On Ethical Culture and Religious Naturalism

On Ethical Culture - I apologize for the error in the founding date (It. was 1876) and appreciate the clarification.  Those interested in the Ethical Cultural Movement will find a beginning summary on Wikipedia.  I wonder if the Ethical Cultural Movement, The Unitarian Universalists and the New Humanists aren't all trying to do the same thing.  In my opinion, it's something that really needs doing.  Soon.

On Religious Naturalism -  I see Religious Naturalism as a broadening of the focus of Religious Humanism to include a respect for all life (not just human), an active protective stance concerning ecology and at least an awareness of an infinite Universe of which we are all a part.  As far as the the cultural and scientific developments go, the Creationism/Intelligent Design vs. Evolution controversy in which supersitition trumps reason is one example.  The fact that such a large persistent voting bloc exists may keep us from making vital desisions which affect our future.  Religious Naturalism, if widespread, might help. 

Religious Humanism

When we asked the group at the October Humanist meeting to define Religious Humanism we got some varied opinions.  Some ideas we generated are:
     1.  From Ethical Culture - Doris and Mike pointed out that Felix Adler started the Ethical Cultural movement in 1846.  Here is a quote from Wickipedia. 

"Ethical Culture is a new religion that would strip away the accumulated unscientific dogmas of traditional religions while retaining and elevating the ethical message at the heart of all religions. Adler believed that traditional religions would ultimately prove to be incompatible with a scientific worldview. He felt that the vital aspects of religion should not be allowed to fall by the wayside. Religions provided vital functions in encouraging good works. And religions taught important truths about the world, albeit these truths were expressed through metaphors that were not always suited to modern understandings of the world. "

     2.  Simply pointing out the fallacies of the supernatural dogmas of other religions is not a basis for a happy and satisfying life.  Something else is needed.

 Here is a quote from UU World that will probably resonate with most of us.

"A new religious humanism is emerging that offers depth, meaning, and purpose without sacrificing intellectual honesty or the spiritual dimension.


By William R. Murry
Winter 2006 11.1.06

Religious humanism is a life stance that exults in being alive in this unimaginably vast and breathtakingly beautiful universe and that finds joy and satisfaction in contributing to human betterment. Without a creed but with an emphasis on reason, compassion, community, nature, and social responsibility, it is a way of living that answers the religious and spiritual needs of people today. A new humanism is emerging among Unitarian Universalists, a religious humanism informed by cultural developments and recent discoveries in the natural and human sciences and grounded in the larger context of religious naturalism, a religious humanism that offers depth, meaning, and purpose without sacrificing intellectual honesty or the spiritual dimension."

 For those who want to read further, The entire article can be found by Googling "Religious Humanism."

October Question of the Month

The burning question for October is:
WHAT IS A RELIGIOUS HUMANIST?
At first glance, this seems to be a contradiction in terms.  We all know that Humanists are not religious and religious people are not Humanists.  Or do we?  There used to be a Fellowship of Religious Humanists.  There is a book, "Religious Humanism in America: Deitrich, Reese and Potter" by Mason Olds.  What is going on here?  Are we missing something?  Please post your thoughts below and by all means come to the October meeting.

October Humanist Meeting

The October meeting on the 20th will be a report on the first "Humanist Homecoming" held at the First Unitarian Society of Minneapolis on June 26, 2010.  Don Miles will present details of the meeting and discuss in detail some of the ideas of the late Rev. John H. Dietrich as published in the recent book, "What if the World Went Humanist?"  Don is travelling in France for a few more days and will outline more detail for the meeting on his return.  Keep Tuned!

June 16th Meeting

Our June meeting will take place at the UU Church of Spartanburg in room 6 on Wed. evening, June 16 at 6:30 p.m.

This month we will revisit the ideas of America's greatest Humanist, John Dewey, and his philosophy of Pragmatism, especially as it pertains to progressive education. We will spend a short time on his basic ideas which changed American education in the early twentieth century.  Then we will move on and see if those ideas apply to some of the problems we are having in public education today.

- We will list 4 or 5 problems which need solving in today's schools.  Can Dewey's ideas be applied?
- We will discuss the idea, "Does it matter what children learn as long as they are learning?"
- How can critical thinking be taught?  What effect would critical thinking have on the country, on the individual?
- If you as a Humanist had complete control over the religious education of your children, how would you train them in religious ideas?  What would you include?  What would you ban?

This is a timely topic and a chance to discuss it with some of the best minds in Spartanburg.  Hope to see you Wednesday.

June 16th Meeting

In our June Meeting we will revisit Humanist John Dewey's ideas on progressive education with a discussion to follow. John Dewey believed that universal public education was of paramount importance in the maintenance of our democracy. He went so far as to say that a democratic America could not remain tenable without universal quality public education. His ideas had a tremendous impact on public education in the first half of the twentieth century. Today, we face real challenges to public education from the "Religious Right" - Vouchers, Legal challenges to insert "Intelligent Design" in science classes,etc.



What should public education be in the twenty first century and what should be its goals? Plan to join us in June for a timely and pertinent discussion.