Winter solstice 'a time of great hope'
By Ashley Kindergan
Christmas and Hanukkah get the lion's share of holiday attention in December.
But for a group of humanists who gathered at the Ethical Culture Society of Bergen County on Sunday afternoon to mark the winter solstice, a sense of community and the symbolic turning point of the shortest day of the year were cause enough for celebration. The actual solstice, the shortest day of the year, occurred on Dec. 21, but the celebration was postponed because of inclement weather.
"This is a way a humanist movement like Ethical Culture can plug itself into the celebration of the season," said Joseph Chuman, the center's leader.
The Ethical Culture Society bills itself as a religious movement focused on the welfare of human beings rather than the existence of a deity or transcendental force guiding the universe. Collecting money to build homes for unwed mothers and working for asylum seekers in the Elizabeth Detention Center are among the congregation's principal causes, for example.
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