BSEC: A Concept Map for Ethical Culture

One of the first anthologies of our Ethical philosophy was Ethical Addresses (First Series, 1895). Adler's opening address on "What Do We Stand For?" explained that we are not a church because we admit philosophically skeptical persons who want a moral message without a "detour through the land of faith or philosophy." "The gospel which they (the Ethical Societies) preach is essentially this: that the good life is possible to all without the previous acceptance of any creed, irrespective of religious opinion or philosophic theory." "We have found," Adler declared, "a new bond of fellowship, a new common ground upon which agnostics and theists and good men of all shades of belief and opinion can stand together; it is the common pursuit of righteousness, the supreme desire to see righteousness flourish on earth."

Added to this address was a statement by the Leaders defining the attitude of the Ethical Movement to religion. It begins by referring to two definitions of religion: (1) Religion as a "passionate devotion to a supreme cause." In this sense the Ethical Movement is a religion; and (2) Religion as a connection between "man's being and the Universal Being" -- which does not define the Ethical Movement. The statement then distinguishes those affirmations to which dissent among us is inadmissible because they determine the collective character of the Movement, and those to which dissent is admissible. Admissible dissent prevailed in all areas having to do with a view of Universal Being. Lecturers and members were free to hold and express theistic, agnostic, or other philosophical beliefs, so long as they were identified as not characterizing the Movement and so long, as no public religious exercise was introduced as an expression of such private beliefs. one other qualification rounded out the statement: The moral end is the supreme end of human existence but not all members on joining may be able to see that. Sufficient for membership was a "serious interest in the moral end."


	Learning from the Past Statement on Religion, 1895 previous contents next
	One of the first anthologies of our Ethical philosophy was Ethical Addresses (First Series, 1895). Adler's opening address on "What Do We Stand For?" explained that we are not a church because we admit philosophically skeptical persons who want a moral message without a "detour through the land of faith or philosophy." "The gospel which they (the Ethical Societies) preach is essentially this: that the good life is possible to all without the previous acceptance of any creed, irrespective of religious opinion or philosophic theory." "We have found," Adler declared, "a new bond of fellowship, a new common ground upon which agnostics and theists and good men of all shades of belief and opinion can stand together; it is the common pursuit of righteousness, the supreme desire to see righteousness flourish on earth." Added to this address was a statement by the Leaders defining the attitude of the Ethical Movement to religion. It begins by referring to two definitions of religion: (1) Religion as a "passionate devotion to a supreme cause." In this sense the Ethical Movement is a religion; and (2) Religion as a connection between "man's being and the Universal Being" -- which does not define the Ethical Movement. The statement then distinguishes those affirmations to which dissent among us is inadmissible because they determine the collective character of the Movement, and those to which dissent is admissible. Admissible dissent prevailed in all areas having to do with a view of Universal Being. Lecturers and members were free to hold and express theistic, agnostic, or other philosophical beliefs, so long as they were identified as not characterizing the Movement and so long, as no public religious exercise was introduced as an expression of such private beliefs. one other qualification rounded out the statement: The moral end is the supreme end of human existence but not all members on joining may be able to see that. Sufficient for membership was a "serious interest in the moral end."
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