Connections Quarterly Winter 2018 - World Religions

Creating Justice Together By Amanda Poppei Washington Ethical Society, Washington, DC I saw a meme on Facebook the other day, from Twitter user Marcus Halley (@word_made_ FRESH). Here’s what he wrote. . THEM: Is this a social justice church? ME: To me, that’s like saying “Is this a ‘book library’ or a ‘food grocery store?’” We are a church, and because we follow Christ, we are called, among other things, to pursue justice. I don’t follow Christ, and I don’t even serve a church; I’m the clergy leader of the Washington Ethical Society, a humanist congregation in Washington, DC that’s part of the Ethical Culture and Unitarian Universalist movements. But with those minor (!) adjustments, Marcus Halley sure is speaking for me. And he may be speaking for some of your students. Without a way to start the conversation, we frequently find ourselves unsure about what’s appropriate to ask, and how to welcome in both students who are deeply religious and those who are secular. I’d like to suggest that Marcus Halley’s words offer us an answer: justice, and its centrality to the religious message, can be the beginning of the conversation. The movements that I serve, particularly Ethical Culture, are really built around the idea that part of what we do when we are gathered together in intentional community (ie, when we are a church, or a congregation, or a synagogue) is create justice together. In Ethical Culture, we follow the wisdom of our founder, Felix Adler, who back in 1876 said that the movement was a place Continues on page 28 CSEE Connections Winter 2018 Page 27

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