Connections Quarterly Winter 2018 - World Religions

C REAT ING JUSTICE TO GE TH ER Continued from page 29 At the heart, many of these questions are jus- tice issues, because they are about how we treat other people and what kind of world we want to live in. And for the majority of stu- dents, they are more relevant questions than whether or not the Nicene Creed makes sense to them. They are certainly more connecting questions—welcoming answers that come from any tradition and from no tradition. Sometimes the members of the congrega- tion I serve will describe their approach to Big Spiritual Questions in this way: it’s not that they have no opinion on God or an afterlife, it’s just that those aren’t the most interesting questions to them. The most interesting ques- tions are the ones that affect how we live, here and now, how we spend our time and money, how we build lives that are satisfying and move the world toward greater whole- ness and equality. In many faith traditions, of course, the Big Spiritual Questions are deeply important... and they should be. But in an in- terfaith setting, it’s often the here and now questions that help us to understand each other more deeply and to find commonality. Social justice isn’t just a sideline—it’s what gives life to our values. l The Rev. Amanda Poppei serves as Senior Leader at the Washington Ethical Society, a humanist congregation in Washington, DC. Clergy in both the Unitarian Universalist and Ethical Culture traditions, Amanda holds a B.A. in Religious Studies from Yale University and an M.Div. from Wesley Theological Seminary. Amanda’s ministry centers around social justice work and the creation of multigenerational community. Early Ed Event: Fostering Kindness in Young Children With Tom Lickona, Ph.D. • Developmental Psychologist, Author March 4, 2019 • New York, NY Day Workshop for Faculty 8:30am-4pm Evening Event for Parents 6:30-8pm Dr. Tom Lickona will review what we know about early moral development and then de- scribe practical classroom strategies for foster- ing young children’s kindness. Dr. Lickona will cover the 10 things primary caregivers can do to raise kind, respectful, and grateful kids. There will be time for Q&A and book signing afterward. www.csee.org/event/earlyednyc www.csee.org/event/LickonaParent Page 30 Winter 2018 CSEE Connections

Connections Quarterly Winter 2018 - World Religions | Page 32