Today, I went to a film showing at the New York Society for Ethical Culture. The film being shown was "The People's History of the United States". This film was based on the book by the same name that was written by Howard Zinn in 1980. The New York Society for Ethical Culture is a humanist organization founded in 1876. It has a very large building on Central Park West. I conducts non-theistic services in a congregational setting. It also has many events and educational opportunities.
The film was actually a showing of the video tape of a documentary about the book. I don't know when it was done, but it was pretty dated. The book when first published was a new approach to history. It sought to present American history through the eyes of the common people. What it seemed to mainly do was present all of the stories of oppression of native peoples and the under classes that most American histories neglected. To that extant, it was probably an important work at the time. However, I did not find that I was learning anything new. These stories had already been told. So, I left after about an hour.
I did wander around the building a bit. I thought it might be fun to attend a service and see what it was like. However, as I encountered people in the building I found them uniformly unfriendly. So, I decided I would settle for my lookaround. Perhaps that was unfair, but there is enough to do in New York without seeking out unfriendly people. New Yorkers are, contrary to common belief, quite friendly. They like to get to the point and not waste time on pleasantries. But, once you get past that, they are friendly.
This is the sanctuary viewed from the back of the balcony.
One of the statutes in the corner of the balcony.
After leaving the building, I walked across Central Park to go home. It was overcast. This is view looking southwest across the Sheep Meadow.
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