A Talk by Randy Best, Leader of the Ethical Humanist Society of the Triangle on July 27, 2014
The chorus to the Ten Years After song that I just played (see end of post) goes:
I’d love to change the world But I don’t know what to do So I’ll leave it up to you
I am drawn to change the world – to make a difference even in some small way.
I believe that my life is experienced through my relationships so it is therefore, at its core, an ethical experience.
I believe that it is up to me to decide what to do – to engage the world and be responsible for my choices.
It is up to me – and itʼs up to you too.
I grew up in the Ethical Society of St. Louis. I have always considered myself to be a Humanist.
Yet after leaving St. Louis, during my early adult life, I did not attend an Ethical Society – even though they existed in Boston, Washington D.C., and New York City where I lived.
I retained my Ethical Humanist identity but did not participate.
This changed when I found myself in North Carolina with four children and a commitment to my spouse to be responsible for their care on the weekends.
I started attending the Ethical Society in Chapel Hill where my children participated in the childrenʼs ethics program.
I reconnected to the exploration of ethical ideas and relationships. I had returned to my religious home and I have stuck around since then. I do consider Ethical Humanism to be my religion. I am a Humanist. There are no supernatural agents to appeal to for help.
Wikipedia says this about Humanism:
Humanism is a philosophical and ethical stance that emphasizes the value and agency of human beings, individually and collectively, and generally prefers critical thinking and evidence (rationalism, empiricism) over established doctrine or faith (fideism). The meaning of the term humanism has fluctuated, according to the successive intellectual movements which have identified with it.[1]
In modern times, humanist movements are typically aligned with secularism and with non-theistic religions.[2] Historically however, this was not always the case.
I am a Religious Humanist.
Ethical Humanism is my non-theistic religion and I firmly believe that Religious Humanism is not an oxymoron.
Fred Edwords, the national director of the United Coalition of Reason and previous president of the American Humanist Association, quipped that the difference between Secular Humanists and Religious Humanists was what they do on Sundays.
I participate in our Ethical Humanist community to learn more about the world, explore ways of making positive change, connect with others, and find inspiration.
I find inspiration in many of the ideas of Ethical Humanism. Everyone deserves to be treated with worth and dignity.
I should see others as individuals with the same rights that I have not merely as a means to my own ends.
I believe in working to shape a more humane world for everyone. I try to elevate the ethical nature of my relationships. I seek to continually educate myself and to expand my moral sensibilities.
Ethical Humanism, originally called Ethical Culture, was founded in 1876 by Felix Adler. He was groomed to succeed his father as a reform Rabbi and was sent to Germany to complete his religious education. There he had a crisis of faith.
In his study of philosophy he was particularly attracted to the ideas of Immanuel Kant. Adlerʼs studies caused him to first doubt, and later reject, the religious faith of his youth.
Through the exercise of his reason, Adlerʼs concept of a personal god vanished. In a journal he wrote:
The curtain that had intervened between my eyes and the world, on which was painted the image of an individual man-like God, slowly drew aside, and I looked upon the world with fresh eyes.
Felix Adler thought that the rise of scientific knowledge and reason would lead to the end of traditional theistic religion.
He sought to preserve the positive aspects of religion by establishing an ethics centered, non-theistic religion.
He was shaped by his experience as a youth in New York City performing charitable work and influenced by the traditional Jewish idea of Tikkun Olam, repairing the world.
Felix Adler felt that he had a moral duty to help others. Adler called for the members of his Ethical Religion to transform themselves through addressing issues of contemporary society, and as a result of this transformation, to help repair the world. He wrote:
We do not seek the salvation of our souls reckless of the world around us. We know very well that it is essential to our moral growth that we grapple with the great problems that affect the life of society, that we contribute our share toward the development of a better social order, and that only by attempting to lift the heavy weight of these public questions can our own moral fiber grow strong and firm.
But nevertheless our moral growth is still the principal aim. We can grow morally only in so far as we take an interest in the moral concerns of the community. But, on the other hand, it is equally true and equally to be emphasized that, so far as we are concerned, we shall endeavor to solve the great social questions, the great public questions, by changes we effect in ourselves. We are to regenerate society primarily by regenerating the one individual member of society for whom we are responsible. [Ourselves].
This is the difference between an ethical society and the peace societies, the social reform societies, the educational societies, and the others – that they chiefly lay stress upon what the government ought to do or upon what other people ought to do, or in general upon how the world is to be set aright, while the ethical society, also mindful of these demands, lays its chief stress in the question, What am I to do? How shall I set world right by setting myself right?
This is why I am drawn to Ethical Humanism. I see this process of inquiry and personal transformation as a religious undertaking.
Through my engagement with Ethical Humanism I: • Explore the ethical problems that we face today
- Challenge my own views and assumptions
- Continue a process of my moral growth and self-transformation
Recently I have heard that some other non-believers in this area consider Ethical Humanism to be “too political” precisely because Ethical Humanism addresses contemporary social concerns.
Addressing these ethical issues is an essential activity if my concern is promoting the worth and dignity of others and working to make the world a better place for everybody.
If my goal is moral development, my personal growth and transformation, I must engage the important issues of the day.
Other non-theistic groups may shy away from such pursuits because they are afraid that addressing these challenging issues may be divisive.
Yet I find the most precious gift of attending the Ethical Humanist Society to be the insight that I gain into those who think differently than I do. Ethical engagement does not require that all of us reach the same conclusions. The process of mutual exchange of ideas, opinions, and experience is in itself enriching. This is too important to abandon.
Congregational community that does not encourage moral engagement risks becoming a mere entertainment. Community can have, must have, a higher purpose than just serving itself.
The Ethical Humanist project started by Felix Adler is a source of meaning and purpose in my life.
For me, participation in the Ethical Humanist Society is a religious pursuit – but you donʼt need to share this view to participate in our society.
Felix Adler saw the Ethical Humanism as a religion – but he also recognized that some of his members did not see it that way. Adler said that Ethical Humanism was a religion for those who are religiously inclined and a philosophy for those who are not religiously inclined.
Ethical Humanism functions as a religion and meets the religious test for U.S. Government recognition.
In the court case brought by the Ethical Society of Austin after Texas denied their application for religious tax exemption, the Judge noted in his opinion that the Ethical Society met regularly, provided moral education for its membersʼ children, was a community that supported its members, and performed rites of passage such as weddings and memorial services. This was enough. Non-theistic religion qualifies. God belief was not required
One contemporary social issue that has become more prominent recently is the idea that belief in God is necessary for moral behavior.
My life long experience with Ethical Humanism belies this assertion. My observation of some people who advocate theistic religion, and the inhumane values that they promote along with it, has shown that belief in God does not necessarily lead to moral behavior.
I stand up for my Humanism whenever I can. I will push back and show how I can be “Good without God”.
I will end with another song that reminds me of the need to assert my values. Here is Tom Pettyʼs “I Wonʼt Back Down”. (see below)
Song Lyrics
I’d Love To Change The World by Ten Tears After
Everywhere is freaks and hairies Dykes and fairies, tell me where is sanity Tax the rich, feed the poor ’Til there are no rich no more
I’d love to change the world But I don’t know what to do So I’ll leave it up to you
Population keeps on breeding Nation bleeding, still more feeding economy Life is funny, skies are sunny Bees make honey, who needs money, No none for me
I’d love to change the world But I don’t know what to do So I’ll leave it up to you
Oh yeah!
World pollution, there’s no solution Institution, electrocution Just black and white, rich or poor Senators stop the war
I’d love to change the world But I don’t know what to do So I’ll leave it up to you
By Tom Petty
Well I won’t back down, no I won’t back down You can stand me up at the gates of Hell But I won’t back down
No I’ll stand my ground, won’t be turned around And I’ll keep this world from draggin’ me down Gonna stand my ground and I won’t back down
(I won’t back down) Hey baby, there ain’t no easy way out (I won’t back down) Hey I will stand my ground And I won’t back down
Well I know what’s right, I got just one life In a world that keeps on pushin’ me around But I’ll stand my ground and I won’t back down
(I won’t back down) Hey baby there ain’t no easy way out (I won’t back down) Hey I will stand my ground (I won’t back down) And I won’t back down
(I won’t back down) Hey baby there ain’t no easy way out (I wont back down) Hey I won’t back down (I won’t back down) Hey baby there ain’t no easy way out (I won’t back down) Hey I will stand my ground (I won’t back down) And I won’t back down (I won’t back down) No, I won’t back down
