Steven Rockefeller
Description
Spiritual Democracy and Our Schools is a call for renewal of faith in the spiritual and moral values that form the foundation of American democracy, a
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nd, toward that end, for education of the whole person – mind, body, heart and spirit. Commitment to the interrelated ideals of spiritual democracy and holistic education, the book contends, is essential to overcoming the deep divisions and dysfunction in the United States today. A spiritually supportive school culture also provides the nation’s young people with the support they urgently need as they face a rapidly changing, turbulent world and a widespread mental health crisis. An overview is included of the new science that demonstrates that cultivation of the innate, natural spiritual capacities of young people provides them with an essential foundation of meaning and purpose for their intellectual, emotional, social, and moral development. Nurturing natural spirituality has many protective benefits, including a dramatically reduced risk for depression, drug addiction, alcoholism, and suicide. The book explains that schools can support the spiritual development of their students without promoting or opposing religion. The goal of spiritual democracy and natural spirituality is a way of being and living together that integrates the head and the heart, everyday life and spiritual life, intelligence and compassion. It involves cultivation of a relational spirituality supportive of universal values, including love, wonder, reverence for the mystery of being, respect for the equal dignity and rights of all persons, caring for Earth, advancing the common good and social justice, hope, joy, and peace.
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