Tapestry of Faith: What We Choose: An Adult Program on Ethics for Unitarian Universalists

Introduction

Part of What We Choose

The first step in the evolution of ethics is a sense of solidarity with other human beings. — Albert Schweitzer

As we make behavioral choices in our day-to-day lives, we hold a sense of what is right and what is wrong, even if we are not always able to articulate the framework from which that emerges. This program explored several different frameworks and approaches to ethics that undergird debates over what is right, ethical, or moral in our society, our communities, our families, even within ourselves. Participants reflected on ways our networks of community, including our faith community, shape our moral and ethical values and give them life. We do not make behavioral choices and decisions in isolation, but rather as social beings, products of personal and communal experiences, stories, and structures that influence our understanding of right and wrong.

This workshop revisits the question posed in Workshop 1: What is the locus of moral authority? This workshop invites participants to name the ethical frameworks and approaches that guide their moral and ethical decision making, asking them to consider ways in which the program itself has changed their approach or clarified ethical or moral choices they are currently facing. Finally, the workshop invites participants to create skits to express their new understandings of ethics while enjoying and appreciating one another's company.

Before leading this workshop, review Accessibility Guidelines for Workshop Presenters found in the Introduction.

Goals

This workshop will:

  • Guide participants to articulate the ethical values, frameworks, and decision-making processes that guide their behavioral choices
  • Lift up ways moral or ethical reasoning evolves, through drawing out this program's effects on ethical or moral choices participants are currently facing
  • Affirm that participants have built a base of knowledge and understanding from which to continue exploring personal ethics
  • Strengthen connections among participants.

Learning Objectives

Participants will:

  • Reflect on how their moral thinking has evolved and may continue to evolve
  • Identify the ethical framework(s) and approach(es) that guide their moral and ethical decision making
  • Apply a variety of ethical frameworks to consider the moral dilemma in a common Aesop's fable and to current moral/ethical dilemmas in their lives
  • Have fun!