Lighting the world with words.
Sorting out ethics and Sonia Sotomayor
Wisdom is necessary for a good judge. It is indeed true that not every white man makes a good judge. What's so contentious about this?
This week, Sonia Sotomayor dispelled the mythos of the overtly passionate Latin woman by establishing in the national psyche matriarchal womanism Latina style.
South Carolina senator, Lindsey Graham's assertion that, "She has to prove to me that if I find myself in court with a Latina (woman), in front of her, that I'm going to get a fair shake", tells us that even with the mounds of legal decisions pointing to the fact that he would, he feels her wise Latina statement would render a lifetime of balanced mainstream career interpretations of the law void.
David Hawkins, PhD, lecturer and expert on
Lindsey Graham expertly affirmed white male stereotypes of myopic projections of unfounded self-importance. Though he feigned insight, in the end, he unfortunatey failed to see why Justice Sonia Sotomayor's confirmation hearings for the Supreme Court truly hinged on culture.
The cultural disconnect witnessed is a result of misreadings of her personal activism (ie her character), and the blatant ignorance of what it takes to encourage intelligent and demoralized youths of color to keep believing in America's promise today.
We need not ignore President Obama's former minister's role in teaching him racial pride, lest we forget the role it plays in one's perceived notions of place and possibilities in society. Similarly, included within this cultural milieux is a profoundly wise Latina modeling how to incorporate altruism into one's usual norm. Her work as a mentor speaks to her character which should be commended until such time as the ideals of this nation apply to all without discrimination, wise or otherwise.
Morality has to do with the dictates of one's character whereas; ethics is contextual. Often, her response of "I can't answer that question", was taken as an avoidance to answer questions her record shows she is less than shy about sharing. Without context, in ethical matters, there can be no wise judgement.
This Sunday, July 19, 2009 at Unitarian Universalist Church of Clea...
Mark will discuss the genesis of ethical codes of conduct and what conduct is considered ethical from a humanistic and naturalistic viewpoint. Naturalism makes distinctions of good and bad, whereas humanism looks at the rationale of human behavior such as altruism.
Power Versus Force
The opportunity was delayed this week to move the nation forward in evolving its collective moral conscience by a smoke and mirror display veiling the reality of Sonia Sotomayor's ability to distinguish between what is morally correct for her as an individual and her ethical responsibilities as a judicial civil servant to the nation. What more can we ask of her? Does she understand how I feel as a white man? Does she get how I relate to her as an African American woman? Do we really want our judges to be altruistically examined?
For two decades conservatives have made judge appointments a central component of a successful platform to create laws favoring the conservative agenda. To project such evangelism onto this nominee, is telling.
Of course spiritual traditions make ethics more complicated than just the conceptual context for the study of altruistic behavior. In most spiritual traditions, for example, ethics is about discriminating between right and wrong.
Theoretical nuclear physicist, Amit Goswami, PhD, says in his book, God is Not Dead: What Quantum Physics Tells Us About Our Origins and How We Should Live, humans have a discriminitive function called conscience; we suffer pangs of conscience if we fail to choose good. It is this discriminate conscience that enables us to do good. Thus we have the simple statement of spiritual ethics, from Christianity: "Do unto others as you want others to do unto you."
However, early conditioning complicates any discussion of conscience. For example, religious fundamentalists often have a strong sense of ethics and morality, but it is mostly made up of conditioned beliefs.
When there is subtle complexity in making an ethical choice for right action, such as extending help to people beyond one's own 'clan', the conditioned conscience may not be able to resolve the ethical dilemma. One may need to take a quantum leap to the supramental (soul) to get a clear insight about ethical action. But as Amit concludes "if the conditioning is substantial, such quantum leaps are unlikely to happen".
The New Science gives us the proper context for understanding all facets of altruistic behavior, and it proves the existence of our supramental level of being, the soul.
There is hope for the Lindsey Grahams of this world because we can solidly base ethics on the very scientific notion of evolution.
Praying to the Same God
Evolutionary ethics is not the religious or pious patriotic ethics of the previous age. It advocates the same ethics for all of humanity, and objective ethics needed for the evolutionary future of humankind. Evolutionary ethics is the principle that: ethical actions must maximize the creativity of people, including our own and the evolutionary potential of every human being.
Again in Power Vs. Force , David Hawkins: "Merely to reach a stage where one functions primarily from reason requires a major evolutions in consciousness to the 400s, which is a very powerful level in world society--Freud, Einstein, and Descartes calibrate at 499, the level of humanism.
But reason, so vulnerable to loss of perspective through self-absorption, has in the long run never provided man with any solid moral, or even intellectual, certainty. Again and again it has, to the contrary, led from the chaos of ignorance to an equally baffling cerebral maze."
America needs to skip the smoke and mirror maze and embrace the abundance of our nation's diversifying evolution.
Friar Gilberto Cavazos Gonzales Director of the Hispanic ministry program at the Catholic Theological Union in Chicago, says Latinos are the largest Catholic population in the United States; the youngest Catholic population in the United States; and, the fastest growing population in the United States is Latino.
In Religion & Ethics News Weekly, Judy Valente’s interview with Friar Gilberto Cavazos Gonzalez about Hispanic Catholics, highlights how religion is negotiated within the ethical context of culture.
When Valente asks Friar Gilberto Cavazos Gonzales if what Hispanics bring to the Catholic Church in America might be perceived as negative?
Friar Cavazos Gonzalez responds: We are accused of being machistas, for example, of being male-dominated, and to a certain extent we are. And yet at the same time, we’re a very matriarchal society or matriarchal culture. Do those things, do those two realities enter into conflict with each other? Yes, they do.
Many Catholics have never seen anything like this in their local parish — an Aztec dance honoring the mother of Jesus. It is part of the observance of the feast of Our Lady of Guadalupe, the Virgin Mary, said to have appeared before the Mexican peasant Juan Diego in the 16th century. This feast day, highly important to Hispanic Catholics, is only vaguely known to much of Catholic America. But it may be a glimpse into the future of the U.S. church.
The distinctive forms of worship and devotion among Hispanic Catholics are practiced not by immigrants alone, but by American-born, English-speaking Hispanics as well. The intensity of their religious expression, and their growing numbers, are changing the face of the U.S. Catholic church.
As for the U.S. church – I don’t think we’ll ever have a Latino face. I’d like to think that we will have a culturally diverse face.
Culturally diverse, he says, but also, he hopes, united. Certainly the recognition of the presence of God in day-to-day life, in what we call the “quotidiano” — the everyday, day-in routine, humdrum of life.
We’re awakening the U.S. Catholic Church to the realization that it is one part of a church that is so much larger than itself.
The Era of the First Latina Justice of the United States Supreme Court
Will we permit ourselves to be larger than our conditioned stereotypes?
Writer and womanist, Tricia Ares says, "Unfortunately the term “Matriarchal Societies” is often used to describe a society dominated by women. This, however, is a misnomer. A Matriarchy is a nonhierarchical society in which decisions are made by consensus.
Sitting on a bench with the council of many wise men and women, black, white and now, Latina, is where this woman is headed. In the days to come, perhaps everyone can peer more easily and compassionately into one's own moral compass, and appreciate the opportunity to live and serve in a nation of laws which allow us to choose so freely.
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=GjiwI_S2qpc
This Sunday July 19, 2009 at UUC: Speaker Mark Brandt presents "The Ethics of Humanism". Do we need the divine element superimposed onto behavior to make ethical conduct work? Mark will discuss the genesis of ethical codes of conduct and what conduct is considered ethical from a humanistic and naturalistic viewpoint. Be there & BE Blessed!
This week, Sonia Sotomayor dispelled the mythos of the overtly passionate Latin woman by establishing in the national psyche matriarchal womanism Latina style.
South Carolina senator, Lindsey Graham's assertion that, "She has to prove to me that if I find myself in court with a Latina (woman), in front of her, that I'm going to get a fair shake", tells us that even with the mounds of legal decisions pointing to the fact that he would, he feels her wise Latina statement would render a lifetime of balanced mainstream career interpretations of the law void.
David Hawkins, PhD, lecturer and expert on
Lindsey Graham expertly affirmed white male stereotypes of myopic projections of unfounded self-importance. Though he feigned insight, in the end, he unfortunatey failed to see why Justice Sonia Sotomayor's confirmation hearings for the Supreme Court truly hinged on culture.
The cultural disconnect witnessed is a result of misreadings of her personal activism (ie her character), and the blatant ignorance of what it takes to encourage intelligent and demoralized youths of color to keep believing in America's promise today.
We need not ignore President Obama's former minister's role in teaching him racial pride, lest we forget the role it plays in one's perceived notions of place and possibilities in society. Similarly, included within this cultural milieux is a profoundly wise Latina modeling how to incorporate altruism into one's usual norm. Her work as a mentor speaks to her character which should be commended until such time as the ideals of this nation apply to all without discrimination, wise or otherwise.
Morality has to do with the dictates of one's character whereas; ethics is contextual. Often, her response of "I can't answer that question", was taken as an avoidance to answer questions her record shows she is less than shy about sharing. Without context, in ethical matters, there can be no wise judgement.
This Sunday, July 19, 2009 at Unitarian Universalist Church of Clea...
Mark will discuss the genesis of ethical codes of conduct and what conduct is considered ethical from a humanistic and naturalistic viewpoint. Naturalism makes distinctions of good and bad, whereas humanism looks at the rationale of human behavior such as altruism.
Power Versus Force
The opportunity was delayed this week to move the nation forward in evolving its collective moral conscience by a smoke and mirror display veiling the reality of Sonia Sotomayor's ability to distinguish between what is morally correct for her as an individual and her ethical responsibilities as a judicial civil servant to the nation. What more can we ask of her? Does she understand how I feel as a white man? Does she get how I relate to her as an African American woman? Do we really want our judges to be altruistically examined?
For two decades conservatives have made judge appointments a central component of a successful platform to create laws favoring the conservative agenda. To project such evangelism onto this nominee, is telling.
Of course spiritual traditions make ethics more complicated than just the conceptual context for the study of altruistic behavior. In most spiritual traditions, for example, ethics is about discriminating between right and wrong.
Theoretical nuclear physicist, Amit Goswami, PhD, says in his book, God is Not Dead: What Quantum Physics Tells Us About Our Origins and How We Should Live, humans have a discriminitive function called conscience; we suffer pangs of conscience if we fail to choose good. It is this discriminate conscience that enables us to do good. Thus we have the simple statement of spiritual ethics, from Christianity: "Do unto others as you want others to do unto you."
However, early conditioning complicates any discussion of conscience. For example, religious fundamentalists often have a strong sense of ethics and morality, but it is mostly made up of conditioned beliefs.
When there is subtle complexity in making an ethical choice for right action, such as extending help to people beyond one's own 'clan', the conditioned conscience may not be able to resolve the ethical dilemma. One may need to take a quantum leap to the supramental (soul) to get a clear insight about ethical action. But as Amit concludes "if the conditioning is substantial, such quantum leaps are unlikely to happen".
The New Science gives us the proper context for understanding all facets of altruistic behavior, and it proves the existence of our supramental level of being, the soul.
There is hope for the Lindsey Grahams of this world because we can solidly base ethics on the very scientific notion of evolution.
Praying to the Same God
Evolutionary ethics is not the religious or pious patriotic ethics of the previous age. It advocates the same ethics for all of humanity, and objective ethics needed for the evolutionary future of humankind. Evolutionary ethics is the principle that: ethical actions must maximize the creativity of people, including our own and the evolutionary potential of every human being.
Again in Power Vs. Force , David Hawkins: "Merely to reach a stage where one functions primarily from reason requires a major evolutions in consciousness to the 400s, which is a very powerful level in world society--Freud, Einstein, and Descartes calibrate at 499, the level of humanism.
But reason, so vulnerable to loss of perspective through self-absorption, has in the long run never provided man with any solid moral, or even intellectual, certainty. Again and again it has, to the contrary, led from the chaos of ignorance to an equally baffling cerebral maze."
America needs to skip the smoke and mirror maze and embrace the abundance of our nation's diversifying evolution.
Friar Gilberto Cavazos Gonzales Director of the Hispanic ministry program at the Catholic Theological Union in Chicago, says Latinos are the largest Catholic population in the United States; the youngest Catholic population in the United States; and, the fastest growing population in the United States is Latino.
In Religion & Ethics News Weekly, Judy Valente’s interview with Friar Gilberto Cavazos Gonzalez about Hispanic Catholics, highlights how religion is negotiated within the ethical context of culture.
When Valente asks Friar Gilberto Cavazos Gonzales if what Hispanics bring to the Catholic Church in America might be perceived as negative?
Friar Cavazos Gonzalez responds: We are accused of being machistas, for example, of being male-dominated, and to a certain extent we are. And yet at the same time, we’re a very matriarchal society or matriarchal culture. Do those things, do those two realities enter into conflict with each other? Yes, they do.
Many Catholics have never seen anything like this in their local parish — an Aztec dance honoring the mother of Jesus. It is part of the observance of the feast of Our Lady of Guadalupe, the Virgin Mary, said to have appeared before the Mexican peasant Juan Diego in the 16th century. This feast day, highly important to Hispanic Catholics, is only vaguely known to much of Catholic America. But it may be a glimpse into the future of the U.S. church.
The distinctive forms of worship and devotion among Hispanic Catholics are practiced not by immigrants alone, but by American-born, English-speaking Hispanics as well. The intensity of their religious expression, and their growing numbers, are changing the face of the U.S. Catholic church.
As for the U.S. church – I don’t think we’ll ever have a Latino face. I’d like to think that we will have a culturally diverse face.
Culturally diverse, he says, but also, he hopes, united. Certainly the recognition of the presence of God in day-to-day life, in what we call the “quotidiano” — the everyday, day-in routine, humdrum of life.
We’re awakening the U.S. Catholic Church to the realization that it is one part of a church that is so much larger than itself.
The Era of the First Latina Justice of the United States Supreme Court
Will we permit ourselves to be larger than our conditioned stereotypes?
Writer and womanist, Tricia Ares says, "Unfortunately the term “Matriarchal Societies” is often used to describe a society dominated by women. This, however, is a misnomer. A Matriarchy is a nonhierarchical society in which decisions are made by consensus.
Sitting on a bench with the council of many wise men and women, black, white and now, Latina, is where this woman is headed. In the days to come, perhaps everyone can peer more easily and compassionately into one's own moral compass, and appreciate the opportunity to live and serve in a nation of laws which allow us to choose so freely.
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=GjiwI_S2qpc
This Sunday July 19, 2009 at UUC: Speaker Mark Brandt presents "The Ethics of Humanism". Do we need the divine element superimposed onto behavior to make ethical conduct work? Mark will discuss the genesis of ethical codes of conduct and what conduct is considered ethical from a humanistic and naturalistic viewpoint. Be there & BE Blessed!
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