• Skip to primary navigation
  • Skip to main content
  • Skip to primary sidebar
  • Skip to footer
  • Skip to footer navigation

  • Calendar of events
  • 687 Larch Av, Teaneck NJ
  • 201-836-5187
  • Contact Us
  • DONATE
Ethical Culture Society of Bergen County NJ

Ethical Culture Society of Bergen County NJ

  • Home
  • About
    • Platform
    • FAQ
      • How does Ethical Culture make a difference in society?
      • What social life is there in Ethical Culture?
      • How is Ethical Culture religious?
    • Ethical Brew
    • Ceremonies
    • Philosophy
    • Constitution & Bylaws
    • Contact Us
  • Ethical Kids
    • Sunday School
      • Primary Class
      • Elementary Class
      • Junior Class
      • Senior Class
      • Sunday school FAQ
    • Youth Group
  • Leader
    • Leader Curt Collier
    • Leader’s Talks
    • Joe Chuman, Retired Leader
      • Talks by Dr Joseph Chuman
      • Speaking of Ethics: Living a Humanist Life
      • Wedding Officiant
  • Social Action
    • All Social Action Articles
    • Battling Racism
    • Environmental Action
    • Healthcare
  • Adult Ed
    • Job Club
    • Socrates Cafe
    • Ethical Culture Review of Books
  • News
    • President Column
    • UN Report
    • Platform Addresses
  • Events

What it Means to be Human

February 2, 2017

I have devoted my past five platform addresses to the political maelstrom that lies ahead. As powerful as the impulse to speak again about the political circumstances we are in and the dangers we face, I want to temporarily turn away from that theme and devote my February talk to a topic closer to the center of Ethical Culture and the values it embraces.

My turn in direction is not an escape, however. Rather, in these times, I think it is perhaps more necessary than ever to reaffirm what we stand for, to answer the dark moment with the ideals that the tide of Trumpism is happy to disregard and readily sweep away like a tsunami raging across the shore.

Humans at the center of humanism

At the center of our Ethical Culture, our humanism, is the human person. It is the person that is so readily washed away and trampled down by the forces of the modern world, by the crudeness of Trump and his small-minded bigotry, by mass society, by the frenetic culture of busyness that robs of us of moments of tranquility and opportunities for quiet reflection.

Related here is what seems to me to be a mass obsession with the wizardry of digital technologies. To disavow the benefit of contemporary electronic communication—the Internet, cellular devices and the like—would be foolish, as foolish as trying to stop the wheel of progress. And I don’t. I use them. But, like virtually all technological contrivances, they come with their downsides. We all have heard of people who are literally addicted to their cell phones. This doesn’t seem to me to be a good thing. And it is also apparent to me that in the use and overuse of electronic communications the richness of what, by my values system, I construe as more authentic human relations, is being lost.

One may say that my values are rooted in my distinctive temperament (and we all have our own temperaments) but I must confess that I tire of the time I spend at the computer and I long for something other, something more. True, there are many people, who, by virtue of professional mandate, and by choice, spend far more time computing and emailing than I do. But often, as my eyes glaze over from scanning pixels on a screen, I simply have to turn away and pick up the phone out of the need to hear a real human voice (albeit conveyed through electronic cables) in real time.

But beyond the phone, what I cherish most is being in the direct company and engaged with another person whom I care about and who cares about me, and sharing our feelings, thoughts, laughter and concerns. I value and cherish these experiences; they are precious to me because they seem so achingly rare, and no doubt because I have recently lost the loving intimacy of my life partner.

Relating to one another as subjects, not objects

But such encounters, I believe, imply more than they are. They open a door to the center of what it means to be human and to provide the experiences around which our humanistic worldview revolves.

It was the philosopher, Martin Buber, who observed that we can relate to other people as objects. We can use them instrumentally in order to meet our own needs. Indeed, if we are to survive, to a great extent we must do so. Those who perform the labors which keep our society running are by necessity so treated. In this manner, we relate to other people as objects, as they do us.

But the higher form of relationship, the one that manifests and enables us to realize our humanity, is when we encounter the other not instrumentally, not as an object, but as a subject, just as I am a subject.

To engage another person in this way is to get beyond the surface of relationships; it is to engage and experience the interiority of the other. It is furthermore to recognize and appreciate that without this experience of relation, without this meeting, I have failed to fully touch my own humanity. Perhaps in this experience of the deepest indwelling personhood of the other (if I may be forgiven a moment of mysticizing) we come to sense sparks of the transcendent. It is certainly a wellspring, as humanists, of our highest values.

Primary Sidebar

Recent News

  • Church-State Separation: Who Stands to Lose if the Wall Fails?
  • Two Grants Help Fund ‘Great NJ Science Show’
  • Meet Our Newest Members, Andy and Deborah Krikun
  • Struggle over Church-State Separation has Deep Roots in America
  • I’m Not a Hater, So Why Do I Hate?

Sign up for our newsletter.

  • Facebook
  • Instagram
  • Twitter
  • Vimeo
  • YouTube

We believe in ethics. We believe in people.

Please believe in us.

Ethical Brew

Being White And Its Hidden Assumptions

‘How Race Impacts Conservation’

About Us

Ethical Culture was founded to focus on community and good works, rather than personal salvation. Read more…

Archives

Footer

Connect with Us

Address: 687 Larch Ave, Teaneck, NJ 07666
Phone: 201-836-5187
Email: [email protected]

Sign up for our newsletter.

 

  • Facebook
  • Instagram
  • Twitter
  • Vimeo
  • YouTube

Recent Posts

  • Church-State Separation: Who Stands to Lose if the Wall Fails? January 30, 2023
  • Two Grants Help Fund ‘Great NJ Science Show’ January 29, 2023
  • Meet Our Newest Members, Andy and Deborah Krikun January 29, 2023
  • Struggle over Church-State Separation has Deep Roots in America January 28, 2023
  • I’m Not a Hater, So Why Do I Hate? January 26, 2023

We believe in ethics. We believe in people.

Please believe in us.

Topics

atheism atheist church book review children church-state separation civil rights climate change community compassion death democracy Doris Friedensohn Elizabeth Warren environment Ethical Brew Ethical Culture ethical education ethics family Felix Adler gender global warming happiness healthcare humanism humanist humanists human rights Israel Joseph Chuman meetinghouse Middle East politics racism religion Robert Gulack Secular Humanism social action Socrates Cafe Sunday School technology Trump unemployment world health youth

What We Do For Fun….

There's always time for play: celebrations, discussions (some in Spanish -- find Conversemos on our calendar on the fourth Tuesday of the month), hikes, picnics, cultural outings, and more. Come join us!
Kids get into the act
Diane running the show

Important Links

  • Member of the American Ethical Union
  • Ethical Brew
  • Sanctuary Committee
  • BC Gun Violence Prevention
  • NJ Website Designer
© 2021 | The Ethical Culture Society of Bergen County NJ

Copyright © 2023 · Kreativ Pro On Genesis Framework · The Ethical Culture Society of Bergen County · Log in

  • Calendar of events
  • 687 Larch Av, Teaneck NJ
  • 201-836-5187
  • Contact Us
  • DONATE