“People as things, that’s where it starts.”

Last updated on: March 30, 2012 at 2:00 pm by Leah Libresco

“People as things, that’s where it starts.” 2012-03-30T14:00:37-04:00 Leah Libresco

LOGO Patheos Explore the world's faith through different perspectives on religion and spirituality! Patheos has the views of the prevalent religions and spiritualities of the world.

For an explanation of what Weatherwax Wednesdays are all about, read the introduction post.

This week’s Weatherwax quote, like last week’s is from Carpe Jugulum. The first speaker is the Omnian missionary, the second speaker is Granny Weatherwax. The two of them alternate speaking throughout the dialogue.

“There is a very interesting debate raging at the moment about the nature of sin, for example.”

“And what do they think? Against it, are they?”

“It’s not as simple as that. It’s not a black and white issue. There are so many shades of gray.”

“Nope.”

“Pardon?”

“There’s no grays, only white that’s got grubby. I’m surprised you don’t know that. And sin, young man, is when you treat people as things. Including yourself. That’s what sin is.”

“It’s a lot more complicated than that—”

“No. It ain’t. When people say things are a lot more complicated than that, they means they are getting worried that they won’t like the truth. People as things, that’s where it starts.”

“Oh, I’m sure there are worse crimes—”

“But they starts with thinking about people as things . . .”

Sometimes we pass over points of commonality with the idea that the ideas are too basic or foundational to merit much discussion. I don’t think that there are many people who think Granny Weatherwax’s prescription for behavior is wrong, but there is considerable difference about why we ought to follow it.

In my younger, Kantian days, I followed the Golden Rule and anything else that seemed to fall under the purview of the Categorical Imperative in an attitude of pure duty. The primary satisfaction I got from behaving rightly was like the quiet click of a Rubik’s cube sliding through its final sequence or the sound of a pencil being laid down at the end of a proof.

My mistake when I was younger was: in my utter detachment from the people affected by my actions, I was still treating people as things. Instead of ‘ends in themselves’ I treated them as means to an abstracted kind of righteousness for myself, their needs as tasks to be completed.

Moving away from Kantianism hasn’t caused a radical shift in the actions I take, but it has changed the attitude I try to cultivate when I make moral choices. The goal is not simply to reasonably consider my imperatives and minimize the objectification of others, but to reach the point where ‘not thinking of people as things’ is my default mindset. I want to engrain it into my habits and character so that it is not my guide solely when I am making consciously identified Moral Decisions, but so that it becomes a constant constraint on even my most quotidian actions.

P.S. Speaking of universal moral truths, Matt Shafer from Sword and Cross has a great post up titled “The Single Ethical Principle?” which argues that “ethical action consists in reciprocity and mutuality of action.” (This post is a follow up to another piece “Agnostic Faith” which is well worth a read).

Previous Post

June 21, 2010

Eye has not seen, ear has not heard

Next Post

June 25, 2010 7 Quick Takes (6/25/10)

Browse Our Archives

Select a Category 7 Quick Takes Apologetics Atheism Book Conversion Debate Tactics Debates Epistemology/Philosophy Housekeeping Ideological Turing Test Marriage Morality in Practice Parsing Catholicism Possibly Heretical Radio Reviews/Recommendations Sequence Index Spiritual Practice Uncategorized

Select a Month April 2017 March 2017 January 2017 December 2016 September 2016 August 2016 July 2016 June 2016 May 2016 April 2016 March 2016 February 2016 January 2016 December 2015 November 2015 October 2015 September 2015 August 2015 July 2015 June 2015 May 2015 April 2015 March 2015 February 2015 January 2015 December 2014 November 2014 October 2014 September 2014 August 2014 July 2014 June 2014 May 2014 April 2014 March 2014 February 2014 January 2014 December 2013 November 2013 October 2013 September 2013 August 2013 July 2013 June 2013 May 2013 April 2013 March 2013 February 2013 January 2013 December 2012 November 2012 October 2012 September 2012 August 2012 July 2012 June 2012 May 2012 April 2012 March 2012 February 2012 January 2012 December 2011 November 2011 October 2011 September 2011 August 2011 July 2011 June 2011 May 2011 April 2011 March 2011 February 2011 January 2011 December 2010 November 2010 October 2010 September 2010 August 2010 July 2010 June 2010

TAKE THE

Religious Wisdom Quiz

Who wrote the Book of Acts?

Select your answer to see how you score.

Luke Peter Paul Mark