Compassionate Conversations by UCLA Bedari Kindness Institute presents:
A Multifaith Dialogue on Justice, Forgiveness, and Compassion
Featuring Valarie Kaur (Revolutionary Love Project), Father Greg Boyle (Homeboy Industries), Rabbi Sharon Brous (IKAR), and Imam Dr. Jihad Turk (Bayan Islamic Graduate School)
The UCLA Bedari Kindness Institute will begin the second year of its “Compassionate Conversations” series, featuring speakers who share a deep and humane commitment to engaging others with passion, compassion, empathy, and respect. A recurrent theme in the 2025-26 series will be “kindness to the stranger.”
In our deeply fractured world, religion serves both to connect and offer wisdom and to foster conflict and division. Over the course of centuries, it has been frequently invoked to justify brutal violence, but can it be an effective tool to advance justice? Together with distinguished faith leaders, we will explore what role faith traditions have played and should play in addressing persistent suffering and violence.
The speaking program will be followed by a reception and book signing with all authors.
