1:Defining “Morals
and Values”
Morals,
and morality, are the societal and personal systems of behavior-control and
self-management in an individual’s mind. While it is possible for individuals
to develop personal moralities the term most often refers to social norms,
which are taught to children as moral facts, and often become effective guides
to and restrictions on behavior. Moral tenets become the basis for personal
judgments, both of one’s own deeds and of the deeds of others. The young woman
refraining from pre-marital sex, the teenager refraining from shoplifting, the
antiwar protestor and the young soldier returning an enemy’s fire are all
responding to ‘moral’ judgments.
In
order to make personal choices in life we must have a sense of the cost and
worth of things. As with morality, we learn many of our “values” from society.
In our age the concept is often bound up directly with wealth and worth – we
learn the value of a dollar, the value of a hard day’s work. The greater
culture extolls the value (i.e. the worth and worthiness) of the soldier, the
businessman and the entrepreneur, wildly rewards those with exceptional
athletic or artistic talent (or luck), and preaches the moral value
(worthiness) of daily trudging labor to those who are less-than-well rewarded.
Perhaps values are more responsive
to personality and personal history than are ‘morals’. Both inherent
inclinations and life’s events may lead one to value art over money, to seek
security over adventure. In large part these are not matters of morality, but
still strongly influence our choices and directions.
How is Morality Related to Bias or Prejudice?
The
combination of moral and values enforcement often produces a personal sense of
certainty and righteousness that is sometimes allowed to substitute for
clear-eyed judgment. My own inclination is to refer to this process as
‘programming’ – the human cybernetic system organically develops its own
software through a lifetime of experience and societal reinforcement. Once an
individual is fully adapted to a set of programs it can be difficult for them
to act or decide in other than programmed ways.
While
we often think of bias in terms of legal or human-rights issues, it applies
equally in scholarship and the construction of ideas. One makes over-arching prejudgments
on issues such as ancient matriarchy or Indo-European society and those judgments
(pre-judgments; prejudices; biases) influence what books we read and what
opinions we develop on what we choose to read.
I
think that when we start using simple, broad terms like ‘right and wrong’ we
enter fully into the social-consensus, programmed realm. These terms have a
literal and objective meaning. There is a ‘right’ (correct) way to assemble an
appliance, or to mix volatile chemicals. There is a far less clear ‘right’ way
to have a marriage, or to wage a war, or to conduct competition in business. There
is a ‘wrong’ way to wire a television set, but much less clearly a wrong way to
raise a child. In those cases the morals
and values of the society become treated like the rules and methods of physics
or engineering. Historically they have sometimes been turned into ‘instruction
manuals’ for living which, perhaps too often, replace independent thinking and
personal judgement. It is a short step from there to accepting the moral
authority of social leaders as equivalent to their authority as skilled
carpenters or plumbers. However ‘right and wrong’, in the moral sense, are
simply not subject to even as firm a set of ‘laws’ as are found in the
sciences.
2: My Personal
Values
My
personal values center on individual liberty, kindness and growth. I have spent
a lifetime carefully setting aside commitment to the common values of our
society, consciously retaining those bits that I find acceptable or advisable.
I reject the values of authority and obedience, choosing instead to do as I
please. This liberty I seek to temper with the corresponding values of kindness
and growth. My goal in any interaction is to have all parties emerge
emotionally peaceful (if not gratified) and a little better than when they went
in. Kindness requires me to minimize pain or harm to others, as circumstances
allow. In keeping with modern values I extend the concept of ‘harm’ to include
violations of autonomy or privacy
– personal liberty demands the right to manage one’s personal space, and what I
take for myself I surely grant to others. The goals of personal and mutual
growth demand the nurture and tending of both the self and of those with whom
one comes into relationship.
As
a colleague this makes me a cooperative team-member, but perhaps hard to
‘manage’. As a working priest I hope it has made me approachable, helpful and,
well, kind. While I can be direct in my efforts to police bad data I do my best
to refrain from ad hominem, and to leave folks (members) feeling like their
understanding has been advanced.
3: How do we ‘learn
right from wrong’ and ‘choose to do the right thing’?
A:
Instruction during upbringing. The infant/toddler learns what is acceptable to
its family and immediate adult surroundings. The infant’s perception of the
authority of the parent as absolute is reinforced by the basic warnings of life
– “That’s hot” turns out to be true, so “Don’t touch yourself there” must be
equally true. This is the primary “right-v-wrong” programming that each of us
carries through life. It is entirely subject to the wisdom and programming of
our parents and culture.
B:
Personal Inclination and experience. It is my opinion that we are born with (or
programmed with at a very early age) specific ‘settings’ in terms of such
things as reaction to pleasure and pain, cooperation-vs-competition, and
risk-aversion. These personal inclinations combine with the experiences of our
lives and our reactions to them to provide incentive for individuals to examine
their upbringing and make conscious choices about their beliefs.
In my opinion it is in the tension
between these two programming factors that a great deal of individual indecision,
moral tension and cognitive dissonance are found.
Choosing…
A: To
satisfy the demands of a social authority that has the power to reward or
punish. This is the outer, cops-n-robbers level of morality.
B: Right
action produces good results, and good results mean more health, wealth and
wisdom for everyone. This is ‘enlightened self-interest’. What is good for me
can be good for all, if I avoid errors of greed or cruelty.
C: When
the heart is full of simple kindness it is difficult to do wrong intentionally.
From there only Wisdom can prevent foolish error. We might offer this as the
‘spiritual’ approach, and some might consider it more ‘pure’, or a ‘higher’
motivation than the previous. While I seek to cultivate kindness, I value
results above motivations. Let those who do good deeds for simple reasons be
praised.
4: Discuss ethics in
the clergy-lay relationship.
Philosophically I am a
situationalist. I believe that the application of wisdom and values to specific
individual cases produces better outcomes than the establishment of and obedience
to codes of behavior. The tailoring of individual cases to a pre-existing set
of standards is unlikely to produce results equal to wisdom and virtue applied
individually. That said, I understand the value to an organization of the
ability to predict behavior and generate accountability in a diverse group of
practitioners. It is especially useful to a client to be able to refer to a set
of guidelines against which to measure the work of their local priests.
Obviously we all have ethical and
moral obligations to one another. It is a common understanding that any special
circumstance in human relationships produces special moral imperatives.
Teachers, lovers, team-mates all are surrounded by ethical customs and, often,
rules. The special relationships generated between a working priest and the
folk being served can require no less.
In our religious system the
priesthood is granted little to no specific ‘spiritual authority’. The folk are
not subject to or lesser than the priesthood in any hierarchy; they do not need
the priesthood in order to operate the religion. Local priests are not in
charge of the training, evaluation or advancement of students in our study
programs. At no point are we ‘spiritual parents’ or ‘gurus’ to our students.
As a result our interactions may be
less fraught with emotional hazards than some other models of clergy. We are
unlikely to be forced to deal with “power-over” issues, and abuse of authority
can only happen if the priest assumes an unauthorized and presumptuous position
with their folk. This happens especially when a leader plays on the unspoken
social assumptions about the meaning and authority of ‘priests’ or ‘ministers’.
Perhaps that deserves to be in an ethical statement…
It might be that the primary ethical
responsibility of a priest of our order is to keep our skills sharp and ready.
Isaac used to say that an ADF priest should be able to “demonstrate claimed
skills on demand”. We hold our offices by virtue of the study and practice we
have done – using those skills actively in service to the folk, the land and
the gods seems top of the list. A priest should be ready to step in and step
up, should be a walking bibliography, a go-to voice when the question is
“What’s the real story”. In turn the priest must have the personal
understanding and clarity to be able to parse their answers from “I think so”
through “This is how it is” while keeping their own biases in check.
Confidential
privilege is a legal term that describes the placing of certain communications
between a citizen and a professional under legal protections. The professional
cannot be forced to divulge such communications in matters of law. The
pertinent section of the Ohio legal code is 1317.02c. To summarize, it grants
legal privilege to communications shared under a “sacred trust”, unless the
cleric is specifically released by the communicant. If we cared to split hairs
we might discuss whether the idea of communication under a “sacred trust”
exists in Our Druidry. Without specific doctrinal positions on the matter our
legal coverage is weak.
From
an ethical perspective we must begin with the general merit of a closed mouth
and a rejection of gossip. As Druids we must know the value of speech, and the
power of an ill word to produce ill outcomes. Wisdom and kindness therefore
teach that when we learn a friend’s secrets or private matters we should keep
them confidential. From the perspective of organizational professional
boundaries, it makes sense to me first to enjoin our clergy not to involve
themselves in gossip. No tale or rumor or accusation should be spread or
shared, unless the priest has been specifically employed as a mediator or
advocate for a member or members.
5: Utilizing the
ADF nine virtues, develop a Code of Ethics for your use as ADF Clergy. Describe
how you derived this code from the Nine Virtues and how you would apply this
Code.
Five Principles of a Druidic
Priestly Ethics:
1: Seek always the good. See that by your work the world
is made better – more beautiful, wiser, more learned, more loving, stronger.
2: Be true. Say only what you mean (barring
jest) and mean and do as you say. This means keeping promises and contracts, as
well as fair judgment and the eschewing of gossip.
3: Be strong. Keep your body, mind and skills
strong and sharp. Tend to your talents and practice your skills, so that when
need arises it is met.
4: Be kind. A warm heart brings a happy
life. Compassion, empathy and gentleness are the most reliable ways to bring
good to relationships with others.
5: Keep the Rule
A: Do not harm the work by entangling
your personal life with your duties as a priest
B: Practice transparency and
impeccability with all monies connected to the work
C: Keep confidences between the
priest and any member or client, and eschew gossip.
D: Maintain study and practice,
keeping knowledge and skills sharp for the work.
E:
In all things consider that the reputation of the work, the org and the priest
depend on good work and good name.
It
is not hard to analyse these according to our virtues. Of course from the first
we say that virtues are those qualities that produce good outcomes and good
lives. The first Principle simply states that as the goal of the work.
Often I
parse each virtue into a triad. For wisdom, I sometimes think of Reason,
Discernment and Compassion as central sub-ideas. These apply certainly to the
fourth Principle, and to many of the Elements
of the Rule. It is Reason and Discernment that allow us to determine when and
if our social entanglements interfere with the work, for instance. Discernment
also applies to speech, to knowing the difference between cleverness and
counsel, judgment and support. Vision supports the third Principle as well as
the second, in that we can only be sure that we speak true when we can see
clearly. Piety is the point of the exercise, of course; it is piety itself to
remember such a code and to live by it.
Some might think of courage as
the Warrior’s work rather than the Druid’s but it takes courage to speak truth,
or to respond with commitment to past words when conditions change. Integrity
is, again, the center of the work. Let our deeds be integrated with our ideas,
our minds, hearts and bodies serving one
goal.
Perseverance is equally important, especially to the third Principle. It is
easy to begin, easy to plan, perhaps less easy to stay with the work
consistently.
Hospitality
applies to the second and fourth Principles. In many ways a good hospitality is
the outcome of living by the Principles, the provision of good counsel and good
support to the community.
I’m not much of a fan of ‘moderation’ as a ‘virtue’ – it seems more like advice
than like an innate quality, which is what I see virtues as being. Still it
surely applies to several points. Moderation in speech and promises is wise,
moderation in food and drink is good for the third principle, and everything in
the Rule is supported by it. The virtue sometimes called ‘fertility’ I refer to
as ‘sensuality’ or ‘grandeur’. It refers to the value of using wealth for
pleasure, deriving abundance from the use of good things, etc. In my opinion
this supports truth, strength and kindness alike.
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