Through Ethical Culture history, some have questioned the movement's position that we are a religious movement. Here are some articles exploring the issue of Ethical Culture / Ethical Humanism as religion.
Written in consultation with the National Leaders Council, 2003
Jone Johnson Lewis
Leader, Northern Virginia Ethical Society
President, National Leaders Council, 2001-2005
While we don't require every member of an Ethical Society to consider Ethical Culture their religion, the Ethical movement as a whole and the national and local institutions within that movement have defined themselves as both religious and educational. The question isn't whether we are a religion, but in what way we are a religion, how we are a religious movement.
In Ethical Culture, we affirm that the supreme end of human life is to live in such a way that we acknowledge the worth, dignity, and uniqueness of every human person, and work towards both personal relationships and broader social reform to encourage and enable all to develop their full human capacities. We take no position as a movement on the existence or non-existence of supreme beings or a supernatural reality, but instead affirm this Supreme Ideal.
Arthur Dobrin, Leader Emeritus of the Long Island Ethical Humanist Society and an instructor at Hofstra University, has provided this general definition of religion, based on current understandings of various religions around the world, many of which do not require belief in a supernatural being or a supernatural reality:
DEFINITION: Religion is that set of beliefs and/or institutions, behaviors and emotions which binds human beings to something beyond their individual selves and fosters in its adherents a sense of humility and gratitude that, in turn, sets the tone of one's world-view and requires certain behavioral dispositions relative to that which transcends personal interests. In other words, religion connects a person with a larger world and creates a loyalty that extends to the past, the present and the future. This loyalty not only makes demands upon the person but -- and this is the part that makes it distinctively spiritual -- it creates a sense of humility. So religion provides a story about one's place in the larger scheme of things, creates a sense of connection and it makes one feel grateful.
The 2003 ethical identity statement, which is currently undergoing final revision and which has been created under the leadership of Richard Kiniry (Leader, Philadelphia Ethical Society) and Curt Collier (Leader, Riverdale/Yonkers Ethical Society), states this about our religious identity:
It is a chief belief of Ethical religion that if we relate to others in a way that brings out their best, we will at the same time elicit the best in ourselves. By the "best" in each person, we refer to his or her unique talents and abilities that affirm and nurture life. We use the term "spirit" to refer to a person's unique personality and to the love, hope, and empathy that exists in human beings. When we act to elicit the best in others, we encourage the growing edge of their ethical development, their perhaps as-yet untapped but inexhaustible worth.
Barbara Meyerson, Leader of the Ethical Culture Society of Essex County, describes our religious identity in these words:
We (Ethical Culture) are a religious community committed to consecrating our lives to acting in ways that honor our primary commitment to respect the worth and dignity of each person and to create human institutions which enable societies (whether congregations or national governments) to do so as well. In our daily decision making, we strive to give priority to this ideal.
John Hoad, Leader Emeritus of the St. Louis Ethical Society, defines Ethical Culture specifically as religious in this sense:
Ethical Culture is a religion of humanity, committed to the supreme value that all humans, whatever their race, religion, gender, or political persuasion, are to be treated fairly and compassionately as fellow humans in one human family.
The Eight Commitments of Ethical Culture, a project initiated by Lois Kellerman (Leader Emerita of the Brooklyn Ethical Society) and which had widespread participation in the final formulation, states the position on religion this way:
8. Life itself inspires religious response.
- Although awareness of impending death intensifies the human quest for meaning, and lends perspective to all our achievements, the mystery of life itself, the need to belong, to feel connected to the universe, and the desire for celebration and joy, are primary factors motivating human "religious" response.
In 1895, the founding leader of the Ethical movement, Felix Adler, described our status as a religion, and a statement by the movement's Leaders of the time reaffirmed that stance, as documented in the more recent Concept Map of Ethical Culture. The Concept Map reaffirmed our commitment as a religious movement in these words:
We assert our affirmation of the term religion when it refers to:
- The reverence, wonder, and thankfulness with which we take our place in the universe.
- The sense of a larger whole of which we are a part.
- The organization of communities that generate values and meaning and seek fellowship in pursuit of ideals.
- The passionate devotion to the cause of serving the good of humanity and the world.
- A way of life that integrates our values and gives ethical direction and resources for ethical living.
- Access to the "ethical energy" that resides in the human mind and heart and in the inspiration of human companionship and collaboration.
An unattributed statement representing the Washington Ethical Society says this about our movement's religious commitment:
Ethical Society members look beyond the differences between religions to embrace the common core of ethics at the heart of all worldwide faiths. This common ground exists because ethics are more than social conventions, manners, or customs. The ethical teachings of the world's great religions, discovered through centuries of pain and progress, define the conditions necessary for human beings to thrive individually and collectively. For a good life, love must prevail, truth must be respected, honesty esteemed, freedom protected, and justice secured.
...
Ethical Society members are religious in the deepest, most profound sense because they place at the heart of Ethical Culture the ethical values which the God-concepts from different religions ideally represent. They believe that all persons, members and non-members alike, whatever their personal beliefs, heritage, circumstances, or religious affiliation, are fully and equally entitled to ethical treatment.
In that statement, a quote from the founding leader of the movement, Felix Adler, explains the rationale for a nontheistic religious movement. Nontheistic as we use the term means that we take no position on the existence or non-existence of a God or gods.
There is a higher standard for religious truth than kneeling before a Man-God as if that image were an idol. If God and good, and good and God be one, there is no God save what dawns upon us in the experience of doing good.
The late Algernon Black, Leader of the New York Society for Ethical Culture for many years, also attempted to answer this question in his essay, "Are We Religious?"
Our Sunday Platform meetings, our Sunday schools for children, our religious education programs for children and adult, all are meant as instruments to affirm these values and to move us towards ever more growth as individuals and groups towards our ideals.
In several jurisdictions, the legal status of the Ethical Culture movement and several Ethical Societies as religious organizations, or "churches" has been upheld by court decisions. (Under some state laws, even such groups as synagogues or Hindu religious communities are classified as "churches.") Yet our status as a religion does ultimately not depend on legal recognition of such -- it depends on the commitment to "supreme concern" which our values and ideals support.
Algernon D. Black
Algernon D. Black (1900-1995) was a member of the Board of Leaders of the New York Society for Ethical Culture, and Head of the Ethics Department in the Ethical Culture Schools. He gave distinguished service to many enterprises of social welfare and reform, including especially the problems of discrimination and inter-racial relations, and was one of the founders and Educational Director of the Encampment for Citizenship. He became Senior Leader of the New York Society in 1965, and concluded some seventy years of active service to Ethical Culture and social activism as Leader Emeritus.
From the very beginning, those who have joined the Ethical Movement have interpreted religion broadly and we who are members today interpret religion as a way of life--a way of life dedicated to ethical values--rather than the acceptance of a set doctrine.
In part our reluctance to teach the traditional doctrines to our children is due to the basic consideration that among all the forces which influence human thought, feeling and action, religion must be counted as a divisive force. For the religions of man differ most vigorously on theology--the idea of creation, God, immortality; which Bible is the final, eternal truth; which prophet is infallible; which savior is the true Savior. And in the name of these differences over the great mysteries of life there is prejudice, persecution and conflict.
If the test of religion is the belief in a Supreme Being--if the test of religion is the acceptance of a particular document as the final revelation--if the acceptance of a set ritual is necessary in the celebration of sacred values--then, we are not a religious fellowship.
Why not let men differ about their answers to the great mysteries of the Universe? Let each seek his own way to the highest, to his own sense of supreme loyalty in life, his ideal of life. Let each philosophy, each world-view bring forth its truth and beauty to a larger perspective, that men may grow in vision, stature and dedication.
The religions of man should be a unifying force, for all the great religions reveal a basic unity in ethics. Whether it be Judaism, Catholicism, Protestantism, Buddhism or Confucianism, all grow out of a sense of the sacredness of human life. This moral sensitivity to the sacredness of human personality--the Commandments not to kill, not to hurt, not to put a stumbling block in the path of the blind, not to neglect the widow or the fatherless, not to exploit the servant or the worker--all this can be found in the Bibles of man, in all the sacred books. All teach in substance; "Do unto others as you would that others should do unto you." There is, then, a basic unity among the great religions in the matter of ethics. True, there are religious philosophies which turn men away from the world, from the here and now, concentrating life-purposes on salvation for one's self or a mystic union with some supernatural reality. But most of the great religions agree on mercy, justice, love--here on earth. And they agree that the great task is to move men from apathy, from an acceptance of the evils in life, to face the possibilities of the world, to make life sweet for one another instead of bitter. This is the unifying ethical task of all the religions--yes, of all the philosophies of mankind. There is no need to force our own theological points of view upon one another or to insist that the moral life grows out of final, absolute authority.
In its deeper meaning, we say that the Ethical Movement grows out of people's refusal to accept the evils in their own lives and in the world about them. The "ethical movement" began long before there were Ethical Societies, long before there were temples and mosques and churches. It began with the dawn of conscience, with man's awareness of the suffering of others, the hurts that men do to one another. It grew as men began to recognize good and evil, to see that there are ways of hate and destruction, of love and creativeness. Through the centuries the effort of the individual to control his destructive impulses, to atone for his wrongs, to live out love and justice in his personal relations and in the larger community is the history of man's moral development. It includes, too, the social struggle to free men from slavery and exploitation, from ignorance and poverty, the movement for the emancipation of women, for civil liberties, for equality, for universal suffrage, for democracy in all areas of human relations. It is these expressions of the human spirit which are a key to a meaningful existence. It is the destiny of man to seek for truth, to create beauty, and to strive for the achievement of relationships which treasure the good in people. Man's moral growth in the personal relations and in the creation of a more ethical society, constitutes the significant spiritual movement in the life of the human race. We need not derive our ethical faith from a theology; we need only agree that all men have the possibility of moral sensitivity and moral growth.
Some men insist that the moral struggle has meaning only in terms of some ultimate reality--a god of supernatural power, a final judgment, an after-life. They cry out for these assurances, but through the centuries there has been no answer from the universe, save what men make out of their own hearts and minds. Despite the lack of a guarantee of victory of good over evil, of love over hate, men can make the commitment and give themselves to this struggle for their own salvation. Men can and do make the sacrifices and live out the love that is in them without regard to fear of punishment in some hell or promise of reward in some heaven. Whether or not human judgment and human effort matter to the universe, men have a challenge to meet. Basically it is a matter of personal decision and personal integrity.
This does not mean that an ethical faith has no framework or viewpoint beyond man. Felix Adler in his earliest addresses, took the view "Deed Not Creed." But later he realized more and more that "Deed" implies an outlook on life--that "Deed" is part of a larger faith, whether we put that faith into words or not. The larger outlook and faith need not take for form of a dogmatic statement but the "Deed" indicates what the individual views as important in his life perspective.
For "Deed," or a life of action, to be part of a religious life, there must not only be a dedication to values but a feeling of reverence and the awareness that one's own life is part of the larger life of the community of mankind and indeed part of a larger life process in the universe. Although we do not know the ultimate or total truth about reality, although we do not know the beginning of the beginning or the end of the end or the ultimate nature of the cosmos, we realize that we are part of something much larger than ourselves, possibly having a meaning which is beyond our grasp. It is this larger awareness of man's relation to nature and life and to the cosmos which gives religious quality to the "Deed," to our "here-and-now" efforts to grow and to serve and to create and to love.
The purpose of the Ethical Societies, as an organized Ethical Movement, is not merely to offer a common ground of faith for all men without creed or sectarian division. That is one purpose. But on the positive side its purpose is to unite men in seeking the truth, in penetrating further into the great mysteries of the universe and of human destiny to which we have not yet found, and many never find, the final answer. Beyond this, the purpose is to unite men in the positive task of growing ethically, of being more mature morally, of having more insight, more vision, more wisdom of how men might live together in a more ethical world. For far as man has come in moral growth and fine as is the heritage of customs, laws and institutions which he has received from the generations past, human beings are not yet prepared for the responsibilities of freedom in an age of complex technology and interdependence. We have not yet created the education and laws and institutions which express, give support, and implement our best impulses and our spiritual needs and aspirations.
Our generation faces one of the most difficult moral crises in history. We must fulfill the democratic promise or fall before the anti-freedom movements which grow out of man's fears and hates and sadisms. We must fulfill the promise of peace, using the unity and interdependence of the world to make this planet safe for all men or be destroyed by bacteriological and atomic weapons. How can we convert our international relations into trust, into creative interplay, interchange of ideas, mutual-aid and sharing so that we enrich and liberate mankind? Is this not the overarching spiritual task of all human beings, regardless of theology?
The Ethical Societies are fellowships of people fostering moral growth and a clearer life orientation in terms of human values -- stressing education, service, community action.
Here, then, is a life orientation based on every man's moral experience and insight and evaluation. Here is a faith in man's capacity to solve his problems, a faith in which every man is called upon to take responsibility. To strive that the world of men may be better is a command from within. In this consecration, each of us can find the power within himself to meet any personal crisis, to make his life decisions, to join together with others in a fellowship which offers meaning and direction and faith.
In this fellowship we bring up our families, live out our friendships, give ourselves to our work and take on the burden of citizenship for a freer and better world.