North Carolina Society for Ethical Culture

MY RECENT WANDERINGS IN ETHICAL HUMANISM
By Randy Best, President & Adjunct Leader, N.C. Society for Ethical Culture
A platform talk given on July 9, 2000

Like the Rambler in Mike Seeger’s song, I too have been rambling lately. However, I haven’t experienced his hard fortune and sad fate. Instead, I have found challenge, wisdom, controversy, joy, and the beginning of a personal journey. Like the Rambler, I have come unto my love’s door, the door to explore my religious humanism, deepen my commitment to Ethical Culture, and follow a different pathway in my life.

Perhaps, like the Rambler, in coming to this door, "my troubles just begin".

In my recent wanderings, I have been elected to a two-year term on the Board of the American Ethical Union or AEU, the Ethical Culture movement’s national organization. I am also a member of the AEU’s Leadership Committee. I am enrolled in the Humanist Institute, a three-year course of study in Humanism, which is sometimes considered to be the National Humanist Seminary. As you know, I serve as President of this Ethical Culture Society and, along with Chris Kaman, I am an Adjunct Leader, trained and certified to perform weddings and memorial services. Most recently, I have applied for Leadership Training with the American Ethical Union. This training will lead to my certification as an Ethical Culture Leader.

Some of these duties require my absence from the meetings of this society. Annually, I need to attend six AEU Board Meetings, four Leadership Committee Meetings and three Humanist Institute Sessions. I miss the fellowship of our meetings when I am not here and one of the purposes of this talk is to publicly apologize for my absences. Chris, Eva, Enid, Ralph and others take the podium when I am not here. Other hands are available to help carry the load.

There is much to do in running our society and much more that could be done. I would like to see others deepen their commitment to our Society and allow us to expand our reach. We would benefit from the unique contributions that new faces would bring to leadership roles in the Society and allow us to accomplish so much more. Throughout my life, I have found it to be true that the more you give the more you receive.

In my recent wanderings, I have been learning and growing so that the quality of my contributions can be richer. I fully anticipate that what I receive will be richer in return.

But enough of this preamble. This talk is not about me; it is about what I have found in my wanderings. Let me share some of what I have gleaned…

I will not bore you with the tedium of governance experienced at the American Ethical Union Board Meetings and Committee Meetings. Instead, I intend to excite your imaginations with some of the ideas and controversies that I have encountered at the Humanist Institute, the joint American Ethical Union/American Humanist Association conference and the Workshop of the AEU’s New Society Development Team.

Last December and last April I attended sessions of the Humanist Institute held in Washington D.C. and New York. I am a member of Class Ten along with several people from Ethical Culture, a few Unitarians and a spattering of other people of humanist bent.

We have read volumes, including the Humanist Manifesto I and II, and books by Corliss Lamont, John Dewey, Edward Erickson, Bertrand Russell, Julian Huxley, Paul Kurtz, Sherwin Wine and two books by Howard Radest. Those of you who have read Howard Radest, a leader emeritus from the New York Society, will realize the true enormity of my studies at the Humanist Institute. So far our readings have focused on the origins of Humanist thought, the history of Liberal Religion in the United States, and the application of Humanist philosophy to the question of Human Nature. The Human Nature session starts this coming Wednesday in New York.

I would like to share Edwin O. Wilson’s definition of Humanism that was included in my Humanist Institute readings:

Quite an optimistic statement, but I think that it’s a sound one. I look forward to stretching my concept of Human Nature and what it means to be "Human" in the upcoming Humanist Institute session. It will even include a trip to the Bronx Zoo in the company of a cultural anthropologist.

This June I attended the joint annual conferences of the American Ethical Union and the American Humanist Association in Hasbrouck Heights, New Jersey. Isn’t there an old joke that goes: first prize is a trip to New Jersey; and second prize is two trips to New Jersey. In addition to business meetings for both organizations there were award banquets and many workshops. One workshop titled "War of the Words" focused on the terms that Humanists use and whether Humanism can be considered a religion. Herb Silverman, who identified himself as a secular humanist from South Carolina, Joy McConnell, an Ethical Culture leader from St. Louis who now lives in Atlanta, and Edd Doerr, a member of the Washington Ethical Society and Executive Director of the AHA were on the discussion panel.

Their debate on "are we a philosophy or are we a religion" reminded me somewhat of the endless letters to the editor in Ceramics Monthly, a pottery magazine that my wife Sarah subscribes to, on whether Pottery is: "An Art or a Craft". Is this an issue that only the potters care about?

However, unlike pottery, whether we consider Ethical Culture or Ethical Humanism a religion has broader implications then merely how we define ourselves. Felix Adler, who founded the Ethical Culture movement in 1876, is quoted as saying, "Ethical Culture is a religion for those who think it is a religion; and a philosophy for those who think it is a philosophy."

Times have changed. The current heirs of Adler’s Ethical Culture movement, the Board of the American Ethical Union, have abandoned this ambiguity and declared that we are indeed a religion. Being a religion has legal implications. Beyond tax exemption, being a religion allows us to perform state recognized marriages and allowed a member to meet the test for conscientious objector status in a U. S. Supreme Court case during the Vietnam War.

But it is not for these practical reasons that we decided to be a religion, although they are important. Rather it was decided that that if you walk like a duck and quack like a duck, maybe you should start identifying yourself as a duck.

Ethical Culture is a religion because it meets our human needs for giving meaning and purpose to our lives. This meaning and purpose are the essence of religious expression. We even meet two of the four definitions of religion in Webster’s New World Dictionary. These definitions are:

1. a) belief in a divine or superhuman power or powers to be obeyed and worshiped as the creator(s) and ruler(s) of the universe b) expression of such a belief in conduct and in ritual
2. a) any specific system of belief, worship, conduct, etc., often involving a code of ethics and a philosophy b) any system of beliefs, practices, ethical values, etc., resembling, suggestive of, or likened to such a system [humanism as a religion]
3. the state or way of life of a person in a monastic order or community [to enter religion]
4. any object of conscientious regard and pursuit

Let me read these definitions again and this time raise you hand if you think that the definition can be applied to Ethical Culture…(read bold parts of each definition)

By your responses I see that we can lay claim to a code of ethics, a philosophy, and ethical values which we conscientiously pursue. Ethical Culture could be considered to qualify for Webster’s definition of religion.

Herb Silverman, the secular humanist panelist was not willing to consider humanism a religion. He feared attempts by the so-called religious right to define secular humanism and evolution as "religions" and prohibit their teaching in the public schools. He further expressed his dislike for the term "religious humanism" because the expression taints humanism by associating it with religion and religion deserves so much criticism.

Joy McConnell, the Ethical Culture Leader, had a different perspective. She said:

A member of the audience summed up the discussion: "The bottom line is not what we are called but what we do: fight against injustice and make a better world."

The session that I found the most inspiring at the AEU/AHA Conference was "The Humanist Century", a talk by Babu Gogineni, president of the International Humanist and Ethical Union.

He spoke of the need for an activist humanism that could play a role in the shaping of the direction of Global Society, the New World Order. He decried the current profit-driven "Economic Globalization" that dehumanizes people by treating them as "emerging markets" not as people with needs. He stated: "The Globalization that Humanists should fight for is not the Globalization of the Free Market, but the Globalization of the Free Mind."

This brought to mind the recent Platform that our member Kate Lovelady presented on May 28^th called "The Ethics of Globalism and Civil Disobedience: My Experiences in Washington, D.C." Globalism is a new and important area for Ethical Action in the Twenty-first Century. One that we should embrace and attempt to influence to build a more ethical world.

Babu also shared this response to those who criticize Humanism as being too anthropomorphic.

In a less sarcastic vane, he closed his talk by providing replies to what he considers to be "two subversive questions formed out of undigested Humanism". One of his questions was: "Science is wonderful but what does it tell me about Human Dignity?" He replied:

Babu’s other question was: "If we do not believe in God, how does that lead us to our support for Human Rights?" He replied:

I find inspiration in Babu’s presentation. Many of his statements rang true to me and to my concept of Ethical Culture. We must advocate democracy, knowledge and the creation of a humane and just Global Society. We have the capacity to improve ourselves. We are the believers and we will continue to change the world.

The third major event that I attended and would like to share with you today was the Workshop of the AEU’s New Society Development Team held in St. Louis July 9^th through 12^th.

The New Society Development Team is an offshoot of the AEU’s Growth and Development Committee. This committee looked at the lack of growth in Ethical Culture Movement over the past four decades and concluded that unless we adopted a successful strategy for growth, we were headed for extinction. They studied several models of congregational growth developed by other religious groups and decided to adopt a strategy that has been used successfully by the Unitarians. This strategy was to conduct a market study to identify cities that meet certain criteria favoring the establishment of Ethical Culture Societies. In these cities, they intend to establish new, full-service societies with buildings, leaders and programs. Their study of growth models leads them to believe that establishing new societies from scratch is a method that will grow the movement faster than pouring additional resources in smaller societies such as our own. The creation of these new societies will be under the direction of the New Society Development Team.

The Team has completed its market studies and identified four cities: San Diego, the San Francisco Bay area, Dallas-Ft. Worth, and Kansas City. At the suggestion of the National Leadership Council, the group of Ethical Culture Leaders, the New Society Development Team will also take a look at Atlanta.

The St. Louis workshop was held to present the New Society Development Team’s findings to a broader audience in Ethical Culture and to generate support and enthusiasm. The workshop was mostly conducted by Tom Chulak, a Unitarian Minister who has established several new Unitarian congregations using this model and who is a consultant to the New Society Development Team.

Part of the workshop replicated exercises that the New Society Development Team had undergone. One of these was an exercise to help define our Ethical Culture identity. For this exercise, the word "Spirituality" was written on one flip chart and the word "Humanism" was written on another flip chart. We were then asked to brainstorm or free-associate with these words starting with "Spirituality". This produced the listing that you have under "Spirituality" on the second page of your handout.

Responses to the Word Spirituality

nature connectedness cosmic belonging highest life affirming vitality warm sacred wholeness inspired breath joy peace struggle rising/emerging energizing force vitality unseen things sense of awe meaningful emotion feelingful inner life and renewal something beyond something inside deeper supernatural struggle female

Now I will admit that I have not always had the most open attitude toward "Spirituality". For me it used to evoke images of Jean Dixon and Jimmy Swaggert. However, I decided to hold back and see what associations others had with the term. I saw these mostly positive warm and fuzzy responses form on the flip chart. I paused for thought and concluded that we were defining "Spirituality" as we want it to be expressed in Ethical Culture. Fine. I could live with that.

What I found that I couldn’t live with was the result of the brainstorming on the word "Humanism", also on the second page of your handout.

Responses to the Word Humanism

functional ultimacy people centered anthropocentric caring male scientific rational cold appreciating part of nature here & now right & wrong based on real world

life affirming anti-spiritual responsible non-self-centered unemotional subjective questioning objective psychology human affirmation not supernatural natural incarnations is everything potentially amoral metaphysical study of mankind literature knowledge-seeking secular religious truth focus documenting

Unlike "Spirituality", "Humanism" evoked a markedly hostile reaction from some of the participants. Some of the words, anthropocentric, cold, unemotional, subjective, and potentially amoral distressed me. Then, I got angry. Like Mike Seeger’s "Rambler" I felt that I had come to my love’s door and wasn’t allowed in.

I raised my hand and said that I thought that we were operating on a double standard in characterizing these words. We were looking at "Spirituality" as we want it to be in Ethical Culture and reacting to "Humanism" based on some of the more flawed forms of its expression. The words that we have just listed under "Humanism" do not evoke the warm and nurturing Humanism that I grew up with in Ethical Culture. An Ethical Humanism that has contributed greatly to who I am today. I don’t see it here and it pisses me off.

This started things moving in a different direction. The facilitator, Tom Chulak, thanked me for my comment and after some discussion, the flip chart was turned to a new page and "Ethical Humanism" was put on the chart for brainstorming. The results of this exercise are found on page three of your handout.

Responses to the Phrase Ethical Humanism

faith in human capacity for ethical action caring here & now justice seeking people centered centered basing right & wrong effect on other people

grounded in human experience male & female humble responsibility for action responsible moral responsible creativity faith in human worth sharing scientific judgmental integrated reasonable appreciating individuality activist

care for natural world

I found these results much more acceptable. I hope that this just wasn’t done to pacify me and avoid conflict.

The results of this exercise clearly illustrates what I have found to be a big issue in Ethical Culture today, particularly among some the leadership. This is that in order for the Ethical Culture Movement to grow we must become more "Spiritual". For some this means suppressing, denying or eliminating our Humanist traditions.

I’VE RAMBLED THIS COUNTRY BOTH EARLYE AND LATE

Traditional Folksong – Collected by Alan Lomax and Sung by Mike Seeger

I’ve rambled this country both earlye and late
Hard is my fortune and sad is my fate
I came unto my love’s door expecting to get in
Instead of finding pleasure my troubles just begin

I stood there one hour as patient as Job
Calling Pretty Polly come open the door
I saw another man enjoy within my room
I walk-ed away by the light of the moon

I took to my heels just as hard as I could go
I rambled way down in a far shady grove
And there I sat down with a bottle in my hand
Drinking of brandy and thinking about that man

So earlye next morning Pretty Polly passed me by
Her red rosey cheeks and her dark sparkling eyes
Her eyes they were so dark and her hair were of the same
I knew within my heart did you ever feel that pain

I wish I were a fisherman on yon riverside
Pretty Polly my object came floating down the tide
I’d throw my net around her I’d bring her to the shore
I’d have Pretty Polly to weep for no more

Green grows the laurel and also the yew
Sugar is sweet but not like you
And since it is no better I’m glad it is no worse
Brandy in my bottle and money in my purse