"Ethics and Politics"

I like to think of myself as a theologian who practices professional ethics. Most of the time I practice it as a pastor in the Lutheran Church. Sometimes I practice it as an ethicist, someone concerned with how faith relates to life. During the last several months I have been writing my experiences of professional ethics during my ministry of thirty-eight years. Such important concerns as collegiality, the keeping of boundaries, and the way in which media of all types—from e-mail to social media—are important to the world of professional pastoral ethics.

This week the question of ethics and politics has become very important. Not only is Friday, January 20 the Inauguration Day of a new president, but President-Elect Trump’s nominees for cabinet and other important positions are being grilled by congressional committees over many items of concern, including ethics.

The question might be asked: can professional ethics be related to politics directly? After all, being a politician is not a profession as such. For example, in Congress there are people of many vocations. Some are lawyers, some are doctors, some are business leaders, and I am sure there are even homemakers. There are codes and expectations for professionals in each of the first three fields, that might be different than what they are for when they are political leaders. How can one arrive at the basic professional ethics of a politician? A beginning point is to look at the professional ethics required by an officeholder in the specific office that they are entering.

Second, ethics and politics are not an oxymoron. There are many politicians who have functioned in a very ethical way, even in public office. This week President Barack Obama comes to mind as carrying himself in a very ethical way as president. Although many people might disagree with his positions in ethics, most would say that he is honest, considerate of others, and maintains boundaries—including in communication—very well. When one measures the way in which he carries himself as an attorney or lawyer, one could say he appears to be very presidential. When one looks at his ethics as a husband and father, one can find little that is not the picture of ethics. It is possible to be political and to be ethical!

Third, one of the key issues in any change in politics is what conflicts of interest potential cabinet members and other high ranking officials bring with them into the office. Any conflicts need to be addressed at the forefront or key boundary issues will surely follow. Perhaps the best way to look at it is that the “politician,” whatever his specified office, is entering a whole new arena where new and different standards are applied to them

Fourth, the social media boundary issue will likely be the key professional ethical issue that surrounds President-elect Trump. To what extent can anyone have his/her comments “out there” in media and still maintain important professional boundaries? The very practical concern is to protect the boundaries of our government by not having the leader of the free world indulge in the Twitter practice.

Finally, we do need to hold politicians who are officeholders to a high standard. Our children look up to them as role models. They are our elected officials and represent us. When we look at how they act and react, we should see them as a member of our family or friends, reflecting the values we would like to practice.

Professional ethics and politics—they better mix—or our democratic society will be weakened by the lack of moral fiber at its core. God forbid if that should happen on our watch!