Do Ethical Societies have a faith or a philosophy?
Ethical Societies have faith in the human capacity for good, but no creed or dogma. While the Ethical Culture philosophy inspires and guides the Ethical Movement, members and leaders have been free not to fully embrace it. Dr. Felix Adler, the founding leader of Ethical Culture, set forth his worldview in his major work, An Ethical Philosophy of Life, but encouraged each generation to reconceive it to better serve the needs of the future. Yet Dr. Adler’s thinking contributed sufficient common ground to unite the Ethical Movement more than a century later. The impulse that led originally to the formation of Ethical Societies sprang from his profound belief that human life must be treated as sacred and never violated. Before most people, Dr. Adler was aware that the emerging influence of secular society and the rise of scientific thinking in the public mind would make traditional religious metaphors less believable and compelling. Dr. Adler held that religion needed to evolve to keep pac
