It took the mainstream media a long time to acknowledge that something important was happening in Zuccotti Park (aka Liberty Plaza) on the corner of Broadway and Liberty Street in lower Manhattan, the makeshift headquarters for Occupy Wall Street, a grassroots process movement that came alive on September 17. According to the website at www.occupywallst.org, this is a “leaderless resistance movement with people of many colors, genders and political persuasions. The one thing we all have in common is that We Are The 99% that will no longer tolerate the greed and corruption of the 1%. We are using the revolutionary Arab Spring tactic to achieve our ends and encourage the use of nonviolence to maximize the safety of all participants.” Arun Gupta, editor of The Occupied Wall Street Journal, a print broadsheet, struck a revolutionary note: “For over two weeks, in the great cathedral of capitalism, the dispossessed have liberated territory from the financial overlords and their police army.”

Friends of my generation have been humming and posting the lyrics to Steven Stills’ song, “For What It’s Worth” (1966) with the memorable lyrics “There’s something happening here, what it is ain’t exactly clear.” From the beginning, I appreciated that rather than issuing a neat list of demands, the group asked questions. That’s so Ethical Culture! You gotta love a movement that proclaims, “Educate yourself!” So many political pundits have missed the boat because they want digestible sound bytes to broadcast. This is a revolution that won’t be easily televised; it will be discussed in person and online, in the streets and on YouTube. It will defy analysis because it is grassroots and consensus-building.

A recent Census Bureau finding is that nearly one in six Americans – 46.2 million – live in poverty, the highest number ever reported by the bureau. On his PBS series, Tavis Smiley traveled across the country with Princeton professor Cornel West to examine poverty. “They [the poor] sense that they’re being rendered invisible,” Smiley says. “They sense that the focus has been on Wall Street, not Main Street, much less on the side street.” Every day on my commute from Brooklyn to Manhattan at least one person (and often more) enters the subway car asking for money. Some entertain by singing, dancing or playing an instrument; others simply beg, sharing stories of loss and need. One place they are sure to receive a hot and nutritious meal is at Liberty Plaza. I know because I have visited and contributed to the food table there.

Democracy is boisterous and messy; it’s also generous. It’s high time we turned away from the oligarchy that has overtaken our country and reclaim a democracy that values all its members for their inherent worth and dignity.

Postscript: You can practice ethics in economics by completing your annual pledge (minimum only $1 a day). NYSEC cannot continue its work in the community without your support.

I’ve taken my mini-computer down to the northern shore of Canandaigua Lake. Technology has taken the place of the bound journal with flowers on the cover that I once carried with me. I listen to the lapping waves carried ashore by the wake of a passing boat and try to imagine this place as it was when the Seneca, one of the five nations of the Iroquois Confederacy, dwelled in their longhouses. What were their last rites? We actually know about them because a remnant community lives nearby and maintains a learning center. Whatever words are spoken, the most important aspect is loving presence and gratitude for life.

When she was diagnosed with cancer, one of our members asked, with a sly reference to a film from the 1960’s, “What’s it all about, Alfie?” Why we are born to die is a question that has plagued humanity since we evolved consciousness and grew painfully aware of our mortality. Myriad answers have been proposed over the ages, many forming the basis for the world’s religions and philosophies. Those who find no answer – or no comfort – may commit suicide, the final personal answer to one’s existence.

More puzzling still is why death can be so painful, prolonged, and downright mean. It is a challenge for those who believe in a loving deity, an existential crisis for the rest of us. In the last decade we have given the process of death the attention we gave to the process of birth decades earlier. I attended Lamaze classes when I was pregnant and breastfed my children. Today I am sitting with my mother in hospice holding her hand, listening to gentle strains of music. We have attended to the mundane details: health proxy, funeral arrangements, and obituary (with a photo: Whenever Mom saw an obit in the paper without a photo, she would exclaim, “The family’s too damned cheap!”) Now we wait with her, believing that she can hear and feel us.

What are Ethical Culture’s last rites? We don’t often think in those terms, and yet I believe that we should. We are a brainy bunch, so perhaps we should have a collection of essays at hand to read and discuss. I have told my family (after half-joking with them about giving me good drugs) what music I want them to play if I wind down rather than go out with a bang. My husband protested one klezmer selection, so I told him that he could wear ear plugs but still had to hold my hand.

It is an ethical act to put one’s affairs in order: health proxy, power of attorney, legal will, ethical will, etc. Let us also think in terms of our spiritual selves. As you know, I send out personal birthday cards. Starting this month, I will also include an invitation to meet with me to discuss “last rites.” Our religion of ethics is a unique experience for every member. No one ceremony will fit all our needs. Come in and talk about what your wishes and needs are. I look forward to having this important conversation with you.

Epilogue: My mother, Irene Ellen O’Keefe Klaeysen, died on Thursday, September 22, 2011. Her four children and two grandchildren served as pallbearers, carrying her to the cemetery in Palmyra, NY where she joined her parents and siblings, the last of her family to die.

To the Editor:

Re “Exemptions Were Key to Vote on Gay Marriage” (news article, June 26):

The leaders of the Societies for Ethical Culture applaud the New York Legislature for approving, and Gov. Andrew M. Cuomo for signing, the law allowing all New Yorkers to marry whom they choose. While we are included in the list of those exempted from performing same-sex marriages, such “protection” is neither needed nor wanted.

Ethical Culture’s leaders have long solemnized unions between loving and committed same-sex couples and now rejoice in the success of our hard-fought battle to make such unions legal.

ANNE KLAEYSEN
New York, June 26, 2011

The writer is a leader of the New York Society for Ethical Culture.

We viewers follow the process of Matthew approaching the local school board for redress, receiving none, and then going public with his recordings, at which point the story exploded nationwide. His teacher defended himself in the local paper by claiming that he was exercising academic freedom and expressing his personal opinions in response to students’ questions. While Matthew received support from legal and scientific luminaries like Alan Dershowitz and Neil deGrasse Tyson, David Paszkiewicz was embraced by his neighbors. As one minister pointed out to the LaClair family, “They like him, and they don’t like you.” It didn’t matter that a public school teacher had crossed the line between personal belief and public expression by “preaching” his brand of Christianity in the classroom. He was a nice guy.

Vic Losick does a commendable job of presenting his two subjects’ cases even-handedly and provides a portrait of Kearny, an average, blue-collar town where people are not accustomed to discussing politics and religion in the public square. Even if they had heard of the concept of “separation of church and state,” they didn’t understand what it meant in terms of the public school classroom. For many, it came down to making a choice between religious belief and civil law. In a town where 89 percent of the residents identify themselves as Christians, the choice was clear.

The first showing of “In God We Teach” was in a movie theater in Kearny with Vic, Matthew and David Paszkiewicz present. By several accounts, the discussion was tense, with the audience overwhelmingly supporting their native son. As moderator in our meeting house, I was determined to keep a firm hand on the proceedings. Members of the audience interested in posing questions were instructed to write them on index cards that were distributed and collected by our members, then given to me to read. Sensing that his former teacher might feel that Matthew had a home court advantage, I reassured him that we appreciated his participation and would treat him respectfully.

My task was challenging: Matthew and Mr. Paszkiewicz rarely answered the questions directly. Like politicians in a debate, they each had points to make and were determined to make them. Realizing that this unrepentant classroom evangelist was someone Felix Adler would call an “intellectual enemy,” I listened for the piece of truth that Ethical Culture’s founder believed was held even by those whose beliefs we find abhorrent. In the end, I believe I succeeded in creating a safe space for everyone and maintaining a civil discourse. But I heard no true statements from Mr. Paszkiewicz.

My personal encounter with him following the panel discussion deeply disturbed me. I experienced him as arrogant and ignorant – a dangerous combination, employing a strategy of playing victim and not taking responsibility for his actions. He defiantly stated that he has not changed his teaching methods, even though he was required to do so in an agreement made between the LaClair family and the local school board. His “relationship with God” allows him to promote his brand of Christianity in the classroom disguised as personal opinions. Rather than teaching critical thinking, he collects religious disciples.

Having heard Mr. Paszkiewicz’s “honest conviction,” as Ethical Culture strives to do, I decided to also take a stand and drafted a letter to the Kearny School Board. “It is not enough to allow students to opt out of this teacher’s class,” I wrote. “Those who can distinguish personal opinions from facts will always seek out teachers who respect true learning. It is your responsibility to protect students who have yet to practice critical thinking and can fall under the influence of someone who dishonors the profession of teaching by presenting fantasy as reality.”

Nice guys can be charming, but they aren’t always ethical. We can offer them a place at our table, but we must pay close attention to what they say and do. To stay at the table as welcome and honored guests, we must demand of ourselves and others honesty, integrity and responsible behavior.

Camping has gone down this road before, having also predicted September 6, 1994 as Judgment Day, but his 2011 recalculation was trusted by innumerable people across the country, including Adrienne and Joel Martinez, a young couple with a 2-year old daughter and another child due this month. “Knowing the date of the end of the world changes all your future plans,” said Adrienne, who planned on going to medical school until she began tuning in to Family Radio. She and her family moved from New York City to Orlando, FL a year ago, rented a house and passed out tracts about Judgment Day. “Why are we going to work for more money? It just seemed kind of greedy to me. And unnecessary.” They budgeted their savings so that on May 21 they would have nothing left.

The Millerites of the 19th century also attracted many thousands of people, transforming what was an obscure movement in upstate NY into a national campaign by pioneering mass journalism and rallies to disseminate their message. When October 22, 1844 ended like any other day, the “Great Disappointment” left them bewildered and disillusioned. The majority simply gave up their beliefs; others rejoined their previous denominations. They learned an important lesson about the dangers of date setting and returned to scripture to read this warning from Jesus to his disciples: “No man knoweth the day nor the hour of my coming.”

I often wonder what kind of faith motivates people like Camping – not just the date setting, but the doctrine of the Rapture that keeps believers in a state of constant readiness, convinced that they can be snatched from the earth at any moment. Does it encourage ethical behavior or judgment of others who do not share their beliefs? The man who handed me a pamphlet in Grand Central Station warned me to put my life in order before it was too late. I told him that every day offers us opportunities to act ethically. When he said that Jesus was coming to judge me, “end of story,” I rushed to catch my train.

Judgment seems to be an expression of many faiths. On what basis are we judged – beliefs or behavior? What is the purpose of judgment – to win a place in heaven or to learn better ways of living on earth? Who judges and by what authority? Does this judgment lead to punishment or reconciliation? There are so many questions and so many people who think they have the answers.

Ethical Culture founder Felix Adler observed, “Theologians often say that faith must come first, and that morality must be deduced from faith. We say that morality must come first, and faith, to those whose nature fits them to entertain it, will come out of the experience of a deepened moral life as its richest, choicest fruit.”

My faith is in the capacity and desire of people to act out of goodness. I believe that the reality of human mortality, not the hope of an afterlife, calls us to give meaning to our lives by appreciating the wonder of our existence, by learning all that we can about the world around us, and by working with others – no matter what their beliefs – to make life worth living for everyone. We are sorely challenged by environmental and social catastrophes. We can choose to read these as signs of divine judgment and close up shop or we can take responsibility for our lives and roll up our sleeves. I choose to believe in people and look forward to the day when we all do.

And here’s my judgment of Harold Camping: On the morning of May 22, he should have distributed Family Radio’s $100 million dollars among his followers with an abject apology and a sincere promise to never mislead them again. Of course, human nature being what it is, they might readily follow the next Millerite.

This school was one of several institutions founded by members of the New York Society for Ethical Culture. It began as a Workingman’s School with the understanding that everyone deserved an education. The excellent education offered here attracted families from across the city. Indeed, word of the “learning by doing” educational philosophy of the Ethical Culture School reached across the country and drew John Dewey, a philosopher from the University of Chicago and a friend of Ethical Culturist Jane Addams of Hull House renown, to New York City to enroll his children here. Dewey is best known as the Father of Pragmatism. The goal of education for him was to prepare us to become activist citizens in a thriving democracy.

Now why am I telling you about John Dewey? Because he was a philosopher of the people, and his classroom was not only in the university but also in the streets. He understood, as the founders of this school did, that education is never private – to benefit oneself alone; it is always public – to benefit everyone in society.

How many of you have heard of Lewis Hine? He taught photography at the Ethical Culture School for many years, and spent his vacations working with Ethical Culture members who founded the National Child Labor Committee (NCLC). Its goal was to take children out of the mills and the fields, the sweat shops and the mines into safe, healthy environments where they could grow up learning. His cameras were not the size of the ones that many of you have in your cell phones. They were huge and weighed a lot. It wasn’t easy sneaking them into the places where children worked so that the Committee could publish the photographs he took and bring this social injustice to the public eye. Lewis Hine risked his life on many occasions.

Child labor ended in the United States, but it continues in many parts of the world: the topic for another talk. Today, right here in New York City and State, one of the greatest challenges we face is reforming the Juvenile Justice system that incarcerates more than 1,600 children – the overwhelming majority of color and from under-privileged families – in facilities, often far away from their homes, at a cost of $240,000 per child per year. At the same time, funds that could put these children into alternative education programs are being slashed. This is a social injustice that members of the New York Society are addressing. On April 24, we held a conference of concerned organizations and individuals demanding immediate changes in the government agencies charged with caring for children in trouble. We will hold a follow-up conference here on July 21 to promote an activist agenda.

Ethical Culture Fieldston School was never meant to be a learning community for only its students and families; it always had a mission to reach out to society and challenge its injustices, especially when they impact children. Let us work together again to right this wrong. Join us back here on July 21 and contact me to learn more about our activities.

And now, let us look to the future and congratulate the Class of 2010!

After bringing families together to start this Society in 1876, Dr. Felix Adler wanted to establish free kindergartens so that the young children of poor working parents could spend time away from the crowded tenements where they lived and get a better start in life. The Workingman’s School, started in 1878, eventually grew into an eight-grade elementary school and then a high school dedicated to progressive education that combined theory with practice. So successful was Dr. Adler’s plan that members of the Society enrolled their children, too, and it became the Ethical Culture School, bringing together students from different backgrounds who would develop important and lasting relationships. They would realize our founder’s lifelong commitment to social reform.

Over the years our two institutions – the Ethical Culture Society and the Ethical Culture School – have grown apart, something that can happen when people are busy doing important work, and today most of our members enroll their children in public schools. They come here to participate in our ethics program, and I want to tell you about two of their projects this year – one halfway around the world, the other just a couple of blocks away.

A few years ago, Andeisha Farid came here to tell us about the first parwarishga, or “foster haven,” she started to serve the needs of children in Kabul. She had grown up in war-torn Afghanistan and dreamed of helping orphans, victims of child labor and street children who were forced to beg, so she founded The Afghan Child Education and Care Organization (AFCECO). That year our children held a fundraising dance to raise money to help her.

Every year Andeisha returns, and in March she brought three of her students with her. Together the children wrote a song, “Same Dream,” which they performed at an event to encourage families to sponsor students in six new orphanages and schools for 300 new girls and boys. The next Sunday Clara practically flew into her ethics class, excited about a skype conversation she had just had with a student her family sponsors.

In addition to helping out with our homeless women’s shelter downstairs in Social Hall, our teens volunteer at Holy Trinity Lutheran Church Shelter on Thursday evenings to cook a fresh, nutritious, and delicious dinner for the guests. They have a lot of fun cooking and serving the meal, and don’t even mind the cleaning, dishwashing and mopping that follows. Here’s what a couple of them told me:

“Going to the soup kitchen really opened my eyes and helped me appreciate what I have in my life. This group also helped me believe that people of different backgrounds can come together for a specific reason.” – Anabel Sosa

“My favorite experience was getting to meet Afghan orphans who were my age and learning about how they overcame their hardships. I think it’s important to learn about world issues so we can improve people’s lives, starting in our own community and working our way outward until we have a global impact on the world.” – Julia Cohen

“Helping out at the soup kitchen taught me how to have fun while doing something good for our society. This program has let me be someone who I truly am, and let me realize that I can do something good for our community one step at a time.” – Ali Riemer

Since the NY Society is a member of the Interfaith Assembly on Homelessness and Housing, some of the teens will join me on June 1st for “Blessed Night Out,” an annual event when activists spend the night in City Hall Park to call attention to the needs of the homeless. This year we are especially concerned about the drastic cuts in state and city funding that will put more of our neighbors on the streets.

And now from all of our children to all of you, and on behalf of the members of the NY Society, I wish you a Happy Founder’s Day and congratulations to the Class of 2011!

5/5 – “The Vision of Felix Adler” by Horace L. Friess (1951)
5/12 – “Unsung Heroines: The Women of Ethical Culture” by Jean Kotkin (2002)
5/19 – “How Much Is Good Enough?” by Anne Klaeysen (2002)
5/26 – “Religion and Religious Violence” by Joseph Chuman (2002)

At a press conference on March 28, a large coalition of interfaith and advocacy organizations announced a broad-based movement of fasting, prayer and advocacy, in response to budget cuts proposed by Congress that would disproportionately hurt Americans living in poverty. After visiting the website listed below, I decided to join them. I was in very good company and eagerly read the statements of my fellow fasters, adding my own comments. Here are the goals outlined by Tony Hall, Executive Director of Alliance to End Hunger and a former U.S. congressman who often, during his 24 years of service, called upon “the conscience of the Congress”:

1) Reminding people about the status of vulnerable people in the United States and around the world.

In America over 45 million people live poverty, including 15 million children: the highest poverty rate since 1960. 50 million people live in food insecure households. Around the world, 925 million people suffer from severe hunger and malnutrition, and 2.1 billion live on less than $2 a day.

2) Focusing public attention on the devastating effects that Congress’ proposed cuts would have on vulnerable people.

In the name of deficit reduction, some in Congress are calling for irresponsible cuts to vital domestic and international anti-poverty and hunger programs. Suggesting that the budget can be balanced on the backs of poor people not only ignores the two largest slices of America’s budget – entitlements and military spending, it also betrays a fundamental lack of conscience.

3) Forming a CIRCLE OF PROTECTION around programs benefiting the most vulnerable people here in America and around the world.

An invitation to join in fasting, prayer and personal sacrifice to form a circle of protection around programs that, if cut, would most severely hurt vulnerable people.

At the Hudson Guild banquet, I savored the appetizers floating around the room on platters, grateful that the caterer had considered vegan and vegetarian diets, sipped from a glass of wine, and mingled with fellow supporters of a community that still takes seriously its mission to serve the needs of generations of immigrants in Chelsea. I drew attention to the NYSEC journal ad as it flashed across a huge electronic screen, reminding people of our shared history.

As I basked in the glow of a successful evening (Tens of thousands of dollars were raised to continue the Guild’s worthy programming.) and a full stomach, I reflected upon the experience of having fasted even for a short time. At the height of the Civil War in 1863, President Abraham Lincoln issued a proclamation calling the nation to a day of fasting, prayer and what he called “national humiliation” for the national sins of slavery and war. Today the moral stakes are again high.

A budget mirrors society’s ethics, and the one Congress has developed is a “national humiliation.” The voices of the poor and hungry have been drowned out in the screaming matches of partisan politics. Women’s health is used as a pawn in a game of competing social values. Public education continues to fall far behind as school districts starve their teachers. Diversity is still vilified rather than celebrated in too many places. And the science of global climate change is relegated to arbitrary belief in an effort to deny its devastating consequences. Surely it is time again to call our nation to at least one day of fasting, reflection and national humiliation.

HungerFast.org is a growing movement of those committed to fasting, prayer, and personal sacrifice to protect vulnerable people from budget cuts that lack conscience. To learn more visit www.hungerfast.org.

At the winery I visited last month, I decided to buy two bottles and have them shipped home because I didn’t want to check any baggage on the flight to NYC. As the sales clerk was preparing the order, she said, somewhat conspiratorially, “You know, if you order this online, you don’t have to pay any tax.” First of all, that is not true; but more important was her willingness to cheat the government. My response surprised her. “I like paying taxes,” I said cheerfully. “I drove here safely on a well paved road that had traffic signals and no trace of snow. Taxes pay for services from which everyone benefits.”

Perhaps it is due to the rootstock from which I grew that I appreciate the way in which communities work. No one person can do everything, so we cooperate, sharing the responsibilities of life, supporting one another through good times and bad. I knew the mayor of my hometown because she was a member of my church. The police chief drove my school bus. We held our teachers, who were also our neighbors, in high esteem. We experienced what philosopher Paul Woodruff calls “reverence,”* a virtue that transcends differences and “lies behind civility and all of the graces that make life in society bearable and pleasant.”

As the Republican Party strives to “starve the beast” of government by violating workers’ rights, denigrating teachers, endangering women’s health, and humiliating the poor – doing its utmost, in other words, to promote the interests of wealthy individuals and private corporations – I have taken to the streets for what I revere as “public welfare.” In recent weeks, I have rallied in NYC for Wisconsin Solidarity (see photo) and Planned Parenthood, lobbied in Albany for juvenile justice reform and marriage equality, and will soon travel to Washington, DC for another peace march. The work of democracy is never finished: It neither begins in petitions nor ends in elections; every day offers a fresh opportunity to listen and be heard.

“Reverence,” writes Woodruff, “has more to do with politics than with religion. . . Politics without reverence is blind to the general good and deaf to advice from people who are powerless.” It belongs to community, this virtue that keeps hubris – the crime of tyrants – in check and gives meaning to the ceremony of democracy. Missing in today’s discourse is a deep understanding of the human condition, with all its limitations, and an ideal of unity that transcends politics. Self interest and personal greed triumph over community and public welfare.

We must rededicate ourselves to cultivating virtue ethics, whereby a good person feels like doing what is right. Many people are aware of moral rules, but do not feel the need to act upon them because power and/or wealth are more captivating. They lack the strength that comes from practicing virtue every day. Reverence is an experience nurtured in communities that live and work together. It challenges human arrogance, especially when people presume to speak on behalf of the gods – whatever their names, and promotes public welfare. At this critical time in our nation’s history, we must stand up for what is right.

* Reverence: Renewing a Forgotten Virtue by Paul Woodruff, Oxford University Press, 2001.