Tag: ethics

Social Media and Teenagers

The content of this post appeared in Icelandic undir the title “Facebook notkun unglinga” in March 2012 and focused solely on Facebook. It is now rewritten in (a broken) English with broader focus, looking at social media sites in general.

The Ministry of Education, Science and Culture through “Æskulýðssjóður” has given YMCA/YWCA in Iceland a small grant to create curriculum for youth directors, parents and children about Social Media use. The original post in Iceland is being used as an introduction to that curriculum. Continue reading Social Media and Teenagers

Reglurnar

Í mínum hluta skógarins hefur margt breyst. Það er minna en 10 ár síðan fagfólk og sjálfboðaliðar í kristilegu æskulýðsstarfi settu sér siðareglur og fóru á markvissan hátt að taka á óæskilegri hegðun samstarfsfólks. Fram að þeim tíma má segja að flestar siðareglur hafi lagt ofuráherslu á gagnkvæma virðingu kollega og snúist fyrst og fremst um starfsvernd og samstöðu þeirra sem tilheyrðu viðkomandi “gildi”. Þetta má sjá bæði í eldri siðareglum presta og lækna, sjálfsagt lögfræðinga líka. Continue reading Reglurnar

Fast Five

Freedom without responsibility, is not a real freedom. To be free does not take away our responsibility for each other. The message is clear in the movie about the Fast Folks. We are responsible for our own kin, our people, our family. We are called to care for the community we belong to, are part of. Continue reading Fast Five

1. Mósebók 12. kafli

Frásagnirnar af Abram og Saraí eru um margt óþægilegar. Textinn í 1. Mósebók er eins og oft áður ofinn saman úr tveimur mismunandi heimildum, þannig virðast atburðir endurtaka sig, þegar farið er frá einni frásagnarhefðinni til annarrar. Jafnframt neyðir lestur textans mig til að takast á við stöðu Hagar og sonar hennar Ísmael. Síðast en ekki síst kallar textinn okkur til að velta fyrir okkur hvað það merkir að njóta sérstakrar blessunar Guðs. Hvort að mér takist gera þessu góð skil þegar ég skrifa mig í gegnum næstu 11-12 kafla verður síðan að koma í ljós.
Continue reading 1. Mósebók 12. kafli

Að gleðjast með skaparanum

Mig langar að lesa úr Litla Prinsinum eftir Antoine De Saint-Exupéry

– Stjörnurnar eru ekki eins fyrir alla. Fyrir suma sem ferðast eru stjörnurnar leiðarljós. Fyrir aðra eru þær ekkert nema smáljós. Fyrir aðra sem eru lærðir eru þær viðfangsefni. Fyrir kaupsýslumanninn minn voru þær gull. En allar þessar stjörnur eru þöglar. Fyrir þig verða stjörnurnar öðruvísi en fyrir alla aðra… Continue reading Að gleðjast með skaparanum

Why It’s Not An Affair?

Patricia L. Liberty has written an excellent short paper on why sexual contact between a pastor and a parishioner is never justified.

Since the ministerial relationship is professional in nature, it is inappropriate to call a sexual encounter an affair. Affair is a term used to describe a sexual liaison between peers, or equals. In addition, the term affair focuses attention on the sexual nature of the behavior rather than the professional violation. It also places equal responsibility for the behavior on the congregant. Since clergy have a responsibility to set and maintain appropriate boundaries, those who are violated by clergy’s inappropriate sexual behavior are not to be blamed even if they initiated the contact.

via Why It’s Not An Affair by Patricia L. Liberty.

Contract or Covenant

In When Moses Meets Aaron: Staffing and Supervision in Large Congregations one of the many issues that are addressed is the difference between contract and covenant. The difference between the two can be helpful in addressing employment in the church.
In the book the focus is on employment contract as an utilitarian in orientation, while covenant attempts to protect the least of these. The covenant focuses on protection by the more powerful and cocreation, rather then maximization.

Stories We Tell

In the 1930s an anthropologist Morris Olper recorded that among an Apache group of southern New Mexico, a person who had not acted ethically would be asked, “How could you do that? Didn’t you have a grandfather to tell you stories?” The spiritual and religious life depends on the stories you choose to write and tell and those we do not.

Sandy Sasso writes about her books and the importance of storytelling in an article called “The Role of Narrative in the Spiritual Formation of Children” in Family Ministry vol. 19, no. 2, Summer 2005.

End of Life Decisions

Which decisions about dying are morally acceptable to concerned Christians, and which ones go beyond morally acceptable limits? Which medical practices and public policies allow for more humane treatment for those who are dying and which ones open the door to abuse and the violation of human dignity? Proposals in various states to legalize physician-assisted death [4] point to renewed interest in these old questions. ELCA members, congregations, and institutions need to address these questions through prayer and careful reflection.

End of Life Decisions – Evangelical Lutheran Church in America is a social message from ELCA to help deal with those questions.

Another more complete resource on End-of-Life Decisions and especially Euthanasia is a book edited by Tom L Beauchamp called Intending Death.

The Seven Dimensions of Ninian Smart

Ninian Smart (1927 – 2001), Professor of Comparative Religions at the University of California and Professor Emeritus of Religious Studies at the University of Lancaster, England, suggested that there are certain aspects or dimensions of religion. In ‘The World’s Religions’ (Cambridge 1989), Smart suggested that there were seven dimensions:

  • The Practical and Ritual Dimension
  • The Experiential and Emotional Dimension
  • The Narrative or Mythic Dimension
  • The Doctrinal and Philosophical Dimension
  • The Ethical and Legal Dimension
  • The Social and Institutional Dimension
  • The Material Dimension

via BBC – h2g2 – Religion – An Introduction.

Various Religious Views about Organ Donations

One common concern people have regarding organ and tissue donation is how their individual religion feels about donation and transplantation. Most religions support donation as an act of giving and caring. Outlined below are brief descriptions of the viewpoints from various denominations.

via Lifeline of Ohio » Religious Views.

Death with dignity: the ultimate human right?

The medical establishment’s narrow view of there being only one way to handle the dying patient–by using every last resource available to try to save her or him–has greatly hindered the quality of our deaths. Physicians are trained to believe that they have done their job only if every last measure is taken, regardless of what value this saps from the patient’s quality of life. This is the model by which the medical establishment measures its success.

What is needed is a paradigm shift in the educational curriculum of medical schools. No one can place value on what any individual considers to be “quality of life” because we all have different bodily functions that we consider more important than others. What one person considers an extraordinary means of intervention, another may see as typical. Furthermore, what is extraordinary at one point in history isn’t necessarily extraordinary at another time.

via Death with dignity: the ultimate human right? – The Popular Condition – Brief Article – Editorial | Humanist | Find Articles at BNET.

Baby Spared Mother’s Fate By Genetic Tests as Embryo – NYTimes.com

A 30-year-old woman who is very likely to develop a rare form of Alzheimer’s disease before she turns 40 has had a baby girl who will be spared that fate because she was genetically screened as an embryo before being implanted in her mother’s womb, doctors are reporting.

via Baby Spared Mother’s Fate By Genetic Tests as Embryo – NYTimes.com.

Sexuality Papers

Here are few papers, articles, and references about sexuality and the church.

Ethical Thinking

1) What’s up

2) Code of conduct

  • Teach what is right
  • Confidentiality
  • Keep your family
  • Control your finances 
3) Biomedical ethics
  • Informed consent / refusal of service (Expect irrational behavior)
  • Do no harm
  • Do good
  • Be just
4) Ethics
  • Promote well-being
  • Minimize suffering in Society (utilitarian theory)
  • Just distribution with the help of Rawls “veil of ignorance”
  • My duty with or without God
  • What about the other? Listening skills to appreciate “ultimate strangeness”.
  • Virtues – wisdom, humility, justice, integrity.