Washington Ethical Society
 


Washington Ethical Society
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Washington, DC  20012
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Welcome to the Washington Ethical Society! > Who We Are > Ethical Culture: Our Religious Heritage > FAQs about Ethical Culture >
Do Ethical Culturists believe in the divinity of Jesus?
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No, but we do appreciate the contributions of great religious leaders such as Moses, Jesus, Mohammed, Buddha, Lao Tzu, and Confucius.

Jesus teaches, for example, an ethical message important to Ethical Culture. Jesus saw the spiritual realm as inside a person--"The kingdom of heaven is within you." Jesus, like Buddha, called on people to live ethically rather than merely satisfy the rules of religious ritual. For Jesus, the evil deeds of others never justify one's own evil. The ethical response to evil ("Love thine enemies as thyself") is to elicit the good within people and to transform the evil in oneself. Jesus also pointed out that people are punished not for their mistakes (sins) but by their mistakes. The ethics and spirit of Jesus, a person of pure good will dedicated to serving humankind as his highest calling, remains a powerful and needed influence in modern society.

One Golden Rule The human spirit has journeyed along the varied paths charted by six major faiths, but a single ethical principle serves as the common ground for men and women of all these religions:

  1. Hinduism. Do naught unto others which would cause you pain if done to you.--Mahabharata 5:1517
  2. Buddhism. Hurt not others in ways that you yourself would find hurtful.--Udanavarga 5:18
  3. Islam. No one of you is a believer until he desires for his brother that which he desires for himself.--Sunan
  4. Christianity. All things whatsoever you would that men should do to you, do ye even so to them.--Matthew 7:12
  5. Judaism. What is hateful to you, do not to your fellow man.--Talmud, Chabbat
  6. Confucianism. Do not unto others what you would not have them do unto you.--Analects 15:13

 

 

 
 

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