The Gadfly Affair: A 21st Century Heretic’s Excommunication from America’s Most Liberal Religion

by Todd F. Eklof

Freedom, reason, tolerance. These are the values American Unitarianism was founded upon in the late 18th the same Enlightenment principles that had also inspired the nation’s founders. Until recently, it was unthinkable that this liberal religion would be capable of banning books and silencing dissenters. But this is precisely what happened after Unitarian Universalist minister Todd Eklof wrote his book, "The Gadfly Three Inconvenient Essays by One Pesky Minister." Just hours after he began distributing it during the Unitarian Universalist Association’s 2019 General Assembly, he was surrounded by five angry representatives of the Association, chastising him for the “harm” he was causing with a book none of them had read. Before the day ended, he was banned from returning to the Assembly and boxes of his book were soon confiscated and thrown away. He was then publicly condemned by hundreds of his colleagues in a letter calling his book racist, homophobic, transphobic, ableist, and classist, without citing a single example from within its pages. "The Gadfly Affair" is this 21st century heretic’s gripping and meticulously documented account of what transpired between the time he was banned and eventually excommunicated from America’s most liberal religion. "The Gadfly Affair" further exposes the ideological intolerance now manifesting in progressive organizations everywhere, a social phenomenon that is ushering the whole of Western culture into a new Dark Ages. "The Gadfly Affair" is about finding the moral courage to respond to what’s happening in our society with the same forces that have always illuminated humanity’s path in the darkest of times—freedom, reason, and tolerance.

248 pages, Kindle Edition

Published April 5, 2021

Reviews

[Michael Brown · Rating 3 out of 5]

Watching the faith tradition that shaped who I am fall into the common trap of self destruction has been challenging. Watching a corporate religious structure like the UUA abandon due process to dismiss a minister that dared to sound an alarm about its path is devastating.

I don't agree with everything Reverend Eklof wrote in The Gadfly Papers, nor in this book. But as a settled minister speaking his truth, the tactics used against him to silence and discredit him are terrifying and worthy of examination. Any Unitarian Universalist who thinks of themselves as informed about current UU drama should read this book. Agree with him or not, but give him a chance.