Best of Podcasts
Selected podcasts describing our Society and its philosophy
James has spent eight years at the Ethical Society of St. Louis: one year as an Ethical Culture leader-in-training; four years as the Society’s outreach director and second leader; and three years as senior leader. In this, his final Platform address, he will offer his reflections on eight years of service, thank the Society’s members and friends for the welcome they extended, and think about the future of Humanism.
Podcast
Unedited Video
James has spent eight years at the Ethical Society of St. Louis: one year as an Ethical Culture leader-in-training; four years as the Society’s outreach director and second leader; and three years as senior leader. In this, his final Platform address, he will offer his reflections on eight years of service, thank the Society’s members and friends for the welcome they extended, and think about the future of Humanism.
This is a hybrid event. You can join us in person or at ethicalstl.altarlive.com.
While most Ethical Society members know that Felix Adler, the founder of the first Ethical Society, was the son of a rabbi and grew up Jewish, we rarely talk about the relationship between Ethical Humanism and Judaism. In this Platform – the first of a new annual series exploring the similarities between Ethical Humanism and other religious traditions – James Croft will trace the Jewish roots of Ethical Humanism and show how our philosophy drew heavily on the Reform Judaism of Felix Adler’s upbringing.
For this year’s “compare and contrast” Platform address, we’ll look at what Ethical Humanism has in common with and where it differs from Christianity, in its many forms. Some of the founders of the first Ethical Societies had Christian backgrounds, and many members today grew up in Christian households of one kind or another. Christianity is also still the dominant religion in America. What is the relationship between Ethical Humanism and Christianity today?
It’s time for our yearly compare-and-contrast Platform! How is our tradition similar to and different from other traditions?
Ethical Societies promote a belief in the human potential to make continual progress toward kinder and fairer relations between all people. Progressivism is a political movement that supports social justice activism, usually to mitigate problems related to inequality, prejudice, and oppression of different kinds. Ethical Humanism historically tends to take ethical stances that align with progressivist positions, and a majority of Ethical Society members would likely identify as progressives (whether by that exact term or not). At the same time, Ethical Humanism is not a political movement, and the Society seeks to welcome people of a variety of political opinions. What, then, should the relationship be between Ethical Humanism and progressivism?
Each August we look at the similarities and differences between the Ethical Society tradition and a philosophical or religious cousin. This year we will explore some of the history and lessons of Taoism as compared to Ethical Humanism.
I am free to choose what I believe.
— Core value
We may be free to choose what we believe, but how do we exercise our choice responsibly, with appropriate attention to evidence, reasons, and the views of others? This Platform suggests that while freedom of choice in belief is important, it must be balanced. We may be free to choose what we believe, but how do we exercise our choice responsibly, with appropriate attention to evidence, responsibility to provide public reasons for those of our beliefs which affect others.
I strive to live my values.
— Core value
Our Core Value is to “strive” to live our values; we recognize that we will not always succeed in acting in accordance with our highest values. And of course, sometimes we are wrong about what is the right thing to do. But how do we react when others fail to live up to our values or expectations? Especially in this political season, what can we reasonably expect of our political leaders or would-be leaders? How can we judge them fairly?
I can learn from the past to build for the future.
— Core value
Authors, artists, and filmmakers throughout history have tried to imagine the future, and the different visions they have created reveal something about our hopes and fears for humankind. What can we learn from visionary depictions of the human future, from the utopian to the dystopian, and how do you imagine our future?
I am part of this earth, I cherish it and all the life upon it.
— Core value
In a time when humanity is facing its largest environmental crisis since the Ice Age, what attitudes and behaviors are truly “extreme”?