Kohlberg and moral development

Heinz dilemma

Heinz wife is dying of a rare form of cancer. There is a drug that can cure the cancer. Heinz tries to get the drug for his wife by raising money and beseeching the CEO of the drug company. He fails; what should he do?

1. Steal the drug and not go to jail.
2. Steal the drug and go to jail.
3. Let his wife die.

Conventional ethics, law and order, good boy, bad boy ethics state he should go to jail if he steals the drug. Post conventional ethics, he should not go to jail because the “broader” social contract asserts that he’s doing the right thing and pre conventional ethics would let his wife die, the rules are the rules. This according to Lawrence Kohlberg’s stages of moral development who hypothesizes that each stage is more advanced than the previous; pre-conventional leads to conventional which leads to post conventional and so on.

Interesting, though in my approach to the dilemma I couldn’t help but thinking beyond the simple facts presented. Yes the drug company in the scenario is going to make tremendous profits at the cost to their social contract and I do have a problem with that. However, let’s suppose that a key ingredient in the drug is harvested by the poorest of poor farmers in the poorest of poor nations and that by stealing the drug to save his wife; Heinz denies those farmers a paycheck and their children starve to death. Then, did Heinz do the right thing? Did the ends justify the means and does Kohlberg’s scale really hold water?

My conclussion is that questions of morals and ethics in many situations tend to be much more blurry than what we see on the surface.

Serena RTP

Serena RTP

Looking for a fun, funky and somewhat loud atmosphere and food at a reasonable price? Try Serena on Miami Blvd. just south of I-40 on the outskirts of RTP. The place hops at lunch and sometimes at dinner, this past Friday evening it was hopping, mostly due to a huge bus full of University of Maryland women. By eight pm, my party was left alone in the place and the music changed form top 40 to 70’s so that was nice; you don’t hear Carol King while out too much anymore.

Expect pop music, expect sports on big screen televisions and expect a wait staff that is very friendly, warm and helpful. We were a party of seven and our waitress was great and funny too.

The menu is marketed as Sicilian influenced Gastropub. Ok, I can go with that. I started with Bruschetta which was exceptionally well done. The toasted bread was seasoned just right and the Roma tomatoes were fresh and delicious and swimming in a pool of slightly vinaigrette marinade.

My entre consisted of Gnocchi in Tony’s of Endicott Sicilian-Style Tomato Sauce with Moorish Meatballs. I’m pretty sure the Gnocchi was indeed homemade; I loved it. Tony’s sauce is delicate and light; my guess is that no tomato paste is used; a happy thing for me. It is so easy to weigh down the gravy and completely overpower the pasta. That said; the meatballs, oh the meatballs; yes, yes, yes. They are exquisite and I highly recommend them.

Friday night out at Serena RTP, fun, music modern, atmosphere neato and food oh so reasonably priced at $17 total; so I suggest that you go if you can.

Confronting Ourselves

Confrontation

I think in order to truly grow, there are times we have to look deep within ourselves and confront the personal beliefs that we have that might be incompatible a Christ centered faith. A belief system in Christian thought and in Christ as Savior, should challenge us to examine our inconsistencies.

Our faults in thinking can be as simple as losing one's temper while driving, becoming aggravated with a coworker, being rude or thoughtless. On a more serious scale a fault may lie in a belief that the ends justify the means; that torture is okay, that deliberate cruelty is fine so long as the end result is the desired result. Additionally some may come to the conclusion that the death penalty is acceptable to rid society of those that society deems unreachable and unredeemable.

I think that the fault in believing that torture is okay is that torture in its truest sense is a form of rape. The victim, the one being tortured if you will; must surrender himself to the fact that he is indeed helpless in the hands of his tormentor. What we often fail to recognize though is that the torturer is at some level tortured himself or in deep and undeniable torment. The act alone dehumanizes both the victim and the assailant. This is often the case with most debasing behavior though isn’t it?

In contemplating the death penalty, I believe that when humankind meters out this form of punishment that humankind is playing God. It is part of God's divine plan that all human beings are redeemable. When humanity kills a human either as punishment, or in war or in any sort of conscious act of inhumanity is acting like God. That sin of playing God, robs God and the punished individual of their right, their divine right to redemption and reconciliation. As I mature more I’ve become much more steadfast that no human or human institution has the right deny another the right of redemption.

Hebrews 12:14
Strive for peace with everyone, and for the holiness without which no one will see the Lord.

Another Christmas in Smyrna

Another Christmas in Smyrna

Years, like sand through an hourglass are slipping past. Christmas at Smyrna is always enjoyable, as the years progress they seem much more relaxed and low-key. Happily, my mind’s preconceived notions of what the holiday should be have been tempered by the years. So it really is okay now to just enjoy quiet time, walk in the park, stroll in Beaufort, nap, visit and read my book.

This year dad was still fighting quite a cough that's really been around since the start of the month. He wasn't feeling 100%. Dad seemed to really enjoy the holiday: the expression on his face was very easy-to-read and he enjoyed speaking and listening to his Christmas Eve dinner guests.

Mom did a standup job with food which was a delightful assortment of stuffed shells, homemade meatballs, sweet sausage, bread, salad and homemade pie. The dinner conversation was steady and warm and went on for hours. My job which of course is self-appointed; is cleanup detail so by the time mom and dad were done saying goodbye to their guests the kitchen was clean and the dishes stacked in the dishwasher.

I guess where I'm going with all of this kind of mundane observation is that when everyone pitches in its easy and relaxed. Of course year in and year out we’re all acutely aware that there are missing people at our table, those who have gone on and those who never show. The empty chairs of those who have gone on are easy to cope with, it is what it is; they have no choice. Those who never show well that's a little more difficult to cope with; it's harder to get your arms around the fact some who you love just don't come, never offers to, never asks and never seems to care. Whether they care or not remains a great mystery.

Bull's Head Inn

Bull’s Head Inn

It really is amazing how the decades can fade away. This Sunday after Nana’s 100th birthday party I drove up to Goshen New York to have dinner with two high school friends. The day was lovely; the drive-through northeastern New Jersey was amazing. The mountains were pretty, the sky uncommonly clear and the colors crisp. As I drove I thought if I had found this before moving to North Carolina I would've moved here. The New York Thruway was equally beautiful and the town of Washingtonville New York a delight. Washingtonville looks like one of those miniature Christmas villages, idealistic, serene, neat and warm.

The Bull’s Head Inn was equally charming, nestled on a gentle rise, along a country road outside of Goshen. My friend Beth and I arrived at the same time and we retired inside to wait for our friend Sheryl to show up. Beth and I sat at the bar drinking soda and talking and starting to catch up. I gave her little snippets from my grandmother's birthday party, from work and from life in general and she did the same. The bar was absolutely stunning, with the picture window beyond the bottles and a view of the meadow. The top of the bar was copper which I found to be amazing.

Sherryl showed up at about 5:10 and she looked like she had just stepped out of high school 30 years ago. Truthfully, so does Beth; I'm not sure the same could be said about me. So Sherryl showed and we were directed to our table. We had a private corner in the public dining room and we were the only people in that room.

The atmosphere was wonderful, the food was perfect and the nearly 5 hours of conversation was fluid, warm and engaging. I was struck then and am struck now by how easily the decades with these two fine women just melt away. As we talked, we rediscovered very keen and specific shared values; interestingly enough, and even though life had taken us in very different directions the three of us rediscovered that we felt the same way about a variety of issues. All three of us are concerned about the deterioration of manners in our society, the venom that embodies the body politic and the overall disregard for the disenfranchised within our society.

Of course we spoke about our families and what had been going on in our personal lives and that was wonderful. It sure is nice to know that people who I care so much for are doing real well in the end. Of course their lives are not ideal no one’s life is. My own life included. My one wish and my one take away from this evening is that we don't wait 10 more years before we see each other again; but if we do I'm not concerned because I know that my friends are there.

Rain Water Tax

A tax on rain

Years ago the North Carolina legislature gave the cities in the state the right to tax residents on the amount of rainwater that falls on their properties and cannot be absorbed into the ground. In a very sneaky fashion, Durham, the city that I live in has named this tax, a storm water runoff fee.

Here's an interesting question, in an effort to reduce my impact on the environment, I've begun harvesting rainwater. So now, one of my downspouts empties into a very large barrel, and I use this water in my gardens. This water is not running into the sewer system, so how is Durham going to give me credit for this water that they don't have to "process?"

My guess is that there will be no credit. In the last few months Durham has at times relentlessly and unfairly made all sorts of interesting grabs for revenue from her citizens. Our storm water and drinking water bills are combined, but the bill for drinking water is due several days later then the bill for storm water. There is no notation on the bill for two separate due dates and in many instances if one pays on time they are still slapped with a late fee for the storm water bill. I was one of those folks. I was charged $.31 for my storm water bill being late even though I paid my water bill on time.

I know I shouldn't cry over $.31 but it's the principle of the matter. Af Durham does this to 200,000 people that is $62,000 in additional revenue. That my friends is not chump change.

Philip. 4:13 Paul testified, “I can do all things through Christ which strengtheneth me”

Philip. 4:13 Paul testified, “I can do all things through Christ which strengtheneth me”

Some Baptist preacher from Texas called the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter Day Saints a cult. On CNN he went on to say that he had a duty to tell the truth. But I found it ironic that he really didn't take much time to go into detail about how simple it is to be a believer. If he had done so and then he would've seen the flaws in his reason. The simple fact of the matter is that Mormons believe in Jesus Christ, they believe in Christ as the son of God, the living God and God incarnate.

Why I'd venture to point out that it's even in their name. So really this preacher in Texas is focusing on the wrong thing; we all should be focusing on love and the love that Christ brought all of us. Instead he's focusing on division. My prayer for this man is that he finds the love and by finding love invites acceptance, there's room at the table for all of us.