inherent worth (choice, death penalty, science)

[robtex]

I wanted to walk through 7 princples of UU and look at each one seperate starting with # 1.

From the princples of UU
http://www.uua.org/aboutuua/principles.html

"The inherent worth and dignity of every person"

What does this mean to you as a person, and a community and how do you apply it to your daily life? ( i gotta run to work but will think about it later).

[GeneCosta]

Good thread!

What does this mean to you as a person

Firstly, I believe the worth talked about is a person's life, the most valuable of all things to a living creature when it comes to the world right now. Personally, I use this principle as one of many reasons to oppose the death penalty (Again, personally). Even those who commit crimes are still worthy of their lives, in my eyes.

As for dignity, I believe this involves respect most of all-- respect for an individual as well as for a group of people. We are are all born, we all eat, we all excrete, and we all eventually die. In that regard, and in the fact we are of the same species, we are equal.

how do you apply this?

Well, as I said before, I side with anti-death penalty.
Secondly, I commit myself to never fall under the trap of bigotry and hatred, against any part of the human species.
Thirdly, I think of myself as an equal to everyone, neither superior nor inferior due to wealth or any other factor.

[robtex]

Gene I liked your post!! figure as far as my understanding of the idea of
"The inherent worth and dignity of every person"

that, we as a species are social animals. By choice, much more often than not we have learned to live together as a group in beneficial cooperation. Cooperation with competition at times but still, in light of the big picture mutual cooperation as a community.

Every man, woman and child has some part of their being that makes them a positive contribution to that social network. Some people have strong skills at drafting. Others, and communications. Others are gifted with understanding math. In the same breath every one of us has a shortcomming when it comes to one of those areas. For instance I can draw to save my life. I am marginal in math and science. My english skills are slightly above par (par to the average).

Furthermore, within society there are those who contribute at different levels. Some contribute more or less based on ability. Others are more or less based on personal choice. And it is a choice. But more often than not, and playing the odds most people feel good in a community and stronger, mentally and or spirtually healthier when they are part of a group and a contributing part.

I think the recogination of others strengths and attributes and the highlighting of those skills is a daily application of "The inherent worth and dignity of every person" Espcially within the context that we are in.

Let me give you a really extreme example. Edmund Kemper is a serial killer in custody. he killed 6 women plus his grandparents in his lifetime. (footnote 1) He had an IQ above 120. I remember reading about him in college and he memorized the psychology tests and the answers that the adminstrators wanted to hear. There were hundreds of questions on the tests.

He is serving a life sentence and will likely never be released. What good could he possibly be to society? What is the inherent worth of a man like this? Turns out that a number of crimminologists and psychologists realized that Kemper was both intellectually gifted and conversational when probed. (footnote 3,4 & 5)

They used the information to sketch a loose composite of what a serial killer might do. Things like torture animals for entertainment were in part, learned from Kemper. As sick as this is to read, the reason I spoke of it is to show that even in the most grim of situations as a society it is a noble goal to, if applicable, find the assets that people have in a society highlight those assets and impower them to use them for the good of society. To me that is what recognizing the inherent worth and dignity of every person is and how it can be applied.


http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Edmund_Kemper
http://www.crimelibrary.com/serial_k.../edmund_1.html
3) http://www.members.tripod.com/~VanessaWest/kemper.html
4) http://www.truecrime.net/kemper/
5) http://www.crimelibrary.com/serial_k...kemper/15.html

[uumckk16]

I agree, great thread, Robtex!

I think both of you guys made great points, and I agree with what you said.

I'd also like to add that I think this principle invalidates any kind of racism, sexism, etc....and I also think in a way it encourages us not to judge people immediately - to give them the benefit of the doubt, in order to grant them their "inherent worth and dignity" from our individual perspective...Uh, did that make sense?

[Karl R]

Originally Posted by robtex

"The inherent worth and dignity of every person"

What does this mean to you as a person, ... how do you apply it to your daily life?

To me, this is a reminder to look for the value in everybody, even though they may not seem valuable to me.

In addition, it's a reminder to treat others with respect and dignity. I was very arrogant and egotistical when I was younger. It's something I still struggle with. Despite my efforts, I can't always control my thoughts ... but I can control how I act upon them.

Having learned to control my actions (for the most part), I've seen how few conflicts happen if people show respect towards one another. Principle #1 leads to the world community of peace mentioned in principle #6.


Unlike most uu members, I'm not adamantly opposed to the death penalty. Even condemned criminals have value, but so did the people they destroyed. However, I think the justice system needs to be extremely cautious about how it's applied, and I wouldn't be bothered if it were abolished. It's impossible to unkill a convict if you discover you made a mistake.

[robtex]

Originally Posted by uumckk16

I'd also like to add that I think this principle invalidates any kind of racism, sexism, etc....and I also think in a way it encourages us not to judge people immediately - to give them the benefit of the doubt, in order to grant them their "inherent worth and dignity" from our individual perspective...Uh, did that make sense?

I think as a species we have a tendancy to naturally evaluate people into groups and categorize them. sometimes our evaluations are wrong and sometimes they have some accuracy to them. In applying the first principle of UU to the idea of our preconceptions I definetly agree with your qoute, "I also think in a way it encourages us not to judge people immediatly" and would further add, evaluations on a personal level hold more academic merit in terms of accuracy than broad generalzations of groups much more often than not. Though sometimes in real time that luxury is not afforded to us.

[robtex]

Originally Posted by Karl R

To me, this is a reminder to look for the value in everybody, even though they may not seem valuable to me.

That is a good point. What has value to society or to the community doesn't always or likely more often than not does not have the same value or any value to the evaluater. Understanding the big picture or a broader perspective is a great way to apply the first princple of UU. What has worth to the community may not have worth to the you or I. Great post!!