrained into the society in which we live that we cannot imagine what we would create to replace them.  

Eric Stanley wrote:

“Abolition is not some distant future but something we create in every moment when we say no to the traps of empire and yes to the nourishing possibilities dreamed of and practiced by our ancestors and friends. 

Every time we insist on accessible and affirming health care, safe and quality education, meaningful and secure employment, loving and healing relationships, and being our full and whole selves, we are doing abolition. 

Abolition is about breaking down things that oppress and building up things that nourish. Abolition is the practice of transformation in the here and now and the ever after.”

Abolition is building things up.  What do we want to build?  What are we called to build as UUs?  As a people who value justice and equity and generosity?  As a people who believe in transformation, of our selves, our communities and our society?

Douglas: Part 2

This conversation about Abolition grew out of a “Congregational Study Action Issue” at our UUA General Assembly this past summer (2025). In general, a Congregational Study Action Issue (or CSAI for short) is a multi-year process intended to have people in our congregations talk about and consider a justice issue most of us do not already know a lot about. The point is to encourage sermons and workshops to get us talking and thinking before we draft any statements or work toward any changes. 

When I heard the Abolition proposal, my initial thought was ‘prison reform is a worthy goal, I agree we should talk about that.’ But this is not simply a conversation about making changes to how prisons work in our society.

At root, it is about crime and punishment – yes. But theologically it asks us to look at what we mean by the idea of ‘crime,’ to recognize that not all behaviors we categorize as ‘crimes’ are about harm and not all harm is categorized as a crime. Digging deep we can ask: what do we do with people who cause harm? Are some people disposable? What would redemption look like, or rehabilitation, or repair? 

One aspect of this conversation I eventually realized is that we’re also talking about the issues in our society that lead people to ‘break the law’ and end up in prison. Can we recognize that issues of poverty, racism, addiction, and homelessness are connected to this issue of abolition?

If we abolish prisons, we will also need to abolish the conditions that too often lead people to ‘break the law.’ If we had universal health care and affordable housing and minimum basic income – a lot fewer people would be at risk of incarceration. 

This conversation leads us to consider all the harm that happens that never gets labeled as criminal. Can we recognize that climate degradation, wage theft, and income inequality are not ‘criminal’ but are issues we’ll want to tackle if we are going to seriously build a just world without relying on our current prison industrial complex. 

Abolition has a holistic vision bringing in a broad swath of justice issues we Unitarian Universalists tend to be actively working on already. We talk about intersectionality and how often our struggles in one area overlaps with other areas in our lives.

This conversation about abolition touches on LGBTQ issues and immigration and reproductive rights and human trafficking and political corruption and addiction and so much more because it starts with the question of ‘what counts as a crime?’ and how will we respond as a community? 

What might society look like if we began with responses to those questions that take our Unitarian Universalist values seriously? This isn’t merely about abolishing the systems that do not work – that are in fact causing us harm. It is also about imagining what we might do when we start to build something new.

Emily: Part 3

Frederic Jameson said “It’s easier for us to imagine the end of the world than the end of capitalism.” Really sit with that.  “It’s easier for us to imagine the end of the world than the end of capitalism.”

We can include capitalism when talking about abolition.  We can include it along with the abolishment of modern day slavery, of the prison industrial complex, of human trafficking, of forced labor, of family policing.  Of all of these systems.

It was my youngest’s birthday this past week and they wanted McDonald’s for dinner.  Wednesdays are a busy day for us so we went through the drive through on our way home from rehearsal and they noticed that there was a sign on the window that said that they didn’t accept bills larger than a $50.  

And they asked why.  I replied that it was probably because they don’t keep much cash in the register so they wouldn’t have change for a larger bill.  And then I kind of flippantly added, they probably empty the registers regularly so there isn’t much in there if they get robbed.

And my kids were so offended that someone might rob McDonald’s.  To which I responded, wouldn’t it be great if we lived in a society where people didn’t need to resort to robbing McDonald’s.  

When we talk about abolition that is what we mean.  Can we imagine a society where no one is living in poverty?  Where no one feels like they need to steal to survive?

Alan Detlaff, a professor, author, and abolitionist, shares that statistics show that nearly three-quarters of children in foster care are there because of neglect, which is largely associated with poverty and disproportionately affects brown and black children.

Can we imagine a society where there is no need for children to be removed from their families for the crime of being poor?

Douglas: Part 4

In two weeks, on Sunday April 12, we will have a workshop based on Mariam Kaba’s book We Do This ‘Til We Free Us. We used an excerpt from the book as our reading this morning. Alex Compton and Catherine Magdala will lead the class with the support of our Social Action Huub.

We’ll crack open this conversation around abolition together. If you already have this figured out, maybe this class isn’t for you. But if you are curious or are beginning to see some connections and want more – then we can start a serious conversation about abolition and what might be possible together. 

Last week in my sermon on “The Rejected Stone” I said: 
“We are called to take care of each other, to build a society in which we all can thrive – not just some, but all. We are called to denounce the idea that some people are disposable or unworthy. The rejected and the outcast are more than welcome here – we are celebrated, central.” (3-2-6)

If that’s true, then we will want to start talking seriously about abolition together. 

Last month in my sermon “Do We Have Enough Love” I shared this: 
“Friends, our theology does not call us to be among the respected classes. We are not called to whisper sweet platitudes of God’s love to the oppressors. Instead, we are called to remember that our love is radical. … Our faith calls us to build just and loving communities. Our faith calls us to get out among people in need and get our hands dirty, to let our days be the evidence of our hearts on fire.” (2-15-26)

If that rings true, then we will want to start talking seriously about abolition together. 

Last fall in my sermon “Sometimes Things Break” I reminded us:
“Sometimes things break. That doesn’t mean we are bad people. We can thrive and grow when broken, (perhaps only when we are broken.) How we respond to the brokenness builds the world around us. It’s not the brokenness that matters. What matters is our response. What matters is the love.” (9-28-25)

And if that sounds right to you, then we will want to start talking seriously about abolition together. 

Friends, this is something we’ve been building up toward for a while. It only seems impossible because it is a big idea. But all the pieces are in front of us and we’ve been talking about them together for a few years. Abolition only seems radical because it is. But that’s what we’re here for – radical love, the kind of love that can get all of us free. 

Emily: Part 5

W.E.B. du Bois wrote, at the beginning of  Looking Forward, “How two theories of the future of America clashed and blended just after the Civil War: the one was abolition democracy based on freedom, intelligence and power for all men, the other was an industry for private profit directed by an autocracy determined at any price to amass wealth and power.”

The rise of autocracy and an industry determined to amass wealth and power, at any cost, has created a society where only the few can truly thrive and the rest of us are confined within systems that judge our worth based solely on our monetary assets, and find us lacking.

Abolition goes beyond making a few changes to the systems that already exist.  Abolition requires a fundamentally different way of living. It requires building up things that nourish everyone.  It requires transformation in the here and now and the ever after.  

And to get there we need to start the demolition.

In a world without end,

may it be so.