Like most people, I don't have any dense reading material in my shower--save for a bottle of Dr. Bronner's Castile Soap. And let me tell you, that bottle....says a lot of weird shit. For example:

“A fire, a mist, a planet, a crystal & a cell; a jellyfish, a dinosaur, caves where cavemen dwell! Then, a sense for work-love-song-art-law-play-beauty, a face turned up from the sod! Sure, it's constructive-evolution, guided by One, ever-recreating God! One almighty, all-embracing, ever-loving, ever evolving Eternal Father, guiding all mankind up from dust, driven by hungers, half-true hate, up by hard work, full-truth, great love, song speech-&-Profit Sharing State, up into the Kingdom. the dictatorship of God's law uniting All-One-God-Faith; "Listen Children Eternal Father Eternal One!" Exceptions? None!” (Bronner, Castile Soap Label)

I didn't think much of it at first. But, as someone who enjoys reading and showering frequently, I got curious.

Background

Born on February 1st, 1908, Emanuel Theodor Heilbronner became an heir of sorts to a Jewish soap-making family in Heilbronn, Germany. He immigrated to the United States in 1929, shortly before the rise of Nazi Germany, dropping the "heil" in his own name for obvious reasons. After his naturalization as a citizen in 1936, he attempted to convince the rest of his family to immigrate as well, and thus avoid racism and rising political tension in Germany. They declined, however, and perished in the Holocaust.

Philosophy

In the wake of his family's death, Dr. Bronner became particularly disenchanted with the idea of organized religion (particularly, the splitting of religious denominations) and began to develop his own moral philosophy called All-One-God-Faith. This new philosophy (coupled with what he referred to as the "Moral ABC's) took from various Jewish and Christian texts, including the Shema and the Beatitudes, and essentially encouraged worshippers to show gratitude for existing on God's "spaceship Earth", in addition to treating others with compassion and kindness. To him, the idea of religious denomination was unnecessary, as he considered the world "All-One!" under God.

The Reviews

Prior to printing his philosophy on soap bottles, Dr. Bronner would preach these sentiments publicly, landing himself in a mental institution after lecturing without permit on a college campus in 1947. He was submitted to shock therapy until his escape from the institution. From then on, he resolved to print his moral philosophies on the soap bottles in order to reach a larger audience without hindrance. To this day, long after his death, the company still sells bottles of soap with these labels, and has pledged to do so indefinitely.

Socially Relevant Soap

Dr. Bronner's label carries an eerie form of transcendence. His label was a direct response to the horrors of Nazi Germany and the role organized religion played in perpetuating the war crimes and prejudice of that time period.

Perhaps creating an all-new(!) religion with a cryptic scripture was well ahead of Dr. Bronner's time. However, the label offers haunting commentary on just how potent and harmful religion became in forming Nazi Germany. It becomes all the more relevant in our current sociopolitical sphere, where religion becomes the basis to hurting marginalized groups through legislation and social practices, rather than a starting point towards self-improvement, charity, acceptance, and love.

Sources

Lubinski, Christina and Marvin Menniken. "Emanuel Bronner." In Immigrant Entrepreneurship: German-American Business Biographies, 1720 to the Present, vol. 5, edited by R. Daniel Wadhwani. German Historical Institute.

Bronner, Emanuel. "The Greatest Product Label Ever!" The Greatest Product Label Ever!