Todd Waymon will speak on “Ethics as Religion” to the Newtown Quaker Meeting Adult Class at 9:45. a.m. on Sunday, December 15.
Waymon says he will address questions such as: What does it mean to act ethically? Why do all religions have an ethical core? What is ethical spirituality? What principles lead to a good life? He says “With these and other questions, Ethical Culture helps one build a world-view that is consistent with the notion of an Ideal Community.”
Prior to moving to Newtown, Todd Waymon served on the Board of Trustees and as an Adjunct Leader of the Washington D.C. Ethical Society (WES), performing marriage ceremonies, baby naming ceremonies, and memorial services. The Washington Ethical Society is a member of the American Ethical Union which describes itself as “a humanist Movement focusing on human goodness and building ethical relationships with each other and the Earth. As a non-theistic organization we do not concern ourselves with the existence or non-existence of a deity but instead, embrace the diversity of our membership….The AEU creates, nurtures, and inspires ethical humanist communities to foster a world that is democratic, compassionate, just, and sustainable.”
The tenets of the Ethical Society may be becoming more mainstream in American life. According to a Pew Research Center national survey in 2017, 27% of U.S. adults now say they think of themselves as spiritual but not religious, up 8 percentage points in five years. Of this group, 37% describe their religious identity as atheist, agnostic or “nothing in particular”, while 35% say they are Protestant, 14% Catholic and 11% as members of Judaism, Islam, Buddhism or Hinduism.
Todd Waymon and his wife, Lynne, live in Pennswood Village in Newtown, where Todd is also Commissioner of Bocce and a former Bocce Champion.
Newtown Friends Meeting, is open to the public, with Sunday School classes for children and adults at 9:45 a.m. and worship based on expectant silence “after the manner of Friends” at 11 a.m. Childcare is provided.