Freethinkers sense nation near cultural shift

Ethical Culture continues to reap the benefits of rising national and local interest in humanism. This is evidenced most recently by The Bergen Record article of Thursday (3/12/08), in which staff writer John Chadwick reports Freethinkers Sense Nation Near Cultural Shift (click for article).

As if to tie the local and national scenes together, EC Sunday school teacher Lisa Repasky is prominently mentioned, as is the Secular Coalition for America (SCA), the DC-based organization that lobbies exclusively on behalf of nontheists. The Bergen Society's national umbrella organization, the American Ethical Union (AEU) is a member of the SCA.

Such press exposure underscores the need for local and national organizations to work together in common cause. The Bergen Society focuses on local issues, and its Sunday school is youth and family-focused. The SCA, on the other hand, concentrates on national issues of fairness, and leaves local action to its coalition members. But the two groups benefit from each others' efforts. Verily, this is common cause in action.

Ethical Progeny

Rebecca Gopoian and husband David Heatley collaborated on this cartoon (click here) published recently in The New York Times. Rebecca is a graduate of the ECS/Bergen Sunday school and the daughter of members Bea and Steve Gopoian. This will resonate with you if you're in, or the product of, a mixed marriage.

See if you can find Bea and Steve in the strip!

"Don't believe in God?" billboardInstallment 2

The ECS/Bergen Board gave me the okay to speak on behalf of The Society. So I emailed Freethought Action and the AHA.

Roy Speckhardt of the AHA, and Jan Meshon and Joseph Stewart of FTA were very receptive to the idea of referring and linking to us. Roy's comment was that they would be happy to mention us to reporters who contact them. Joseph, who runs the FTA blog, put a link to this blog and to the Society's webpage on the FTA blog (click the link and search for "ethical culture" to see it).

That's good. Hopefully some folks with humanistic leanings will see the billboard, surf to the FTA website, click through to us from FTA blog and walk through our door.

"Don't Believe in God? You are not alone."Bergen County billboard

Page 1 of today's Bergen Record trumpets God's Skeptics Get Comfort from Above and features the roadside billboard seen to the left. It's located on the NJ Turnpike in Ridgefield, about five miles away from the Ethical Culture Meeting House. Cool!

The Ethical Culture Society is a nontheistic organization (ref. AEU article, Wikipedia) and as such we do not explicitly espouse atheism or the denial of the existence of God or gods. I've always told friends who asked that our brand of nontheism means that we simply do not address the issue of god and that some of our members are, in fact, God-believers. If asked further, I say that we base our thinking and action on moral and ethical values that stem from humanity itself, as well as the natural world around us (an interesting reference in today's NY Times: The Moral Instinct by Steven Pinker).

Despite the self-applied nontheistic label, however, the fact is that the majority of our membership is atheistic or agnostic, or lean strongly in that direction. As a result, the freethoughtaction.org billboard on the NJ Turnpike in Ridgefield will appeal strongly to most of our membership. By the same token, many Turnpike drivers who view the billboard favorably would be sympathetic to Ethical Culture.

That is, if only they knew about it. If only those unsuspecting, God-questioning drivers knew that a humanistic society is a mere five miles from the billboard. How do we make the connection? One way is for the Ethical Culture Society to reach out to FTA and let them know we're here. That way, supportive inquiries coming to them as a result of the billboard can, in appropriate cases, be directed to us.

For example, say someone sends a supportive message to FTA that the billboard resonates with them but they need to keep going to church because they want their children in a Sunday school. Do they know that The Ethical Culture Society of Bergen County has a humanistic Sunday school? Maybe ... maybe not. If FTA is willing to refer such emails to us, a few of them might contact us and voila ... connection.

So I'm on a mission. I've volunteered to contact the FTA on behalf of The Society and discuss the matter to see if they can help those Turnpike drivers make a connection with Ethical Culture. Check back in this space to see how it goes. And in the meantime, honk for free thought.

(Click for Google map of billboard location.)

UN Adviser to Discuss UN Efforts to Broker Peace in Darfur

7:30 PM, Thursday, February 15, 2007

Teaneck Presbyterian Church

1 Church Street

Teaneck, New Jersey 07666-4907

The ongoing genocide in Darfur is a moral challenge. The Bergen County Chapter of UNA-USA has invited Patrick Hayford, Special Adviser to the UN on Africa, to speak on the topic of “Darfur: UN Brokering Peace.”

Dr. Gloria Tate, pastor of the Teaneck Presbyterian Church, is co-sponsoring this event, which will be held at the Teaneck Presbyterian Church, 1 Church St., Teaneck, on Thursday, Feb 15 at 7:30 pm.

This will be a rare opportunity to speak directly with a UN official; so, come with your questions. Refreshments will be served.

For further information, call Phyllis Ehrenfeld, President, Bergen County Chapter, UNA-USA. (Her phone number is in the Bergen County phone directory under Ehrenfeld S, on Grove St. in Teaneck.)

We are proud to say that Phyllis is also the American Ethical Union’s National Service Conference Representative to the UN and her husband, Sylvain, is the IHEU Representative to the UN. (The IHEU is the International Humanist and Ethical Union.) Phyllis and Sylvain co-author the monthly “From the UN” column in the Bergen Ethical Culture Society’s Focus newsletter.