Saturday, June 04, 2011

Duty

Hello Ladies and Gents,

A recent exercise in the Ethics class I am taking sparked a lot of debate and and raise many questions so I thought it would be a good idea to share this with all of you and get some feedback.
 Three questions were asked to get us started:
1. Do we have a duty to others?
2. Do we have a duty to all people?
3. How do you prioritize when faced with a conflict of duty?

These question led me to think about Mathew 7:12 which reads." Do unto others as you would have others do unto you. This verse led me to my answers of
1. yes
2. yes
3. My duty is to God first and foremost because I believe that my loyalty to God and the teachings of Christ will allow me to live the most moral and ethical life possible. This duty will lead to me having a duty to others over having a duty to myself. Why? In my view, as long as I have my basic needs there is no reason for me to be stingy and refuse to help others who are in need. Now on the question of conflict of duty, I believe in helping whoever is most in need first. Those whose situations are not critical have needs that are less urgent and should, therefore, not be placed above the needs of those whose needs are more severe.
What are your thoughts?

Until next time,

~Brina









2 comments:

  1. I agree w/ u on all accounts. Even when I go home to Cuba and look at nature, everything seems to be co-dependent, assisting to survive.

    Darwinism says survival of the fittest, but if everything helps everything survive in this world that we live in; then we are all survivors fitting in where there is necessity, whether we be haves or have-nots we still try to make the best of things.

    I've often thought about what I would do if 2 people I loved were drowning (if i could swim), who would I try to save. The more I thought about it, I would more than likely drown trying to save the 2 lol. But you're right about the one in the greatest need but the question comes as to what defines which situation is more dire. that's when it gets tough to decide. I just pray that God leads me in the right direction.

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  2. Well stated Terrence. In a situation of having to choose who to save, I'd probably be in the same boat as you.... I'd save them both or risk death in an effort to try.

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