ETHICAL
HUMANISM: 25 QUESTIONS AND ANSWERS
By
Richard Carney, Ethical Humanist Society of Greater
Chicago
1
- WHAT IS ETHICAL HUMANISM AND WHO ARE THE ETHICAL HUMANISTS?
Ethical
Humanism is a view of the world in which reason, compassion,
and commitment to ethical values are central. We are
informed and enriched by the knowledge that comes from
an understanding of the scientific method. We celebrate
diversity and are inspired by the arts. Members encourage
each other to become responsible stewards of the environment
and to work to improve the quality of life for all.
Ethical
Humanism is not a belief we are born to, but a source
of inspiration and information we choose. It serves
as a lifelong philosophical and educational guide to
living a good, happy, informed, useful life. While we
acknowledge the capacity for some human beings to do
unthinkable wrong, we believe in the potential for most
to work toward positive ends.
We
come to Ethical Humanism from diverse backgrounds. As
Catholics, Jews, Protestants, Buddhists, Moslems, and
representatives of other faiths, we respect and honor
our religious heritage; however, at the Ethical Society
we come together to focus on the here and now and the
values different kinds of people have in common, not
things that keep us apart.
2
- DO YOU HAVE A CREED?
Although we share some core ethical values with many
traditional religions, we are non-creedal. We believe
that critical thinking is of greater worth than unquestioned
obedience to, or absolute belief in, a single creed.
Moreover, we feel that many problems and injustices
affecting contemporary society have their origins in
the narrow-minded absolutism of extreme fundamentalist
thought. For us, truth is not the possession of a single
group but can be found and expressed in a variety of
forms and philosophies.
3
- WHERE (AND WHEN) DO YOU MEET?
We meet on Sunday mornings at 7574 N. Lincoln, in Skokie,
Illinois, conveniently located for the greater metropolitan
Chicago area. Our ethics education program for children
ages 3-13 is called the Golden Rule Sunday School and
meets concurrently with the adult program at 10:30 AM
in Fall, Winter and Spring. Toddler care is available.
(Note: there is no Sunday School in Summer.) For current
program information phone the Society at 847-677-3334
or visit us online at: www.ethicalhuman.org.
4
- WOULD I FEEL COMFORTABLE AS A VISITOR?
WHAT IS A TYPICAL MEETING LIKE?
A typical Sunday program features an outside speaker
or expert presentation in one of the following areas:
ethical philosophy, science, the humanities, current
issues, or a music or dramatic performance in the fine
arts. Taken as a whole, these themes reflect our strong
humanist roots, interests, values, and approach to life.
We
also host public discussions and debates about current
issues and explore ethical dilemmas. Ethical Humanism
is not a monolithic point of view or doctrinaire approach
to the human experience, but a thoughtful means to deeper
appreciation and understanding of complex human issues.
Most
Sunday programs also include a question/answer segment
in which audience members are invited to ask pertinent
questions or make brief comments about the topic. Even
first-time visitors are welcome to participate. Although
we have a music interlude for reflection and meditation,
we do not pray. An informal coffee hour follows the
meeting.
5
- IS THIS A RELIGION OR PHILOSOPHY?
There are elements of both. It’s up to the individual
person to decide.
6
- MY BACKGROUND IS (JEWISH, CATHOLIC, PROTESTANT, ISLAMIC,
OTHER), ALTHOUGH I AM NO LONGER ACTIVE IN THAT FAITH.
IS THERE A COMFORTABLE PLACE HERE FOR ME AND FOR MY
FAMILY?
Our members come from diverse religious backgrounds.
Some retain member affiliation with a temple or church;
however, in time, most come to consider us their complete
philosophical home. We welcome all persons of good-will
into our community, whether as part-time friends, or
as permanent, committed members. As mentioned previously,
we focus on the ethical values and concerns people share,
not on things that divide us. People from so-called
“mixed-faith” families report that they
feel respected and well-served in our setting. They
experience a high level of comfort and close affinity
with our perspective on most issues. Families are particularly
enthusiastic about our warm, inclusive approach to young
children and their gentle ethical education.
7
- AS AN ATHEIST OR AGNOSTIC, WOULD I BE WELCOME?
We welcome skeptical persons and non-believers into
our community and provide them with sure, safe harbor.
But, as previously mentioned, we also welcome those
with more traditional views of religious life who find
something of personal appeal and meaning in our open,
non-doctrinal, non-sectarian setting. As an organization
we are non-theistic. Belief, or lack of belief in a
supreme being or personal deity is for the individual
to decide for him or herself – and to pursue as
an individual. We do not engage in, or foster debate
on such unknowable matters of faith.
8
- WHERE DO CHILDREN FIT INTO THIS SETTING?
Our Golden Rule Sunday School encourages children to
respect themselves and each other and to have a strong,
positive sense of self. In a fun, relaxed setting of
interesting activities and casual fellowship, children
pursue helpful projects and learn how to make good decisions.
They study other religions and cultures by focusing
on the positive principles and concerns people of good-will
have in common, thus gaining an appreciation for different
points of view.
9
- THIS SOUNDS SOMETHING LIKE THE UNITARIAN CHURCH. HOW
DO YOU DIFFER FROM UNITARIAN-UNIVERSALISM OR OTHER KINDS
OF LIBERAL TEMPLES OR CHURCHES?
We are friendly companions in a mutual pursuit of truth
and the fostering of a more humane world. Many Unitarian
ministers have spoken at our Sunday programs, for example.
Our
differences are with our consistent emphasis on the
promotion of humanism.
10
- DO YOU HAVE MINISTERS? CONDUCT WEDDINGS?
Many Ethical Societies employ Leaders, full or part-time,
who officiate at formal ceremonies. Our particular community
has two trained and certified Officiants who, as committed
volunteers, perform weddings, conduct naming ceremonies,
and host memorial services.
11
- WHAT IS THE ETHICAL HUMANIST VIEW TOWARD JESUS, MOHAMMED,
MOSES, AND THE PROPHETS?
We feel that inspired wisdom comes from many sources
and models, including those from traditional religion,
its leadership, stories, and writings. However, we also
feel that human beings must be free to select from among
the best principles and practices of any belief system,
ignoring or discarding those concepts they feel are
negative or undesirable.
Ultimately,
we accept that responsibility for the future of the
world and its careful stewardship is completely in our
hands. Without our taking on a sense of accountability,
personally and collectively, positive change simply
will not take place.
12
- WHAT ABOUT DEATH. IS THERE LIFE AFTERWARDS? A HEAVEN?
A HELL?
We accept death as a natural process. Since no one can
know what happens after life ceases, except by hope
or faith, why speculate? Ethical Humanists feel that
it is more important to live well and responsibly in
the here and now. As for heaven and hell, our common
ethical commitment is to increase the quality of this
life that we know for certain.
13
- WHAT IS YOUR ATTITUDE TOWARD SIN AND ORIGINAL SIN?
We do not accept fundamentalist religious teachings
or dogma which declare that human beings come into the
world pre-stained by sin. Nor do we ponder the distorted
Victorian and Puritan obsessions with sex. As a community,
we are committed to living a good moral life of loyalty,
caring, and respect, using the Golden Rule as our guiding
standard.
We
acknowledge that human beings have weaknesses and are
capable of insensitive, mean-spirited, even cruel and
immoral actions in the extreme. Each of us fails and
does hurtful things at times. Yet we are capable of
great acts of caring and helpfulness. In the words of
founder, Felix Adler, our aspiration should be to act
so that we bring out the best in others and thereby
in ourselves.
Although
we reject the concept of original sin, we do believe
in a form of personal redemption. When we have wronged
another human being, for example, we need to make things
right by the one we have offended or harmed. Emmanuel
Kant, perhaps the most significant and representative
philosopher of our Ethical Humanist view of life, expressed
it well: to live as if every action we take would become
the permanent and absolute law of the land.
14
- DO YOU BELIEVE IN EVOLUTION AND SCIENCE?
As
mentioned previously, we have enormous respect for the
role of the scientific method in acquiring knowledge,
and we encourage its positive, responsible application.
Science is our tool and our friend, never our master.
It is how we explore, discover, and learn about the
nature of the world -- and how we move forward. We honor,
support, and celebrate humanity’s achievements
in medical science and all areas of research and production
dedicated to positive ends. Yet vigilance is required
to ensure that projects bringing potential harm to people
and to the planet are effectively challenged.
15
- WHAT IS YOUR VIEW OF CREATION?
With profound interest and awe, we follow the evolving
theories of astronomers, Darwinian researchers, and
other scientists – that our planet continues to
evolve out of stellar processes still unfolding in the
universe. We accept that human life developed from primal
microscopic organisms on through the primates. In a
sense, each of us is made from the dust of stars and
is related to the creatures of the sea. The mountains,
oceans, deserts, forests, prairie, and sky inspire us
with their spell-binding forms, powerful sense of place,
and intrinsic beauty.
Science
teaches us that the physical laws underlying the origins
of matter and governing the relationship of the bodies
of the universe are always being re-examined, tested,
and clarified as we acquire new evidence. We feel that
a scientific approach to the mysteries of life and the
universe, coupled with our own personal sense of being
and consciousness in the present, form the basis for
an inspired practical faith grounded in knowledge, hope,
and trust, binding nations and people together in a
single, interrelated, interdependent community.
16
- HOW DO YOU TEACH CHILDREN ABOUT THESE MATTERS?
We respect a child’s need and capacity for factual
explanations, according to level of maturity. Sound,
authentic information, given at an appropriate age,
whets their curiosity and helps them to learn to reason
well for themselves.
Children
thrive in a positive, responsible, safe setting in which
truth is highly respected. Among many benefits, such
an environment helps them replace natural fears of the
unknown with a sense of empowerment and wonder. They
are challenged and encouraged to discover more –
to look deeper – to feel they have a role to play
in the worlds they inhabit.
17
- ARE THE ARTS AN IMPORTANT PART OF A HUMANIST OUTLOOK?
The arts are powerful expressions of our innermost thoughts,
feelings, and longings about life. They bring insight
to, and offer important reflection into, where we have
been and where we might go. They amuse, awaken, nurture,
teach, soothe, goad, and sometimes alarm and warn us
with their powerful words, images, sounds, and symbols.
In sum, they reach down into and touch our inner core.
The progressive development of humanism through the
centuries was hastened and accomplished, in significant
part, by means of the artists and writers of the times.
Cultural
literacy is an important component of any authentic
education and, especially, for an understanding of humanist
philosophy. The arts are essential components of a thoughtful,
joyful, responsible way of life. The painters, performers,
writers, dancers, sculptors, architects, musicians,
filmmakers imbue our lives with emotion and meaning.
We would be impoverished without their presence and
activity.
18
- DO YOU ESPOUSE A PARTICULAR SET OF POLITICAL BELIEFS
OR SUPPORT ANY SPECIFIC ECONOMIC SYSTEM?
No. Although deeply committed to the democratic process,
ethical humanists have diverse opinions concerning political
and economic systems. Some subscribe to responsible
forms of capitalism while others lean toward, or embrace,
a more social or community-centered ideal such as that
held by many European countries.
Others hold eclectic or hybrid views. The Society has
no preference or belief in any particular way, except
to affirm the universal rights of children and adults.
19
- WHERE DID HUMANISM COME FROM? IS IT A MODERN PHILOSOPHY?
Some form of humanism can be traced back to ancient
India and the Greece of Socrates. Centuries later, the
collective creative work and genius of artists of the
Renaissance foreshadowed a new view of humanity. They
celebrated the emerging, individual human spirit upon
which the “architects” of the Enlightenment
later forged their revolutionary words/ideas of reason
and equality. Before long, the roots of a strong humanist
expression began to emerge and nurture the monumental
societal revolution in thought: that individual persons
actually mattered and were worthy beings of respect
and dignity by reason of their very existence, not because
of family status or wealth.
No
longer would common, everyday people be tagged by birth
to serve and be sacrificed as expendable pawns of the
whims of the kingdom or state. Although authentic freedom
for some groups, such as African slaves, was postponed
until quite recent times, the process of true liberation,
once begun, was unstoppable and continues on today.
20
- WHEN AND HOW DID THE ETHICAL HUMANIST SOCIETY BEGIN?
The Ethical Culture Movement, as it is generally known
in the East, had its beginnings in the late 1800’s.
Felix Adler, son of the principal rabbi of Manhattan’s
Temple Emmanuel, returned from formal academic, social,
and philosophical studies in Europe to give an important
inaugural address to a large assembled congregation
in a magnificent gothic temple on Fifth Avenue. During
Adler’s talk, he avoided mention of either God
or the greatness of the Hebrew faith. Instead, he spoke
of the need for openness, inclusion, and for all persons
of good will to come join together and work for the
benefit of humankind. His vision was for a religion
for the modern world that would bring diverse people
together in a unified spirit to accomplish good things.
21
- ANY HUMANISTS I MIGHT BE FAMILIAR WITH? ACCOMPLISHMENTS
OF NOTE?
Albert Einstein, Issac Asimov, Jane Addams, Carl Sagan,
Kurt Vonnegut, Clarence Darrow, Ralph Waldo Emerson,
directly or indirectly, embraced the equivalent of humanist
philosophy.
Also, many of our founding Fathers and early nation-builders
held a non-dogmatic, democratic and humanistic perspective.
Several
activists and philosophers who played significant roles
in the development of modern humanist thinking for the
new era first appeared, in significant numbers, on the
local Chicago scene. The University of Chicago’s
Tom Dewey and Robert Hutchins, for example, not only
contributed much to that new philosophy, but masterfully
applied its precepts and principles directly to education,
thus transforming the teaching and learning experience
and affecting social policies throughout the country.
Jane
Addams, renowned social worker-innovator of Hull House
fame, made frequent presentations at the Ethical Society
lecture series. And the Henry Booth House, still functioning
as an important urban social services center, began
as an Ethical Society settlement house project. It was
named after Judge Henry Booth, a prominent Chicago Justice
involved in the Juvenile Court system who also headed
the Chicago Ethical Society for many years.
Chicago
Ethical Society members played founding roles in several
social service developments which became prominent national
institutions. The Chicago Urban League, the Legal Aid
Society, Visiting Nurse’s Association, and the
NAACP, to name a few. Internationally speaking, many
Ethical Society members were present at the first International
Races Conference in 1911, attended by Gandhi.
Clearly,
our past is rich with meaningful ideas and accomplishments
which live on today. Our challenge is to continue to
build upon and to be worthy of that powerful legacy.
22
- WHY SHOULD I CONSIDER BECOMING AN ETHICAL HUMANIST?
Most people find themselves on a spiritual journey at
some point in their existence. Finding a comfortable,
thoughtful home that not only stimulates your mind but
also speaks to your inner philosophical and emotional
needs is a great discovery.
As we grow into adulthood, many of us find we have simply
outgrown the religious expressions of our birth which
we had taken on without personal choice simply because
it was there and we were expected to embrace it. But
to find a religious (or philosophical) home of our own
choice which fulfills our personal longings can be life-changing.
23
- MOST RELIGIONS OFFER CONCRETE AND COMFORTING ANSWERS
TO THE GREAT QUESTIONS AND CHALLENGES OF LIFE. DO YOU?
Unlike many religious institutions, Ethical Humanism
is not a source for absolute rules to live by, tribal
customs to adhere to, or authoritative explanations
for the big questions of life: meaning, purpose, injustice,
illness, death, origins, afterlife.
We
feel that simplistic, dogmatic responses to these difficult
issues are of little use or comfort to people seeking
and wanting authentic understanding. As humanists, we
feel it is important to live with the challenges of
complexity and uncertainty rather than have set (usually
false) answers provided for us to absorb or to be imposed
by outside authority. Although the path we choose toward
understanding the great forces affecting us may, on
the surface, lack the promised security and instant
comfort of other messages, it can provide authentic
solace and profound feelings of connection to the mysteries
of life and the cosmos.
24
- IT ALL SOUNDS SO INTELLECTUAL, RATIONALIST, AND SERIOUS.
ANY ROOM FOR MYSTERY OR SPIRITUALITY? WHAT ABOUT FUN?
We believe that joy, humor, and happiness are essential
components of a life well-lived. Our existence on earth
is the only time we can be certain of; therefore, we
must make the best of it by striving for our potential,
being of useful service, and celebrating this great
mystery of life and journey that we share.
25
- HOW DO I BECOME A MEMBER?
It’s an easy process. Simply fill out an application,
speak to the Membership Chair, and make a pledge. The
Membership person will provide additional information
and orientation. Welcome!
