The experiment in moral religion called Ethical Culture was begun in America in the turbulent years following the Civil War. In 1876 its guiding impetus came from Felix Adler, whose quest for idealism drew to a "common ground" men and women from different walks of life, different faiths, even with different interpretations of moral religion. This diversity vitalized the movement that held as its "credo" the need to dissociate religion from myth, to evaluate changing values, and to incorporate what was worthwhile in contemporary values into the daily lives of men and women. This is an official history of Ethical Culture from its founding in 1876 up to its 75th Anniversary. Prof. Radest spent years compiling an archive of the movement's history from interviews with members who recalled the glowing early years of social reform and philosophic controversy, from letters and personal memoirs by Leaders, and from scrupulous research into the programs and policies initiated and evolved over the years. It is never dry history: a history of Ethical Culture is a history of its times. So many programs of social reform received impetus or were aided by the society - schools, settlement houses, home visits by nurses, legal aid, child-care, civil rights. Reading "Toward Common Ground" accesses persuasive evidence that the vitality of Ethical Culture is retained in its commitment to idealism as a challenge for the present and future. And the reading will be rewarding for all who are interested in American history - religious or social.

Toward Common Ground - The Story of the Ethical Societies in the United States

Literature & Fiction

Radest, Howard B.

Literary

American Ethical Union

Considered by many to be one of the major influences on modern Humanistic Judaism, Felix Adler (1851-1933) was a professor of political and social ethics and a social reformer who founded the Ethical Culture movement. Adler was also a popular, dynamic speaker and lecturer. "The Reconstruction of the Spiritual Ideal" is a compilation of lectures he gave at Manchester College at Oxford in 1923. Topics include the spiritual ideal, marriage, social reconstruction, the society of mankind and the attitude toward life.

The Reconstruction of the Spiritual Ideal

Adler, Felix

Ethics, the study of how people treat other, is a hunt for truth as every person becomes a judge of right and wrong. It is also the way to become a free person, since it helps one know what the choices are in life. "The First Book of Ethics" is about how people have tried to find the answers, and how each person may find them.

The First Book of Ethics

Politics & Social Sciences

Black, Algernon D.

Philosophy

"In this book I share some of my experiences with the ceremonies of Humanism as I have known them. The calls for our services have come from individuals and families of all religious, racial, national, and class backgrounds.   "A ceremony cannot make the sun rise or stop an earthquake, even if people believe it will. It cannot cause some power outside of man to intervene in the laws of nature on behalf of an individual or group or nation, a particular race or religious set. It cannot assure favor to those who are more honest or just or loving than most. Nor can it save the human species if human beings persist in working destruction and death against each other and against life itself.  "A ceremony can bring people together. It can bring them together at an important time to share responsibility and make common commitment. It can celebrate the joyous and challenging situations of life. It can commemorate and keep alive the memory and influence of persons and achievements. The ceremonies of Humanism can meet needs that lie at the heart of human experience. They can enrich and bring meaning to the spiritual lives of mankind. They can help human beings continue the search for a faith to live by; a faith consistent with the best in human thought and feeling, a faith which will help the individual fulfill his potentialities for a creative life. They can help humankind find ways of meeting the challenges of nature and the most difficult problems of the world of human relationships." -Algernon D. Black

Without Burnt Offerings

"Humanism is a view of the world, of each person's relation to other people, of the unity of humanity, of its place in the whole fabric of life against the background of our planet and our universe, of - but read Ed Ericson's book and see." -Isaac Asimov "'The great use of life is to spend it for something that outlasts it,' wrote Bertrand Russell. Wise and thoughtful men and women in all ages have agreed that the greatest lives are those given to the well-being of others." "Many who belong to no church or sect - along with many who do - when asked to identify their creed, will reply simply: 'My religion is the golden rule.' Or they will answer 'Formal church doctrines and theologies are not important to me. The way I relate to others and to myself is all that finally matters.' Without perhaps having a label for their faith, such people - to the degree that they live by these convictions - are practicing the essence of Humanist religion." -Edward L. Ericson, from The Humanist Way

The Humanist Way - An Introduction to Ethical Humanist Religion

Ericson, Edward L.

Why are we here? What is the good life? More than ever today, many people are searching for a religious belief that will answer these persistent questions and yet do no violence to their intellectual and humanistic convictions. It is to these seekers, numbering in the millions, that David Muzzey's book is addressed. Republished now after the final closing of his long, vigorous career at 95, "Ethics as a Religion" is a clear and persuasive guide for those who have found the formal religions unsatisfying.  Ethical Culture is the centerpost of Dr. Muzzey's book. Out of his long association with that movement, including many years as one of its Leaders, he weighs the ethical content of Christianity and other world faiths, comparing them with the Ethical fellowship and setting forth what he calls "a religion for adults" - one that seeks to bring out the best in men in their day-to-day relationships.

Ethics as a Religion

Muzzey, David Saville

Felix Adler and Ethical Culture - Memories and Studies

Friess, Horace L.

Considered by many to be one of the major influences on modern Humanistic Judaism, Felix Adler (1851-1933) was a professor of political and social ethics and a social reformer who founded the Ethical Culture movement. Adler was also a popular, dynamic speaker and lecturer. "Creed and Deed: A Series of Discourses," originally published in 1880, contains popular lectures that were requested by the New York Society for Ethical Culture, which Adler established. This reprint is taken from the original publication, which abridged and condensed Adler's lectures on immortality and religion. The other lectures are in their original form without any serious modification. "The First Anniversary Discourse" reviews the work of the year, and gives a brief account of the motives which prompted the Society to organize and the general animus by which its labors were directed. The lecture entitled "The Form of the Ideal" foreshadows the constructive purpose of the movement.

Creed and Deed - A Series of Discourses

From the richness of philosophies and religions, this book presents the spiritual timber from which o construct a life of compassion and justice. The aphorisms presents material from which a home can be constructed, one with air and light, shutters thrown open and doors ajar. It is a home of shelter, protection and warmth, love and happiness.

Spiritual Timber

Self-Help

Dobrin, Arthur

Relationships

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Books by American Ethical Union