Platform Video: My Personal Memories of Dr. King and the Civil Rights Movement

The following ECS/Bergen Platform address was delivered on Sunday, January 17, 2010, by Theodora Smiley Lacey (introduced by Barbara Landberg):

My Personal Memories of Dr. King and the Civil Rights Movement (1/17/2010) from Ethical Culture Society Bergen on Vimeo.

Speaker: Theodora Smiley Lacey

Theodora Lacey, a native of Montgomery, AL, is deeply committed to the struggle for equality for all mankind. She became a true champion for civil and human rights working closely with Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr., during the famed Montgomery Bus Boycott. A recently retired science teacher and an active participant in community affairs she played a major role in the successful integration of the Teaneck Public Schools.

She is the recipient of numerous awards including Teacher of the Year in Teaneck, Most Outstanding Secondary School Teacher Award from Princeton University, Woman of the Year from the New Jersey Senate , honored by the Bergen Record newspaper as One of the Most Intriguing People in New Jersey and listed in Whos Who in Among America’s Teachers. Serving on several boards, civic organizations and as a lecturer, she has traveled extensively throughout Africa, Europe and Asia. Mother of four, grandmother of ten, great grand- mother of four.

Platform Video: Liberalism, Individualism and Values

The following ECS/Bergen Platform address was delivered on Sunday, January 3, 2010, by Dr. Joseph Chuman (introduced by Ed Gross):

Liberalism, Individualism and Values from Ethical Culture Society Bergen on Vimeo.

Harvard professor Michael Sandel, author of Public Philosophy, “is worried that those espousing a liberal political philosophy, including leaders in the Democratic Party, weaken themselves by refusing to engage in discussion about religious and moral values, especially those that support their political positions,” notes Dr. Chuman. “While I understand the problem that Sandel and others point to, I conclude that the cure is potentially worse than the disease.”

Ethical giving: local and global

Vibrant communities thrive on companionship, but religious communities like Ethical Culture add compassion and other virtues. To sustain ourselves we give of our time, effort and pocketbook. It is how we both keep the roof over our heads and support others during times of loss and transition.

Charity begins at home, but that is not enough for some. Many seek ways to donate to causes outside of their immediate community. Witness organizations like Catholic Charities, Habitat for Humanity and countless others that extend the reach of local donors to become global.

Humanists who want to extend their giving outside of their local community can do no better than to consider the nascent Foundation Beyond Belief, a non-profit charitable and educational foundation created (1) to focus, encourage and demonstrate the generosity and compassion of atheists and humanists, and (2) to provide a comprehensive education and support program for nontheistic parents. Each quarter, FBB selects ten charities that will benefit from humanist giving.

Their first charity in the area of human rights is the Bergen County Sanctuary Committee, which began in part as a brainchild of our own Dr. Joseph Chuman, leader of the Ethical Culture Society of Bergen County. (Click here for video.) BCSC is a particularly good example of a local charity with global reach in that it provides succor to former citizens of other countries whose search for asylum has brought them to our local area.

So if you've taken care of your local charitable needs and are seeking to make a difference across the globe, consider the Foundation Beyond Belief.

Blythedale Children's Hospital: another Ethical Culture accomplishment

The corporate department in which I work circulated an internal flier asking employees to consider donating to one of two area children's hospitals in conjunction with its annual charity drive. The company generously matches employee contributions dollar for dollar, so it's a great use of one's personal donation funds.

I checked out both hospitals' websites before deciding. The history page of the Blythedale Children's Hospital (Valhalla, NY) begins thusly (my emphasis):

Blythedale's first recorded history dates back to 1891, when a group of women of the New York Ethical Culture Society began visiting shut-in children in New York City, furnishing them with clothing and food, as well as obtaining medical attention for them.

Slam dunk! Another in a long long of past charitable causes boot-strapped into existence by Ethical Culture. Because of this history that I hold so dear, I'll be giving them a little more than I would have otherwise. It doesn't render the other children's hospital any less worthy, but this one holds a personal connection for me.

Platform VIdeo: Ethical Culture and Human Rights

The following ECS/Bergen Platform address was delivered on Sunday, December 6, 2009, by Dr. Joseph Chuman (introduced by Ed Gross):

Ethical Culture and Human Rights (12/6/2009) from Ethical Culture Society Bergen on Vimeo.

Dr. Joseph Chuman has been the leader of The Ethical Culture Society of Bergen County for over 35 years. He holds a Ph.D. in religion from Columbia University, where he is adjunct professor of religion and an academic advisor in the human rights curriculum. Dr. Chuman lectures frequently to public audiences on philosophy, social issues and humanist thought.

Ethical Culture Touches Human Beings

In todays platform at the Ethical Culture Society of Bergen County Dr. Joseph Chuman, our leader, presented a stimulating presentation on the concept of human rights, it's ongoing evolution and it's growing presence in the collective modern consciousness.

One tidbit I found particularly interesting was the impact specifically, Ethical Culture has had on the revolutionary 'Human Rights' gains of our recent times. Major gains like that of child labor laws, civil rights, and public health can be traced back in part, to several of the Ethical Culture movements leaders and activist members.

Recently I took my child to the Tenement Museum on the Lower East Side for a tour of a tenement with interesting historical antidotes that shed light on life in the tenements through a span of time. What I did not hear about in the museums presentation regarding the improvements to public health laws brought upon the tenement dwellings was that it was Ethical Culture leaders that spear headed those efforts. That I learned today at our Sunday platform. It's hard to fathom how many human beings were touched upon by Ethical Culture with just that one successful effort.

Platform Video: What is HumanLight?

The following ECS/Bergen Platform address was delivered on Sunday, November 29, 2009, by Patrick Colucci (introduced by Susan Lesh):

What is HumanLight? from Ethical Culture Society Bergen on Vimeo.

[The video referenced in this video can be viewed at humanlight.org.]

Everything You always wanted to know about HumanLight, the Humanist Winter Holiday, but Were Afraid to Ask

Ok, so maybe you were not afraid to ask really, but just haven't thought about HumanLight much before, or have never even heard of it? Here's your chance to learn all about the winter holiday designed to promote humanism and celebrate humanist values. Patrick Colucci has been involved with promoting and publicizing HumanLight since it's earliest inception, so he can probably answer any questions you might have. (If he can't answer something, he'll make up a reasonable-sounding guess....we humanists do always try to be reason-based, afterall!)

Patrick Colucci is vice-chair of the HumanLight Committee (www.humanlight.org) and a member of the New Jersey Humanist Network (www.njhn.org) and the American Humanist Association. Based in New Jersey, he's a long-time activist in the movements for Humanism and for peace and social justice.

Ethical Culture Offers Perspective During this Thanksgiving Season

The Sunday platform this week at the Ethical Culture Society offered a sobering perspective as we head into the upcoming Thanksgiving season. As a way of helping the Sunday School children understand the realities of world hunger, adults too, were privy to the reminder that we are very lucky indeed. I can't imagine the horror I would feel if I had to watch helplessly as my children starve. Amoung the many stories of struggles and resilliance we heard, those were the ones that stuck in my mind.

This week I will say a quiet thanks to the bounty in our community but I will also be mindful of the continued work that needs to be done for those who are not so lucky.

Man is the Measure of all Things

This week I attended the 'Introduction to Humanism and Ethical Culture' course conducted by Dr. Joseph Chuman at the Ethical Culture Society in Teaneck.

I was reminded of a course I took many years ago in college, 'Old Testament Literature.' I remember then, the amazement I experienced when I became aware of the pervasiveness of Judeo-Christian themes in our modern lives. I felt the same shock when I started to understand better the history of Humanism and it's impact on our modern organizations both in human thought, spirit and institutions through the ages.

When the ancient Greeks first came to the task of designing an educational program with the goal of enhancing the humanity in the educated individual, a massive shift in philosophy was taking place. The focus was no longer on the deities but on man, for the good of men, by making the most of his mind and unleashing his creativity.

However, it was also made clear that the humanities were not designed to deny the existence of god, only to shift the thinking of he/she/it from the foreground to the background. Since my views on god are currently ambivalent, this is a welcome insight. I don't have to decide. In humanism, "man is the measure of all things;" a statement by an ancient Greek philosopher and shared nicely in both Greek and English by Dr. Chuman.

I'm looking forward to part II of this course which will focus on Ethical Culture, it's birth and it's expression of humanistic ideals.

Platform Video: Now You Can Choose! Issues in Sex Selection

The following ECS/Bergen Platform address was delivered on Sunday, November 15, 2009, by Barbara Katz Rothman (introduced by Janet Glass):

Barbara Katz Rothman: Now You Can Choose! Issues in Sex Selection (11/15/2009) from Ethical Culture Society Bergen on Vimeo.

In the last thirty years we have seen the slow emergence and acceptance of something new under the sun: known fetal sex. Women now know the sex of the fetus they carry; and with selective abortion, selective implantation, or newly developing technologies, they can actually choose the sex of the baby they will bear. How does this change women's experiences of pregnancy? What are the consequences of sex selection for the families involved, and for the rest of the world? Looking beyond the well-known sex imbalances that occur 'out there,' what is happening in American society as fetal sex becomes increasingly one more consumer option?

Barbara Katz Rothman, Professor of Sociology at the City University of New York, is on the Faculty of the Health and Society Program of the Charité -Universitätsmedizin in Berlin, and has served as a Visiting Professor at the Universitat Osnabrueck in Germany, a Fulbright Professor at the University of Groningen in the Netherlands, and a Leverhulme Professor at Plymouth University in the United Kingdom. She is the recipient of the Jessie Bernard Award of the American Sociological Associat ion, has been named a “Mother of Bioethics” by the Women’s Bioethics Network, and has received the Mentoring Award from Sociologists for Women in Society and the Lee Founders Award of the Society for the Study of Social Problems. She is editor of BIOETHICAL ISSUES, SOCIOLOGICAL PERSPECTIVES and THE ENCYCLOPEDIA OF CHILDBEARING: CRITICAL PERSPECTIVES. Her books, translated into German, Japanese and Finnish, include IN LABOR, LABORING ON (with Wendy Simonds), THE TENTATIVE PREGNANCY, RECREATING MOTHERHOOD, THE BOOK OF LIFE, and WEAVING A FAMILY.