There are currently only three Unitarian-Universalists in the entire U.S. Congress – one senator and two representatives. Unlike recent Muslim and Buddhist additions to Congress, however, the current UUs are by no means the first members of their religion to serve in Congress.

Just what the Unitarian-Universalist religion is, however, can be hard to pin down, as individual Unitarian-Universalists often have very different beliefs from the people they sit next to in the pews. Historically, Unitarian-Universalists are for the most part very different from their predecessors, both Unitarian and Universalist. For a long time, Unitarianism and Universalism were liberal forms of Christianity, and separate from each other. Present-day Unitarian-Universalism has transcended Christianity, although some of its individual members remain Christians. Unitarian-Universalism rejects the idea of dictating a particular creed. Rather, the religion advises its members to adopt a certain set of attitudes in coming to their own decisions about what beliefs to accept, and what beliefs to reject.

One of the three Unitarian Universalists in Congress, Representative Pete Stark, allowed himself to be identified two years ago as the first openly non-theist member of Congress. What the other two Unitarian-Universalists believe when it comes to religion isn’t clear. Neither, actually, is it relevant. The Constitution declares that there shall be no religious test for public office.

What matters is what members of Congress do with their secular power as members of the American national legislature. In this professional dimension, the Unitarian-Universalists of Congress are as diverse as they might be expected to be on matters of personal belief.

While Representative Stark is among the more liberal members of the House of Representatives, Walter Minnick, the other UU in the House, is a right wing Blue Dog. Minnick has voted against common sense environmental moves, opposing solar power and high speed rail. Minnick seems to be set against serious action to confront climate change as well. Minnick even voted for legislation to ban protests that are perceived as “desecrating” the American flag.

The sole Unitarian-Universalist in the Senate, Kent Conrad, is more like Minnick than he is like Stark. Conrad has voted in favor of some of the most infamous attacks against constitutional rights during the Bush Era, including the Patriot Act and the FISA Amendments Act. Senator Conrad has voted to block President Obama’s efforts to close the torture prisons at Guantanamo Bay. Conrad has also voted to block inclusion of a public option in health care reform legislation. Conrad has earned only a 33 percent progressive legislative score in the current session of Congress.

The Unitarian-Universalist Association claims to represent “liberal congregations”, but as Conrad and Minnick show, many Unitarian-Universalists are far from liberal, in a political sense.