An ethical compass : coming of age in the 21st century : the ethics prize of the Elie Wiesel foundation for humanity

In 1986, Elie Wiesel received the Nobel Peace Prize in recognition of his victory over “the powers of death and degradation, and to support the struggle of good against evil in the world.” Soon after, he and his wife, Marion, created the Elie Wiesel Foundation for Humanity. A project at the heart of the Foundation’s mission is its Ethics Prize—a remarkable essay-writing contest through which thousands of students from colleges across the country are encouraged to confront ethical issues of personal significance. The Ethics Prize has grown exponentially over the past twenty years. “Of all the projects our Foundation has been involved in, none has been more exciting than this opportunity to inspire young students to examine the ethical aspect of what they have learned in their personal lives and from their teachers in the classroom,” writes Elie Wiesel. Readers will find essays on Bosnia, the genocide in Rwanda, sweatshops and globalization, and the political obligations of the mothers of Argentina’s Disappeared. Other essays tell of a white student who joins a black gospel choir, a young woman who learns to share in Ladakh, and the outsize implications of reporting on something as small as a cracked windshield. Readers will be fascinated by the ways in which essays on conflict, conscience, memory, illness (Rachel Maddow’s essay on AIDS appears), and God overlap and resonate with one another. These essays reflect those who are “sensitive to the sufferings and defects that confront a society yearning for guidance and eager to hear ethical voices,” writes Elie Wiesel. “And they are a beacon for what our schools must realize as an essential component of a true education.” In 1986, Elie Wiesel received the Nobel Peace Prize in recognition of his victory over "the powers of death and degradation, and to support the struggle of good against evil in the world." Soon after, he and his wife, Marion, created the Elie Wiesel Foundation for Humanity. A project at the heart of the Foundation's mission is its Ethics Prize, an essay writing contest through which thousands of students from colleges across the country are encouraged to confront ethical issues of personal significance. The Ethics Prize has grown exponentially over the past twenty years. "Of all the projects our Foundation has been involved in, none has been more exciting than this opportunity to inspire young students to examine the ethical aspect of what they have learned in their personal lives and from their teachers in the classroom, " writes Elie Wiesel. Readers will find essays on Bosnia, the genocide in Rwanda, sweatshops and globalization, and the political obligations of the mothers of Argentina's Disappeared. Other essays tell of a white student who joins a black gospel choir, a young woman who learns to share in Ladakh, and the outsize implications of reporting on something as small as a cracked windshield. Readers will be fascinated by the ways in which essays on conflict, conscience, memory, illness (Rachel Maddow's essay on AIDS appears), and God overlap and resonate with one another. These essays reflect those who are "sensitive to the sufferings and defects that confront a society yearning for guidance and eager to hear ethical voices, " writes Elie Wiesel. "And they are a beacon for what our schools must realize as an essential component of a true education." Contents 5 Foreword 9 Preface 13 Acknowledgments 15 On Conflict 19 The Ethics of South African Identity 19 Deaths in Paradise 30 One February Morning 38 Black and White in the Land of Israel/Palestine 48 The Bosnian Women 59 Of Borders, Infidels, and the Ethic of Love 73 Justice—For Whom? 82 On Memory 97 In Times of Darkness 97 The Secret of Redemption 107 Memory, Loss, and Revitalizing Democracy 122 Toward a Civil Society 137 On Conscience 153 Tatyana’s Glory 153 Made by Us 165 The Mask 177 Choices and Challenges 190 Public Sins and Private Needs 200 Ethics Through a Cracked Windshield 212 On Education 227 Bridges 227 Forty-three Cents 235 The Ethics of Transformation 247 Who Killed Superman? 256 Ethics Education Toward a More Moral Society 265 On Illness 283 Tearing Down the Lazaretto 283 Identifiable Lives 293 Their Lives in Our Hands 309 Suicide and Public Speaking 324 On God 335 The Duty of Cock-Eyed Angels 335 God in Our Ethics 348 Muhammad Is Not 360 Raising the Shield of the First Amendment 373 Winners of the Ethics Prize 385