Leadership Seminar

The required-for-graduation ethics discussion course. It looks to be a lot of challenging work, but on the other hand, full of important debate issue. The Little Pink Book (it's pink!) should, I think, be required reading fr politicians, and especially those in the so-called religious right.

Here's what it has to say:

-Members of majority religious groups often force their beliefs on minorities
-Members of majority religious groups often act as though their theological beliefs are self-evidently true, scorning those who hold other views
-Members of majority religious groups often fail to recognize that "sin" is a theological concept, not an ethical one. ("Sin" in theologically defined.)
-Divergent religions define sin in different ways (but often expect their views to be enforced on all others as if a matter of universal ethics).

And then again later:

Laws often emerge out of social conventions and taboos. And, because we cannot assume that social conventions are ethical, we cannot assume that human laws are ethical. What is more, most laws are ultimately made by politicians, who routinely confuse social values with ethical principles. As we have said, their primary motivation is except in special cases, power, vested interest, or expediency . . . To "criminalize" behavior that goes against social convention is one of the time-honored ways for politicians to get re-elected.

So someone explain to my why there is no universal ethics course at the high-school level? I think it's important that everybody know this, not just collegiate students in their senior year!