"The Ethics of Being Human"

I always enjoyed having a "current events" segment in my classes on Christian ethics. During each class session individual students are asked to share a current story that has ethical ramifications in the news of the time since the last class. I have had many stories shared of how human beings treat animals, but one week someone brought in an article which spoke of the ability of certain primates to be ethical. In fact according to the article on the work of Frans de Waal, as I remember it, primates even were able to show empathy to other primates. A November, 2011 TED talk by Frans de Wall on "Moral Behavior in Animals" is representative of this view.

This research came to mind yesterday when I heard a journalist comment on the two different ways of being human expressed by former President Jimmy Carter and real estate mogul and presidential candidate Donald Trump. The journalist characterized President Carter's expression of humanity in his news conference on his own health crisis as gracious and civil and soft. He contrasted the way in which Donald Trump expresses himself with full bravado, largely with incivility and yet he is another example of being human.

This led me to wonder to what extent incivility is immoral or unethical. Certainly we do not believe that assertiveness is unethical. We think that a human being should speak his/her mind and, although a certain graciousness is polite, is it really ethical?

At the same time we believe that human beings should respect other human beings. That is an ethical concept, though perhaps it is not a solely human one. After all some of the ways of showing respect are physical (give another being space, etc.). Yet normally we believe that it is human beings with a higher developed neocortex who have the highest ethical development. Yet can we see that in some human beings this ethical development is not so highly developed? Can we also come to see that some animals have the capability of some basic ethical behavior?

What is essentially human about being ethics? I would think such things as respect for others, graciousness to others, humility and empathy are important human ethical qualities. Some of these may well be shared by some higher beings who are not human. After all morals or ethics have a component of "doing what is customary" and customs or mores are shared with some animals. However, I believe that ethics or morality have a higher quality to them that goes beyond attachment or display of affection. I do think such things as trust and humility and respect are higher human ethical qualities that Jesus and the New Testament teach as attributes that we should all try to have as human beings.

We all should respect animals who are not human to a greater degree. At the same time we really should live up the importance of being civil, aiming to treat each other well with humility and empathy to all human beings. Certainly God blesses the human being with a unique role among the animals, but it is not one of dominating them or each other.