March 18   The Western Ethic  - Sam Alexander

A new paradigm for values, ethics and morals

This talk is an attempt to make sense of the current value system inherent in western society. I refer to the outcome as the "Western Ethic" to differentiate it from the established and understood "Christian Ethic."

In order to avoid any misunderstandings in language, the following meanings are ascribed to each key word.

·       Values - the history. Values are the basis on which we make decisions on right and wrong. As an example, adultery is considered immoral amongst most communities because of the personal consequences to one or more parties, including children, plus the added turmoil to the community.

·       Ethics - the theory. Ethics is the study of these values that gives us the rule or moral code on how we should behave. Again, using adultery as an example, we have both religious texts, the Bible for instance, and the legal system, which together makes it both a sin and a crime to commit adultery.

·       Morals - the praxis. Morals refer to our beliefs and actions in respect of these rules of behaviour. Again, should we commit adultery; we break with our values and go beyond our ethic or code, to behave immorally.

·       Culture - the outcome. Culture is the cumulative result of our knowledge, beliefs, and experiences. This outcome is what shapes our Values.

·       The West. Western civilisation is made up of Western Europe, North America, Australia, New Zealand, Philippines, East Timor, and the Pacific Islands. The other civilisations are Orthodox, Latin America, Hindu, Muslim, Sinic, Japan, Buddhist, and Sub-Saharan Africa.

·       Christian. Christianity is based on a number of basic points. These include the history of Israel, the birth of Jesus, the ministry of Jesus, the miracles, the crucifixion and the resurrection, discipleship and the history of the Church.

Now within Philosophy, ethics is usually referred to as Moral Philosophy. This is then divided into three ethical theories:
        ·       Metaethics which loosely refers to Values.

·       Normative Ethics which refers to ethical standards and which I refer to as Ethics.

·       Applied Ethics which bridges Ethics and Morals and subsequent consequences.

Theology on the other hand opines that Values has no basis of justification or reason without a belief in God. It is this assumption that disqualifies the concept of a Christian Ethic going forward.

For nearly 2,000 years we have lived by a code often referred to as the Christian Ethic. Of course, this did not start on day one after the crucifixion of Jesus but over centuries as Christianity developed and eventually dominated the religious beliefs of the western world. Again, the boundaries of Christianity and the West have been a moving feast over these centuries as well.

As a consequence, we have embraced a culture based on these values that has developed, matured and subsequently passed on from generation to generation. We have ultimately ended up with a way of thinking, talking and acting that defines us as a civilisation with real and marked differences from other civilisations and cultures.

In essence, we pass from values to ethics, to morals, to culture, which in turn defines our values. Our values were created from those before us; our ethics are from those around us; and finally, our morals are internal to ourselves. How we morally behave is by how others judge us but also how we judge ourselves. And how we judge ourselves is our conscience.

This subsequent culture has established our values. Our values in turn have led to our ethics which define how we behave; not so much "good," but "right." This then becomes the code for which our society is measured.

The migration from a Christian to a Western ethic is simply not a transition from a religious to a secular ethic. There is more concerned than just assuming that if something is non-religious, then it must be secular. There would be few "atheists" in Australia who are not either non, lapsed, post, or cultural Christians.

A point I will make now is that this is not an attack on Christianity, for on a grass roots level, Christian congregations are on the increase. Granted not to the heydays of the early fifties but growing steadily. The marked difference is that Christianity is becoming more of a faith based religion as compared to a belief based religion. As a consequence, the Christian can now make his own mind up as to how he perceives his or her world.

I have also used the example of adultery, not because it is a "universal" evil, which it isn't, but because it is a value that is being transgressed more regularly.

In one instance, adultery is an acceptable way of life in many communities where "fresh blood" is needed to expand the gene pool. The Inuit and many island cultures encourage extra marital sex as a matter of necessity. Further, without trying to draw a long bow, some cultures and societies accept polygamy which can be considered as adultery to the first spouse.

When was the transition of Christian to Western and Religious to Secular? The "Death of God," moved us from a faith based ethic to a cultural ethic. We have moved from the reward in after life to a rewarding life view.

1200 years before Christ, Abraham came down into Judea. About 300 years BC, the Old Testament was put together in its final form. 2,000 years ago Jesus was born, 300 years after his death the New Testament was finalised. What this tells us is that following the Old Testament 2,300 years ago, the New Testament 1,700 years ago, we now need another testament - The Future Testament perhaps?

What will be the books of this Testament? Uncle Tom's Cabin? Jonathon Livingstone Seagull? The lyrics of Bob Dylan? What has been most interesting is that the next day after putting this thought to paper, the Vatican has come out with seven additional "Deadly Sins." 1600 hundred years after the first batch of sins that would lead to eternal damnation unless confessed we have a new batch of sins. What is interesting about these sins is that they are in essence sins against the world rather than personal transgressions. These sins are:
        ·       Polluting

·       Genetic Engineering

·       Being obscenely rich

·       Drug Dealing

·       Abortion

·       Paedophilia

·       Causing social injustice

Not withstanding that they have been penned by the Church, and also wether they are embraced by all, they voice in part what many of us feel about our world. This I believe is a clear example of the new Western Ethic.

Another point to make is that cultural outcomes differ from the secular in that the secular is a stand alone concept whilst culture has drawn much on what went before including a religious inheritance.

As the example demonstrates, when we commit adultery, where is the blame? What is the sin? If not evil, why is it not right? If we examine the act from three views, Christian, secular and cultural. The religious sin can be traced back to Moses and the Ten Commandments. The cultural sin is more in the disruption of the family. Children disenfranchised, breaking up of the family home, breach of trust etc. As a secular act, divorce follows, quite simply in some cases, arbitration by the Family Court in others.

This leads to the question, is a cultural style the new religion? Is the West made up of a society of cultural Christians, a race of people brought up in the Christian and some cases, post-Christian doctrine, left with a residual belief in the value system with a solid understanding of good and evil, without the rod of hell to substantiate the ethic but a personal morality that holds an awareness of our actions that lead us to a moral deliberation based purely on a personal viewpoint?

In many respects we have transcended from a belief in a God based religion to a faith in mankind and the world we live in.

Now for my last word on adultery without the morals. I spoke of Moses and the Ten Commandments. Over 3,000 years ago the life expectancy was about 35 years. If you were a Grandparent, you were venerated! Our life expectancy is creeping up to 80! What this means is that we have the potential for a number of fulfilling relationships. One at a time, not all at once. We are seeing more and more relationships drift apart amicably as couples mature in different directions and simply grow apart. New interests and new partners follow. I often joke that when I mention that I have been married for over 25 years, "You don't get that long for murder!"

Added to this long life expectancy is our world view in this information age. The first thing to mention to people of my age is that for over half the population of the world, there has always been "a man on the moon."

The current population is now no longer taught what other people think of things, they go straight to the source. When Rudd gave his apology to the "Stolen Generation" last month, we saw or heard it as it unfolded on TV, radio, internet. We got the reaction from all sides from the people involved, the missionaries through to the victims. In essence, we made up our own minds on what we thought of the rights and wrongs of the apology.

This communication extends further, not only is there global communications, but global travel. Next fortnight I'm off to Melbourne for a conference, Adrienne my wife is off to New Zealand for her Dad's 90th birthday; Nick my son is off to Japan, Belgium, the Netherlands, and Germany for a holiday. We'll keep in touch through mobile phones and internet much the same as if we were in the same city.

Which all brings us back to our worldview on Values, Ethics, and Morals. For the first time, I believe we all have a sense of every one in the world figuratively holding hands. The thought of a butterfly flapping its wing in the Amazon causing a tornado on the other side of the world makes sense. We are becoming accountable for our actions, not before God, but to our family, our contemporaries, our community, and our world. Global Warming and its consequences is the best example of this. We are now being judged on our carbon footprint, the car we drive, our home appliances, our health, and lifestyle.

The turnaround between the Value - the history, to the Ethic - the rule, to the Moral - the practice, to the subsequent Culture that substantiates our Values is becoming shorter and shorter. The environmental issue as an example, in one lifetime, from a non-event to a deadly sin.

This is why we now have a new Ethic or Moral Code, the inherent Values may be still with us, but the rules of engagement have changed. We are not living a life that will be judged at the close of our life, but we are living a life that is constantly up to public scrutiny. This is what I call the Western Ethic.