RIDDLE AND MYSTERY
A Tapestry of Faith Program for Children
SESSION 9: RIGHT AND WRONG
BY RICHARD S. KIMBALL
© Copyright 2010 Unitarian Universalist Association.
Published to the Web on 11/8/2014 8:26:00 AM PST.
This program and additional resources are available on the UUA.org web site at
www.uua.org/religiouseducation/curricula/tapestryfaith.
SESSION OVERVIEW
INTRODUCTION
I know only that what is moral is what you feel good after and what is immoral is what you feel bad after. — Ernest Hemingway
There must always be a remedy for wrong and injustice if we only know how to find it. — Ida B. Wells
Big Question: How can I tell right from wrong?
Sixth graders may not use the term "moral ambiguity," but they have confronted complex moral and ethical decisions. Even young children know the angst of being torn between two choices, each of which seems to mix right and wrong.
The simple answer to today's Big Question is that there is no simple answer. However, youth will learn in this session how to use tests and guidelines—for example, the UU Principles, their own conscience, the Golden Rule—to discern the best, most right action in specific situations.
Helping sixth graders through the thickets of moral ambiguity is very much worth the effort. The session offers youth challenges to consider and includes a story of conscience at work. In WCUU, youth create conscience art. WIT Time considers where best to find help in making moral, ethical decisions.
GOALS
This session will:
LEARNING OBJECTIVES
Participants will:
SESSION-AT-A-GLANCE
Activity | Minutes |
Opening | 5 |
Activity 1: What to Do? | 12 |
Activity 2: Story — The Thief Within | 7 |
Activity 3: WCUU — Brain Art | 23 |
Activity 4: WIT Time — Group Covenant | 10 |
Faith in Action: Feeding the Hungry | |
Closing | 3 |
Alternate Activity 1: Notable Thoughts | 5 |
Alternate Activity 2: Song — Building a New Way | 5 |
Alternate Activity 3: Challenge Question | 5 |
Alternate Activity 4: Learning About Confession | 10 |
Alternate Activity 5: Stealing Bread | 10 |
SPIRITUAL PREPARATION
Carve out a meditative moment for yourself. Relax. Take several deep breaths. Remember a recent moment when you wanted to decide the right way to act. Was it easy to know? What tests did you apply to help answer the question? Did you rely on spiritual or religious sources? How did you ultimately decide what to do?
Smile in the knowledge that simply joining youth in their search of life's mysteries is good and rewarding.
SESSION PLAN
OPENING (5 MINUTES)
Materials for Activity
Preparation for Activity
Description of Activity
Greet youth as they enter, and introduce yourself to any you do not already know. If the group uses nametags, invite everyone to wear one. If new youth join this session, add their names on card stock to the Kid for the Day bag or box.
Sound the bell or tingsha chimes to call for silence.
Reach into the Kid for the Day bag or box and select a name without looking. Announce the name and place the card back in the bag or box. Or, if the group decided during Session 8 (Activity 1) to change how the Kid for the Day is selected, follow the new procedure now.
Allow a reluctant Kid for the Day to pass and draw another name. Indicate you the posted chalice lighting words. Invite the Kid for the Day to light the chalice while you lead the group in reciting "May this chalice light show the way as we search for answers to our biggest questions and seek to understand life's deepest mysteries."
Invite the group to share a moment of silence. End the silence by sounding the bell or tingshas. If new participants have joined the group, invite all to introduce themselves. You might ask if anyone did any Taking It Home activities from the previous session and would like to briefly share what they did.
If you have posted the group's covenant, ask if anybody wants to suggest changes. Process suggestions quickly, and amend the covenant as needed.
Announce that it is time to hear the Big Question of the day. Hand the Kid for the Day a copy of Handout 1. Write the question—How can I tell right from wrong?—on the newsprint under the "Today's Big Question" sign.
Ask the Kid for the Day to extinguish the chalice.
Including All Participants
If the group includes youth who may have difficulty reading, be sure you routinely allow the Kid for the Day to pass.
ACTIVITY 1: WHAT TO DO? (12 MINUTES)
Materials for Activity
Preparation for Activity
Description of Activity
Form small groups of three or four in separate areas around the meeting space. Explain that you will invite the groups to consider realistic ethical challenges. Say you are interested to hear not only the decision the group reaches but also the rationale for the decision.
Give each group a situation from Leader Resource 1 and tell them they will have five minutes to generate a group response. Then, bring the groups back together to share their situations and decisions. Invite other groups to add their own ideas.
As the groups discuss their situations, capture on newsprint any ethical principles such as "honesty," "the Golden Rule" and "fairness." Save the newsprint for possible reference in later activities.
ACTIVITY 2: STORY — THE THIEF WITHIN (7 MINUTES)
Materials for Activity
Preparation for Activity
Description of Activity
Read or tell the story, "The Thief Within." Engage participants in discussion:
ACTIVITY 3: WCUU — BRAIN ART (23 MINUTES)
Materials for Activity
Preparation for Activity
Description of Activity
This WCUU activity has two parts. In Part 1, lead a group discussion about how Unitarian Universalists know right from wrong and invite the youth to prepare art work, for a WCUU art show, which shows what they plan to "feed" their brains to strengthen moral and ethical decision making. In Part 2, the WCUU broadcast, two Co-Anchors and a NUUs Analyst talk about conscience, then visit the art show and interview some of the artists.
Part 1: Lead a discussion to bring youth to an understanding of the term "conscience"—what it is, what it does and how it develops in its ability to know right from wrong. You may use these ideas and questions:
Suggest that Unitarian Universalists rely heavily on our consciences to know right from wrong in a given situation. We need to nurture our consciences with guidelines that we find in our UU Principles, our understanding of the Golden Rule and in teachings from our other UU Sources. Say:
Today's WCUU broadcast will feature an art show. On display will be brain art which you will draw now. Imagine that you are going to feed your conscience a three-course meal of ethical ideas. What ideas, what food will you choose? That is up to you.
Distribute Handout 2 and put out drawing materials. Give the group five minutes or so to work, repeating the ideas about where to look for "food," as needed. Tell them the art need not be fancy—time is limited, and you are more interested in the ideas the art shows than in what it looks like. Say they may use words, as needed, but should try to let pictures tell the story.
Have participants attach their completed artwork to a wall.
Part 2: With about ten minutes remaining, begin the WCUU broadcast, which involves three key on-air people—Co-Anchor 1, Co-Anchor 2 and a NUUs Analyst. Other members of the group will appear in the show as artists and display their Brain Art. The Studio Crew might include a director, a floor director, a camera operator, a sound engineer, a lighting director, a script supervisor and multiple production assistants.
Assign roles, using volunteers. You might invite the Kid for the Day to be a Co-Anchor. Give participants who need to follow the script a moment to look it over. Review the script with the youth if any may have limited reading skills.
Tell the group when the show should end to keep the session on schedule; assign a Studio Crew member (director or floor director) to watch the time.
Begin the broadcast.
At the end of the broadcast, ask participants how it went. Ask them to summarize how typical UUs respond to today's Big Question: How can I know right from wrong? Do they think non-UU viewers would understand Unitarian Universalism better after seeing it? Do they have any new ideas about their conscience, and knowing right from wrong?
Including All Participants
If any youth have limited mobility, arrange the "studio" so they can participate on camera while seated.
ACTIVITY 4: WIT TIME GROUP COVENANT (10 MINUTES)
Materials for Activity
Description of Activity
Ask the group how the balance of right and wrong seems to be in this Riddle and Mystery group. Are they content with the way they and others behave? Do youth and leaders treat each other in acceptable ways? What could be better about how everyone interacts?
If the group has not made a covenant, lead them to develop guidelines and record them on newsprint.
If the group already has a covenant, review it. Ask, is the covenant working? Would anyone like to suggest changes? Reach consensus about what the changes should be and record them on newsprint (Also suggest the changes you have thought of, if youth do not.). Prepare the new covenant to post, or choose a volunteer to do so before the next session.
Discuss the covenant in terms of the ethical basis for its elements. For example, if the covenant says participants should take turns, how do they know that people in the group should take turns? Did they learn that value from their families? Is it a common rule of society? Is it always desirable? Can they find statements in our UU Principles that support their belief that this is a good way to act?
CLOSING (3 MINUTES)
Materials for Activity
Preparation for Activity
Description of Activity
Briefly summarize the day's session with words like these:
Today's Big Question asks "How can I tell right from wrong?" We considered some tricky ethical situations and heard a story about a thief. We fed our consciences in WCUU, and for WIT Time we talked about where to get help making moral decisions. Like many other big questions, this one is more easily asked than answered. It seems that every situation is different, and not everyone will solve a situation the same way. We cannot find exact rules that will provide quick and easy answers every person can use to solve every challenging situation. We can find very useful guidelines that will help us do the right thing. We can use our UU community as a place to talk with about difficult situations and help each other find the best possible ways to respond.
Distribute the Taking It Home handout. Suggest participants use the activities to continue exploring the themes of today's session.
Relight the chalice. Ask the group to say these closing words with you:
May this light shine on in each of us as we search for the answers to our own biggest questions.
Extinguish the chalice (or ask the Kid for the Day to do it). Sound the bell or tingshas to end the session.
FAITH IN ACTION: FEEDING THE HUNGRY
Materials for Activity
Preparation for Activity
Description of Activity
If the group is engaged in an ongoing Faith in Action project, continue work on it.
Or, consider this short-term Faith in Action activity:
Feeding the Hungry
Present an introduction to world hunger and global and local efforts to address it. Invite the group to learn more about one or more projects and find a way to participate.
For many, hunger is a reality. Around the world, 1.4 billion people live below the poverty line of 1.25 dollars a day. Lack of food can lead to malnutrition, serious illness and death. In 2006, 9.7 million children died before reaching their fifth birthday. Most of these deaths, though not directly due to starvation, were the result of illness suffered by children already weakened by hunger.
The time needed to secure food for one's family is time people cannot spend doing other things, like working or getting an education. Until we feed the hungry, it will be impossible to lift families out of poverty. Many people feel ending world hunger should be our number one priority. Ask if participants are familiar with any organizations addressing this issue. Their families might belong to one or more. They might have raised money for Heifer Project International to purchase farm animals or trees for struggling communities. There are many organizations and many ways to help.
An online game. The United Nations World Food Program has a website FreeRice.com (at www.freerice.com/). On the website, you can play educational games to increase your vocabulary, learn about famous works of art, practice foreign languages and learn geography. As you play a game, you earn rice to help feed the hungry.
Letters to Congress. Bread for the World (at www.bread.org/) is a Christian organization that asks Congress and lawmakers to try to alleviate hunger around the world. They accept donations and members receive legislative alerts to lobby their Congress representatives to support worthwhile legislation.
A Sabbath Offering. The ONE Campaign (at www.one.org/) is dedicated to ending extreme poverty and preventable disease. ONE members believe it is wrong for some of us to have so much while others have so little. They want to share the wealth. One of their programs is ONE Sabbath. On their website, you will see material for holding a ONE Sabbath event for several different faiths, but currently, there is not one for UUs. Perhaps your group would like to create resources for a UU Sabbath. What sources would UUs look to for inspiration in the work of eliminating poverty? Sacred texts? Words from prophetic women and men?
Creating a guide for a UU Sabbath is a big project. Yet it would be a great contribution to our faith. If your group decides to work on this, solicit help from the Social Justice Committee, minister, religious educator and others in your congregation. Consider inviting neighboring congregations to work with you. If the group develops a UU Sabbath for ONE, you might contact the ONE Campaign and inquire about working with them to post it on their website.
LEADER REFLECTION AND PLANNING
Meet with your co-leaders after the session. How was the mix of discussion and action? Have you helped participants strengthen their ethical decision-making skills during this session? Do they seem comfortable with the freedom UUs have in response to many big questions?
The Big Question for Session 10 asks, "What is truth?" Reflect on your own answers in the days ahead, if you will be leading Session 10.
TAKING IT HOME
I know only that what is moral is what you feel good after and what is immoral is what you feel bad after. — Ernest Hemingway
There must always be a remedy for wrong and injustice if we only know how to find it. — Ida B. Wells
Talk about the quotes. Do you agree with them?
WHAT WE DID TODAY
Today's Big Question asks, "How can I tell right from wrong?" We talked about what we should do in some difficult situations, and heard a story about a monk who condemned himself for stealing. Our WCUU broadcast talked about how we can feed our consciences with UU Principles and other guidelines. In WIT Time, we talked about where to get help when we need to make difficult decisions.
SHARED SEARCH
Read a newspaper together, or watch the news on television or the Internet. Talk about things that people did wrong and that people did right. How do you know which is which? Is it always clear?
MOVIE NIGHT
Watch the concert version of the musical Les Miserables. It tells the story of what happens to Jean Valjean after he is imprisoned for stealing bread to feed his starving family. The musical is based on the novel Les Miserables by the French author Victor Hugo. The story raises many interesting questions about right and wrong. An example: Is it wrong to steal in order to save a starving family?
REFLECT ON YOUR BELIEFS
Abraham Lincoln said: "When I do good, I feel good; when I do bad, I feel bad, and that is my religion." Do you feel the same way? Do you think other people agree? What is the best way to know if you did something good or bad?
PHOTO CHALLENGE
Photograph something that makes you think of right and wrong. Maybe it will be connected to courts and crime; maybe something to do with the environment.
FAMILY FAITH IN ACTION — EATING BETTER
Can your family find ways to eat more ethically? Are you happy with the rights and wrongs of the food you buy and eat? Have you been meaning to make a change you can think about now?
ALTERNATE ACTIVITY 1: NOTABLE THOUGHTS (5 MINUTES)
Materials for Activity
Description of Activity
Notable Thoughts is the first Alternate Activity in each session. Remind participants that this is a time for them to record their own ideas about today's Big Question. Distribute participants' notebooks and pencils or pens. Provide new participants with notebooks. Say that the notebooks are private; you will keep them between sessions but not read them.
Tell the youth they will have about five minutes to reflect on today's Big Question: "How can I tell right from wrong?" Say they can write about anything they want. If they have nothing to record, they are free to doodle or relax. When time is up, they may seal their notebooks with masking tape and hand them in.
ALTERNATE ACTIVITY 2: SONG — BUILDING A NEW WAY (5 MINUTES)
Materials for Activity
Preparation for Activity
Description of Activity
Point out that Unitarian Universalists often express their ideas in hymns. Introduce "Building a New Way," being sure the group hears the words to at least the first verse.
Invite responses:
What is right about the "new way" the song describes? What kind of wrong things are being left out of the new way?
Does singing hymns about right and wrong help people understand the difference, and choose the right instead of the wrong?
ALTERNATE ACTIVITY 3: CHALLENGE QUESTION (5 MINUTES)
Materials for Activity
Preparation for Activity
Description of Activity
Challenge questions guide a deeper inquiry for especially thoughtful individuals and groups. For this session, ask:
What is the best way to teach a five-year-old not to do wrong things?
Spark discussion with these questions:
ALTERNATE ACTIVITY 4: LEARNING ABOUT CONFESSION (10 MINUTES)
Preparation for Activity
Make sure the adult knows they are not expected to be expert on anything more than what they choose to share; it is perfectly fine to tell the youth "I don't know" if they cannot answer a question.
Description of Activity
Welcome and introduce the visiting adult.
Tell the group, in your own words:
Many religions have ritual practices for confession or atonement. In religions based on a belief in God or other deities, the practices may involve confessing or apologizing to the deity for wrongs one has done. Judaism, Buddhism, Roman Catholicism and other branches of Christianity have rituals of confession or atonement. Many people believe that if they confess their sins to God, or atone for wrong things they have done, God may forgive them or offer them a "clean slate" or a "fresh start." They may also believe that the act of acknowledging one's wrong actions (one's "sins" in some religions) makes one a better person, and helps the person avoid making the same mistakes again.
Ask participants to share what they know about a confession or atonement religious practice. Youth's knowledge may come from books, movies or their own experiences. Affirm their contributions, and set a tone of respectful sharing. If appropriate, remind the youth that religious practices they may have seen or heard of, however surprising to them, have meaning for the people who practice them and deserve respect.
Invite the visitor to share their knowledge about confession or atonement practices. Then, invite questions and facilitate the discussion.
Explain that Unitarian Universalism does not have practices for confession and atonement to God, but many UUs believe it is good to confess and apologize to anybody we hurt when we do wrong things. Ask the group if they agree with this idea. Do they remember doing something wrong, feeling very guilty about it and finally feeling better after admitting what they did?
ALTERNATE ACTIVITY 5: STEALING BREAD (10 MINUTES)
Preparation for Activity
Description of Activity
Lead a discussion about what should happen when a starving person steals food. You might begin by mentioning Jean Valjean, the protagonist of Les Miserables, which is both a 19th-century French novel by Victor Hugo and a musical based on that novel and composed by Claude-Michel Schonberg, with libretto by Alain Boublil. Jean Valjean suffers greatly through his life after stealing a loaf of bread because he is hungry. Say you do not wish to spend time on the story. Instead, you want to ask a general question: What should happen when people are so hungry they steal food?
Thoughtful and engaged youth may have an energetic discussion around this question. Use these prompts and comments to extend the discussion:
Is it all right to steal to save a life?
RIDDLE AND MYSTERY: SESSION 9:
STORY: THE THIEF WITHIN
"The Thief Within" is taken from Kindness, A Treasury of Buddhist Wisdom by Sarah Conover and Valerie Wahl (Spokane, Eastern Washington University Press, 2001). Copyright 2001 by Sarah Conover. Used by permission, all rights reserved.
Many centuries ago, a young, novice monk traveled alone in the mountains of Tibet. He wandered about penniless, begging for a meager meal from time to time. One day, just as evening fell, he found himself on a bitterly cold mountain pass. But there, tucked in a high alpine meadow, he noticed a small home. He knocked upon the door. When it opened, a grizzled, ancient couple greeted him. They welcomed the young monk into their home, allowing him to escape the icy mountain wind. Because it is an honor to feed a monk, they cheerfully readied a wonderful supper for their guest.
At some point during the meal preparations, the old man went outside to herd his cattle into the night pasture, and the old woman went to fetch some water at the well. They left the young monk alone, tending the fire. But suddenly, shouts from the house echoed from cliff to cliff in the mountain meadow. "Thief, robber!" they heard the young monk shout. "Get out and never come back!" The monk created such a noisy tumult that the old man and woman hastened back as quickly as their old legs would run—pitchforks and hoes in hand to deal with the thief.
When they burst through the door, all they saw was the lone monk—flushed as a berry, running around the table, slapping his right hand, and cursing himself. On the table was an open tea container, with a few tea leaves scattered about. "Thief!" he admonished his right hand and held it high, "if I ever catch you trying to steal a little something again I will be rid of you!" The old couple looked at each other and chuckled at the young monk. They served him a fine supper and offered a warm place to rest for the evening. The monk bowed respectfully and thanked them for their generosity, but he wanted to resume his homeless life that very night. Before he left, however, the young monk pronounced that on that evening, in their house, he met his inner teacher from whom he would never again part. And he thanked the old couple and went on his way.
RIDDLE AND MYSTERY: SESSION 9:
HANDOUT 1: TODAY'S BIG QUESTION
To the Kid for the Day:
You have two jobs. The first is getting your group excited about hearing today's Big Question. The second is announcing the question.
1. Say to the group, "Give me a drum roll!" Then wait for a minute while the drum roll builds. (Here is how to do a drum roll: Everybody slaps their thighs, one leg first, then the other, back and forth, beginning gently and getting louder and louder.)
2. When the drum roll is good and loud, hold up your hands to signal "Stop!" Then read today's Big Question. Here it is:
How can I know right from wrong?
RIDDLE AND MYSTERY: SESSION 9:
HANDOUT 2: THREE-COURSE MEAL
Here is an outline of a human brain. Think of it as your own brain, and imagine that your conscience is somewhere in it. Turn the outline into brain art by following these instructions: 1. Draw your conscience. Maybe it looks like a blob in the middle of your brain. Maybe it looks like something else. Use your imagination and draw whatever you want, but leave space for more drawings. 2. Use drawings or word art (with fancy, decorated letters) to show three different ethical ideas you want to feed your conscience. At least one of your ideas must be based on the UU Principles. You can choose any word or idea from the Principles and make a drawing to represent it. The other two drawings can come from the Principles if you want, but they do not need to. Maybe you will choose a rule about behavior from school or home. Maybe you will choose something from one of our UU Sources, such as the Golden Rule. You do not have to feed your conscience everything it needs all at once. Remember, this is just one three-course meal. You can feed your conscience again whenever you want, whatever you want.
RIDDLE AND MYSTERY: SESSION 9:
LEADER RESOURCE 1: ETHICAL CHALLENGES
1. You are shopping for a new outfit in a large department store. One outfit is exactly the design, color and price you want. Another outfit is more expensive and a different design, but it has a belt that would look great on the first outfit. You realize you could add the belt to the first outfit and no one would notice. What is the right thing to do and how do you know?
2. When you were talking to the teacher today, you saw a list of spelling words that will be on tomorrow's test. Now you do not know what to do. Should you just keep quiet and take the test? Should you speak to your teacher? Should you call your friends tonight and tell them what the words are? What is the right thing to do and how do you know?
3. Your favorite uncle has asked you to help him for the day, and you were happy to say yes. Now you are in his pickup truck, heading for the recycling center. In the back are several trashcans filled with PVC containers. However, buried among them are some other bottles that do not belong. You know your uncle intends to pretend that everything is PVC and throw it in the same pile just to get rid of it. What will you say? What is the right thing to do and how do you know?
4. You are playing doubles tennis and a good friend is your partner. Twice your team has scored points because your partner said a ball had landed outside the line when it really had not. The second time your friend winked at you, so you know the "mistake" was on purpose. What will you say if this happens again? What is the right thing to do and how do you know?
RIDDLE AND MYSTERY: SESSION 9:
LEADER RESOURCE 2: WCUU SCRIPT — BRAIN ART
To the Co-Anchors:
Today's WCUU program talks about how to tell right from wrong, and features an art show in which you will talk to artists about their brain art. Your job is to follow the script, read your parts and otherwise work together to keep things going. When the broadcast begins, you are together with NUUs Analyst on camera, standing in front of a microphone.
[Director: Cue the station break.]
[Director: Cue the Anchor.]
Co-Anchor 1: This is WCUU, Wisdom of the Community of Unitarian Universalists, on the air.
[Director: Cue the theme music.]
Co-Anchor 2: Good morning. I am [give your real or stage name].
Co-Anchor 1: And I am [give your real or stage name]. This morning's broadcast focuses on how people—Unitarian Universalists, especially—can tell right from wrong.
Co-Anchor 2: Right you are, [Co-Anchor's name]. Here to help us is our brilliant NUUs Analyst. So tell us, NUUs Analyst, how can people tell right from wrong?
NUUs Analyst: It's simple enough. Just ask your conscience.
Co-Anchor 1: Just ask your conscience? As simple as that?
NUUs Analyst: Sure. I'll tell you what William Ellery Channing said. He was a famous Unitarian in the early 1800s. He said, "Every human being has a work to carry on within, duties to perform abroad, influence to exert, which are peculiarly his, and which no conscience but his own can teach."
Co-Anchor 2: Wow. That's deep. But listen, if all you have to do is listen to your conscience, how come people worry so much about telling right from wrong?
NUUs Analyst: Because sometimes it is hard to hear your conscience. Sometimes it is tough to know what it is saying. Sometimes it sounds a little confused.
Co-Anchor 1: So what can we do about that?
NUUs Analyst: Simple again. We need to feed our conscience to make it strong.
Co-Anchor 2: Feed it? With what?
NUUs Analyst: With stuff like the Unitarian Universalist Principles, the Golden Rule and whatever we can find from lots of other good sources—especially our UU Sources.
Co-Anchor 1: Do people ever really think about feeding their conscience?
NUUs Analyst: Sure. Look! There's an art show right over there. [Points.] It is full of brain art that UU sixth graders made to show what they want their conscience to eat.
Co-Anchor 2: Let's go take a look.
[Director: Cue Co-Anchors and NUUs Analyst to walk over to the Brain gallery. Cue camera to follow. Cue Co-Anchors to begin interviewing artists... as many as you have time for.]
Co-Anchor 1 or 2: [to an artist, standing or sitting next to their piece of Brain Art]: What is your name? What do you think you should feed your conscience to make it good and strong and right all the time?
Artist 1, 2, 3, etc: [Answer Co-Anchors' questions, briefly.]
[If there is time, Co-Anchors can talk to each other about their own art, and also ask Studio Staffers to talk about theirs.]
[Director: Cue Co-Anchors and NUUs Analyst to return to the studio.]
Co-Anchor 1: That was a great art show!
Co-Anchor 2: It sure was. Thank you for leading us there, NUUs Analyst. Now maybe you could just summarize how most UUs respond to today's Big Question about how we know right from wrong.
NUUs Analyst: Right on. UUs find guidance in their own Principles, in ideas like the Golden Rule and from many different UU Sources. They internalize these ideas. That means, their conscience remembers them and can tell a UU what is right and what is wrong. Remember, Unitarian Universalism is a humanistic religion, and UUs say humans need to decide how to act. They can get useful ideas from many different religions, but they have to decide for themselves how to use those ideas.
Co-Anchor 1: Thank you, NUUs Analyst. Now that concludes our show for today.
NUUs Analyst: Wait a minute! Don't you want some more quotes? I have about a thousand more quotes to share.
Co-Anchor 2: One quote, NUUs Analyst. That's all we have time for.
NUUs Analyst: Okay. Here it is. It comes from Christopher Reeves, the actor, who was a UU. He said, "I think we all have a little voice inside us that will guide us. It may be God, I don't know. But I think that if we shut out all the noise and clutter from our lives and listen to that voice, it will tell us the right thing to do."
Co-Anchor 1: Deep again, NUUs Analyst. But now we really do have to go! To the theme music!
[Director: Cue the theme music.]
[Director: Cue the station break.]
Co-Anchor 1: This is [your name] signing off for WCUU.
Co-Anchor 2: That is W-C-U-U for Wisdom of the Community of Unitarian
Universalists. And this is [your name] signing off, too.
FIND OUT MORE
Right and Wrong
The challenge question in this session asks how youth might teach a younger child about right and wrong. Explore research on children's social reasoning on the website of the Museum of Science (Boston) Living Laboratory (at www.mos.org/discoverycenter/livinglab/csr/list). Find brief descriptions of studies of school-age and younger children's developing generosity, apologies, fairness and truth.
World Hunger
The UUA passed two resolutions, one in 1966 (at www.uua.org/socialjustice/socialjustice/statements/14030.shtml) and one in 1987 (at www.uua.org/socialjustice/socialjustice/statements/14494.shtml), about world hunger. Read the full text on the UUA website.
A Kids' Guide to Hunger & Homelessness by Cathryn Berger Kaye, available from the UUA bookstore, shows what kids can do to help their communities combat hunger and homelessness and includes facts, quotations, real-life examples, service projects, resources, a note to teachers and other adults—and inspiration to get out there and make a difference.
This session's Faith in Action mentioned the idea of a UU Sabbath. For a Unitarian Universalist perspective on the Jewish Sabbath and how its practice can affirm our Principles, read "Ecological Spiritual Delight" (at www.uuworld.org/spirit/articles/128945.shtml) by Patricia Guthmann Haresch in the Spring 2009 UU World.
The Fall 2006 UU World article "Hungry for Democracy" (at www.uuworld.org/ideas/articles/5701.shtml) by Frances Moore Lappe connects the ideas of economic justice, hunger and democracy.
Part of the United Nations system, the World Food Program (at www.wfp.org) is the largest humanitarian agency dedicated to fighting hunger worldwide. The WFP website is rich with project descriptions, statistics, resources for teachers and students and links including one to the Free Rice game (at www.freerice.com/) which allows users to donate 10 grains of rice for each word defined correctly in an online quiz.