But, is it…
Ethical? by Barbara Helvey-Hughes
Peter and I have been watching a television series called ‘Madam Secretary’, which I was not aware of, before our isolation. In the series, Madam Secretary’s husband, Henry teaches ethics and often quotes Augustine and Thomas Aquinas, as well as many other philosophers and teachers, now thrust into a completely new era, but retaining, still, the immense measure they possessed when they originally wrote their thoughts.
The series has led me and Peter into some illuminating discussions about our ability, or lack of it, to admit to misspoken words, inappropriate comments, and misdirected action. The question which begs to be asked: are these shortcomings directly tied to, and influenced by, our ‘on-line’ technologically impacted lives?
This question leads to us to consider that human behaviour might be fairly consistent throughout the ages and we just think we’re smarter, braver, more just, more insightful, more everything, when in fact we have lost an appreciable amount of compassion, intuition and courage because, really, how much courage does it take to look a person in the eye and kill them during on-ground war battles, versus sitting in a staging room and firing a drone – as if playing a video game?
ETHICS?
The word ethics has several dictionary definitions, but I like ~ behaviours based on ‘right’ action ~ even though many of us would challenge the word ‘right’, I think we all have a pretty good idea of what it indicates.
In any given situation, ‘right’ action can mean various things to various people: is it right to allow one person to die, in order to save hundreds? Is it right to chase sound economic policies in one country despite the possibility of causing great harm to another country? Is it right to suggest, ask or even demand your congregation show up in person, during a pandemic (something we have all witnessed, recently) or be required to return to school or work, despite suggestions, requirements or orders to stay home? And, despite knowing that “showing up” will, inevitably, hurt others and possibly ourselves? These are questions which try our Souls.
One’s unique place and perspective spins everything. We, very often, learn from the situations we find ourselves within. Looking to our past can help us align our present in a more mindful way.
Are we, then, truly our “brother’s keepers” or are these merely quotes mouthed by the self-righteous, when it suits their private or personal goals? I don’t know.
Greed – the insidious motivator.
We are ONE species inside a variety of ethnicities, races, religions, genders (yes, you read that correctly), philosophies, ideologies, territories etc., etc.: many tribes, inside ONE ~ HUMAN.
At times, it’s evident we’ve really become a fractured community of self-righteous Bible/Koran/Torah/religious text spewing hypocrites who simply can’t admit our shortcomings, failures and greed-based assessments of the nationalism, which lurks just there at the fringes of our thoughts, words and actions.
The deep, intuitive reasoning behind our Forefathers insistence upon including the separation of Church and State in the founding of our country was a wise decision, because so often one can often be utilized to manipulate the other. It’s that simple.
Is such manipulation honourable?
The larger question?
IS IT ETHICAL?
Especially during crises times we need to rely upon our leaders: in government, in religion, in our communities, neighborhoods to act in our (as much as possible, everyone’s) best interest – to have an IQ high enough to make pertinent decisions, BEFORE tragedy strikes ~ to be aware and to have enough forethought to be able to enact already devised plans into action, so lives might be saved and disaster thwarted: those, my Friends, are our genuine leaders and they need not brag about themselves. We know and recognize them. Remember when we were kids and an ‘old saying’ was tossed around: ‘actions speak louder than words’?
It is true, during emergencies, there is no room for finger-pointing, blaming, and passing the buck. But, at what point do we as members of a community, a city, state, country and so on REQUIRE right action, ethical action to protect the greater good?
Connecting dots is paramount, always, to the best of our abilities.
In the end, it’s about RESPECT, plain and simple: them for us and us for them.
Love spoken here
4-4-2020