Ethical Culture was founded by Felix Adler in 1877. Adler was trained as a Reform Rabbi like his father who was the Rabbi of New York City’s largest Reform synagogue, Temple Emanu-El. Adler was a creature of his time and Ethical Culture was born of the 19th-century conflict between science and religion as well as Industrial Age social problems.
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Platform Meetings
Everyone is welcome to attend our Sunday morning platform meetings!
They are held at 11 AM (10 am in summer) in our building and also on Zooom. Non-members may obtain the Zoom link by emailing admin@ethicalfocus.org. Our thought-provoking platform addresses cover a wide range of subjects relating to ethics in modern life.
Our speakers offer thoughts related to the philosophy of humanism or share their experiences and commitments in the struggle to foster peace, justice, economic fairness and racial and religious harmony.
The Ethical Culture Leader of Bergen County speaks on the first Sunday of each month, occasionally on the differences between Ethical Culture and other religious movements. Sometimes our meetings take the form of interviews or group discussions. Three times a year, special celebrations are held in conjunction with the children of the Sunday School.
Music, small discussions, coffee and socializing are also important elements of our Sunday morning experience.
If you would like to sample our programs before visiting (or if you are too far to visit) you may also choose from a large selection of our content on YouTube.com/EthicalFocus.
The Ethical Culture Society of Bergen County welcomes people of all races, ethnic origins, religious backgrounds, and sexual orientations. The Society has a barrier-free front entrance.
Selected Platform Addresses by Guest Speakers
Changing Lives One Future Chef at a Time
Today’s Platform address was by Deniz Vergara, Chef Instructor at Eva’s Village in Paterson, NJ, in a talk titled, “Changing Lives One Future Chef at a Time.” Eva’s Village is a faith-based, social services organization founded on Matthew 25:40: “Whatever you did for the least of these brothers and sisters of mine, you did for me.”
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The Enduring Relevance of Ethical Culture
Since the New Deal, government has taken on many of the social services formerly left to religious organizations. On the philosophical side, as more people attend college and learn humanities, they absorb values similar to ours. Where does this leave Ethical Culture in modern times? Society Leader Joseph Chuman answers that question.Read More
Is It About Me Or About Us?
To whom or to what are humanists accountable? In this platform address, delivered during the Society’s Community Weekend, leader Joseph Chuman says none of the general responses to this question is adequate on its own, but taken together they are compelling and help us to determine the place of the individual in society.
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What Is Democracy and How Can We Reclaim It?
In his talk “What is Democracy and How Can We Reclaim It?”, Prof. Michael Thompson of William Paterson University took his audience back to a special time and place in history–Athens in 508 BC. He described the formation of the first democracy recorded in history, and democracy’s essential attributes.
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Ethics For a Lifetime
Joe Chuman, Leader of the Bergen Society, gave a personal and heartfelt Platform address this morning on the topic, “Ethics For a Lifetime”. This was not, as one might […]
