The World Has Plenty of Love; But It Needs More Ethics
By James T. Moore (09/20/07)
"The strength and solidarity of America must be reflected in our ideas and ideals, not just in our weaponry. Weapons need to be supported by will and purpose to be most effective. No soldier can be expected to confront death when the reasons for his sacrifice are not even recognized, much less appreciated, by the citizens for whom he fights and dies."
These words were taken from Common Sense & Everyday Ethics, pamphlet written in 1980 by American Viewpoint, of the Ethics Resource Center in Washington. D.C. I quote the phrase because it struck me as being even more relevant now than 20 years ago, considering the long and unpopular war in which we presently find ourselves tragically entangled.
The pamphlet, however, deals with more that wars and weaponry. As the title suggests, it is an emphatic reminder of ethics: how it is necessary to a civilized society, how the lack of it subverts our humanness and makes animals of us, and where, without ethics, all kinds of corruption, dishonesty, violence and other forms of mental and physical “hell” prevail.
what is ethics?
Philosophers have wrestled with this question for thousands of years. Yet, the public very well understands what ethics means. In a survey by the Ethics Research Center, 86% of all people interviewed associated ethics with rules of conduct, morals, values, and above all, honesty. In short, people saw the lack of ethics as doing wrong as opposed to doing right. It’s that simple.
Why be ethical?
Aside from following the “Golden Rule”, being ethical is our way of being human beings, because it reflects the principle of cooperation and sharing. It keeps things open and above board. This serves to stabilize society. And in this we see that interdependence is the soul of independence. How so? The more ethical the society (shared values), the more the individual is free to pursue his own goals and develop his unique potentials. Whereas, isolation from humanity in general (psychological, not political), and adherence to the “me-for-me” interest is destructive of human potential.
Someone once said, the only thing one can do best by oneself is to fail. This is, in a nutshell, is why individuals, organizations, social systems, and world governments should be ethical---and ours, as you might suspect, falls short in this department.
How do we decide what is ethical?
Good question. Socrates said that his concern was to teach people what they already knew by virtue of being human. Socrates was aware that most people inherently know what is right and wrong. If they didn’t, society would soon fall into disorder. Still, how does one decide for oneself what is ethical?
To find out, here are four questions to ask yourself: (1) How does your community, and society itself, relate to what you yourself consider to be “normal” behavior? (2) Do the actions in your community, your state, and your nation satisfy The Law, as you understand it? (3) Does the answer you’re looking for collide with, or agree with, what your conscience tells you? And don’t say you don’t have a conscience, everybody has one. (4) Ask God your question (or Anyone you go to for answers). He may give you only a hint as to what to do, but ask Him anyway. We need all the help we can get.
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