A New Year Ahead I hope this message finds you safe and healthy! I’m sure many people were relieved to see 2021 come to end and many are finding it difficult to look ahead without a fair measure of apprehension. I have been impressed with the resilience and creativity of our Ethical Humanist communities and […]
Anti-racism opportunities Thanks to my wife Ruthanne’s recommendation, I’ve recently finished reading Pauli Murray’s memoir, “Proud Shoes.” Murray was an amazingly talented individual who had a powerful intellect, deep commitment to ethics, and was fearlessly persistent in her drive for justice and equity. Murray’s story is also an all too familiar one: despite her many […]
This Week June 6, 2021 Greetings, everyone! Time to mark your calendars for a whole host of events between this Wednesday, June 9th and Sunday August 8th. That’s right – the 106th Assembly of the American Ethical Union is getting underway and will be coming to you via Zoom! Starting this week we’ll have a Keynote Address […]
This Week August 1, 2021 The theme of this year’s Assembly is “Addressing The Whole Truth About America.” The theme is meant to inspire us to address key questions such as, “Is America all that it should be? All that it could be? Is America living up to its aspirations?” The quick and easy answers […]
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 […]
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 […]