Ethics And Me

SUN., SEPT. 25, 1988, 6:54 AM
FARM, STUDY

It is strange that you, in preparing for this upcoming short presentation on ethics, have not been considering what I would say about this subject. As you differentiated between ethics and morals last evening you came close, so let Me carry you just a bit further. I, the Holy Spirit, know about ethics… and am willing to share, o son.

The ethos of a people, a culture, or of any group is their general look at life in terms of good and bad, desirable and undesirable. As this ethos becomes more organized it becomes a code of ethics. The study of this differentiation between what is right and what is wrong becomes the part of philosophy called ethics.

Thus, there are ethical choices because there are conflicting or competing goods, even within one ethos… and, further, as within your society, there are different cultural groups, with somewhat different codes of ethics, and these compete in the large multiculture. This is all pretty sociological and philosophical and consequently is of peripheral interest to Me.

My interest is in moral values, based in relationship with Me and derived from My Holy Scriptures. Ultimately this means that an act is moral if the motivation is wholly one of serving Me. This implies a selfless attitude, one of service to others and, finally, to Me. Whatever I, as Jesus, did was morally right, for I was a manifestation, directly, of Almighty God and motivated to serve Me, even in human form. Therefore what I did or didn’t do is not as important as My orientation in life.

Humans vary greatly in their dedication to Me, and hence systems of morality and of ethics have evolved as means of assessing good to bad conduct. Laws are based in moral and ethical judgments, and hence legal and illegal become part of the judgment standard also. I offered the Ten Commandments as the basis for moral conduct. Ethical standards have arisen from these… but they also represented natural law, in part, meaning that certain commandments, such as Honor thy father and thy Mother, are part of most ethical systems, even when I am not acknowledged at all.
7:26 AM / 6:01 PM
It is good when moral, ethical, and legal standards are all the same, but I must admit this also shades into a religious/autocratic state, where those who deviate from the accepted standards are treated badly. Thus I have to say that the terribly consistent society has some major drawbacks in terms of those who not follow the “true way.”

Again, balance is necessary. Without ethical standards and a majority of a population who accept these and live by them life would be unpredictable and generally chaotic. With a strong ethical-moral system, accepted by most, the conditions of life are more sure for those who conform, but not for others. And remember that I, as Jesus, was brought to trial on essentially a morals charge – claiming to be the Messiah, which then was turned into an ethical/legal issue of seeking to overthrow the government. In a good moral society there usually are ways to persecute one who does not seem to be “one of us.”

Ethics and Me… how do I want to conclude this pairing? I am generally in favor of ethical standards, but I may not approve of the actual standards decided upon, and the behaviors therefrom. It is good, for instance, to defend your homeland against invaders, but I often cannot approve of the measures taken against supposed invaders before they invade. I just say that good, safe self defense may become unethical and immoral.

In health education there are lots of opportunities for ethical and for unethical actions. It may be ethical to tell only the truth, but that truth may cause harm to someone who acts in accordance with it. Yet to cause harm may be finally moral, if a person learns from the painful situation.