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Ethics
and values
Questions
of ethics seem to be everywhere: Congress, corporate America, schools,
hospitals, religious institutions, science labs and journalism organizations.
Few of the questions involve obvious answers. Rather than black-and-white
issues, America seems to dwell in shades of gray, where people puzzle
over what’s right, what’s wrong and where to turn for
moral standards. “Ethics and values” are talked about
a lot, but in general terms. It's the specific circumstances that
make for penetrating narratives.
More
religion journalists find themselves covering beats that are called
faith and ethics or spirituality and values. That’s a reflection
of the high profile of ethics questions in this country and people’s
thirst to determine what’s right and what’s wrong, from
the largest to the smallestmatters. Should the United States go
to war? Should a severely brain-damaged woman be kept on life support
against her husband’s wishes? Should I turn my child in to
her teacher if she tells me she copied one answer from someone else’s
math test?
Should
I tell an acquaintance his wife is having an affair? Should the
largest religious groups be able to legislate moral standards that
must be followed by smaller groups who disagree with them? Moral
standards are drawn from a variety of sources—professional
codes of conduct, family values, human instincts and, often, religion.
Journalists now have more ways than ever to chronicle the ethical
questions of our time. They should ask insightful questions, conduct
detailed interviews and pay attention to details. They also can
consult a wide range of experts in ethics to give perspective and
context to the debates of the day.
Some
ethicists’ work is based on their religious beliefs, while
other systems of ethics are secularly based. Compare perspectives
between them, and also explore the ethical perspectives of different
religions. On many topics, juxtaposing different faith traditions’
moral standards can illuminate why right and wrong can be so difficult
to determine in specific situations. Here are some resources to
start with.
RELIGIOUS
ETHICS
• Seminaries, religious graduate programs and schools of religion
have ethicists on their faculties.
• The Society
of Christian Ethics
• The Society
of Jewish Ethics
• The Center
for Applied Christian Ethics at Wheaton College posts links
to other ethics centers.
• ReligionLink posts a guide
to bioethics experts and organizations.
UNIVERSITY
CENTERS
• The Ethics
Resource Center is the oldest nonprofit in the U.S. devoted
to organizational ethics.
• The Association
for Practical and Professional Ethics is an umbrella group.
• Harvard University posts a state-by-state
list of ethics centers.
• The Kenan
Institute for Ethics at Duke University posts links
to ethics organizations in a number of areas.
• The Kennedy
Institute of Ethics at Georgetown University
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