About
The Ethical Society of Boston welcomes people of all types, singles, young and old, of diverse races, religious and ethnic backgrounds to our humanistic community. We invite you to check us out on a Sunday morning and to join us in other activities. You just might find, as many of us have, the sort of caring, thoughtful community you didn’t even know was out there —just waiting for you to become a part of it.
Introduction to the Ethical Society of Boston and the American Ethical Union: A Short History
The Ethical Society of Boston is a non-theistic humanistic religious and educational fellowship inspired by the ideal that the supreme aim of human life is working to create a more humane society. Together we develop our ethical ideals, celebrate life’s joys, and support one another through life’s crises. We work for the improvement of our world and for the future of our children. Membership is open to those who agree with our principles regardless of race, religion, or national origin.
As ethical humanists, we believe it is important to understand the complexity of modern life. We live in a changing society and we want to help it change in a way that is helpful to humanity. Like traditional religious groups, our values are important in our lives and social actions, but they are not limited by dogma or tradition.
The current chapter of the Ethical Society of Boston formed in 1955 with approximately 30 members. They originally met at the Academy of Arts and Science on Newbury Street in Boston. In 1962 they moved to 5 Commonwealth Avenue in Boston and later to the Longy School of Music in Cambridge. Currently it meets at historic 56 Brattle Street in the Spiegel Auditorium.
Our activities include our Sunday Platforms/Talks with Discussion (10:30AM-12:30PM), weekly Current Events Discussion (9:30-10:30AM), Ethical Action, and monthly Book Group, Potlucks, Movie Group and Walking Group. The Ethical Society of Boston is a member of the American Ethical Union, located in New York City, which holds yearly assemblies for all 24 chapters located around the country.
We have had a number of notable people address us at our Sunday Platform/Talks including: Govern Michael Dukakis, John Kerry, Jonathan Kozol, Abraham Maslow, B.F. Skinner and Lester Thurow. A list of illustrious recipients of our Humanist of the Year Award is available on our website (see tab for Humanist of the Year).
All of our activities are open to the public and we welcome all who are inquisitive and want to explore. We hold periodic sessions to more fully explain our organization to prospective members.
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The History of Ethical Culture is tied to Felix Adler. Felix Adler was born in Germany in 1851, the son of Samuel Adler, a leading Rabbi in Reform Judaism. In 1857, Samuel brought his family to New York to become the Rabbi at Temple Emanu-El, the wealthiest Jewish congregation in America. Felix graduated from Columbia College in 1870 with high honors and sailed for Germany to further his education and study for the Rabbinate. In Germany, he was exposed to both the latest scholarship in science, philosophy, and the history of religion and to the social reform movement that had its origin in Germany in the 1860′s. He received a doctoral degree in Semitic languages, summa cum laude, from Heidelberg in 1873.
Upon his return to New York, Felix was invited to give the sermon at Temple Emanu-El on October 11, 1873. His sermon on “The Judaism of the Future” called for a re-emphasis on social action, “a religion such as Judaism ever claimed to be–not of the creed but of the deed,” and for universalism, “Judaism was not given to the Jews alone.” The sermon was well received by the congregation, but the associate rabbi, Gustav Gottheil, was disturbed by the lack of any mention of God and threatened to resign. A delegation visited Adler to ask him if he believed in God, which he answered “Yes, but not in your God.” Later he said that he spelt God with two O’s.
Realizing that his ideas were too advanced for traditional religion, he looked elsewhere for his career. Shortly after the sermon, he was invited to give a series of six popular lectures on the history of world religions at the Lyric Hall in New York. President Andrew White of Cornell attended some of these lectures and, with funding by some of Adler’s family friends, appointed Adler to a three-year position as visiting professor of Hebrew and Oriental literature.
At Cornell however, Adler was attacked for being “dangerous to Christianity” and his appointment was not renewed even though additional funds were made available.
Adler then Founded the New York Society for Ethical Culture At the urging of Julius Rosenbuam, a meeting was called at Standard Hall on May 15, 1876, where Felix Adler presented a proposal for a series of lectures with music on Sunday mornings “to illustrate the history of human aspirations” and to “set forth a standard of duty for today.” “In our Sunday meetings, we propose to entirely exclude prayer and every form of ritual . . . to occupy that common ground where all may meet, believers and unbelievers.” Common ground was to be found in action. “Diversity in the creed, unanimity in the deed. This is that practical religion from which none dissents.”
Afterwards, 286 persons subscribed to this plan, and regular meetings began on October 15 at Standard Hall. On February 21, 1877, the New York Society for Ethical Culture was incorporated for “the mutual improvement in religious knowledge and the furtherance of religious opinion” and Adler was named to the position of Lecturer. The Society’s name reflected the idea that religion was a cultural artifact.
True to its new motto, “Not by the creed but by the deed,” during its first year, the Society created a program of District Nursing, which soon became the Visiting Nurses. In January 1878, the Society started a free kindergarten for poor children, the first of its kind east of the Mississippi. Also in 1878, they founded the Workingman’s school to introduce industrial education along with progressive academic studies to all age levels, which later changed its name to the Ethical Culture Schools. Within their first decade, they had also built six model tenement buildings.
In 1879, the Society moved its meetings to Chickering Hall to better accommodate its growing membership. In 1887, Adler’s title was changed from “Lecturer” to “Leader” to more easily pass a law through the state legislature authorizing him to perform marriages.
Howard Radest, in his history of the Ethical Movement, “Toward Common Ground”, dates Adler’s ultimate decision to found a wider Ethical Culture Movement from his meeting in Boston in 1878 with the “Free Religion Association”. He was associated with this group for 4 years. However, it was more like a debating society and did not progress to a formalized chapter of the Ethical Culture Movement. . Adler would start to build new societies on his own model. In that same year another Ethical Society was founded in Chicago followed by Philadelphia in 1885 and St. Louis in 1886. Thus, within a decade there were Societies in four of the five largest cities in America, the fifth of which being Boston. Adler’s experience with the Free Religious Association probably helps to explains why there was never an Ethical Society in Boston during the Nineteenth Century.
In 1889, the American Ethical Union, or A.E.U., was founded as a federation of Ethical Societies in the United States. The Movement also spread quickly to Europe with societies in London (South Place) in 1887, West London and Berlin in 1892, and Vienna in 1894.
Some other early events in the history of the Ethical Culture Movement were the founding of the N.A.A.C.P. and the A.C.L.U. In 1909 Henry Moskowitz, who was the Leader of the Down-Town Ethical Society, along with Mary Ovington White and William English Walling, speaking on “the spirit of the abolitionists,” issued the call to organize the National Association for the Advancement of Colored Peoples. Among the
Ethical Leaders who signed that petition were John Lovejoy Elliott, Anna Garland Spencer, William Salter, and Dr. Moskowitz. Roger Baldwin, the founder of the ACLU, had been a director of the Self Culture Halls Association, an adult education program of the St. Louis Society.
During the first World War, a National Civil Liberties Bureau was created and John Lovejoy Elliott was an active member of the directing committee. From the Bureau grew the American Civil Liberties Union and Dr. Elliott was also part of its founding group.
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The Philosophy of Ethical Culture is has four parts. First, ethics is central to our lives. Second, each person has unique intrinsic worth. Third, actions count for more than words, or, deed before creed; diversity in the creed, unanimity in the deed. Lastly, we should act in a way that elicits the best in others, and thereby in ourselves.
Whether we Identify as a Religion is a common question about Ethical Culture Societies. Many (if not most) newcomers have negative feelings about religion and they cannot see themselves joining a religion. They may be opposed to organized religion or feel threatened by it. Many of our members have felt the same way, while others have had a more open view of religion.
The EIGHT COMMITMENTS OF ETHICAL CULTURE:
- Ethics is Central—The most central human issues in our lives involves creating a more humane environment.
- Ethics Begins With Choice—Creating a more humane environment begins by affirming the need to make significant choices in our lives.
- We Choose to Treat Each Other as Ends, Not Merely Means—To enable us to be whole in a fragmented world, we choose to treat each other as unique individuals having intrinsic worth.
- We Seek to Act with Integrity—Treating one another as ends requires that we learn to act with integrity. This includes keeping commitments, and being more open, honest, caring and responsive.
- We Are Committed To Educate Ourselves—Personal progress is possible, both in wisdom and social life. Learning how to build ethical relationships and cultivate a humane community is a life-long endeavor.
- Self-Reflection and Our Social Nature Require Us to Shape A More Humane World—Growth of the human spirit is rooted in self-reflection, but can only come to full flower in community. This is because people are social, needing both primary relationships and larger supportive groups to become fully human. Our social nature requires that we reach beyond ourselves to decrease the suffering and increase creativity in the world.
- Democratic Process Is Essential To Our Task—The democratic process is essential to a humane social order because respect for the worth of persons requires democratic process which elicits and allows a greater expression of human capacities.
- Life Itself Inspires “Religious” Response”—Although awareness of impending death intensifies the human quest for meaning, the mystery of life itself, and the need to belong, are the primary factors motivating human “religious” response.
Interested in becoming a member of the Ethical Society of Boston?
Before deciding to Become a Member of ESB, we recommend that you attend our Sunday Platforms, try some of our other activities, and get to know us. If you’re interested in becoming a member, you must decide if you want to make the commitment. Members are expected to contribute both socially and financially. Once you do become a member, you’ll see that our organization is run democratically by our members. There are two regular members’ meetings each year and members elect a Board of Trustees to run the Society between those meetings. Please ask us for an application if you are interested; your application will be reviewed by the Board which provides confirmation of one’s interest and allows us to recognize new members to the organization. A second affiliation is as a “Friend” of the Ethical Society of Boston, which recognizes one’s identification with the group but in a less formal manner.
As a member, we ask that you make a Financial Contribution. While we have no fixed dollar level for dues, we ask that people give what they can afford. We do have recommended guidelines that we’re happy to talk with you about more.
Contact Us
For information on upcoming platforms and events, or if you have questions or comments, please call (617)739-9050 or email us at . We look forward to hearing from you.