How Ethical Is This (given at the Michigan rally in May 2006)

Good evening. I’d like to start by thanking certain people. Thank you, Gold Star Families For Peace for making it possible for all of us to be here.
Thank you, colleagues for being here and sharing your wisdom with us.
And thank you for coming here in solidarity. There is strength in numbers. Your presence strengthens this movement.

We live in times when we are bombarded with talk and isolated through action. Politicians talk about faith while their actions encourage Americans to fight against one another and to see each other as enemies. Politicians talk about God while their actions serve to make our country less than what it was in the past and less than what it can be in the future.

Religious zealots talk about belief, while their actions chip away at our rights to privacy. Religious zealots talk about sins against God while their actions support the denial of human rights for lesbians, gays, Muslims, non-Christians, women, and anyone they consider to be different or less than.

Talk and action.

We talk about what is right. And we act by coming together with those who agree with us. We talk about what is wrong. And we act by working against those who do not agree with us. We talk about ending wars of aggression. We act by demonstrating our disapproval.

There is a great deal of talk, a great deal of unrest, a great deal of confrontation in our country. But, in all the talk, in all the action, all the confrontations and demonstrations, how many times do we hear talk about ethics?

How many times do we talk about ethics?

How many times do we look at our actions the actions of others in the context of ethical standards?

Now, what do I mean by ethical standards?

What I don’t mean is religious belief.
That’s what has been confusing people in this country. Those who wish to oppress the most are the quickest to use religious belief as justification for their actions.

Religious belief and ethical standards are different and can progress independent of one another.

Webster says this:
Ethics is the discipline dealing with what is good and bad and with moral duty and obligation; a set of moral principles or values; a theory or system of moral values; the principles of conduct governing an individual or a group; professional ethics; a guiding philosophy.

Politicians aren’t talking about their ethical standards. They’re too busy telling us who has faith and who doesn’t. Religious zealots aren’t talking about their ethical standards. They’re too busy telling us what God wants and doesn’t want.

Yet the ethical standards of a person, a group, or even a country are present and working. Those standards are not revealed through talk, but we can see them in action.

I’d like to share a story with you. I’d like to tell you about a woman that I met while traveling and speaking throughout the country. This woman opened her home to me and made sure that I was comfortable. She lived in a one bedroom apartment, so she gave me her bed while she slept on the couch during my stay.

We talked while I was there, and I got to know her. She was a person with one of the kindest hearts that I have ever encountered. She was a person who seldom went to a church, temple or mosque. She didn’t believe in God, and did not think organized religion was good for humanity.

Yet she treated me, a stranger, with the respect and acceptance that I would expect from my family.

This woman’s actions tell us a lot about her ethical standards. She was a person who valued every human being, She respected herself and others.

She loved her neighbor as herself.

In her presence, I found myself asking questions like what do my actions reveal about my ethical standards?

What do our actions reveal about our ethical standards?

What do the actions and concerns of our leaders reveal about the ethical standards of our country?

To begin to answer these questions for myself, I had to do more than talk and act. I needed to question and think.

We need to question and think.

We need to ask questions like: how ethical is it that our country is fighting and killing people who are not a threat to us? We need to think about how we are experienced by the people who witness the killing.

We need to ask, how ethical is it that we have destroyed a country based on lies? We need to think about what lies we are being told right now by our leaders.

We need to ask, how ethical is it that our president allows our young men and women to become traumatized, dehumanized, and killed in his war of retaliation and aggression? We need to think about what this aggression is doing to our future.

We need to ask, how ethical is it that while our country spends millions of dollars every day this aggression continues, people are hungry, homeless, and are unable to obtain adequate medical care? We need to think about how we can work across boundaries to change this.

We need to ask, how ethical is it that with every new generation of Americans comes a higher percentage of High School drop outs? We need to think about why we have been relatively silent about this disturbing national trend.

We need to ask, how ethical is it that a new generation of women may not be able to control their own bodies because religious beliefs are negating our right to privacy? We need to think about how to separate religious beliefs from the right to privacy.

We need to ask, how ethical is it that lesbian and gay families are forced to live as second class citizens because religious bigots have overtaken our political process? We need to think about how we are being manipulated by homophobic, power hungry men and women whose goal is to oppress all who do not conform.

We need to ask, how ethical is it that we still look at one another and see racial categories while human beings suffer. We need to think about how we can stop seeing skin color and physical characteristics before we see people.

These are the kinds of questions we need to ask ourselves.
These are the questions that we need to demand that our leaders answer.
These are the kinds of things we need to think about.

I would like to leave you with a task tonight. I’m going to give you some homework. When you get home, I would like you to find a comfortable and quiet place to close your eyes and think. Think about a country where people are free to believe as they wish as long as those beliefs do not infringe on the rights and safety of others.

Think about a country where people of all colors are equal and have equal protection under the law.

Think about a country where women can take for granted that their right to privacy, their right to decide when to bring life into the world will be under their control only.

Think about that country. Envision your country. Hold in the images and feelings that come.

Then decide on one action you can take to help bring your country into reality. Join with people you think are different. Make their goals yours and ask them to help you with yours.

Because we will never stop the direction we are heading by splintering ourselves off into special interest groups. Today calls for us to ignore all that divided us in the past. Put aside our perceived differences. Find common ground, and work to save our world and the human race.

These are unprecedented times and they call for unprecedented responses.


Thank you,