Home Podcast
Below we explore spiritual questions applied to ethics.
Ethics address the ‘should’ & ‘ought’, questions about what is right. From private matters of conscience to issues of public concern such as business ethics and political judgment. We try to apply spiritual principles to these moral questions.
Posts for example address the dilemma of working parents between work and being at home for the children. What guidelines should be employed when disciplining children within the home? What should be the limits of tolerance, protectiveness, anger or impatience?
Human beings need to economically make use of the physical environment. Where should the balance be between valuing and preserving nature and exploiting it to meet the economic needs of a growing world population?
Can it be right to tell someone something they don’t want to know like their medical condition? What about euthanasia? How far should we go to prolong life? Ought we not take our own life?
Articles, linked to below, tackle how to approach political ethics using spiritual principles. Is it right to have a monarchy? How should we regulate free market capitalism? What are the right and wrong ways to deal with a country’s financial crisis? What about immigration policy and multiculturalism? What stance should we take to the numbers of refugees we take in. Should we be ashamed of the western world values. In relation to violence, how should we respond to the human misery caused by civil wars and lawless rogue states?
Insincerity and hypocrisy are criticised. But arguably white lies and pretence are needed to oil the social cogs of society. When is it fair to criticise those who don’t always practice what they preach? When is it wrong to gossip?
If discrimination and judging others are wrong, just how tolerant should one try to be? Posts below look at attitudes to criminals, layabouts, foul language, litter.
Should we put our needs before those of others? Should one give favours on the understanding we will get them back in return or should we follow the ideal of unconditional love? Do we get our own way too often?
Should we try to tell the difference between right and wrong? How much should one give to charities? How to evaluate one’s own private desires? Why does it matter if we go against our conscience? Are there really any impure thoughts? Is sexual imagery too explicit? Where is the harm in watching pornography. How does one become a better person?
Controversially, a petition signed by 100,000 people has called for some re-allocation of the UK’s foreign aid budget to help compensate the victims of British floods and improve flood defences. The annual £11bn budget is aimed at alleviating poverty and helping crisis-hit areas around the world. Similarly, grumbling voices in the right-wing media have criticised … Continue reading Aid – Should charity begin at home?
Throughout history human beings have been fighting, maiming and killing each other. If you wish to think about an ethical response to violence then the Viking invasion of Britain over 1000 years ago is as relevant a period in history as any for consideration. For their story is one of pillage and slaughter, destruction and … Continue reading Violence: How to respond to it ethically?
Some, perhaps many, Muslims hate the West. The dislike varies according to what question is asked, when it is asked and where. Generally speaking, what is detested is sexual freedom being exported around the rest of humankind. And there is anger about the West’s political support for Jewish occupation of Palestine. What is controversial is … Continue reading Terrorism – More logical than loving the enemy?
Do you work for a company or public body that does things that make you feel uncomfortable? Perhaps you have noticed poor quality service or faulty goods. Sometimes sharp business practices are used and corners are cut. Yet business ethics is not always a clear-cut matter. An action that one person may consider perfectly reasonable … Continue reading Business ethics: How to judge the boss?
Who hasn’t at one time or another felt cross with him or herself for acting on some urge of the moment, giving in to temptation to do something which was enjoyed at the time but which later causes regret? Perhaps it was overeating and now you are fearful of looking fat and becoming unhealthy: or … Continue reading Temptation – Giving in to it – So what?
It is not uncommon for people with only a mild degree of depression to have thoughts of suicide. Although the majority take this no further, the process of thinking about harming oneself may make one more vulnerable to actually doing so. Suicide of Gary Speed From time to time, you might secretly wonder if ending … Continue reading Suicide – can it be a rational option?
Is there a religious call to exploit nature? Here, Swedenborg tackles a bit of text that has led some people to believe just that. Another brief video from offTheLeftEye
People need to economically make use of the world of nature by hunting for fish, growing crops, felling trees, and quarrying and mining for minerals etc. Humanity cannot survive unless food is eaten and shelter is built. Yet, in recent decades we have come to realise the insidious damage to ecosystems due to industrialisation, extraction … Continue reading Nature — How should we value it?
Ethical and sustainable investments have performed 6% better than non-ethical funds Ethical and sustainable investment funds have performed better over the last year than their non-ethical counterparts, new research shows. According to research by independent comparison website Moneyfacts.co.uk, the average ethical fund has posted gains of 24% over the 12 months to August 2013, … Continue reading Ethical funds outperform mainstream investments
Brent Morris did the unthinkable, considering the nation’s economy is still struggling. He quit his six-figure job as a management consultant in April, not for a better-paying job, but for one that pays nothing at all. Morris, who is a husband and father of three, decided it was time to help the less fortunate, so … Continue reading Despite the economy, man quits 6-figure job to work for free
