The Ethical Use of Ethics

My Ethics Mentor Stanley Hauerwas (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Stanley_Hauerwas) from Duke was fond of making fun of the way "Ethics" is normally taught as an Academic Discipline.

Hauerwas, shaped by both Aristotle and by the Thought of the Church, comes up with quite humorous anecdotes about the way "ethical quandaries" are very often the guiding paradigm for Ethics courses taught at the University level. For example, what happens if a fat boy gets trapped in the only exit of a cave and the only way out for the rest of the stranded group is to blow up "fatty" with a stick of dynamite. Do you "blow up fatty"? Is the sacrifice of the fat boy's life in keeping with "GOOD MORAL REASONING" because his loss will result in the positive outcome of freeing many more people from the cave?

Of course, this farcical example is just that, a farce!

But, it is a farce that tells much about how Ethics is taught, and to be frank, how I am ending up also teaching it!

Real-life scenarios are the flesh and blood of concrete moral decision making. Whether it is abortion, euthanasia, tax vouchers for low income children to attend Catholic schools or you name it, such scenarios are part and parcel of the way Ethics as an Academic Discipline is taught.

But is this "ethical"?

Is it "ethical" to teach ethics in such a way in which we have a "choice" concerning what our ethics can be?

I would answer no.

There IS a concrete MORALITY and this is called the TORAH, the Revealed LAW of Moses (given by God at Mt. Sinai). Thou shalt not kill is the Commandment that answers the question to the Hauerwasian "false dilemma" of "whether or not to 'blow up fatty." Additionally, through the sending of the Holy Spirit at Pentecost JESUS HIMSELF is now present as the LIVING TORAH inside of each Christian believer.

But, of course, as we all know, if one were to actually teach the Ten Commandments as normative law, the American Civil Liberties Union would sue any public figure for upholding this universal moral code.

Such are the times that we live in. Drug use is rampant. Racism still exists in every city in America. Babies are murdered by their "pro-choice" mommies, and yet, to be a Christian Believer in a public way is now a criminal act.

So, the next time you are faced with a moral dilemma, I recommend that you do NOT look to "moral philosophers" (like myself, I teach Applied Ethics for a state college here in Florida!). Instead, go directly to the Bible!

Only there will you find the universal moral code that will guide your answers to whatever "moral dilemma" you may face.

Blessings in Jesus,
Rob J. King, Jewish and Christian Moral Teacher