The American Ethical Union will host its 106th Assembly, “Addressing the Whole Truth About America,” virtually on Zoom. The AEU’s 106th Assembly will be held virtually, with various workshops and business working sessions beginning on June 5 with Delegate Training and ending with the AEU Business Meeting on August 7 and the All Society Platform on August […]
We are well into a New Year and I feel that this message is long overdue as it’s been months since my last post. My primary reason for the absence of posts has been a lack of something to say. To be honest I’ve been pretty much speechless for months now, and though that speechlessness […]
My White Supremacy ProblemAs with many in the United States, I rely heavily upon my religious tradition for moral guidance. That reliance is compounded for me. As clergy leader for the Ethical Culture Society of Westchester, I am expected to pursue avenues for social justice and living compassionately and encourage our congregation to do so as […]
The Black Lives Matter to AEU statement to reaffirm past resolutions for racial justice was approved by the Assembly of the American Ethical Union and is now available on the aeu.org website. The reaffirmation calls for action on a number of fronts and this week I’d like to focus on a particular action that I believe fits both the […]
What do the words “white supremacist” evoke in you? It’s hard for me to see those words and not think of hate spewing, Ku Klux Klan hooded, Swastika wearing, angry white men gathered around a burning cross. My response is a visceral one—I immediately feel tense with a mix of fear and anger. More than […]
I got a good bit of positive feedback on my last entry on “othering.” I’d written: Othering is, I believe, a necessary precursor to oppression. “Othering” involves what the sociologist Yiannis Gabriel has described as “casting a group, an individual or an object into the role of the ‘other’ and establishing one’s own identity through […]
The American Ethical Union 105th Assembly will be online using Zoom. • July 11-27 – AEU will host discussion sessions to review agenda items.• July 28-31 – AEU will share educational programming.• Saturday, August 1 – AEU Assembly Business Meeting.• Sunday, August 2 – AEU special platform welcoming Jé Hooper as a new Ethical Culture […]
Othering is, I believe, a necessary precursor to oppression. “Othering” involves what the sociologist Yiannis Gabriel has described as “casting a group, an individual or an object into the role of the ‘other’ and establishing one’s own identity through opposition to and, frequently, vilification of this Other.” It has two parts: setting one apart from […]
I’ve gotten a good amount of feedback on last week’s blog message which ended with a call to “cut off the blood supply” of structural racism by personally taking steps to demand accountability from the institutions that support it. I wrote: A good place to start is with your local police department. The police are […]
A friend and I had a frank phone conversation last week. She’d read the AEU’s statement on George Floyd and the Aftermath and my blog message and offered the feedback that they were not strong enough. I agree with her. And I appreciate her direct communication and her expectation that I (and we) have the capacity do better. The […]