GS 100: CHRISTIAN

ETHICS
Rev. FR. Michael Rop
Introduction/ Definitions of Ethics
• WHAT IS ETHICS?
• A few years ago, Sociologist Raymond Baumhart asked business
people, “What does ethics mean to you?” Among their replies were
the following:
• “Ethics has to do with what my feelings tell me is right or wrong.”
• “Ethics has to do with my religious beliefs.”
• “Being ethical is doing what the law requires.”
• “Ethics consists of the standards of behavior our society accepts.”
• “I don’t know what the word means.”
Cont’d
• These replies might be typical of our own. The meaning of “ethics” is
hard to pin down, and the views many people have about ethics are
shaky.
• Like Baumhart’s first respondent, many people tend to equate ethics
with their feelings. But being ethical is clearly not a matter of
following one’s own feelings. A person following his or her feelings
may recoil from doing what is right in a given particular
circumstances. In fact, feelings frequently deviate from what is
ethical.
Cont’d
• No one should identify ethics with religion. Most religions, of course,
advocate high ethical standards. Yet if ethics were confined to
religion, then ethics would apply only to religious people.
• But ethics applies as much to the behavior of the atheist as to that of
the Saint.
• Religion can set high ethical standards and can provide intense
motivations for ethical behavior.
• Ethics, however, cannot be confined to religion nor is it the same as
religion.
Cont’d

• Being ethical is also not the same as following the law. The law often
incorporates ethical standards to which most citizens subscribe. But
laws, like feelings, can deviate from what is ethical.

• Cfr. Slavery laws of Western world in eighteen century, Apartheid laws

in South Africa etc. These and others are obvious examples of laws
that deviate from what is ethical.
Cont’d
• Finally, being ethical is not the same as doing “whatever society/
community accepts.” In any society/ community most people accepts
standards that are, in fact, ethical.
• But standards of behavior in society/ community can deviate from
what is ethical. An entire society/ community can become ethically
corrupt and even absolutely rotten. Nazi Germany during Hitler’s
reign is a good example.
Cont’d

• Moreover, if being ethical were doing “whatever society/ community

accepts,” then to find out what is ethical, one would have to find out
what society/ community accepts.

• To decide what I should think about abortion, for instance, I would have
to take a survey of what the Kenyan society thinks about it, and then
conform my beliefs to whatever this particular society call Kenya accepts.
Cont’d

Further, the lack of social consensus on many issues makes it

impossible to equate ethics with whatever society accepts. Some
people accept abortion but many others do not. If being ethical were
doing whatever society accepts, one would have to find an agreement
on issues which does not, in fact, exist.
Cont’d
• Before we can delve into the nature of Christian ethics, we must first
be very clear on this prior question of what is ethics in general is all
about.
• We’ll therefore, begin by looking at the word ethics. This word ethics
is derived from the Greek adjective ethikos which comes from ethos,
a noun which in the singular means character, and in the plural
manners or customs, even customs which are prescribed by law. So
the word by derivation is concerned with character and conduct. How
then is it used?
Cont’d
• The term ethics may be used in three different but related ways. The
first way uses it to mean a way of life or a pattern of conduct. It refers
to well based standards of right and wrong that prescribe what
humans ought to do, with regard to rights, obligations, benefits to
society, fairness, or specific virtues.
• It implies those standards that impose the reasonable obligations to
refrain from, e.g rape, stealing, murder, assault, slander, and fraud.
Ethical standards include those enjoined virtues of honesty,
compassion, and loyalty.
Cont’d

• The second way uses it to mean a set of rules or a code of morals on

which a pattern of conduct may be based.

• This includes standards relating to rights, such as the right to life, the
right to freedom from injury, and the right to privacy.

• Such standards are adequate standards of ethics because they are

supported by consistent and well founded reasons.
Cont’d
• The third way of looking at ethics is in the study of these patterns of
conduct or codes of morals.
• It is this third usage of the word we are to be concerned with in this
course.
• In this third way, ethics refers to the study and development of one’s
ethical standards.
• As mentioned above, feelings, laws, and social norms can deviate
from what is ethical.
Cont’d

• Therefore, it is very vital to constantly examine one’s standards to

ensure that they are reasonable and well-founded.

• Ethics also means, then, the continuous effort of studying our own
moral beliefs and our moral conduct, and striving to ensure that we,
and the institutions we help to shape, live up to standards that are
reasonable and solidly-based.
Cont’d

• The answer then to our prior question is that ethics is the study of

human conduct in whatever circumstances of his/ her living.

• Ethics as a discipline is the study of MORALITY. It studies human (Act)

conduct in order to establish its goodness or badness/ malice.

Cont’d
• By human Act/ conduct or behavior we mean the conscious, voluntary
and purposeful activity which makes up the everyday life of human
beings.
• It’s opposed to Acts of Human Being, which are done without
knowledge or freedom.
• Ethics only studies those human acts which entail freedom and
rationality.
Cont’d

• We all have a vital interest in ethics defined in this way for we have all
been concerned with human conduct since we first became aware of
our own behavior and the behavior of other people around us. This
means that none of us comes fresh to the study of human conduct as
though we were students beginning a new course of study.
Cont’d
• This means that none of us comes fresh to the study of human
conduct as though we were students beginning a new course of study.
• At its lowest level our concern with ethics is with those common-
sense principles which appear to guide and govern our daily actions,
the recognition and study of which we may call common-sense ethics
to use the term suggested by A. C. Ewing in his introductory, volume
on ethics.
Cont’d

• At a more advanced level, ethics is the systematic and organized study

of human conduct which forms part of philosophy; and was
traditionally called moral philosophy.

• It is this latter type of systematic ethics about which textbooks are

written and which is commonly meant when the term ethics is used.
Cont’d

• The consultant physician who said that he reached for his golf-clubs when
anyone started talking about ethics is an example of those people who have
not progressed beyond common-sense ethics.

• They believe that ethics is only a matter of common sense and human
experience, but it does not take much contact with the problems of daily life
to reveal how inadequate and unsatisfactory common-sense ethics can be
when faced with a difficult ethical situation.
Cont’d
• It was when men began to discuss and examine their behavior in daily
life that systematic ethics came into being and developed alongside
common-sense ethics, although the one did not outdate or supersede
the - other.
• Both types of ethics still exist side by side today and systematic ethics
must also take account of common-sense ethics.
• Which type of ethics predominates in any ethical discussion will
depend on the degree of sophistication of the thought of those
involved in the discussion, and the particular nature of the moral
decision required.
Cont’d

• Socrates was the first man to discourse on human conduct according to Diogenes
Laertius, the Greek philosophical gossip writer of the third century AD. Socrates
lived in the Fifth century BC. His dates are usually given as 469 to 399 BC.

• It is unlikely that he was the first to think about and discuss human conduct and
character, but we do not know the names of any who did before his time and we
cannot read their thoughts as we can those of Socrates in the Dialogues of Plato.
Cont’d
• It is his pupil Plato who has preserved for us the speech which
Socrates made before- the Athenian court after his conviction and
before his condemnation to death.
• In this speech Socrates said that he believed that the greatest good
anyone could do to man was to discourse daily about virtue and
related matters and to examine himself and others in these things.
‘The unexamined life,’ he declared in a famous sentence, ‘was not
worth living.’ In Socrates’ practice of this belief lies the beginning of
systematic ethics as far as we can date it today.
Cont’d

• Down through the centuries from this beginning in ancient Greece, as men
observed, examined and discussed human conduct and character, their
knowledge became more systematic and their understanding more
profound.

• It cannot, however, be said that their agreement on the significance of what

they discovered became greater, as a glance into any standard account of
the history of ethics will soon reveal.
Cont’d
• The result of their studies was the rise of different schools of ethical
thought and new theories, and even new systems of ethics have
continued to appear down to our own day.
• However, the main lines on which ethical discussion may proceed and
along which the solution of ethical problems may be sought, have
long since been laid down in the thought of mankind.
• There are few new theories or systems which may arise today which
cannot be paralleled from the previous history of ethical thought.
ETHICAL THEORIES

• By ethical theories we meant those varied opinions advanced by different

ethics scholars (Ethicists or Moralists) on what actually makes a particular
human act to be good or bad.

• Deontological Theory: The verb deontological comes from Greek word deon
meaning duty. It states that a human act is good only when it is performed
out of the individual’s sense of duty. An individual should do what she/he is
supposed to do simply because he/she is supposed to do it.
Cont’d
• Utilitarianism Theory: The term is derived from utility or usefulness. It states that, a
human act is good only when it results into the greatest happiness to the greatest
number of people possible.

• Intuitionism Theory: The term comes from the noun intuition, and it states that a
human act is good when human mind intuites it as being good (understands it
immediately without the need for conscious reasoning or study. It expresses the
notion that human mind is capable of knowing directly and immediately what is right
and what is wrong.
UNIVERSALISM OF ETHICS

• Universalism of ethics/ morality simply means that there is morality/

conduct, which is true for all human beings regardless of their

diversities. Ethical life, moral life is common to all and it is based on

giving objective reasons for one’s position. Moral good in its entirety

is for the good of all. It does not allow partiality.

Cont’d

• In order to be objective in applying the universalism of ethics, the

process of socialization can never be used as being above the form of
moral education. More often than not this process of socialization has
led to cultural and ethical indoctrination to the detriment of
objectivity of ethics. If objectivity is to be achieved the process of
socialization must be avoided.
Cont’d

• The universalism of ethics, which is based on the objectivity of morality,

states clearly that there are ethical principles that are universal and not
restricted to any culture. For example, a principle such as Do Good and
Avoid Evil is applicable to all the people, all the time, and at all places.
There is no one community on the face of the earth whose
understanding of their social life does not require this principle.
Cont’d

• Other Principles include; the Ten Commandments; Whenever

Conscience calls it must be obeyed; Never act with a guilty
conscience, etc.

• All these Principles of ethics are objective and universal. They have no
biases of any kind and no one community on earth can pretend that
they can/ do not apply to them.
A CHRISTIAN VIEW OF ETHICS
• Christian thinkers have never regarded ethics as a subject which could
exist as an independent discipline. No textbook of ethics which claims
to be a complete account of the subject can consist of an objective or
unbiased presentation without any reference to other ideas and
concepts.
• Ethics as the study of human conduct must begin with man and must
presuppose some particular Concept of man, his nature, his purpose
and his destiny.
Cont’d

• All ethical theories and systems are based on the prior acceptance of
some view of man and his place in the world.

• Such a view must include at the very least a belief in man’s rationality,
self - consciousness and moral awareness.

• Christian ethics, the basis is that of the Christian view of man, his
nature and his destiny.
Cont’d

• Christian ethics then is the systematic study and evaluation of human

conduct from the point of view of the Christian Faith. It is based on
Christian truth which is derived from divine revelation, and is
expressed in practical ethical terms in the conduct and behavior of
Christian believers in their daily lives.
Cont’d

• By the examination and exploration of ethical ideals and principles derived from
Scriptures and actively related to--the .ethical problems and situations facing
Christian people both individually as Christian believers and collectively as the
Christian Church, such study seeks to provide guidance and guidelines for their
life and conduct in everyday life. Christian ethics stands in contrast to all forms of
ethics which are based on human reason and are the product of human
speculative thought which provides the basis of general or philosophical ethics.
Cont’d
• Christian ethics presupposes Christian theology which is the systematic study of
Christian truth. This means that before we can study Christian ethics we must
first understand something of Christian truth which is the basis of Christian faith.
• Without faith in the existence and rationality of the natural order and faith in the
rationality and capacity of human mind to observe and understand, natural
science is impossible. What is true of natural science is true of all human thought
and activity. It is true of all ethics for we must first accept in faith the reality and
rationality of human conduct before we can study and evaluate it. It is true of
Christian ethics which arises from the Christian Faith and its understanding of
God, man and the world.
THE HUMAN PERSON:
AFRICAN UNDERSTANDING OF THE HUMAN PERSON

• Africans, like any other human society, have a way of observing reality
that is unique to them i.e. their worldview which is the way they
perceive the world, understanding and interpret the things which
happen to them and to other people. Worldview here refers to their
way of understanding life and the world in which they live; their
unique beliefs about what is real and what is not.
Cont’d

• This basic assumption defines the way they perceive the whole reality: man/woman,
world and God. The African worldview is greatly influenced by religion, which
attempts to answer the deep desires in the human heart and to give meaning to life.
The human person is therefore understood in accordance with this worldview.

• He/she is a unique individual who enjoys the fullness of life. i.e. he/she has a cordial
relationship with the community, fellow human beings, other created beings and
God, who is the creator and the source of life.
Cont’d
• Further, the human person has a personal identity, self-awareness and
individuality. This explains why the newborn is given a name and thus
the importance of individual responsibility. The individual, however,
exists in-and-for the community and participates in the mystery of life in
relationship with others.
• He/she is a relational being, with a very strong sense of community life,
expressed through participation in the life of the community into which
the individual is introduced through successive initiation rites. This
explains the deep sense of family and fraternal solidarity characteristic
of traditional African societies.
Cont’d
• Therefore, the meaning of an individual’s life is found in and through
his/her relationships with others. He/she grows more fully human
when he/she lives in solidarity with others. This social interaction is
important for the individual, the entire community and the whole
humanity.
• This deep sense of community life allows the values of respect for life,
family solidarity, fraternal solidarity, hospitality, justice, love and care
for nature and a sense of the sacred and religion to flourish in
traditional African societies.
Cont’d

• Among Bantu ethnic groups, the human person is understood as

‘muntu’ meaning of individual endowed with intelligence and will i.e.
one endowed with dignity and worth, existing in relation to the
community. The idea of ‘muntu’ embraces a vision of human person
as the creative source of all forms of knowledge and all values.
Cont’d

• The African understanding of the human person is holistic, dynamic and

more realistic of human nature. Such understanding shapes the African
morality.

• An African sees no dichotomy between religion and other human activities.

God is perceived as the original source of life and of the basis of moral life.
He shares this life-power with all living beings and sustains them.
Cont’d

• An individual’s relationship with God is necessary for keeping unity,

peace, and life in the family and clan. Indeed, in the traditional African
set up, religion did not exist as a separate institution. Rather it was
interlaced in all aspects and institutions of life: individual, social,
political and economic i.e. there is no distinction between the sacred
and the profane in daily life.
Cont’d

• This understanding has social and moral implications. It is an

invitation to renew our commitment to promote the values that
emphasize togetherness, respect for life, social solidarity, and justice.
We have to turn back from an individualistic lifestyle and begin to
appreciate and promote these social values as part of our unique
contribution to the patrimony of humanity.
CHRISTIAN UNDERSTANDING OF HUMAN PERSON

• The Bible provides a unique understanding of the human person,

which is the basis of Christian anthropology. Christian anthropology
deals with who man/woman is and how he/she relates to God, to
others and to the entire creation. It helps man/woman to understand
himself/herself from God’s perspective: discovering his origin,
purpose and destiny. Christian anthropology has two basic points of
reference: the mystery of creation in which man is made “in the
image of God” and the mystery of Christ who reveals man fully to
himself/herself. These are the two truths of creation and redemption.
Cont’d
• Man/woman was created by God’s free and loving act. He created
both man and woman in his own image and likeness (Genesis 1:26-
27). This biblical fact, of man/woman’s creation in God’s image and
likeness, is the foundation of the dignity of the human person and the
derivative rights. The dignity of the human person is thus placed on
mans relationship to God (Vatican II, Pastoral Constitution on the
Church in the Modern world, GS nn. 12-22; The Compendium of the
Social Doctrine of the Church, CSDC nn. 108-114; The Catechism of
the Catholic Church, CCC nn. 356-358). Thus, God alone is the Lord of
life and death. Man/woman must respect life and bodily integrity.
Cont’d
• The source of the dignity of the human person is in the creative act of
a free and loving God who invites human beings into relationship with
Himself.
• All human beings have been created by God to grow in response to
His love and to share that love with other human beings. This is
possible because the human person has the intellect, the capacity for
moral decision, and has a capacity for God i.e. he/she finds life and
fulfillment only in relationship with God. Thus, through his/her
intellect and free will, man is able to transcend the created order and
freely tend towards the total truth and the absolute good: God.
Cont’d

• Man/woman is a unity of body and soul. He/she is called to love in his/her

totality, of body and soul. He/she can fully discover his/her true self only in
a sincere giving of himself/herself to God (Vatican II, Pastoral Constitution
on the Church in the Modern World, n. 24). Man/woman has the same
nature, dignity and equality before God: he/she is essential a social
creature who needs both God and other people. He/she has the capacity
to relate with others as a social being.
Cont’d
• Man/woman’s “dominion” over the earth is one of “stewardship,” not
of selfish exploitation inconsiderate of the value of creation, other
people and the future generation.
• Created in the image and likeness of God, man/woman enjoys the gift
of freedom. He/she can therefore act out of knowledge and free will.
Freedom enables man/woman to do good, seek the objective truth and
live according to God’s plan of creation. Freedom has social, economic,
juridical and political dimensions i.e. where situations of injustice exist,
man’s moral life is injured and his/her freedom jeopardized. Freedom is
not a license to do whatever one pleases but a call to do well and avoid
what is evil.
Cont’d
• The mystery of sin is real and it disfigures man/woman’s basic
relationships: to fellow men, the world and God. However, God’s
gratuitous love can restore man’s broken relationships through the
sacrament of reconciliation on the other two dimensions.
• Man/woman should never be conceived in a mechanical-materialistic
and discriminatory manner. As an essentially spiritual being,
man/woman must work to realize himself/herself by nurturing basic
human values: human dignity, truthfulness, freedom, justice, peace,
humility, modesty, hospitality, solidarity, prudence, hard work, and
fear of God.
HUMAN BEING AND THE QUEST FOR HAPPINESS

• Man/woman was created to be happy. Happiness is a natural urge

and the driving force behind man/woman’s activities. The desire for it
is enshrined in the human person’s heart, deep in his/her nature.
However, while all persons seek happiness, they differ in their
conceptions of what will lead to it. A correct conception of happiness
is closely related to moral life; the purpose of moral life is to love God,
others and self by doing good and avoiding evil. It has to do with the
person’s good i.e. a good that is appropriate to that which is
specifically human in him/her.
Cont’d
• Further, happiness is related to understanding the
purpose of life, of the ultimate end and the destiny of
the human person. It is a process of discovering who
one is and who one ought to be according to God’s
unique plan and vocation for each person.
• True happiness is never achieved through the
acquisition of material goods. Only God satisfies the
human desire for happiness.
Cont’d

• Thus, a clear distinction must be made between the “goods of being”

which are internal to the human person and the “goods of having”
which are external to man/woman and that there is a superiority of
the “goods of being” over the “goods of having”. This distinction is
important because, for most people happiness simply means
satisfaction in life, success, good luck, good fortune and being rich.
Cont’d

• The Christian understanding of happiness is that it consist in being

united with God, the ultimate goal of human existence. Unity with

God is achieved through knowledge and contemplation of God, by

acting in accord with virtues and by conforming our will to the will of

God. Complete happiness, is however, not attainable in this life.

FUNDAMENTAL MORAL PRINCIPLES
Introduction to Fundamental Moral Principles

• A principle or norm is a standard of judgment. It is an authoritative standard

which serves as a pattern or model to which things of a similar nature must
conform. A principle should be universal, unchangeable, accessible to all and
applicable to all conditions.

• A moral principle is the standard of judging the nature of the human act to
determine is a standard measure of what a moral being ought to be. What
human beings ought to be is moral; what they ought not to be is immoral.
Cont’d

• Fundamental moral principles are basic in helping human beings to be moral good.
These principles are the basis of moral judgment of a human act. The fundamental
principles are:

• Do good and avoid evil

• Obey your conscience

• Do to others what you want done to you

• Love God and neighbor

DO GOOD AND AVOID EVIL

• Good is that at which all things aim (Fagothy, 1989:67).

• God is the ultimate good from which derives the power to discern
what is good and its basis is God.

• Goodness is the wholeness of being and human acts are supposed to

aim at that good. Good here means not only what is morally good, but
also whatever can be understood to be perfective of human persons.
Cont’d

• We do good because we want to be as perfect as our heavenly Father is

(Mt 5:48, Lk 6:36); He is our creator and the end of man.

• The human being is a personal being created by God to be in relationship

with Him; man finds life and self-expression only in relationship ad tends
naturally to God (Compendium, n. 109; CCC, n. 1721).

• We also want to live in harmony with fellow human beings.

Cont’d
• Evil is the absence or privation of good. It is whatever deprives human persons
of their perfection or fullness of being.
• A privation exists whenever a being, which by nature is expected to be morally
perfect, lacks the perfection.
• We should avoid evil because it frustrates God’s plan for us i.e. eternal destiny.
• The truth concerning good and evil should be recognized in a practical and
concrete manner by the judgment of conscience.
• Therefore, the whole of man’s life is a quest and a search for God, the ultimate
good.
OBEY YOUR CONSCIENCE (Ref to Handout class notes).
DO TO OTHERS WHAT YOU WANT DONE TO YOU

• It is called the Golden Rule because it cuts across all cultures and religions
• It is also called the Rule of Reciprocity
• It is a call for an exchange of the gift of love among persons where we
should not treat human beings as means but ends in themselves.
• Being in the image of God, the human individual possesses the dignity of
a person who is not just something but someone. He is capable of self-
knowledge, of self - possession and of freely giving himself and entering
into communion with other persons, bringing about the existence of
social solidarity.
• Social solidarity will lead to the attainment of the common good.
LOVE GOD AND NEIGHBOUR

• Love is a life-giving principle of the Gospel and has the power to

animate all Christian actions.
• It is an unconditional gift t us from God who is love itself and who
invites us into a communion of love with others.
• We love God because He created us: and He is the source and end of
our being.
• He has created us in His own image and likeness (Gen. 1:27) and
endowed us with free will and intelligence which enables us to know,
love and serve Him.
Cont’d

• We love our neighbor because we acknowledge in them the dignity of the

human person created in the image and likeness of God.

• We love God and others because He loved us first (I Jn. 4: 11-12).

• The commandment of reciprocal love represents the law of life for Gods
people; hence it must inspire, purify and elevate all human relationships in
society: social, economic, political, cultural and religious dimensions (Vatican II,
Dogmatic Constitution on the Church, LG n. 9; CSDC. n. 33).
SOURCES OF THE FUNDAMENTAL MORAL PRINCIPLES

• The sources are the fountain from which spring the fundamental moral principles.

• These include:

• Revelation (Sacred Scriptures and Church Tradition) entrusted to the Magisterium

of the Church.

• Natural moral law

• Human experience
Cont’d

• Faith and reason represent the two cognitive paths of Christian ethics,
hence sources of fundamental moral principles.

• Revelation is the act of God through which He moves the person to

proclaim the divine truths about God, man and creation as given in
the Scriptures handed on by the Church Tradition and taught by the
Magisterium.
Cont’d

• Natural moral law is discovered by human reason as inscribed in the nature

of creation (animate and inanimate)

• It is through human experience that an individual or society comes to learn

and know how to make a sharp distinction between what is good from what
is bad. Examples of how we gather human experiences include suffering,
joy, education and the contributions of human and natural sciences.
THE MORALITY OF HUMAN ACT

• The human person exercises his/her responsibility through particular

acts that express his or her basic direction of life.

• These actions can be classified into two categories, namely the

human act and act of the human person.

• Human acts are the acts that freely chosen in consequence of a

judgment of conscience and can be morally evaluated.
Cont’d
• Acts of the human person comprise all biological processes like breathing,
digestion, sensory impulses like feeling pain as well as spontaneous
psychic reactions that precedes the activity of intellect and free will.
• Human acts come from the gift of freedom given to the human person.
Freedom makes the human person a moral subject. When one acts
deliberately, he/she is the master of his/her acts.
• They are subject of morality i.e. moral evaluation because they are made
of two important elements i.e. previous knowledge of the intellect and
free will.
Cont’d

• There are three factors that determine the morality of human acts:

the object chosen as the good towards which the will deliberately

direct itself; the circumstances which are particulars of the human act

that affect the moral object; and the end in view or the intention for

which the agent undertakes an act.

HUMAN VALUES

• A value is an ideal which is treasured and held in high esteem. It is

also a good that is pursued by a moral agent.

• Value is some reality that man spontaneously recognizes as

possessing an intrinsic worth. The person himself/herself is the basic
value, the centre of values.

• Value calls for a norm in order to express it and protect it.

Cont’d

• The relationship between values and principles is an undoubtedly one of

reciprocity in that moral values are an expression of appreciation to be
attributed to those specific aspects of moral good which these principles
foster (CSDC, n. 197).

• The values include human life, justice, love, charity, temperate, truth,
freedom, fortitude, humility, respect, chastity, kindness, understanding,
forgiveness, and fear of God among many others.
JESUS’ VISION OF LIFE

• Jesus viewed Life as sacred by virtue of man being created in the

image and likeness of God. This was manifested in his words and
deeds, thus unveiling God’s loving plan for humanity.

• Jesus taught on three dimensions of relationships: the human person

with God, human person with fellow human beings and human
person with the rest of creation.
Cont’d

• For him, authentic life is a call to Holiness (Mt. 5:48). Holiness is not limited to the

sanctuary or to moments of private prayer; it is a call to direct our whole heart

and life toward God and according to God’s plan for this world (O’Brien and

Shannon, 2003:655).

• Jesus’ vision of life is that of al redemption and liberation of humankind.

Humankind should be seen from both spiritual and temporal dimension. This is
clearly spelt out in Jesus’ program of social ministry as read in Lk. 4: 18-19.
Cont’d

• Human person is called to look with hope towards ultimate union with God.

Therefore, the whole vision of Christ on man is that human person, in

himself/herself and transcends the limits of the created universe, of society and of

history: his/her ultimate end is God himself who has revealed himself to

humankind in order to invite them and receive them into communion with Himself.
CONTEMPORARY ETHICAL CHALLENGES
RESPONSIBLE HUMAN RELATIONSHIPS

• A human person is a social being by his/her very nature. This is

verified by the story of creation from the book of Genesis 1:27 and
2:15-23 whereby Adam in the midst of all creation could not find
companionship until the creation of Eve. Relationship therefore, is a
normal and healthy human need.
• The need for human relationship is experienced right from the
beginning of human life (conception), gestation period, birth and
early formative years in the family, adulthood, death, and life after.
Cont’d

• The response to the need for human relationships is expressed in various ways, some
healthy and others unhealthy. In respect of the dignity of the human person, healthy
relationship should be nurtured and unhealthy ones discarded.

• A healthy relationship is a relationship built on love of another person in accordance

with the love that God has manifested to each person, regardless of who the person
is (in terms of gender, race, tribe, religious affiliation, political affiliation, and socio
economic status). This is in response to God’s command “Love one another.
Cont’d

• As I have loved you, so you also love one another” (John 13:34). The love
referred to here is spelt out in I Corinthians 13:1-13. Thus, love is patient,
kind, not quick tempered, does not seek its own interests, is not quick
tempered, does not rejoice over wrongdoing, rejoices with the truth, bears
all things, believes in all things, hopes in all things, endures all things and
never fails.

• Everything contrary to these describes unhealthy relationships.

Cont’d

• The goal of responsible relationships among people of opposite sex should be

service of building up the personhood of those involved.

• It should develop their sense of self-worth and dignity so as to live up to the

values of self-control of feelings and desires.

• It should spur their success and bring out the best in them by empowering
them to make to make responsible life choices in their relationships based on
respect and love for each other.
Cont’d

• When human relationships are founded on selfish motives, they can be hurtful and

destruction to both parties. The consequences of such relationships go beyond the

parties involved to their immediate families and the wider society. To keep a

relationship positive and growing, both parties need to understand, develop, and

attain physical, emotional, spiritual, social, political and economic maturity.

CREATIVE USE OF LEISURE TIME

• Time is a gift from God, like the other gifts we have. Thus, we are stewards
of God’s time. Time therefore, should not be used for the realization of
selfish interest that do not promote human dignity, personal and societal
development.

• Leisure time is founded in the original plan of God’s creation. In the creation
narrative (Genesis 2:1-4), God worked for six days to create the world and
rested on the seventh day.
Cont’d

• It was a common practice that marked Jesus’ public ministry to proclaim the good news, heal,

feed the crowds and at the end of the day he would call his apostles to go in a secure place to

rest, pray, contemplate on the day’s work and plan for the way forward (Luke 4:31-37).

• Leisure time should be used to build family and society relationships.

• It is an opportunity for communal prayer and worship, relaxed contemplation and enjoyment of

God’s creation and for the cultivation of the arts which help fill the human longing for wholeness.

• Leisure time should be used to develop one’s talents and potentialities.

THE PSYCHOLOGY OF THE MEDIA

• Mass media are essential for the functioning and maintenance of life in
contemporary society. It has the role of informing, interpreting, educating,
and evaluating social life, reflecting culture, providing entertainment for
leisure time and publicizing services and goods.

• Media should make people more mature spiritually, aware of the dignity of
the human person, responsible and open to others particularly the needy
and the weak.
Cont’d

• It should respect legitimate cultural differences and promote co-

existence irrespective of differences for a cohesive society.

• The media enhances intercultural communication across distances

thus creating an enabling environment for unity among all human
persons. Education, culture, and religion are increasingly made
accessible to all through the technological advancements of our age.
Cont’d

• We need to develop a critical assessment of the adverse effects of the

media such as tribal and racist language, creation of an environment that
promotes gender bias, a permissive approach in dealing with moral
issues, coverage that provokes violent behavior and irresponsible
relationships which distort God’s plan of the family and gives a distorted
image of leadership that embraces structural injustices: all these are
divisive tools of the society.
RESPONDING TO EMERGING ISSUES
ON AFRICAN VALUES
• In contemporary society, some of the emerging issues on African values are:

• Ignorance of the presence of African values.

• Erosion of the meaningfulness attached to African values.

• Evaluation of African values using Western criteria.

Cont’d
• This has led to disintegration of the moral fabric of society, breakdown of the
African family synergy, alienation of individuals and societies from their roots,
giving rise to an individualistic society as opposed to communal dimensions of
life emphasized by the African way of life.
• Responding to emerging issues on African values is important. To begin with,
salvaging the African family synergy is the foundation for recovering and
perpetuating African values and the identity of the African people. This should
take place in an interactive way that supports integration and adoption of
values from other cultures to enrich African value systems rather than
destroying them.
Cont’d
• The interaction between the African value system and other cultures
should lead as to work for integral development that appropriately
meets our needs as the people of Africa.
• Christianity does not teach African values but clarifies, purifies and
confirms the moral values and virtues emphasized by the African
people. This is supported by Fr. Cesard’s observation on values and
morals: “Not only does he (the Muhaya) know the natural law but the
judges his moral actions in relation to the Creator, the neighbour and
himself.
Cont’d
• With regard to God, he believes that he is obliged to praise Him, and
to pronounce His name with respect, which he does frequently. In
relation to the state, he feels the need for that authority. The chief is
sacred because of his ancestry and the services that he gives. He is
also obeyed. in relationship to the family each member must do his
duty if he is to he respected. Respect and obedience to parents are
much stressed. Moral values, virtues and vices are well known. One
has just to listen to their proverbs, sayings and fables which praise
virtue and condemn vice. (Id., Anthropos XXII, (1927), cited by M.
Kilaini, The Catholic Evangelization of Kagera, 42.
ETHICAL REFLECTION
Ref: Hard Copy Handout.

• Abortion and Contraceptives

• Homosexuality and Lesbianism

• Genetic Engineering

• Drug abuse and Alcoholism