> Do Ethical Societies have a creed?
> Do Ethical Societies have a faith or a philosophy?
> What is humanistic spirituality?
> What does "ethics" mean?
> What are the core values of Ethical Culture?
> Why do people act ethically?
> Why don't people act ethically?
> Why have faith in human worth?
> What is human worth?
> Why respect the worth of people who violate others?
> Why is human worth the foundation for self-esteem?
> What is religious experience?
> Do Ethical Culturists believe in God?
> Is Ethical Culture founded on Biblical teachings?
> Is Ethical Culture based on Judaism and the Ten Commandments?
> Do Ethical Culturists believe in the divinity of Jesus?
> How do Ethical Societies celebrate marriages?
> How do Ethical Society members celebrate a birth?
Do Ethical Societies have a creed?
No. The philosophy of Ethical Culture respects the beliefs of each member. No one is bound by any community creed or dogma. Ethical Societies emphasize the importance of developing a clear personal philosophy that makes your life understandable and meaningful. Learning to benefit from a diversity of viewpoints is one of the challenges of membership. Members encourage each other to think freely and disagree without being disagreeable. "Deed Before Creed" is our motto.
"If there is a single instinct in me that is stronger than any of the rest, it is the instinctive desire to be truthful with myself and others. I will not be self-deceived. I will look life straight in the eye."
— Felix Adler
Do Ethical Societies have a faith or a philosophy?
Ethical Societies have faith in the human capacity for good, but no creed or dogma. While the Ethical Culture philosophy inspires and guides the Ethical Movement, members and leaders have been free not to fully embrace it. Dr. Felix Adler, the founding leader of Ethical Culture, set forth his worldview in his major work, An Ethical Philosophy of Life, but encouraged each generation to reconceive it to better serve the needs of the future. Yet Dr. Adler's thinking contributed sufficient common ground to unite the Ethical Movement more than a century later. The impulse that led originally to the formation of Ethical Societies sprang from his profound belief that human life must be treated as sacred and never violated. Before most people, Dr. Adler was aware that the emerging influence of secular society and the rise of scientific thinking in the public mind would make traditional religious metaphors less believable and compelling. Dr. Adler held that religion needed to evolve to keep pace with the evolution of politics, economics, and science. He was concerned because he believed religious communities to be essential because they are the one institution with the exclusive mission to sanctify life, teach ethical values, and provide a personal experience of living in a caring community. The Ethical Society intends to fill these functions with important differences. The Ethical Culture philosophy insists on the necessity for each individual to develop their own ethical philosophy free from communal creeds and dogma. Ethical Culture regards each person as autonomous while necessarily functioning in the context of social relationships. Therefore, an ethical culture must utilize the paradoxical twin rules that 1) each individual has an absolute right to say "no" and an opportunity to discover his or her unique personality, and 2) each individual is responsible for making and keeping clear agreements with others and to create a culture that serves every person to discover their unique capacities. Another distinctive element of Ethical Culture philosophy is that each individual is an end in him- or herself, to be respected as if inherently worthy, as capable of learning right from wrong, regardless of the usefulness (value) that an individual may or may not have. Dr. Adler expressed the "Golden Rule" in three parts:
Ethical Societies have faith in the human capacity for good, but no creed or dogma. While the Ethical Culture philosophy inspires and guides the Ethical Movement, members and leaders have been free not to fully embrace it. Dr. Felix Adler, the founding leader of Ethical Culture, set forth his worldview in his major work, An Ethical Philosophy of Life, but encouraged each generation to reconceive it to better serve the needs of the future. Yet Dr. Adler's thinking contributed sufficient common ground to unite the Ethical Movement more than a century later. The impulse that led originally to the formation of Ethical Societies sprang from his profound belief that human life must be treated as sacred and never violated. Before most people, Dr. Adler was aware that the emerging influence of secular society and the rise of scientific thinking in the public mind would make traditional religious metaphors less believable and compelling. Dr. Adler held that religion needed to evolve to keep pace with the evolution of politics, economics, and science. He was concerned because he believed religious communities to be essential because they are the one institution with the exclusive mission to sanctify life, teach ethical values, and provide a personal experience of living in a caring community. The Ethical Society intends to fill these functions with important differences. The Ethical Culture philosophy insists on the necessity for each individual to develop their own ethical philosophy free from communal creeds and dogma. Ethical Culture regards each person as autonomous while necessarily functioning in the context of social relationships. Therefore, an ethical culture must utilize the paradoxical twin rules that 1) each individual has an absolute right to say "no" and an opportunity to discover his or her unique personality, and 2) each individual is responsible for making and keeping clear agreements with others and to create a culture that serves every person to discover their unique capacities. Another distinctive element of Ethical Culture philosophy is that each individual is an end in him- or herself, to be respected as if inherently worthy, as capable of learning right from wrong, regardless of the usefulness (value) that an individual may or may not have. Dr. Adler expressed the "Golden Rule" in three parts:
- Act as a member of the human race with a sense of solidarity with humanity. To love is to be conscious of one's unity with other human beings."
- Act so as to achieve your full individual uniqueness. "The ideal destiny of humankind is to develop a higher human type than exists at present. I mean by this to set free the gifts, the talents, the responsibilities that are latent in us all."
- Act so as to elicit the best in others and thereby oneself. "We must somehow learn to regard the empirical traits, odious, harmful, or commonplace and vulgar, as the mask, the screen interposed between our eyes and the real self of others." "The reason for our habitual under-estimation of fellow human beings is that we regard them from the standpoint of the use to which we can put them and do not see them from the inside." "It is only face to face with the god enthroned in the innermost shrine of the other that the god hidden within me will consent to appear."
Ethical Societies offer a forum to learn the habits of ethical living that cultivate personal and social development and harmony. Recognizing that human beings have the need for autonomy and simultaneously an equally important need to belong, Ethical Culture aspires to create a community that honors both, knowing that the one requires the other.
What is humanistic spirituality?
Humanistic spirituality is experiencing ourselves as vitally connected to other human beings, to nature, and the universe. Spirituality means respecting spiritual well-being as deserving special attention, not to be trivialized or violated. As we travel through the stages of life from birth to death, we learn to create satisfying relationships with people, nature, and the universe, or we suffer the consequences.
The ancient Greeks called the principles of spiritual well-being "melos," the root word for melody, meaning the harmony of all good. Ethical principles, like musical notes, guide us to find ethical harmony within ourselves and in the world around us. Our ultimate spiritual experience is the kind of person we become and the culture of relationships we build. By bringing out the finest capacities in the people around us, we stimulate the spiritual life within each of us.
Humanistic spirituality is experiencing ourselves as vitally connected to other human beings, to nature, and the universe. Spirituality means respecting spiritual well-being as deserving special attention, not to be trivialized or violated. As we travel through the stages of life from birth to death, we learn to create satisfying relationships with people, nature, and the universe, or we suffer the consequences.
The ancient Greeks called the principles of spiritual well-being "melos," the root word for melody, meaning the harmony of all good. Ethical principles, like musical notes, guide us to find ethical harmony within ourselves and in the world around us. Our ultimate spiritual experience is the kind of person we become and the culture of relationships we build. By bringing out the finest capacities in the people around us, we stimulate the spiritual life within each of us.
Our secular society stimulates us to pay attention to the external world around us: waking to an alarm, driving, working, watching TV. Yet ultimately the quality of our lives is determined less by these outer circumstances than by the condition of our inner state of being. Whether we are asleep or awake, our brains are perpetually creating. We experience our animating vitality as sensations, feelings, voices of thought, pictures from memory and imagination, intentions, wants, and choices. How well we harmonize emotion, thought, and will determines the spiritual quality of human life.
What does "ethics" mean?
Ethics defines the elements essential to human well-being and proposes principles to be used as guidelines for generating an ethical culture. Ethics also refers to the specific values, standards, rules, and agreements people adopt for conducting their lives.
Ethics, most broadly, is the study of human behavior and its consequences in the light of what is ideally possible. For example, ethicists might study a society's mores or morals to determine what effect they would have on humankind if they were used as universal standards.
Ethics are not merely social conventions, like table manners. Ethics define the social conditions necessary for human beings to thrive.
Ethics defines the elements essential to human well-being and proposes principles to be used as guidelines for generating an ethical culture. Ethics also refers to the specific values, standards, rules, and agreements people adopt for conducting their lives.
Ethics, most broadly, is the study of human behavior and its consequences in the light of what is ideally possible. For example, ethicists might study a society's mores or morals to determine what effect they would have on humankind if they were used as universal standards.
Ethics are not merely social conventions, like table manners. Ethics define the social conditions necessary for human beings to thrive.
How do we know what is ethical?
Ethical wisdom is the product of a long history of human struggle. By trial and error societies discover how to create mutually enhancing relationships. Yet ethics also come from the reality-producing function of the mind.
In addition to being propelled by events of the past, human beings are simultaneously drawn forward by their view of the possibilities of the future. When people act "as if" something can happen, they can behave so as make it a self-fulfilling prophecy. The challenge is to understand what conditions lead to human well-being, to envision an ideal ethical culture, and then derive principles that would create a good life.
What does it mean to act ethically?
Ethical Culture proposes that the state of spiritual-ethical harmony would be created whenever people live by these three guidelines taken together:
- Act as a member of an ideal ethical culture with a sense of interdependence with humanity and nature.
- Act so as to achieve your own full and unique potential.
- Act so as to elicit the best and most distinctive qualities in others and thereby in oneself.
What are the core values of Ethical Culture?
"The first postulate of Ethical Culture is the existence of a moral law as permeating as the physical laws of nature... Is this conception of god less real, less inspiring, less reasonable than the concept of an absolute creator and ruler of the universe?"
"The second postulate of ethical religion is the existence of a spiritual element in human nature which makes us capable of seeking the fulfillment of the moral law in our daily conduct. It is on the ground of this capability that we attribute worth to human beings."
"The first postulate of Ethical Culture is the existence of a moral law as permeating as the physical laws of nature... Is this conception of god less real, less inspiring, less reasonable than the concept of an absolute creator and ruler of the universe?"
"The second postulate of ethical religion is the existence of a spiritual element in human nature which makes us capable of seeking the fulfillment of the moral law in our daily conduct. It is on the ground of this capability that we attribute worth to human beings."
Ethical Values
Ethical Culture values are optimum principles of behavior based on the understanding that human beings are autonomous individuals whose wellbeing, paradoxically, depends on their connections to everyone and everything else.
Ethical Culture values are optimum principles of behavior based on the understanding that human beings are autonomous individuals whose wellbeing, paradoxically, depends on their connections to everyone and everything else.
- Respect for Human Worth. I am an evolving person cultivating goodness. Every person is a creative source with an inherent capacity for goodness.
- Responsibility. I am in charge of who I am and what I do. Everyone is accountable for his or her actions.
- Love. I encourage the beauty, goodness, and creative power in every person. Everyone has the right to be all he or she can be.
- Freedom. I appreciate and express my uniqueness. Everyone has the right to make his or her own choices.
- Kindness. I care for the well-being of people. Everyone has the right to safety.
- Fairness. I act as I wish ideally to be treated. Everyone has the right to an equal opportunity.
- Trust. I honor my agreements. Everyone is accountable for his or her promises.
- Truthfulness. I speak without misleading. Everyone can face reality honestly.
- Forgiving. I admit my mistakes: by expressing sorrow for causing harm, by making amends, and by learning a better way. Everyone can learn by trial and error.
- Joy. I choose to find within me delight in being alive. Everyone can experience the bliss of being in harmony with his or her ethical yearnings.
Why do people act ethically?
The urge to act ethically is rooted in our human capacity for feeling, thought, and free will.
Feelings are our most primitive means of knowing what we value and of generating passion for what's important to us. Recall how satisfying it feels to do a good deed, or how upsetting it feels to be treated badly. When we act cruelly or unfairly, we usually pay the price with feelings of fear, alienation, or guilt. We damage our ability to love and trust as well as the ability to be loved and trusted. When we are able to empathize with another person, we genuinely care about the consequences of our behavior and enjoy the good we do.
The urge to act ethically is rooted in our human capacity for feeling, thought, and free will.
Feelings are our most primitive means of knowing what we value and of generating passion for what's important to us. Recall how satisfying it feels to do a good deed, or how upsetting it feels to be treated badly. When we act cruelly or unfairly, we usually pay the price with feelings of fear, alienation, or guilt. We damage our ability to love and trust as well as the ability to be loved and trusted. When we are able to empathize with another person, we genuinely care about the consequences of our behavior and enjoy the good we do.
While feelings show us our values, thought, in the form of memory, imagination, and reason, enables us to anticipate what behaviors might have long-term benefits or negative consequences. Reasoning can verify whether our deed is likely in fact to elicit the best from life. When we are addicted to habits that feel good or familiar but are destructive, our vision of a better alternative gives us the possibility and hope to change what we are doing.
Thought and feeling aligned are a powerful force, but to create a more desirable future requires a strong will capable of taking new and independent action. Behaviors are usually motivated by either our habits or impulses. Free will occurs in a moment of choice when we take a course of action that expresses our inner values. Free will, like a muscle, must be strengthened by exercise and practice.
Will, when impassioned by feeling and guided by thoughtful purpose, generates a sense of confidence in ourselves, in our power to influence our destiny, in the reality of ethical values, in the possibility of building good relationships, and in our ability to create spiritual well-being.
Thought and feeling aligned are a powerful force, but to create a more desirable future requires a strong will capable of taking new and independent action. Behaviors are usually motivated by either our habits or impulses. Free will occurs in a moment of choice when we take a course of action that expresses our inner values. Free will, like a muscle, must be strengthened by exercise and practice.
Will, when impassioned by feeling and guided by thoughtful purpose, generates a sense of confidence in ourselves, in our power to influence our destiny, in the reality of ethical values, in the possibility of building good relationships, and in our ability to create spiritual well-being.
Why don't people act ethically?
When facing challenges or difficulties, people often lack a picture of an ideal outcome and how to achieve it. In our stress, we may resort to habits that might provide some immediate relief but damage our relationships in the process.
Although good intentions are necessary, building good relationships also requires an ethical education. We must learn how and when: to trust authority, to listen to our own needs and values, to cooperatively exchange with peers, to respect laws, to apply ethical principles, and to value and cultivate spiritual well-being. To act with kindness even when in stress, to tell the truth and to resolve conflicts fairly require considerable practical expertise.
Often, people use the wrong they see others do to justify the wrong they do themselves. (He started it. She deserves it. They would have done it to me.) When we see people acting badly, we are challenged to look beneath their negative behavior to address the creative self that may need encouragement and firm guidance to act kindly, fairly, honestly, and joyfully.
The willingness to see some behaviors as mistakes (sins) allows us to learn, by trial and error, good ways to handle difficult situations. Being unaware of the mistakes we are making condemns us to repeat them while thinking ourselves powerless to escape our troubles.
Evil is also a reality in the world. Evil occurs when people understand that their actions are destructive but choose to repeat them anyway. We cannot allow individuals to do damage to people or the social environment. We must take stands strong enough to stop intentionally evil behaviors, or we destroy the hope of an ethical culture.
Why have faith in human worth?
When human worth is unconditionally attributed, we create the possibility of a world where everyone is treated as somebody special. Experiencing our faith in this ideal, we find the power to make it happen. Despite the evil people do, Ethical Culturists believe that every person has the urge to do good, has a sense of right and wrong, can experience the pain of failed relationships, and has the longing to improve the quality of relationships even when his or her understanding and know-how make it impossible.
No one can prove that each person experiences an inner urge to act with kindness, fairness, honesty, and joy, but we do know that human well-being depends on our extraordinary ability to cooperate. Human beings are capable of acting with kindness and fairness to create mutually supportive cultures. This capacity for serving our common welfare as our own is inherent in human nature.
We can never prove whether every person experiences the yearning for kindness, fairness, honesty, and joy, but we can know whether we find it within ourselves. Do you feel an urge to do good? Do you have a sense of right and wrong? Do you experience a happy satisfaction after doing a good and generous deed? Do you long to give and receive love? Are you outraged and hurt in response to dishonesty, unfairness, and unkindness? Do you feel compassion for strangers suffering from misfortune, oppression, poverty, or hunger? Can you believe in your own capacity for goodness? Can you imagine that other people experience the same good will? Ethical Culturists find this yearning for goodness in their own experience, and we choose to act as if this capacity for love and justice is inherent in human nature and therefore can be elicited from people.
What is human worth?
An ethical culture starts with the assumption that every human being counts. Each person is to be treated as a unique and important member of the human family. This respect for human worth is based on our intrinsic human nature rather than on anything a person does.
Attributing worth to human beings is accepting on faith and acting as if each person has within himself or herself the possibility for kindness, fairness, joy, and the capacity to create ethical relationships. Given this capacity for goodness each person deserves to be treated with dignity.
An ethical culture starts with the assumption that every human being counts. Each person is to be treated as a unique and important member of the human family. This respect for human worth is based on our intrinsic human nature rather than on anything a person does.
Attributing worth to human beings is accepting on faith and acting as if each person has within himself or herself the possibility for kindness, fairness, joy, and the capacity to create ethical relationships. Given this capacity for goodness each person deserves to be treated with dignity.
Why respect the worth of people who violate other people?
Ethical Culturists see human worth as the source of good behavior rather than the prize awarded for it. We need faith in human worth, especially when people act destructively, to look beneath particular behaviors and find the human capacity for goodness.
Individuals must protect themselves and each other from treatment that disrespects human worth. Every act that is unkind, unfair, or dishonest damages people and cannot be justified even toward a person who is guilty of wrongdoing. We cultivate an ethical society when we impose consequences that restore respect for human worth and awaken the inner longing to create a more humane world.
Ethical Culturists see human worth as the source of good behavior rather than the prize awarded for it. We need faith in human worth, especially when people act destructively, to look beneath particular behaviors and find the human capacity for goodness.
Individuals must protect themselves and each other from treatment that disrespects human worth. Every act that is unkind, unfair, or dishonest damages people and cannot be justified even toward a person who is guilty of wrongdoing. We cultivate an ethical society when we impose consequences that restore respect for human worth and awaken the inner longing to create a more humane world.
Consider what kind of world we live in when we assume that some individuals, based on their bad behavior, lack human worth: Those found "unworthy" would be "justifiably" subjected to less humane treatment. We would all have to continually prove ourselves or risk being stripped of human dignity. Our mistakes and destructive feelings would make us uncertain of our own worthiness. Our self-doubts would blind us to the capacities for goodness within ourselves. This would lead us to become resigned to the worst behaviors from ourselves and others because we would no longer be looking for the good possibilities within human nature. To transform our hostile habits and relationships we need faith in the human capacity for goodness.
Why is human worth the foundation for self-esteem?
People often base their self-esteem on their value, that is, their usefulness, approval, or achievements. When self-esteem is conditional on success, we must repeatedly prove ourselves to keep our self-esteem from slipping away. Inevitably, self-esteem founded on value rather than inherent worth rises and falls with our circumstances. Everyone suffers times of illness, misfortune, social and economic downturns, frustrations and failures. We most need strong self-esteem when facing the risk of an ambitious challenge or when experiencing loss, but at these times, value-based self-esteem is most in doubt. Even the natural process of learning by trial and error is undermined when we experience mistakes as lost self-esteem.
Faith in human worth means seeing yourself as deserving of respect, as a good and creative being, regardless of circumstances. Founding your self-image, not on what you achieve, but on your human worth allows you to give your best to the most difficult challenges because you are not putting your self-esteem at risk. Instead you are giving yourself an opportunity to explore and express your good and creative nature.
The one occasion where self-doubt is based on behavior is when you act unkindly, unfairly, dishonestly, or without joy. When self-esteem is founded on worth, self-doubt indicates that we have treated ourselves or someone else disrespectfully. However, we are never trapped by self-doubt because by expressing our good will we can regain our sense of self-respect. Material success may be illusive, but the ability to act rightly is within our power.
The one occasion where self-doubt is based on behavior is when you act unkindly, unfairly, dishonestly, or without joy. When self-esteem is founded on worth, self-doubt indicates that we have treated ourselves or someone else disrespectfully. However, we are never trapped by self-doubt because by expressing our good will we can regain our sense of self-respect. Material success may be illusive, but the ability to act rightly is within our power.
What is religious experience?
Religious experiences are common among human beings even though each person describes them with the language of his or her own philosophy or religion. For example, "Jesus (Mohammed, Zeus, Grandfather, etc.) spoke to me." These experiences occur during meditations and ceremonies, listening to music, and walking in nature. In these moments people experience their vital connection with people, nature, history and future, and their ethical values. When people sense their belonging in this larger context of existence, they may transcend their customary personal and social sense of identity.
A religious experience brings a new understanding of past frustrations and illuminates new possibilities. This expanded worldview inspires new options that allow people to reconsider their identity and destiny.
When people align their conduct with their new insights and feelings, the religious experience can change their lives. When a person, facing a great challenge or in a dark period of despair, feels supported by a new sense of reality, a new paradigm for understanding old issues with new possibilities, sometimes his or her personality is forever transformed by the experience.
Religious experiences are common among human beings even though each person describes them with the language of his or her own philosophy or religion. For example, "Jesus (Mohammed, Zeus, Grandfather, etc.) spoke to me." These experiences occur during meditations and ceremonies, listening to music, and walking in nature. In these moments people experience their vital connection with people, nature, history and future, and their ethical values. When people sense their belonging in this larger context of existence, they may transcend their customary personal and social sense of identity.
A religious experience brings a new understanding of past frustrations and illuminates new possibilities. This expanded worldview inspires new options that allow people to reconsider their identity and destiny.
When people align their conduct with their new insights and feelings, the religious experience can change their lives. When a person, facing a great challenge or in a dark period of despair, feels supported by a new sense of reality, a new paradigm for understanding old issues with new possibilities, sometimes his or her personality is forever transformed by the experience.
Do Ethical Culturists believe in God?
Ethical Societies take no position on the existence of God. Many members describe themselves as agnostic. However, if by theism one means a Man-God in the sky or an external power who will intercede with special favors, very few members would be theists. While many members appreciate the importance of experiencing oneself as part of something greater, most consider the question of the existence or non-existence of God as being of lesser importance than treating human beings with respect, kindness, and fairness.
The aim of Ethical Culturists is to grasp the meaning behind the traditional religious metaphors. Historically, religions have personified the ethical-spiritual dimensions of life with a wide variety of images. In different centuries, for example, the God of Western religions has been depicted as an ideal Son, Father, King, Judge, Lord, and Creator. These personifications, like all symbols, are metaphors chosen to convey in language actual human experiences and lessons.
Whether you believe in God or do not believe in God, Ethical Culture asks you to consider whether you believe in what god-metaphors ideally represent: the capacity for good in the human spirit and the power of ethical principles.
Some members, including Felix Adler the founder of Ethical Culture, reject a belief in the image of a Man-God in the sky as merely poetry or, worse, idolatry, and instead claim themselves to be theists based on their abiding faith in the human capacity for good and in the power of the organic ideal, which they believe to be the phenomena that previous generations personified as God.
Ethical Societies take no position on the existence of God. Many members describe themselves as agnostic. However, if by theism one means a Man-God in the sky or an external power who will intercede with special favors, very few members would be theists. While many members appreciate the importance of experiencing oneself as part of something greater, most consider the question of the existence or non-existence of God as being of lesser importance than treating human beings with respect, kindness, and fairness.
The aim of Ethical Culturists is to grasp the meaning behind the traditional religious metaphors. Historically, religions have personified the ethical-spiritual dimensions of life with a wide variety of images. In different centuries, for example, the God of Western religions has been depicted as an ideal Son, Father, King, Judge, Lord, and Creator. These personifications, like all symbols, are metaphors chosen to convey in language actual human experiences and lessons.
Whether you believe in God or do not believe in God, Ethical Culture asks you to consider whether you believe in what god-metaphors ideally represent: the capacity for good in the human spirit and the power of ethical principles.
Some members, including Felix Adler the founder of Ethical Culture, reject a belief in the image of a Man-God in the sky as merely poetry or, worse, idolatry, and instead claim themselves to be theists based on their abiding faith in the human capacity for good and in the power of the organic ideal, which they believe to be the phenomena that previous generations personified as God.
Is Ethical Culture founded on Biblical teachings?
Over centuries, the Bible has greatly influenced Western character and culture and contributed ethical principles necessary to human well-being. The Bible, however, is a selection of ancient stories that also contain superstitions and violence that do not express any ethical-spiritual ideal. Ethical Society members draw from a variety of sources, religious and secular, ancient and modern, to develop our understanding of how life can ideally work and our part in this world.
Over centuries, the Bible has greatly influenced Western character and culture and contributed ethical principles necessary to human well-being. The Bible, however, is a selection of ancient stories that also contain superstitions and violence that do not express any ethical-spiritual ideal. Ethical Society members draw from a variety of sources, religious and secular, ancient and modern, to develop our understanding of how life can ideally work and our part in this world.
Is Ethical Culture based on Judaism and the Ten Commandments?
No, but we do respect the core of ethics at the heart of Judaism and other world religions. Jewish members and leaders of the Ethical Societies distinguish between their religious and ethnic identities. Our aim is to free from dogma and ritual the ethical message of religion and apply it to our lives. We welcome into our community everyone who places ethics at the heart of religion and everyone who shares our passion for creating ethical culture.
No, but we do respect the core of ethics at the heart of Judaism and other world religions. Jewish members and leaders of the Ethical Societies distinguish between their religious and ethnic identities. Our aim is to free from dogma and ritual the ethical message of religion and apply it to our lives. We welcome into our community everyone who places ethics at the heart of religion and everyone who shares our passion for creating ethical culture.
When Moses presented the Ten Commandments, he united religion and ethics by carving in stone that "God's Law" prohibits violating another human being. The Ten Commandments are an example of the ethical common ground that links the major world religions. As Moses went to the mountaintop and returned with the Ten Commandments, Buddha sat under the bo tree, determined to know the truth of life. He discovered the central truth of Buddhism: "From good comes good." Whether you study Moses' Ten Commandments, Buddha's Eight-fold path, the Five Commands of Uprightness, the ancient chants from the Egyptian Book of the Dead, the Babylonian Incantation Tablets, or Jesus' Sermon on the Mount, all espouse respect for life, justice, love, truth, and living by ethical values.
Do Ethical Culturists believe in the divinity of Jesus?
No, but we do appreciate the contributions of great religious leaders such as Moses, Jesus, Mohammed, Buddha, Lao Tzu, and Confucius.
Jesus teaches, for example, an ethical message important to Ethical Culture. Jesus saw the spiritual realm as inside a person--"The kingdom of heaven is within you." Jesus, like Buddha, called on people to live ethically rather than merely satisfy the rules of religious ritual. For Jesus, the evil deeds of others never justify one's own evil. The ethical response to evil ("Love thine enemies as thyself") is to elicit the good within people and to transform the evil in oneself. Jesus also pointed out that people are punished not for their mistakes (sins) but by their mistakes. The ethics and spirit of Jesus, a person of pure good will dedicated to serving humankind as his highest calling, remains a powerful and needed influence in modern society.
No, but we do appreciate the contributions of great religious leaders such as Moses, Jesus, Mohammed, Buddha, Lao Tzu, and Confucius.
Jesus teaches, for example, an ethical message important to Ethical Culture. Jesus saw the spiritual realm as inside a person--"The kingdom of heaven is within you." Jesus, like Buddha, called on people to live ethically rather than merely satisfy the rules of religious ritual. For Jesus, the evil deeds of others never justify one's own evil. The ethical response to evil ("Love thine enemies as thyself") is to elicit the good within people and to transform the evil in oneself. Jesus also pointed out that people are punished not for their mistakes (sins) but by their mistakes. The ethics and spirit of Jesus, a person of pure good will dedicated to serving humankind as his highest calling, remains a powerful and needed influence in modern society.
One Golden Rule
The human spirit has journeyed along the varied paths charted by six major faiths, but a single ethical principle serves as the common ground for men and women of all these religions:
- Hinduism. Do naught unto others which would cause you pain if done to you.--Mahabharata 5:1517
- Buddhism. Hurt not others in ways that you yourself would find hurtful.--Udanavarga 5:18
- Islam. No one of you is a believer until he desires for his brother that which he desires for himself.--Sunan
- Christianity. All things whatsoever you would that men should do to you, do ye even so to them.--Matthew 7:12
- Judaism. What is hateful to you, do not to your fellow man.--Talmud, Chabbat
- Confucianism. Do not unto others what you would not have them do unto you.--Analects 15:13
How do Ethical Societies celebrate marriages?
A couple celebrates their choice to become partners for life by gathering their families and friends to witness their public expression of love and commitment. An Ethical Society leader, who is legally authorized to officiate at weddings, assists each couple to design their ceremony. With music, readings, rituals, and vows, a couple uniquely expresses their personal sense of love and marriage. The celebration itself provides a joining of two families and expresses their spiritual aspirations for the marriage. Celebrants acknowledge people who are important to them and ask their guests to be active participants in their lives.
A couple celebrates their choice to become partners for life by gathering their families and friends to witness their public expression of love and commitment. An Ethical Society leader, who is legally authorized to officiate at weddings, assists each couple to design their ceremony. With music, readings, rituals, and vows, a couple uniquely expresses their personal sense of love and marriage. The celebration itself provides a joining of two families and expresses their spiritual aspirations for the marriage. Celebrants acknowledge people who are important to them and ask their guests to be active participants in their lives.
"Those whom we love are not given to us merely for our joy and happiness. Their truest ministry consists in being to us the revealers of the divine. They quicken in us the seed of better thoughts; they help us estimate rightly the things that are worth trying for; they help us become more equal to the standard of our own best insight and grow into our truer selves."
— Felix Adler
How do Ethical Society members celebrate the birth of a baby?
Parents invite their family and friends to participate in a celebration called a Naming or Welcoming Ceremony. Through childhood, this is the circle of people who will be this child's world and culture. How family and friends relate to each other will determine what conclusions this child will draw about how life works. Therefore, this community is asked to make a conscious commitment to this child, mother, and father.
The Naming Ceremony recognizes that parenthood is the ultimate expression and the severest test of a marriage. The greatest act of love parents can give their child is to love each other. The interactions between a mother and father, husband and wife, form the family relationship that serves as a child's nest. Parents renew their vows to each other, commit themselves to their child, and ask their community to join in promising to love their child unconditionally, respecting his or her uniqueness, and eliciting the best from him or her.
Naming Ceremonies are held on the first Sunday in January and in May.
"Parents supply that concentrated love for the individual child, that intimate cherishing which the most generous teacher, whose affections are necessarily distributed over many, can never give. The child needs this selective affection. The love of the parent is the warm nest for the fledgling spirit of the child. To be at home in this strange world, the young being with no claims as yet on the score of usefulness to society or of merit of any kind, must find somewhere a place where he or she is welcomed without regard to usefulness or merit. It is this love of the parents that makes the home, and it is his own home that makes the child at home in the world."
— Felix Adler
What do the Ethical Society communities and philosophy offer people facing personal suffering?
Suffering is seen as an inevitable part of life that confronts us with important personal challenges. Illness, accident, loss, and violence raise walls of isolation and hopelessness. Pain concentrates our attention within the self. We experience ourselves separated from the creature comforts, people, and ambitions that usually define us. By isolating the self, pain exposes our inner needs and strengths.
In the throes of suffering, a will-to-live is inspired by the people and purposes you love. A network of people supporting you when you are in need is a powerfully nurturing experience. This network reminds you that you are not alone. You feel people caring and your own caring as well. This love can rescue you from fear and allow hope to rise again.
Convalescence is a time of refuge from daily routines. It provides an opportunity for considering the strands of the life we are weaving. We can project forward to new possibilities and opportunities. The frustrating stumbling blocks, which can seem like barriers, can be better understood as stepping stones. These are the lessons that must be mastered to progress on our chosen path. Belonging to a network of people, we can find practical assistance for getting beyond frustration. Imagining the kind of future we want inspires us with renewed purpose.
Suffering is seen as an inevitable part of life that confronts us with important personal challenges. Illness, accident, loss, and violence raise walls of isolation and hopelessness. Pain concentrates our attention within the self. We experience ourselves separated from the creature comforts, people, and ambitions that usually define us. By isolating the self, pain exposes our inner needs and strengths.
In the throes of suffering, a will-to-live is inspired by the people and purposes you love. A network of people supporting you when you are in need is a powerfully nurturing experience. This network reminds you that you are not alone. You feel people caring and your own caring as well. This love can rescue you from fear and allow hope to rise again.
Convalescence is a time of refuge from daily routines. It provides an opportunity for considering the strands of the life we are weaving. We can project forward to new possibilities and opportunities. The frustrating stumbling blocks, which can seem like barriers, can be better understood as stepping stones. These are the lessons that must be mastered to progress on our chosen path. Belonging to a network of people, we can find practical assistance for getting beyond frustration. Imagining the kind of future we want inspires us with renewed purpose.
When a loved one dies, what do Ethical Societies offer?
A memorial or funeral ceremony honors the life of a loved one and fulfills the needs of family and friends to say goodbye and mourn their loss. Gathering with a community of people who share grief acknowledges the life and death of people we love.
To plan the memorial service the family meets with an Ethical Society leader. The memorial ceremony tells the personal story of the deceased loved one from family of birth through the stages and challenges of his or her life. Various speakers help the family to see their loved one from different perspectives. Mourners honor the achievements and appreciate even the failures for the lessons they provide. The ceremony also reminds us what is meaningful in our own lives and affirms the importance of our interdependence with people.
Finally, the leader asks each person to choose, from a loved one's finest characteristics, one trait to become a mental crystallization of the most positive dimension of the deceased's "way of being." By allowing this purified memory to dwell in our minds, we can encourage this special quality in our own personalities and in people we meet. Thus we honor loved ones by keeping their spirit alive.
Leaders and Assistant Leaders for Adjunct Services are certified to perform memorial services. For a listing of Adjunct Leaders see the Ceremonies Page or contact us.
A memorial or funeral ceremony honors the life of a loved one and fulfills the needs of family and friends to say goodbye and mourn their loss. Gathering with a community of people who share grief acknowledges the life and death of people we love.
To plan the memorial service the family meets with an Ethical Society leader. The memorial ceremony tells the personal story of the deceased loved one from family of birth through the stages and challenges of his or her life. Various speakers help the family to see their loved one from different perspectives. Mourners honor the achievements and appreciate even the failures for the lessons they provide. The ceremony also reminds us what is meaningful in our own lives and affirms the importance of our interdependence with people.
Finally, the leader asks each person to choose, from a loved one's finest characteristics, one trait to become a mental crystallization of the most positive dimension of the deceased's "way of being." By allowing this purified memory to dwell in our minds, we can encourage this special quality in our own personalities and in people we meet. Thus we honor loved ones by keeping their spirit alive.
Leaders and Assistant Leaders for Adjunct Services are certified to perform memorial services. For a listing of Adjunct Leaders see the Ceremonies Page or contact us.
What comfort do Ethical Society communities and philosophy offer when you face your own death?
The spiritual challenge at death is to say goodbye to people and memories. It is the time to complete unfinished business, communications, and acknowledgements. Ideally we forgive people who have done us harm. We forgive ourselves for our own mistakes and for what we cannot complete. We pass on gifts to those we will leave behind. Although we may feel anger and grief, we also know that the source of these feelings is our love for what we must surrender.
Members help each other with special needs and requests and make themselves available for final feelings, thoughts, and wishes. We assist each other to experience an appreciation for life itself, the simple joy of just being alive, and to marvel that life and the universe exist. We wonder at the future of humanity and see our contributions as stars in the vast human galaxy. At the end, some accept serenity while others rage into the night.
The spiritual challenge at death is to say goodbye to people and memories. It is the time to complete unfinished business, communications, and acknowledgements. Ideally we forgive people who have done us harm. We forgive ourselves for our own mistakes and for what we cannot complete. We pass on gifts to those we will leave behind. Although we may feel anger and grief, we also know that the source of these feelings is our love for what we must surrender.
Members help each other with special needs and requests and make themselves available for final feelings, thoughts, and wishes. We assist each other to experience an appreciation for life itself, the simple joy of just being alive, and to marvel that life and the universe exist. We wonder at the future of humanity and see our contributions as stars in the vast human galaxy. At the end, some accept serenity while others rage into the night.
What does it mean to be an ethics-based religion?
Human beings thrive in cultures where people treat each person as unique and essential and elicit the inherent gifts and talents from within everyone.
The most beneficial culture for human beings is one based on the ethical values that have been proclaimed by every religion as "God's laws": truth, justice, love, honesty, forgiveness, responsibility, freedom, integrity, reverence, gratitude, generosity, joy, hope, courage, and peace. These are the conditions that allow people to thrive.
What you value (e.g., family, education, music, money, social progress, pleasure, truth, love, justice) has determined who you are. Aware of this, you can decide what kind of life and world to cultivate in the future by a commitment of intention and by mastering the necessary skills.
Once you clarify your value intentions and master ethical skills, you can provide leadership in everyday life situations to create a more ethical culture by eliciting the best from yourself, your family, workplace, community, and the world.
Human beings thrive in cultures where people treat each person as unique and essential and elicit the inherent gifts and talents from within everyone.
The most beneficial culture for human beings is one based on the ethical values that have been proclaimed by every religion as "God's laws": truth, justice, love, honesty, forgiveness, responsibility, freedom, integrity, reverence, gratitude, generosity, joy, hope, courage, and peace. These are the conditions that allow people to thrive.
What you value (e.g., family, education, music, money, social progress, pleasure, truth, love, justice) has determined who you are. Aware of this, you can decide what kind of life and world to cultivate in the future by a commitment of intention and by mastering the necessary skills.
Once you clarify your value intentions and master ethical skills, you can provide leadership in everyday life situations to create a more ethical culture by eliciting the best from yourself, your family, workplace, community, and the world.
" Provenance Notes:
The FAQ found on this page were place here in 2024 using material recovered from the WES Web Site circa 2004. The material appears to be a condensed selection of material from the book "Creating Ethical Community" written by WES Senior Leader Don Montagna and published in 1993. The book itself is out of print.