Bergen Ethical Culture Society

By Marc A. Bernstein, Ph.D.  Sunday 27 April 2008

I became interested in Ethical Culture’s future when I began to study its past.  About a year ago, Howard Radest, the author of Toward Common Ground, the history of our movement, recommended that I bring his book up to date.  He had taken our story only to 1951, the seventy-fifth anniversary of Ethical Culture.  Much had occurred in the movement since then, and it was my job to write it up.  I did a cursory review of our last five decades, with an eye toward the arc of my proposed narrative.  I immediately saw a problem.  How, I asked myself, could I keep the story of our last half-century from being a tale of decline, if not failure?  If that question sounds bald, consider the following.

By Marc Bernstein

1. What you are about to hear is not the traditional viewpoint of most speakers at this platform. I will be attacking some strongly held beliefs. My wife warned me that I will be creamed for many of the points I make, but she hopes that some of the points will be sufficiently helpful that we will be allowed to stay on as members.
2. Despite what I am about to say, I am actually a moderate person in most respects. However, in order to make myself clear, I will be exaggerating the differences between various viewpoints. In practice, most people don't hold the extreme views I will be discussing.