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Dr. Joe Chuman's Talks at The Bergen Ethical Society
As the leader of the Ethical Culture Society of Bergen County, Dr. Chuman gives our platform address the first Sunday of each month. Below are selected transcripts and videos.

Humanism: Ideological, Spiritual And Radical

For those of us who are sensitive to public affairs and try to remain informed about the world around us, it seems that the moment we are in is besotted with problems. Whether it be the erosion of the middle class, chronic unemployment, the waging of expensive and senseless wars, mass atrocity crimes or the despoliation the environment, there are lots of reasons to feel crushed, or wanting to just tune it out. But, of course, when it comes to political challenges, our times are not unique. Conscientious and aware people could feel as we do in any age.

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Doing Justice, Loving Mercy and the Struggle to Make Life Whole

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What to do when life is not fair

   The need for fairness is among the deepest needs of the human soul. The yearning for fairness is something that seems to be implanted in us at birth, and becomes vivid when we grow to awareness of the social world beyond ourselves. From the time we are small children we keenly sense when others have not been fair to us, whether preferential treatment is given to others in the midst of game, when we are unjustly blamed for something we have not done, or when we receive less than our rightful share.  This powerful desire that the world and those in it be fair is a longing that remains with us for the rest of our lives and colors the texture of our experiences every day.
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Their Dignity and Ours

If there is anything that approaches a creed in Ethical Culture it is respect for the dignity of human beings. A respect and reverence for the worth or dignity of people is the foundation of Ethical Culture; it is central to our understanding of ethics and to us. “Dignity” is a word we frequently use, but what do we mean by it? Certainly, without even defining it, we know very well when our dignity has been violated. It is that emotional pain we feel when we have been insulted, when we are made to feel, deliberately and maliciously, ashamed and humiliated, when our privacy has been invaded, and when part of us which we would prefer to keep secret from the world has been exposed for everyone to see. Our dignity has been assaulted when our reputation has been attacked, or when we sense that those with power lord it over us and make us feel small. Vulnerable as we are, there are, perhaps, innumerable ways in which our dignity can be assaulted and violated.

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Political Leadership and American Ideals

The presidential campaign of 2008 is proving to be the most exhilarating political event within memory. Most eye-catching and inspiring is, of course, the Democratic side, with the inevitability that either a woman or an African-American will be the presidential nominee. It’s a novel, surprising, if not astonishing turn of events, which could not be more exciting if some master political operative in the sky had planned it that way.

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