Ethics

Sermon by Rev. Gabrielle Parks

Let me tell you a joke I recently heard:

Jack is the proud co-owner of the local dry cleaners. One day, during dinner, his 9-year old son Sam asked, "Dad, what’s ethics?"
Jack thought for a while, put down his spoon, looked at Sam and replied, "Okay, let's suppose someone comes into my shop and gives me his business suit to dry clean. Then suppose I find a $100 bill in his trouser pocket?"
Sam looked expectantly at his father.
"So," Jack said, "to answer your question, Sam, do I tell my partner I found the money? That's ethics".

When I heard that joke, it reminded me of a very similar story, with a slightly different angle:

After drafting a will for an elderly client, the lawyer announced a fee of $100.
The client gave the lawyer a $100 bill.
After the client left, the lawyer saw that the client had in fact paid $200, as two of the client's $100 bills had stuck together.

The following Sunday, the lawyer goes to church and pulls the priest aside after the service. He tells him about the extra $100, and asks: would it be a sin if I didn’t tell my partner about it?

On a more serious note, in Germany, religion class is mandatory for all students in the public school system. If you want to be excused from this class, you have to take an Ethics class instead. Does that mean that ethics is a substitute for religion?

A third tidbit:

One of the member congregations of the UUA, located in Washington, D.C., does not call itself a church, or a congregation, or a fellowship. No, they are called the “Washington Ethical Society.”

So does that mean that religion is the opposite of ethics? Or is ethics the same as religion? Are your ethics part of your theology?

The UU minister Rich Gilbert, author of the “Building Your Own Theology” curricula, says “yes!” As a matter of fact, the third curriculum in the series deals exclusively with questions of ethics.

As I said to the kids earlier: Ethics is basically about doing the right thing. Mark Twain put it that way: Always do right - this will gratify some and astonish the rest.

But what exactly is right? It depends on so many things, and often one has to make a decision between two goods, or two bads. The BYOT class looks at many of those ethical dilemmas from a liberal religious perspective, using a tool called the “Moral Compass.”

I’ll give you a brief overview over the eight points of this compass. The first important aspect of ethical decision making is the question “whom do we call on as our ultimate authority when we have to make an ethical decision?” Is it God? Or can we be good without God? Many people believe that the breakdown of contemporary ethical behaviour is a result of the loss of a transcendent authority. Others believe that Western secular values are ultimately based on Christian ethics. Yet others, like the humanist advocate Lucia K.B. Hall, propose that ethics can not be derived from religious authority or from reason; but is biologically based in empathy. Hall writes: “This ability to feel as another person feels, to be able to put oneself in their emotional situation, even to wince involuntarily when someone bangs their funny bone – this is the link that binds the human race together, that makes us care about how we act towards others.”

Obviously the crucial question is whether there is a universal and absolute ethic, or whether ethical principles are relevant only in a certain time and place. Let me give you an example: You are a Jewish prisoner in a Nazi concentration camp. One day you are escorted to the German army hospital and brought to the bedside of a dying SS soldier. This 21-year old man wants to talk to a Jewish prisoner to confess his terrible sins. Clearly repentant, he begs you to forgive him for having been a part of the Nazi atrocities against the Jews. What would you have done? Are some crimes so atrocious that they cannot be forgiven? Or would forgiveness minimize the atrocity? What is the moral authority for your decision?

Another dimension of moral decision making is motivation. In T.S. Elliot’s play “Murder in the Cathedral,” the English Archbishop Thomas a Becket struggles with the King over authority in worldly and spiritual matters. As the King’s men surround him with murderous intent, he debates not whether to die a martyr’s death, but what his motive should be in dying: will he seek martyrdom for self-aggrandizement, or submit to it out of principle? Though the result is the same, he considers his motive of utmost importance, saying: “The last temptation is the greatest treason; to do the right thing for the wrong reason.” There is a simpler example --- two boy scouts walking down the street, and one of them saying: “I can think of at least half a dozen good deeds we could do if we got paid for them . . .”

Another element in decision making concerns the consequences of behaviour. Pure motivation is no guarantee for ethical behaviour. We are inevitably responsible for the well-being of others. Doing good is a difficult art! After all, our moral universe is an interdependent one. Let me give you an example: Imagine you have a million dollars to donate to a worthy cause. A group of researchers has asked for that sum to help develop an artificial kidney machine which could save the lives of twenty people each year. But you have also been approached by another organization. They say this sum would enable them to buy enough food to save the lives of perhaps a thousand children each year, children who would otherwise starve. What will you do? How can you compare and weigh the alternative results of your actions? How can we assess the value of a human life? Do you agree with the novelist Fjodor Dostoyevsky, who wrote in the “Brothers Karamazov: “Not all are guilty, but all are responsible.”?

Another aspect of ethics is the question of the situation you are in, of the circumstances. Do they make a difference in our moral choices? American singer and songwriter Grace Slick once said: “Things change so fast, you can't use 1971 ethics on someone born in 1971.” And she has a point, doesn’t she? A classic example of a situational dilemma is found in Plato’s “Republic:” Suppose that a friend, when in his right mind, has deposited arms with me; and he asks for them when not in his right mind --- ought I give them back to him? Suppose I promised? Another example: Suppose that a man of high principles and courage has been imprisoned. You see him escaping down the street, and soon afterward you see the prison guards looking for him. You are reasonably certain that if he is caught, he will be tortured. The guards ask you whether you saw him go down the street. What will you say? What is your moral duty in this situation? Why? Do you always have to tell the truth, no matter what?

Here’s another question: Does the end always justify the means? Does your good intention mean you can ignore certain principles? For example: Parents inadvertently find some Marijuana while looking through their teenage son’s dresser drawer. Although they suspected that their son might be using drugs, they are deeply conflicted about using evidence obtained through a breach of privacy. They had always cautioned him against violating another person’s privacy. What should they do? Does parental concern for a child’s welfare override respect for privacy?

In many cases, the question of your good intention influences your relationship with others. In the traditional Western view of ethics, obedience to rules and laws, or adherence to principles, is stressed. Some consider this view too narrow and think that the real focus of morality is the bonding quality of relationship. Let me give you an example: A young woman has been assaulted and gang-raped while jogging in a park. She has become pregnant and desperately wants an abortion. The case has gained notoriety. Pro-life groups are pressuring the hospital to deny her an abortion on the grounds that a life caused by rape is no less a life than one caused by loving intercourse. Civil libertarian and pro-choice groups are equally adamant that a victim of violence must not be punished further. --- To what extend would you consider the relationship between the woman and the fetus? Or, if relationships are key, does a fetus have a relationship with a pregnant woman?

When we make an ethical decision such as defining when life begins, we consider our values. And we think of what’s at stake when we act in a certain way. Our conscience is often merely the internalized values of our society, which generally come from moral laws. One example is in a quote by Albert Schweitzer: “Ethics is nothing else than reverence for life.” Consider the situation of Dietrich Bonhoeffer, a German pastor who promoted peace and non-violence. And yet he thought that the best way out of the “Third Reich” would be to kill Hitler and his cronies.

Another example is the Ten Commandments, handed down from generation to generation. However, simply following tradition is not as easy as it seems. As you know, one of those commandments is “Thou shalt not kill!” A good case study can be found in Jean Paul Sartre’s play called “The Condemned of Altona: “Imagine you are in a concentration camp, and have been chosen as a kind of overseer. You are forced to select some of your fellow prisoners for execution. If you refuse, the prisoners will be executed anyway, but you won’t have the opportunity to determine which ones. If you agree, you can choose those who seem to have little hope of survival and thus make the best of a horrible situation. What will you do? What values are in conflict? Does the fact that your free will has been taken away matter? If so, how does this fact affect your decision?

Finally, a big part of ethical decision-making depends on your character. After all, morality begins when concern for self gives way to concern for others. This leads to the growth of character. Ethics and character are about integrity—the inner sense of right and wrong that enables us to live with the consequences of our deeds. Integrity is knowing that our actions are guided not by convention or external authority, but by the authority of who we are. As Yvelle Younger quipped: “If you have integrity—nothing else matters. If you don't have integrity—nothing else matters.”

Although Socrates noted that the unexamined life is not worth living, it is also true that in the words of psychologist Charles Enright: “the unlived life is not worth examining.” Ethics involve more than listening to lectures or sermons and learning moral principles. It involves engaging this often messy life with character. As novelist Walker Percy wrote in “The Last How-To Handbook,” a person can get all A’s and flunk ordinary living.’

Now we’ve had a brief overview of the so-called Moral Compass in order to reflect on questions of ethical behaviour. We looked at authority, motivation, responsibility, situation, intention, relationships, values, and character. However, no theology or philosophy of life is complete unless it answers the question “So What?” We need to consider the real-life implications of our beliefs, in order to make our religious values tangible. The BYOT Ethics class asks this question “So what?” in every single chapter. And many more questions, such as “How do children develop values?” or “Can one teach morality?” or “Does one learn moral values independently from other knowledge?” or “Does ethical behaviour rest on a religious base?”

If you want to know the answers – well, sign up for the class!