Ethics in Modern Life
What are ethics?
Are they just something we wish more lawyers had?
I had to do an ethics training course for work. It was great fun. We discussed a lot of situations where ethics would come into play, what was ethical for us in our jobs etc. The best part was when we broke into small groups and were given different scenarios to discuss.
One scenario was that there was a train coming and you were standing on a bridge above the railway line. You could see that there were a group of people further along on the train tracks and they would all die if the train kept going. The ONLY way to stop the train was to put something heavy on the tracks in front of the train. Luckily there is a very very fat man on the bridge with you. What do you do?
The question was really: Is it ok to sacrifice one person to save a lot of people. Do you have the right to make that choice? Then there was a discussion about, what if the people on the tracks were all trying to commit suicide, would you want to kill that one fat man to save the lives of people who are actively trying to die? What if the people were all children, would that make a difference? What if the fat man was your best friend?
It was a hilarious discussion, with one of my colleagues saying he would try to talk the fat man into jumping but he couldn't push him off. But I digress.
The discussion of ethics is the discussion of what is right in a certain situation. What we learnt from our exercises on the course was that everyone has a slightly different opinion of what is right in each situation and there are lots of view points in some difficult situations. What seems obviously right to me, may not seem right to someone else.
My sister has been staying with us over the new years break. She is a passionate advocate for ethical living and her favourite verse is Micah 6:8. The verse states that we are to act justly, love mercy and walk humbly with our God. Ethical living from what I understand is really all about living a life that is true to your beliefs. Being aware of the impact your choices have on other people and doing the right thing in your choices.
For her this means she buys ethically produced clothes and second hand clothes (so she is not directly financing companies that use forced labour). She does look like a hippie. I am unsure if this is because of her beliefs or just because she enjoys it. To live true to your beliefs is hard. For example I believe that slavery is wrong, and if I was to live true to my belief I would ensure that the clothes I wear, the food I purchase and the products I use are not made through slave labour. I am not living ethically. And this is showing such a lack of integrity in me. How can I say that I believe slavery is wrong, yet continue to fund it? For those of you who don't know, a lot of what we eat, drink and wear here in NZ is from slave labour. For example chocolate is usually a product of slavery. "The Ivory Coast is the world's leading producer of cocoa, the raw ingredient for chocolate .... It is estimated that a quarter of a million children work in hazardous conditions on Ivorian cocoa farms, in spite of a pledge by the world's biggest chocolate companies more than seven years ago to abolish forced child labor from their supply chain."
Quote from http://www.endslaverynow.org I have committed to buying fair trade chocolate after learning this. Despite the fact that currently only plain chocolate is fair trade for Cadburys and Wittakers, so I miss out on the fun flavours.
Also according to: http://www.endslaverynow.org: Between 21 and 30 million people are enslaved throughout the world, that's 1 out of every 280 people in the world. That is massive. How can we as Christians continue to finance slave labour and feel that we are following Gods word? As I mentioned before Micah 6:8 says that the Lord requires us to act justly and to love mercy. Social justice is part of our calling as Christians. Is it justice when children are forced into slavery so I can get cheap chocolate or coffee? As a Christian should I be comfortable financing this? When I buy that coffee that was harvested through slavery, I am sending the message to the people producing the coffee that I am ok with it. I am rewarding those people for their behaviour by giving them money. I am complicit.
If all Christians were aware of the reality of slavery and how their purchasing choices funded it, I truly believe things would change. If we all got together and decided to start living ethically I believe the whole world would change, fair trade would be normal and slavery would start to be eradicated.
Everything in life is a journey. I have decided to make a commitment to moving forward on my journey towards ethical living, chocolate is my first move and am going to start making the move to ethical choices more and more, with the end result that everything I consume (where ever humanly possible) is ethically produced. My next step is that I have decided that my next shoe purchase is going to be from the brand Toms. Toms are made ethically, and when you buy a pair of shoes they donate a pair of shoes to a child living in poverty. So by buying these shoes I will not be supporting slavery, AND I will directly be helping one child. http://www.shoeconnection.co.nz/brandgroup/T2 Is there something you can commit to doing that will take you the first step on this journey? Could you buy only fair trade chocolate? Or fair trade coffee? Or patronise only cafes that serve fair trade coffee? (Kush in Nelson city is one) http://kush.co.nz/ What can you do to live ethically?
KG
Micah 6:8
New Century Version (NCV)
"The Lord has told you, human, what is good; he has told you what he wants from you: to do what is right to other people, love being kind to others, and live humbly, obeying your God."
Micah 6:8
New International Version (NIV)
"He has shown you, O mortal, what is good. And what does the Lord require of you? To act justly and to love mercy and to walk humbly with your God."
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