F604Z Spring 2024 The Golden Rule: Why Is It in All Religions?

F604Z  The Golden Rule: Why Is It in All Religions?
Tuesdays, 11:50—1:15, Apr. 23—May 7
Three sessions
Instructor: Vera B. Breton
The teaching that we should “treat others as we ourselves would like to be treated”, is a universal ethic variously repeated in all great religions irrespective of their place or time of origin. Did the Founders of these religions copy from one another or is there another explanation? As an expression of the fundamental oneness of religion and of the progressive nature of divine revelation, the Golden Rule is a prime tool to increase understanding and dialogue among the different faiths, with particular relevance in today’s world where we find ourselves increasingly challenged by life in a multi-racial, multi-religious society. The class will look at the way this rule is expressed in numerous religions and belief traditions, and will present a new and revolutionary explanation for the reason it shows up so uniformly.
Vera Breton is a Baha’i in the City of Fairfax and a trained facilitator in the Baha’i Ruhi Institute. She is a former instructor in the Fairfax County Dept. of Family Services and has a Master of Health Sciences in international health from Johns Hopkins University and a JD from the Pontificia Bolivariana University in Medellin, Colombia.