Ethics, human/civil rights and liberties & Warren J. Blumenfeld

May 27, 2013 / Posted in  Education, Ethics

Ethics, untaught, unlearned, not used, have no value. It takes a competent, dedicated and articulate individual to make the study, mastery and use of ethics effective and lasting.

Warren Jay Blumenfeld

Ethics are universal: defining and separating right and wrong. Ethics ignores limitations, discrimination and retaliations that are foibles to mortal nature and the dignity of the individual.  Ethics are a mark of quality and are not within the purview of politicians and parasitic patrons of exclusionary policies and practice, defining rights that they have no authority to do but assume that they are granted god-like stature to rule over hearts and minds and emotions those unwilling to fight back and demand their share of dignity and rule within a commonwealth of people who celebrate multiversity and universality. What is needed are selfless educators who speak to the broad base of civilization–rare individuals such as Professor Warren Blumenfeld of Iowa State University, who invites all students to openly and unabashedly discuss all things in harmony with their peers, then delves into the realities that hinders many from elevating their minds to pinnacles not of power but of thought and consciousness that encompasses the splendor of life and its offerings and climb out of the dystopia of greed and vice that has plagued this plundered planet too long, sullying sea, stream and oceans, polluted the air and despoiled the ground in the name of profits for a few.¹

Professor Blumenfeld

There is an increasing need for more people like Professor Blumenfeld who write clearly, crisply, concisely, concretely and carefully detailing the egoism and egotistic actions of a few who would control the many. It is one of Iowa’s greatest losses when Blumenfeld returns to Massachusetts, and one of the reasons that I will not return to an Iowa impoverished by Blumenfeld’s move, a loss that is greater than most for the agricultural state as his skill and knowledge are nearly impossible to replace.

Warren J. Blumenfeld has set the bar high for future teachers: those who would be like him and carry the torch lighting the path for others to follow. For there to be ethics and a mastery of subject matter and honed ability, there must be experience and dedication that creates the innovative educators of the future.  Like Blumenfeld, these mortals will strive to create a learning environment that nurtures to fulfillment the potential of all students.

Overcoming bias and prejudice to advance learning and personal growth

The professional educator accepts personal responsibility for teaching all students subject matter equally and equitably without bias or prejudice as well as define, develop and dramatize for emphasis personal, societal, and worldwide character qualities (being more than a Weltanschauung but being a robust handling of knowledge and allowing and melding it into an encompassing whole that is more than a viewpoint or perspective, detailing the necessities that are inherent in ethics of enlightenment and enrichment) that will help the students individually and collectively evaluate the consequences of and accept the responsibility for their actions and choices.²

Yes, parents are important and are frequently (especially among the poor, diminishing and disappearing middle class) the initial educators of their children, but not all parents are competent to teach children everything that is essential to intellectual growth and the massing of information for the good of the commonweal.  Too many parents are beset with worries concerning job stability, paying bills on time, and having some time by themselves, and thus a lifetime of learning opportunities is cut short.  The shortfall is made up with well trained educators who must be obligated to help foster legitimate and provable civic virtues such as integrity, diligence, responsibility, work and cooperative loyalty that is reasonable and rational with fidelity to the quest for unmasking fraudulent reality and exposing the truth with a concerted respect for laws that show no favoritism or bias against anyone based on core hatred gleaned by ignorance of race and as Dr. Blumenfeld noted, color-blindness is denial³ and does not stop the rampant racism that rapes sanity throughout the USA as seen in the hatred for Barrack Obama because he is black, and the slaughter of Black youth in Florida justified with “Stand Your Ground” defenses of their cold-blooded murderers, and the rest of the world)⁴,

Castle Doctrine and Spike in Homicides

religion (especially force and coerced), especially if it is the product of bigoted parents who frequently are the cause of pre-teenage suicide, slow or rebellious learning or the unwillingness to adapt to an evolving multicultural and multilingual world based a distortion of household theology, with Warren J. Blumenfeld speaking boldly out against Islamophobia and the bigotry that is inherint in many religions⁵) or its rejection,⁶ gender⁷ and human sexuality⁸, political values or any other personal preference, for all forms of life (and not just what is assumed to be life based on emotions without logic, reasoning or education) itself even if it cannot reciprocate or add dimension to the world and its occupants (mortal, animal, and so forth), for others, and, lastly, for the self.  Distinctions must be made based on observable realities as well as mental determinations.

It is imperative that the educated professional and ethicist realizes, recognizes, and raises to the highest level the truth that in the end it is the individual whom makes the ultimate decision concerning his or her life and body, as no individual has the right to determine what another does without that expressed permission of the individual or that individual can determine and separate right from wrong that does no harm to anyone who is truly a human being.  All that society can do is equalize and fraternalize (Αδελφότητα) with knowledgeable peers and students the results of the quest of what is right and wrong. Right and wrong vary in time and clime, among people and between people, but the common thread of working for the common good rises out of the ashes of failed attempts to provide, define, and enhance ethics.

The efficient educator, in accepting his or her position of public trust, measures success not only by the progress of each student toward realization of his or her personal potential, but also as a citizen of the greater community of the world republic where all have an equal say and value. It is not a kaleidoscope of stupidity masquerading as hooded pseudo-literati, but the grand master/mistress of reason rhetoric and forming firm footholds in the steps of those who came before, exist today, and will be here tomorrow.  This requires that there is an established ethical standard of conduct toward students, faculty, administrators, and most important of all, towards formal and informal education that enlightens and brightens existence de luxe.

Ethical Conduct toward Students

Adept instructors deal considerately, compassionately, conscientiously and justly with each student. No student has more value or worth than any other, and while each student’s learning skills, potential, and promise may vary depending on the acceptance of responsibility as well as the availability of time and financial and other resources, the professional educator will continue to treat all equally and equitably so that the student has the opportunity and the availability not only of resources but equally to access to the teacher in the name of justice and ethics.  The professional teacher will always seek openly and directly to resolve problems that rise with the student, between students, between faculty and students and between students and administrators: including all issues of discipline, according to law and legislation of the institution, the community, the country and the world that is set in harmony with school policy. If and when there is a divergence, the true professional will work at reconciling the differences, debating, defending, and toiling to bring about a unity of thought, expression, and use within all communities.  The professional educator does not sit on the sidelines while unfair, unwise, unjust, and unnecessary articles of behavior, demeanor and other adiaphorous articles are averaged, weighed, voted on and promulgated in the name of one power over another.⁹

Protecting the student

Bullying comes in many forms (family, religion, politics, etc) at all ages and frequently leads to suicide

An ethical educator does not intentionally expose any student to disparagement, aspersion(s), belittlement, calumny, censure, degradation, derision, prejudice, scorn, or underestimation, as a student is beginning the journey towards enlightenment if there is impairment or degradation that student may cave into the bullying of the disdainer or slanderer and lose all concept of self-worth and the denial of dignity that can lead to thoughts and even actions that result in feelings of frustration and failure and even attempts at suicide. The professional education buttresses the self-actualization and appreciation of the self of the student by taking an active role in the student’s formation and intellectual growth without directly being involved in the process but standing at a distance and encouraging, welcoming, urging and working with the learner.¹⁰

Securing and maintaining confidential information

As within the business world, the ethical educator does not reveal confidential information concerning students, nor student progress, programming of material, presentation unless it directly violates the rights and intellectual property of others or is required by a just and reasoned law, not some man-made dicta that demeans gender or denigrates age or other physical characteristics that are the mark of dictatorial controls or the rants of demigods who would refuse equality to all people under the law.  Law must also be ethical. Ethics in law, especially when it comes to interchanges between people, such as students and faculty with outside forces are specific and precise. The only just laws and those who enforce the law are those who understand that their obligation, task or job is to protect the innocent against deception, to take care of and stand sentry for the weak against oppression or intimidation, and be the peacekeeper against violence or disorder, fully, completely, and conscientiously respecting the constitutional rights of all persons to life, liberty, equality and justice at all times.¹¹

The professional practioneer, either as a professor or as a guardian of the law in any capacity will keep his or her private life unsullied as an example to all, and offer advice and commentary when asked by the student as to standards and ethical principles, while maintaining courageous calm in the face of danger, scorn, contempt, or ridicule. The ethicist instills in the student a developed and studied sense of self-restraint while he or she is constantly mindful of the welfare of others near and far: from the learning experience or resting in quiet quarters to refresh one’s body, mind, and spirit: the πνεύμα (humor) as well as the διάθεση (disposition) and the ενεργητικότητα (energy, or vigor). It is the copulative of emotions, needs and goals that revolves vitally around honesty in thought and deed in both the practioneer’s personal, professional and official life.  Those who practice and live ethically will be exemplary in obeying the laws of the land while those laws lead to the enhancement of the individuals who are working to better the lot and lay of the people as well as being ruled by the regulations of the discipline, the school, and the academic community. Whatever is seen or heard of a confidential nature or that which is confided to the teacher in an official capacity remains forever secret unless revelation is necessary in the performance of an ethical duty to protect the commonweal and the rights of all. Unfortunately, the issue of self-restraints and their use frequently is impacted by economics, with the more affluent willing to accept and practice self-restraints (especially in the area of environmental concerns and taking time to do research carefully and thoroughly) while those from more modest or poor means and income have less patience and are reluctant to wait or put restraints upon the self.¹²

Acting equanimously toward all people

Learnèd specialists never act officiously or permit personal feelings, prejudices, antipathies, illiberalities, animosities or friendships, attachments, associations, favoritisms or comity to influence any decisions and will not compromise his or her ethics financial, property, personal or sexual gain that involves any criminal act but will relentless prosecute those who infringe on the rights of others, the transgressions against the conduct of inquiry of the theft of intellectual property as the rule of law is subordinate to the rule of ethics and the good of the commonweal.¹³  All people, all information, all research, all intellectual property and personal growth and the accompanying conduct of inquiry and realization for each of what is true will be protected courteously and appropriately without fear or favor, malice or ill will, by the ethicists without accepting gratuities undeserved and not merited, for the propagation and protection of rights is its own reward. The professional educator will see that reward in the arousal of interest in learning more, questioning more, entertaining more variant ideas and seeking the truth that is waiting for the student’s eyes to be read, to be viewed, and internalized so that the world is a better place for everyone.¹⁴

The able abecedary makes a conscientious considered and constructive effort to protect the student from conditions detrimental to learning, health, or safety.  The conduct of inquiry, of course, requires intensive progressive studies but these academic assaults on ignorance by lack of reading and meditation must be tempered with recognition of basic bodily needs of sleep, food, liquids, and recognition of bodily functions.  It is imperative to engage in research, questioning, interviews, reading, translations and masterful interpretations that meet the cause célèbre under investigation, but within the limits of a just understanding that is valid and can be validated to the betterment of learning. This will require diligence so that the individual does not endanger him or herself by venturing into areas with noticeable danger, the proverbial “climbing out on a limb” physically or metaphorically.  In the quest of a treasure trove of information, the researcher must be there to ascertain the pitfalls and the bridges that must be crossed but within the realm of reason and not foolish heartedness. Even to cross a wasteland requires a map to determine direction, as it is with research, for the scholar plots, plans, prepares for the journey by studying all available data and from that date determines what information is missing. Once the information that is missing is determined, then the scholar creates his road map to tackle the discovery that leads to ownership that is presented in the scholarly paper, the thesis or the dissertation as each work requires sacrifice of time, fortunate, pleasures—but within reason as researchers, translators, interpreters, teachers, students, the community individually or as a whole still have lives to live so that they can fully enjoy the discoveries of what were not and are not yet known.  It is for the sojourner to details the trials, tribulations and potential and actually obtainable successes to be ethical in his or her dealings with everyone.

Ethics and reality, the problem of politics

Entrance into an ethical world, unlike the pretended world of legislators and lawmakers menacingly mangle messages for and of the people in petty politics and pandering to predators determined to wrestle wealth away from all people to gorge their own pockets while proclaiming equality and individual merit, the professional educator endeavors to present facts without distortion, bias, or personal prejudice.  Unlike percolating prefectures prancing proudly in ignorance determined to silence or even “unwrite” (or rewrite in most cases to fit a cause, as with David Barton of Texas)¹⁵ reality as did Constantine I in 325 CE when the emperor embolden by his episcopoi (επίσκοποι) or pontifexes (ποντίφικας) from the various national colleges of advisors and “hinges” (cardinals: Κολέγιο των Καρδιναλίων) on which the word turned to for advice had the works of Arius and others he disagreed with burned in a holy holocaust along with some authors, who voiced objections, and their supporters to silence inquiry and allow people to know what was considered fact so that the imperial pall would be thrown over the Constantinian revolution and establishment of a central creed.  Hundreds of “unacceptable” gospels and epistles were consigned to the fires, and entire libraries leveled and their holdings destroyed in the manner that was the fate of world-famous Library at Alexandria that was destroyed at the order of the Coptic Pope Theophilus c. 391 CE the same year that the Emperor Theodosius made paganism illegal, while his priests threw the mathematician and librarian Hypatia into the flames after stripping her flesh from her body with their finger nails while chanting prayers as reported by numerous eye-witnesses including Socrates: Historia Ecclesiastica Book V: Chapter 16.

Ethicists and professional educations edging towards true ethics in the classroom will encourage students to find what really was, is and prognosticate on what will be by studying various and variant texts, push into the philological world of word meaning and definition, and translate not according to any proscribed dictionary but use the lexicons available, if any, at the a tome was written on papyrus, parchment or paper—or chiseled into stone, marble, and other durable surfaces.  The ethicist does not distort fact for fancy or fame; at no time does the professional educator claim that something is correct or right when it is obviously wrong or distorted.  In keeping with the spirit and law of ethics, the education does not abuse his or her (nor the student’s) knowledge with personal prejudices: rejecting the reality of a culture, group, or nation: one does not issue an apologia for the atrocities at concentration camps or justify the call for new ones by anyone including North Carolina’s minister such as Charles L. Worley¹⁶ or deliberately defying facts to state falsehoods as with Texas’ most junior US Senator Ted Cruz,¹⁷ or representatives such as Michele Bachmann, Marsha Blackburn,¹⁸ and others against learning from governor Bobby Jindal¹⁹ to Peru funding education only 2.66% in 2009, the last year it was reported.²⁰  One can explain ignorance but no ethicist will deliberate forgive or hide it regardless of consequences, as history show that for too long a time fairy tales, such as the earth standing still (foundation of geocentricism) or the sun revolving around the earth,²¹ as with Claudius Ptolemy (Κλαủδιος Πτολεμαīος) who disagreed with Pythagoras ²² have taken tragic tolls on free inquiry and discovery.  The great problem, especially one that is ethical, is that many scholars pull back from stating the fact(s) of a discovery for fear of their lives or freedom, as when Nicholas Copernicus postponed publication of his work on heliocentricism until he was on his death bed, of Galileo Galilee stood in defense of Copernicus’ studies until he was threatened with torture and imprisonment by the unholy Inquisition in Rome, recanted his defense, then recanted the recantation, etc., until Pope John Paul II forbade Stephen Hawking to read the transcript of the trial of Galileo even though the mathematical arguments by Galileo were published in the early decades of the seventeenth century.²³

The professional preceptor acts with conscientious effort to exemplify the highest ethical standards. The professional educator walks into the world of investigation and research and publishes the results of his or her findings even if alleged angels that are sitting on his or her shoulders are afraid to tread into forbidden territory for any message is better than no message, any publication more precious than silence as each promulgation is a pronouncement that there are unchartered areas to be explored and more research is essential until one can discover the Higgs boson of knowledge.²⁴  It must be remembered, that these “angels” (both άγγελος and מַלְאָך beings that carried messages but not research hypotheses, investigations, findings, or their printing, and were never the commanders or scribes טַפסָר that later apologists attempted to portray as functionaries, being the orderly (αγγελιαφόρος in the Greek, or even the απεσταλμένος) emissaries or envoys who were responsible for political affairs) were nothing more than ambassadors of controlling leaders who would control but not accomplish anything by themselves, and were definitely not researchers who recognize no higher power or authority than the legitimate conduct of inquiry.  Rather than waiting for revealed εủαγγέλιον assumed to be true based on distant memories of people long gone, the researcher must state clearly and completely what is discovered or knowledge and science becomes further impoverished as with eating only the introductory course and not passing through the scope and breadth of the dinner.

The professional pedagogue assumes responsibility and accountability for his or her performance, continually striving to demonstrate competence and advises accordingly each step of the way as if building a pyramid of competence and observation, each brick of cognition cemented carefully in place by observation and judgment, one brick at a time with the cornerstone firmly in place.   Competence is the ability to master and fully disseminate knowledge without dissimulating antiquated, archaic and disproven material. An educator, who is a professional, never stops learning, continues to hunger for new and more advanced knowledge, and discards the shards of a shattered past blanketed on proverbs without meaning. The true professional is a permanent student, both in a formal setting as well as conducting inquiry at home, in a library, or elsewhere.  The professional mentor never assumes or argues that the possession of a degree or more than one degree awarded by any institution or various universities is a testimonial of his or her learning experience nor for acquired knowledge and that the learning process it is complete.  Instead, the serious scholar realizes how much there is still to learn, still to accumulate and digest, and where his or her shortcomings fail to meet the needs of the student, and works to correct this deficiency.

The experienced educator efficiently endeavors to maintain the dignity of the profession by polishing it within the guidelines of procedures accepted by his or her peers, respecting and obeying the laws and regulations of the institution with whom the educator is associated as well as the regulations of the government that controls the institution, but never sacrifices nor prostitutes the research conducted as has frequently been the case in recent mainland Chinese, Iranian, and totalitarian regimes and extremist states such as Louisiana, Iowa, North and South Dakota.  The ethical educator demonstrates his or her personal integrity but speaking out against the crassness in legislation or in dicta pounded from pulpits or lecterns in schools or before assemblages regardless if military, civil, or ecclesiastical.

Familiar with what needs investigation, and having written a summary of what tools are necessary, what mortal power is required, and what problems may be faced, the qualified savant applies for, accepts, or assigns a position or a responsibility on the basis of professional qualifications with no consideration of politics, friendships, family or other external criteria to that conduct of inquiry.  He or she firmly, resolutely and with unlimited and unchained resolve adheres to the terms of a contract or appointment—until he or she is faced or confronted with a breach in ethics or a move to make the research placate, pacify or pronounce an unacceptable benediction upon any person, power or authority that funds the project or people gathered as a team to work towards a further and fuller understanding and mastery of the subject matter. While money and tangible rewards are tempting to all people, as all mortal are frail and susceptible to the satisfaction of base needs and desires, the ethicist will notify those who placed him or her in a senior research position of the tantalizations that are offered or proffered to him or her and seek appropriate action(s) to keep the research pure and pristine. Gaining money, property, awards, degrees, honorariums, sex or temptations have no place in the pursuit of wisdom and must be vouchsafed and rejected if they come with obligations for falsification of facts or demeaning of people who have fallen out of favor or are controversial.

Protecting the health of the student with ethical treatment

So that no one questions or ponders upon the professional ethics and stand of the educator and what she or he seeks to find out or expose, the truly trained teacher maintains sound mental health by recognizing various human concerns and worries while maintaining physical stamina and minimal strength with a well-regulated diet, a program of exercise, and reading in various fields both for publication as well as personal pleasure.  Social prudence is necessary to perform the duties of any professional assignment and the ethicist reforms all avenues to make certain that there is no breach in the security system surrounding his or her research, organization of discoveries, and ultimate publication of details with a sound conclusion and recommendation for others who might follow-up the research and add new luster to the topic published.

Never stop questioning what you have researched and published, never give up the role of a true researcher who works to ferret out that which is not yet known.

Original 1864 cover drawing for Verne’s Voyage au centre de la Terre by Edouard Riou

Even though the pedant releases his or her work for publication, the investigation and research does not stop once the œuvre is completed and in press or in the hands of readers who compare their findings with the peer review’s decision to release the article or book. The author, the educator him or herself, sees the printing of the work only as one step towards greater knowledge, and will uncover new material that may either supplement or reject any part within the published work as he or she does not consider the publication to be ex cathedra or infallible. To that end, repudiating the pontifications of pastors, priests, and professors who warned I had gone far enough and needed to rest, my probing in dusty bins and walking down into the bowels of stacks at the University of Cincinnati was just another leg in the journey as if I was descending in Jules Verne’s epic Voyage au centre de la Terre ²⁵, after I published and earned a degree with my thesis An Apology for the Petrine Doctrine back in the 1960s, I continued to scour, search and rummage through old texts, ancient books worn with age and investigate and read ancient documents that I was not privy to²⁶ at the time of the original search and translation project that I selected; but, when I was able to go to libraries with greater holdings and collections and was given the opportunity to read other texts both in translation and the original scripts, I realized that what I had written and what had been approved for my degree, was incorrect, and I have spent the last forty-some years rejecting my own thesis as I publish new materials that showed the falsity of what I thought was true. This happens frequently, as with Harvard scholar Karen L. King’s translation of what she termed the Gospel of Jesus’ Wife written in fourth century CE Coptic that easily could be true since there is no record of Jesus ever marrying or not marrying before the second century CE, and then the language and script in different records varies greatly.

Gospel of Jesus’ Wife (recto) c. 100 – 400 CE

Coptic is a northern Afro-Asiatic language spoken in Egypt until at least the 17th century and was written using the Greek alphabet in the 1st century.²⁷ What people forget is to check out the history, lexicography and various debates in the second century since that era was consumed with issues of sexuality²⁸ as those who became what is later known as a community of Christians, were divided deeply over whether or not Jesus was married based on arguments as to what one does with personal wealth if he or she has no heirs (this becomes precedent for mortmain).²⁹  The fact that there are texts used in the dispute that state that Jesus was married only proves that the debate was more than one-sided. The authenticity of the document was verified by various specialists at different institutions had no personal gain by declaring for or against the document.³⁰

Several Gnostic texts discuss the wife of Jesus, with the Gospel of Philip in the Nag Hammadi Library being cited the most frequently.  In the Gospel of Philip we read: “There were three who always walk with the lord: Mary his mother and her sister and Magdalene, the one who was called his companion” with companion being another word for wife as well as lover that in the Hebrew בַּת זוּג can also be “partner” or “mate” as in “helpmate” the title given the Eve of Genesis and has a cohabitative relationship with زوجة.  This was not an isolated case.  ³¹ The Ethicist knows that all evidence must be scrutinized, rescrutinized and review repeatedly.  There is no absolute truth and no one is infallible in anything at any time. The professional educator continues professional growth.³²

While the standards of unimpeachable ethics takes precedence over all other regulations, the professional educator still complies with written local school policies and other applicable laws and regulations if they are not in conflict with the code of ethics. This means that a scholar who is devoted to scientific research will carry out the inquiry within the realm of academic acceptability and authenticity but will not destroy any monument, rubric or ruling that may only impede but not deter the research. For example, if I wish to research Inka sacrifices, I need to read omnivorously all available texts, visit sites without moving or destroying any artifact, and work with local authorities so that the effort can be chronicled and preserved by film or computerized imaging, so that the original material is not destroyed.

The woman of Ampato, a qhapaq hucha sacrifice.

In the area of Inca sacrifices it is important to know who was the victim: a mortal or a “red sheep” (male or female, young or old) as well as how the victim was sacrificed (a blow to the head, a stabbing as with Abraham and his son (regardless if the child was Isaac or Ishmael, with Ishmael being older and thus more-likely the intended sacrificial offering) or any child as the victim is not named and taken from far older records than Genesis, as with the account in Judges 11:30-31 when Jephthah makes a vow to sacrifice the first creature to come out of his house to meet him if he won the battle against the Ammonites, being a plagiarism from the legend of Iphigeneia (Ἰφιγένεια).  Although a goddess,

François Perrier’s “The Sacrifice of Iphigenia” (17th century) depicting Agamemnon’s murder of his daughter Iphigenia.

Iphigeneia was to be sacrificed by her father Agamemnon for his success in the Trojan War.  This story–and the practice of human sacrifice goes back even further to at least 50,000 BCE when Upper Paleolithic records show every form of brutality in the name of strengthening the local community and wasting the broader group of people who lived, worked, and traveled near them.  Human sacrifice is found in every case to be a sign of pscyhological moral panic and the lack of ethics in the society, with the victims primarily being women who were viewed as goddesses since they alone had the power to regenerate, repopulate the community that men did not have but were jealous of; the unique part of this tail that is now unraveling is that when males were chosen to be the human sacrifice they were chosen for their youth, their appearances that matched that of the female species, and the fear that they would become “self-lovers” and not mate and reproduce–the beginning of the hate crime of preceived but not known homophobia, with over 80% of all victims who were male being between the ages of 3 to 11–as would be the fate of Isaac (Ishmael was at least thirteen years old at the time of the alleged sacrifice), a Jesus would be sacrificed after a young naked male followed him out of the garden: Mark 14:51-52: 51καὶ νεανίσκος τις συνηκολούθει αὐτῷ περιβεβλημένος σινδόνα ἐπὶ γυμνοῦ, καὶ κρατοῦσιν αὐτόν· δὲ καταλιπὼν τὴν σινδόνα γυμνὸς ἔφυγεν. The introductory materials state that others fled, but only the youth stayed, holding his “cloth”–and only at the last minute fled: a reflection on past sacrifices where a surrogate for the sacrifice stays with the victim to assure the one to be slaughtered that the victim would find a better life after death or be saved at the last moment when a suitable ram (a male sheep) is found to take its place. Both the terms “good shepherd” (John 10:1-21) and “lamb of god” (John 1:29) are found in ancient records concerning Jesus as they did with the god Mithras.³³

Abraham sacrificing Isaac (Rembrandt Harmensz van Rijn 1634)

On the finding of the slaughter of young males, especially among the Mayan civilizations, primarily because they thought their god Chaac had “little people” helping him and whom he expressed a fondness for in much the same manner as did Zeus when he spotted and then flew down to inspect the youth Ganymede who was so beautiful that he had the youth “ascend into heaven” with him when he was transformed into a soaring eagle.  The reference to many religions using sex as a form of worship led to the objection among the Apiru / Hebrews who rejected Qadesh as being the faith of the Egyptians who had a sacrifice of virginity by “dog priests”.  Concerning this controversy. ³⁴ Today, more research is disspelling the myth that women were selected for sacrifice because of their pleasing appearance.  On the contrary, those females who have been unearthed were not sacrificed as they were wearing expensive jewelry indicating a higher status in their community, and were executed to be buried with the sacrificed males.  It was the fear of the superiority of women who could reproduce that women were denied equality with men, denied the right to a full education, and were suppressed in most Abrahamic communities and in other societies that were determined to regulate the woman’s reproductive power to the point of carrying new born females to the forests to be consumed as only the males were viewed as potential warriors  the slicing of the throat as one would sacrifice a goal or lamp, and so forth, at what time of the day or week or month or year, and how the remains were taken care of: consumed as with tribes that ate the victims, to those who buried the victims, and so forth. When human sacrifice was no longer accepted (or possibly permitted) circumcision was practiced, with “Moses” requiring it as a special connection between the gods of the burning bush and males.³⁵ Scientific research does not limit the scope of the inquiry but advances a plethora of possibilities that the ethicist must adhere to in every effort to make certain that all details are included before any conclusion is reached, a paper written and submitted for peer review, and ultimately published in print or electric format.

When the professional educator seeks out funding, resource material not available at the institution where the researcher works and/or studies, the research uses every available technique to find what is missing in the area of financial appropriations, literature and artifacts necessary to do the research, and securing an agenda of time that is conducive to the preparation of the conduct of inquiry as well as a set schedule of hours available that still allows for meeting with classes, mentoring students, preparing papers for faculty consortiums, and so forth.  The researcher, the professional educator does not intentionally misrepresent official policies of the school or educational organizations, and clearly distinguishes those views from his or her own personal opinions when initiating funding requests, appearing before groups or boards of concerned people who must approve the research and its directly, while being clear of his or her own objectivity and respect for the sentiments and feelings of those who will accept the project and work with the professional educator, ethicist and teacher.

If, and when, the professional educator is offered monetary funding or special quarters or an office and/or laboratory space (regardless how small or under-furnished it is) to pursue his or her conduct of inquiry that person must ethically present an honest accounting for all funds committed to his or her charge and feel fortunate to have space set aside for his or her work and the appointments offered.  What is earmarked to be used for materials must be used for materials, not trips or personal desires. If funding includes travel and miscellaneous expenses, those must equally be accounted for, with receipts of expenses retained to be given to the accounting commission or department.  To put in a request for reimbursement of any expense that is not substantiated or backed-up by a receipt noting time and place of purchase or reason for the need of the purchase, that individual researcher has misused the trust placed in him or her and has failed in the area of ethics. Research is supposed to be its own reward, but in a realistic world it is equally important that the researcher reaps benefits from his or her toil, and to protect his or her intellectual property, governments have established laws concerning intellectual property by introducing copyrights that give the author sole right to use or market the findings for a profit.

It is never acceptable that a professional educator uses institutional or professional privileges for personal or partisan advantage. This includes not only the use of material supplies but equipment that is not for the institution’s advance or recognition.  To film a discussion of a research funding with the unauthorized backdrop of the university it is not only unethical but it takes advantage of the institution if it did not give clearance or permission or even possibly some remuneration for its use.  There are those who attempt to inflate their reputation and acquire false prestige by arguing a finding in front of a landmark or academic institution as there are people who see such action as an endorsement by the institution or university as if the researcher spoke for the department or university.

There is the pretense and the spurious skeuomophs who attempt to create something out of nothing make the population feel comfortable and assured of some cultural or religious continuity that does not jeopardize nor endanger the assumed consensus of  a people accustomed to the placebo issued by entrenched pseudo-leaders afraid of a future that they are not in charge of by claiming that certain people do not have equal rights because of some external criteria. The professional educator responsibly accepts that every child has a right to an uninterrupted education free from postulations and perpetuations of the antediluvian ideas of a dying generation if these have neither substance nor definable and testable criteria. To do this the ethicist make certain that he or she is available when the student needs him or her as mentor or facilitator of guide into the world not yet known.  No true educator will deny a student the opportunity to learn, to question, for formulate hypotheses and work to ascertain their legitimacy, correctness and viability.  No teacher has the right to stop any work in progress provided that the work is taking shape and that hours are not spent wastefully in mismanaging data collection, interviews being undertaken, or research centers closed and similar work stoppage tactics. A professional educator is available to all students when legitimately needed, with the caveat that the professional educator knows when time is not essential and the need can be met at another hour or on another day.

The professional educator, in exemplifying ethical relations with colleagues, accords just and equitable treatment to all members of the profession not only in equal recognition by equal treatment and respect but also in being available to assist in peer review and the protection of intellectual property. In doing this, the professional educator understands the needs of all to have something held in private and therefore does not reveal confidential information concerning colleagues unless such action is essential to prevent plagiarism or putting anyone at risk or in breach of the law, being honest with all and respecting the rights of all to privacy and confidentiality.

The professional educator is truthful. The ethical teacher does not lie, exaggerate, or fabricate that which cannot be seen, tested, reviewed, or known by others who have a similar background and need for that knowledge. The ethics of the professional educator are always under review and scrutiny not only by his or her research committee, department of concentration, university or college, but also by political figures and the media.  He or she does not willfully make false statements about a colleague or the school system to defame, cast aspersions or degrade either unless the comments made in print, on electronic media or in discourse, debate or symposium can be proven irrefutably and then done for a purpose. It is incumbent, however, on a professional educator to privately point out problems with colleagues by speaking directly and frankly with the colleague of concern, or with the administration if there are problem, difficulties and challenges to the school or university that could lessen its reputation, credibility or desirability that would lead to the downfall of the institution. Related to this issue of protecting the institution’s reputation and standing within the community is the growing and relatively novel experiences of work slowdowns, work stoppages and strikes that are appearing universally.  While there will always be grievances and desires or demands for greater increase in wages or lowering of working hours, employment of additional staff, and so forth, these needs are to be addressed to the administration and not to the general population which is unfamiliar with the tasks and travails of those involved and only see it as a waste of their tax dollars.

Strikes, sabotage, screeds and stopping work or calling in sick to avoid work only demean the professional educator.  Temper tantrums are best left for little children, as the professional educator seeks a dialogue with administration and those who create regulations to define and determine parameters around work and presentations, research and investigation and the role that ethics will play in the universal picture. The work ethic is based on diligence and hard labor in all fields.  This ethic has little to do with economics and even less with religion as the work ethic may include being reliable and can be counted on to do and to produce and to say has been promised or guaranteed, and it may include the demonstration of initiative and its correlatives that include showing drive and results of that drive that were not earlier anticipated or known but are discovered by the professional researcher, translator, interpreter or teacher, and most of all the work ethic shows and encourages the professional to do more than what is expect and to pursue new skills.  For example, when I wrote my first theses there were no computers and no electric typewriters. When I wrote a doctoral dissertation at Carnegie, there was a new machine known as UNIVAC, and I punched cards with data I had taken from a twelfth century manuscript rolled up in a choir seat in an eleventh century monastery.  Using the new program Statistical Package for the Social Sciences (SPSS) I found a new and faster way to compute averages, define borders, and more, so when I wrote the next dissertation I had no trepidation of tangling with such innovations as Word (instead of DOS) using Excel instead of calculators, and so forth, so that by today I can understand and even command Cloud Computing, which is rare, I am told in a profession of my “advanced years”—an absurd way of trying not to say “old man”.  It is because of my “advanced years” that I was denied a teaching position in Taiwan years ago, but my brain is fertile and since I was rejected for a position I have published another thirty books and over 300 articles, that marked when my application for a position as an adjunct professor of the English Language for the University of North Texas branch in Oak Cliff this year. I found it as absurd as the requirement for the Lucasian chair ³⁶ in mathematics at Cambridge that requires an incumbent to retire by age 67. Stephen W. Hawking was required to retire from the Lucasian chair of Mathematics that he had held (1979-2009) even after his stellar discoveries of black holes,³⁷, and work toward understanding the Big Bang theory, the origins of life and the beginning of time and the origin of the universe that occurred approximately 13.798 ± 0.037 billion years ago. The actual initial theorist for the Big Bang was a Belgian priest, Georges Henri Joseph Edouard Lemaître (17 July 1894  – 20 June 1966), who was an astronomer and professor of physics at the Catholic University of Louvain.³⁸  Ethics ignores age; ethics only regards production, productivity, and presence. Age is only a number and not indicative of intelligence potential (IQ) or intelligence realized and given the opportunity to grow more and produce further testimonies and tracts for the rehabilitation of the mortal race.
Freedom of choice, freedom of association,³⁹  freedom of the press and to publish without censorship or litigation is primary ethics that too many people attempt to limit or deny all together.⁴⁰  Ethics are for everyone without limitations or denials.⁴¹ The professional educator does not interfere with the freedom of choice of a colleague, student, and coworker, associate, subordinate or superior at any time or in any place.  It is the principle of freedom that allows the conduct of inquiry to proceed and works to eliminate coercion that forces educators to support actions and ideologies that violate individual professional integrity.  The ethics of choice in education, investigation, research and publication is both a means to an end as well as the final product, but more so it is a learning process that teaches a modern and elaborated work ethic, one that clearly states what it means to be a responsible, effective, ethical member of an organization. The student, the investigator, the researcher, the panel of peers, and the publisher(s) must all accept responsibility for their actions and role in the discovery process and the way the final product is released. No matter how grand or diminutive the end result is, it must promotes personal growth that includes the ability, the desire, and the determine to question all things to learn more and to take a pregnant and penetrating role in looking for additional avenues to cross and lanes to go down and highways to speed across in quest of even greater knowledge, while at the same time furthering long term investigative success. Those who oppose choice in any format for any reason are tantamount to the troglodytes who would stifle inquiry and recede the mortal race into a fouler Dark Age.⁴²

The ethics of choice, once it is implemented within any organization (i.e., initial, primary, secondary or postsecondary and postgraduate institutions, business, corporation, and financial or medical or psychological institutions, etc.), ethics of choice training and its feedback processes must foster and encourage the development of an ethical culture and lead to the further refinement of the individual. In 1930, philosopher Wilbur Marshall Urban of Dartmouth College wrote: “ . . . it is the development or realization of selves that constitutes the ‘good’ . . . and the theory of ethics which makes this the locus of value is called the ethics of self-realization. By this is meant that the locus of the good is not found in pleasure, nor in organic survival or welfare, but in the complete energizing of our capacities as selves or persons . . .” ⁴³  The ethics of conduct is firmly anchored to the ethics of choice, energizing and evolving the self from being a base creature to becoming a growing, evolutionarized and responsible citizen of the world: a member of the expanding universe.⁴⁴  Neither of these ethics is for the short term, as is the reality of the full scope of ethics, as ethics are for the full-term of the life and labors of the individual meeting both personal development and needs as well as realizing and fulfilling long term organizational and world success that allows all to advance with an increase in knowledge that brings tolerance and openness into the marketplace of ideas and introspection. This introspection is essential as no one, anywhere, leads nor lives a totally ethical life, necessitating that each of us recognize our shortcomings and work on the improvements we all can make and need to create.  Emphasis, traditionally placed on the self, must move forward to emphasis on the good for all.  Every person has a choice—no one can force another to do what is repugnant or offensive to the self; what changes minds is education and openness, a willingness to learn, maturate, grow with the realities that compose the cornucopia of life.⁴⁵

Studying all data, ignoring none

An educator can suggest research topics but the researcher must select what is best for him or herself. The ethicist will steer the researcher to the plethora of pasts that can be taken to gather and organize data, but it is the researcher who must sift and shift through the data so that it has viability and rationality. The head of any research project oversees that all normal and traditional steps are taken to assure quality and veracity of the final product, but in the end, if there is a group working on the project, it is the entire group that makes the decision as to when, where, how and with whom they will submit the project for peer evaluation. Ethics demands that all work meets stringent, exacting, precise standards, and that all possible exceptions and arguments against the work are addressed honestly and openly.⁴⁶

Determining the value of the work.

As an educator must record precise grades as earned, ignoring any non-academic assessment measurement or inflating grades for favorite students (that will give not only a false picture of the student’s ability but also give unwarranted to hope to engage in confidence games and even blackmail or extortion) that cannot be justified by tallies for participation, investigation, research and writing skills, so to must the researcher bear the responsibility for his or her finished work and submit it to his or her peers for a critical analysis and appraisal.  When evaluating your own research or the research of a colleague or another specialist in the field, the individual or those professionals in charge of evaluating a paper for potential publication must seek out and review other research in the same field that has been previously published. Evaluation requires that the peer or peer group critically looks at and dissects previous research positively or negatively in order to place your own research or that of another writer in context to determine if all known sources are preferably cited but at least considered, that the bibliography is substantial not only with printed documents but also tools not in print such as cuneiforms if on an ancient topic, language, or government, and so forth.  Evaluation also includes ascertaining that there is no plagiarism, that intellectual property rights are recognized and maintained, and that the work is a genuine contribution to the area of inquiry and composition.  To pass any paper purely on the grounds of friendship, or worse, in exchange for financial gain, academic advancement, or sexual favors is unethical and invalidates both the paper and the author(s).  The most critical aspect of any evaluation is to determine if the research has a critical, worthwhile and strong purpose for having been undertaken and that all relevant research questions, such as originality, coordination with others and the incorporation of positive and negative comments and studies are included, and that all relevant questions are asked and answered.  If all questions are not answered, or you can ask those unasked and they are ignored, the research paper has no value.  If it is suspected that the data used was irrelevant to the research topic, that leaves the paper wanting and should be rejected as the research most likely is flawed and the argument weak.  Finally, in any evaluation, the discussion of the topic and the conclusions drawn from the research must be precise, on-mark, and are not overreaching, overarching or pretensious in and with claims that research cannot support.  If this is the case, the research lacks credibility.[45. Gibaldi, Joseph (2009).  MLA (Modern Language Association) Handbook for Writers of Research Papers. New York, NY, USA: Modern Language Association of America.  Daigneault, Armand (1975). L’évaluation de l’enseignant. Montréal : Association des institutions d’enseignement secondaire.  Girden, Ellen R. (2001). Evaluating Research Articles from Start to Finish. Thousand Oaks, CA, USA: SAGE Publications.  Dane, Francis C. (2011).  Evaluating Research: Methodology for People Who Need to Read Research. Los Angeles, CA, USA: SAGE Publications.  For organizational evaluations read: Kishchuk, Natalie A. and Légaré, Judith (1988).  L’effet bureautique : un guide d’évaluation : guide destiné aux gestionnaires de moyennes et grandes organisations.  Ottawa, Canada: Centre canadien de recherche sur l’informatisation du travail, Direction de la recherche organisationnelle.  Turabin, Kate L. (2007). A Manual for Writers of Research Papers, Theses, and Dissertations: Chicago Style for Students and Researchers. Chicago, IL, USA: University of Chicago Press. Davitz, Joel Robert and Davitz, Lois Jean (1977). Evaluating Research Proposals in the Behavioral Sciences: A Guide. New York, NY, USA: Teachers College Press, Teachers College, Columbia University. For specialty papers in field experiments and agricultural research, read: Schuster, Walter and von Lochow, Jost (1979). Anlage und Auswertung von Feldversuchen : Anleitungen und Beispiele für die Praxis der Versuchsarbeit. Frankfurt-am-Main, Deutschland: DLG Verlag (2 erw. Aufl). For forestry economics and industry, read: Abegg, Bruno (1998). Wirtschaftliche Erschliessung von Wäldern in Hanglagen : Entscheidungsgrundlagen zur Beurteilung von Erschliessungsvarianten.   Birmensdorf (Switzerland): Eidgenössische Anstalt für das Forstliche Versuchswesen; No. 302 in the series Berichte (Eidgenössische Anstalt für das Forstliche Versuchswesen).