Year 12 Religious studies is currently studying a unit called ‘Encountering Ethical issues’ and although the core curriculum document is written with general themes and outcomes, every year we are finding no shortage of diverse issues, discussions, variations and impacts.
The study of ethics is more than what is right and wrong, it is about personhood, conscience, application of truths and understanding perspective. While studying the early philosophers, our boys were challenged by Plato’s big ideas, of particular interest was not to follow the ‘doxa’ or ‘popular opinion.’ This is a great challenge for our young people today as what is trending and what is recommended seem to be at the front and centre of what informs how we see the world or various issues.
In ethical discussions, we have been looking at how religious tradition and society respond to issues and ideas as well as ethical frameworks applied in various scenarios. One does not have to go far to see the current debates surrounding science and life and death matters. From Euthanasia laws in Australia to the de-criminalising of Abortion, from Artificial intelligence to drone warfare, from stem cell research to cloning, our boys are challenged to be aware of what is happening in their world, right now. In more recent discussions with our students we have examined the latest reality TV show ‘Labour of Love’ and what ethical issues or concerns it has stirred in the general public – whether it be from a secular or a religious perspective.
In all of what we explore, what is crucial is what our boys think, but more importantly why they think what they think. Sometimes it is easy to give a general opinion, but how often do we need to justify why we have a particular world view or perceive an issue as it is? We challenge the boys to consider; What have I seen that makes me think this? What evidence do I have to support or negate someone else’s argument? How would I feel from another perspective, gender or background? What is the ‘truth’ in this scenario?
At the core of what we teach, we examine objective truth in a religious sense and compare it to whether such objective truths exist outside of a religious context. Discussion is a must for this unit as we want our boys to be able to be young men of conviction in what they believe and be able to express themselves freely. We also want our boys to be able to be to live their values and apply them in real life situations and scenarios. With the influence of technology, relativism, media and so much more, what is right, what is wrong and what is truth can be trivialised and so for it to be discussed and understood is more important now more than ever before.