Ethics (in schools!) in the News

Russian President Medvedev announced a pilot program to require schoolchildren to take courses in religion or secular ethics. The move comes as "part of a Kremlin effort to teach young Russians morals in the wake of a turbulent period of uncertainty following the collapse of the officially atheist Soviet Union."

Medvedev said preteen students at about 12,000 schools in 18 Russian regions would take the classes. They will be offered the choice of studying the dominant Russian Orthodox religion, Islam, Buddhism or Judaism, or of taking an overview of all four faiths, or a course in secular ethics.

Students and their parents must be allowed to choose freely, Medvedev said in addressing top clerics and officials at his residence outside Moscow. "Any coercion, pressure will be absolutely unacceptable and counterproductive," he said.

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The offer of a choice appeared aimed to ease concerns that Russian Orthodoxy will be forced on schoolchildren as the church gains influence and tightens ties with the state.

Mandatory classes in Orthodox culture were introduced in a few Russian regions three years ago, but they alarmed adherents of other confessions who said religion has no place in schools in a secular state. The classes also were criticized as being reminiscent of the forced study of communism or scientific atheism during Soviet times, with one mandatory ideology being substituted with another.

It is encouraging to see any major state officially recognize the importance of an ethical education. What remains to be seen, though, is whether the students who opt for classes in one or more religions will be exposed to any sort of critical examination of the moral codes they learn about, or whether the courses will stop at, "This is what Muslims (or Jews, or Christians, or Buddhists) believe we ought to do." One hopes that students in the program will at least be invited to consider whether and why anyone ought to do what Muslims (or Jews, or Christians, or Buddhists) believe we ought to do, whether or not they opt for the so-called "secular ethics" classes.

Death Penalty a Live Issue

The Parr Center recently finished a year of programs centered around capital punishment. A timely series indeed. Recently the Supreme Court upheld Kentucky's right to use its current lethal injection protocol for executions, thereby ending a de facto national moratorium and clearing the way for states to resume executing death row inmates. 

Arguably, though, the Court's decision to review the case in the first place is just the latest sign that the public opinion in the U.S. is shifting with respect to capital punishment in general, and lethal injection in particular. This is perhaps not so surprising given that 135 countries have abolished the use of capital punishment in law or in practice. If public opinion in the U.S. is shifting, it would seem it is only growing closer to the international norm. It is all the more surprising then to see hints that in Japan something of the reverse is happening -- public support for the death penalty is growing in Japan, says Son-U Jong of Korea's Chosun Ilbo.

Welcome!

Welcome to Ethics in the News, a new and improved feature of the Parr Center for Ethics. Here we'll be tracking and discussing ethical issues as they turn up in the news both domestically and abroad. We have high hopes for this blog, so we hope you'll check back often for the latest updates. Thanks for stopping by!