Wanderings' Wanderings

It always amazes me how many people have difficulty defining ethics, or understanding how ethics may impact not only themselves, but others around them in their daily lives.  So many people think ethics have to do with their feelings, or their religion or religious beliefs, and some people believe ethics is nothing more than legal mumbo-jumbo to keep the average person under the thumbnail of government or big business.  There are so many varied views on what Ethics IS that few people actually spend time defining HOW to go about living ethical lives.

You see, ethics isn’t just a set of definitions or rules and regulations governing how we live our lives or conduct our businesses.  Ethics is a two part principle:

1. It is a defined set of standards and/or practices (whether personal or professional).
2. It is an action of the above defined set of standards and/or practices.

The Religious View

Many people think their church or synagogue imparts a sort of holiness upon the average person in the pews.  I’m sorry to say that while the average bench warmer may have high moral standards, religion often promotes a single mindedness which narrows our views and can cause an opposite reaction.  For instance, we can see how this works in the statement, “Only Christians are moral people.  Pagans and other religions are not so the people who practices those faiths are not good people.”  This is the typical double standard for religious based ethics.  While the Ten Commandments and other rules and regulations to live our lives by are great models and examples of ethical standards, some of the results may not be so ethical such as allowing for slavery, the “eye for an eye” mentality, or even “my god is better than your god” argument can become an unethical diatribe of abuse.

It must again be pointed out that religion has contributed greatly to modern ethics by pointing out human frailties and weaknesses which can effect individuals around them.  Religious based ethics simply needs to expand to include ALL individuals and encompass all diverse cultures and religious beliefs rather than focusing only on their particular brand of moral standard.

The other problem with this concept is that if it is okay for a religious group to do a thing, then all persons should be able to do the same thing regardless of membership qualifications.  As we all know, that is not usually how the religious view works.  Just think of how those without religious views must think about the imposition of a god and it’s rules and regulations on them makes them feel.  What about the Christian view imposed on those who are of the Jewish faith?

The Religious View can sometimes forget the practical side as well.  For instance: a woman is raped and becomes pregnant.  The woman has a choice of termination or carrying to full term.  In most religious circles, the woman has no choice but to carry to full term.  However, this action does not allow the woman any sort of closure on the horrendous episode and will be a constant reminder of her ordeal.

The Social Acceptance View

As strange as this is going to sound, the Social Acceptability litmus test is probably one of the worst ever developed forms of ethical standards.  Take for example the early days of the United States of America.  We had slaves.  It was socially acceptable to have a slave.  Was that ethical?  No.  Granted social awareness caused great changes in our country and social outcry from other groups helped to rid our country of such an atrocity, but there is no way around the fact that for a time it was an ethical practice to own another human being.  It was Socially Acceptable.

There are many other example so social acceptance of things that are ethically and morally reprehensible.  One such example is how it is okay for our great country to impose our standard of living on other countries even though they may not want our way of life.  We call it a fight for democracy, but in reality we are conquering and diminishing other ways of life that are not congruent with our own.  Entire cultures have been wiped out from the face of this earth due to our imposition of our standards on other cultures.

The Individual View

This is the view that makes gut instinct, or the emotional quotient, or even the “It Feels Right” principle a valuable asset.  However, there is also a saying that “A fool and their money are soon parted.”  The “Gut” view is one of the worst tests available today and sets up a sort of competition between individuals over who is right and who is wrong.  Wars have been started due to the effect of “it feels right to me”.

The main and obvious problem here is who is right and who is wrong? Does the Individual ethical view cancel out the Social view or the Religious view?  What about conflict?  In one person’s ethical standard, it is perfectly acceptable to strike a child.  They call it appropriate punishment.  The Social view calls it abuse.  Who is right and why?

The Individual View is also the one most likely to get people into trouble because it can venture far from anything socially acceptable, and boarder on the heretical by the modern Religious views.

The Balanced View

This is the view which takes into consideration all aspects of life and uses a sort of common sense to deal with daily life situations.  From the Religious View, ethics tells us not to impose our understanding of a God or divine entity on others, nor to condemn others for not taking specific views into account.  The Social View is the dominating force here where people come together to approve and apply the set standards universally rather than for specific groups.  “What’s good for the goose is good for the gander”, sort of thing.  The Individual View teaches about domination and boundaries and we learn to respect those around us as fellow humans who also have their own faults.

The Balanced View gives us a sort of common sense approach to life, not were we call people names or fly off the handle when someone falls outside the scope of our ethical practices, but were we are patient and kind, helping the individual back on the path.  Should they refuse to step back on the road of ethical being, then the are wished well and watched over in the hopes they will be well on their individual journeys.  But should they stray too far, they are brought back in line with appropriate punishments or admonishments, then forgiven, and the cycle starts over again.

The Point

The point is very simply this: Ethics is not just a series of made up words written down for none to follow.  They aren’t fiction stories made up by imbeciles with nothing better to do with their lives.  Ethics is a concept made real by action.  All the world’s philosophers, and theologians can do nothing more than ruminate and fart if people don’t actually act on their theories and practical advices.  In some cases society itself would become anarchist and fall to pieces if people didn’t actually obey the laws created to protect society.

We may not like some of the practical adherents in force today, but ethics provide us with a sense of honor, pride, and morality that allows society to remain civilized and stable.  There will always be those who try to place themselves above the rules or set standards of ethical principles, but common sense will always win out and responsibility for actions will enforced.

Your Homework

(Hey, I’m a teacher.  It’s what I do.)  Sit down and write your own set of ethical standards and follow them from day to day.  Maybe post them somewhere in your home where you will see them often.  From time to time check in with the sheet you’ve written and see if anything needs to change based on what’s going on around you, or new things about which you have learned.  Ask yourself how you would feel if one of your standards was broken by someone else.  Make sure you remain steadfast to your set of Ethics whether it be in your personal day to day interactions, or at your place of work, study, life, or whatever!  Ethics should not change based on location, situations, or circumstances.  If they do change, then perhaps its not something which belongs on your list.

Honesty is honesty no matter where you are in your daily life, or no matter what the situation.

Peace to all,

BB

K

Related articles

• The Six Stages of Ethical Understanding (slowleadership.org)
• 6.Science And Ethics (slideshare.net)
• The best kind of rules are those we apply to ourselves (smlxtralarge.com)

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