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<p>DALLAS TWP. &#8212; How does an ethics organization founded before the invention of the World Wide Web or Facebook remain relevant? That&#8217;s something the Misericordia University&#8217;s Ethics Institute board of directors is grappling with this year, as the institute turns 30.</p><p>&#8220;I think it&#8217;s remarkable that <em>anybody</em> does something significant for 30 years these day,&#8221; Institute Director Joseph Curran said, suggesting the mere survival of the institute in such shifting times is worth celebrating.</p><p>&#8220;The fact that, in today&#8217;s society you can&#8217;t always assume the level of shared values that was present 30 years ago, as problems become increasingly complex, what the institute does now is more important than ever,&#8221; he said</p><p>What the institute does &#8212; what it has always done since the late Sister Siena Finley founded it &#8212; is try to bring people of diverse faiths and backgrounds together to find common starting points on ethical issues, Curran said.</p><p>&#8220;The institute is a good place where dialog can take place,&#8221; he explained. That doesn&#8217;t mean &#8220;trying to convert someone or score rhetorical points. A conversation is intended to reach a deeper understanding of each other&#8217;s positions.&#8221;</p><p>Institute board member and university faculty member James Calderone cited the notion of non-violence as an example. &#8220;Different faith traditions may have different views on non-violence,&#8221; he said.</p><p>Some people may feel violence is never a solution, others may feel it is at times an obligation, as when the Allies used military force to liberate the German concentration camps where millions of Jews were killed.</p><p>&#8220;These issues go right to the gut,&#8221; Calderone said.</p><p>Fellow board member and nursing faculty member Kathy Gelso cited end-of-life medical care &#8212; one of Sister Finley&#8217;s first concerns when she launched the institute &#8212; as another example. The ability to keep people alive at great expense raises both a financial and moral question society must figure out, she said.</p><p>&#8220;Can our health care system sustain the kind of care we have?&#8221; she asked. &#8220;And if it&#8217;s not going to be able to sustain it, what options do we have to address individuals who are at the end of life?&#8221;</p><p>&#8220;Is health care a right or a privilege?&#8221; Curran added.</p><p>The dramatic growth of social media presents a new quandary to the ancient field of ethics, all three agreed. Calderone noted that older people may feel slighted or ignored when someone stares at a phone during a meeting, while younger people do not see such behavior as disrespectful.</p><p>Curran noted he does not allow phones or computers in his class, and, in fact, he often assigns students to go on at least one social outing, like a date, without any devices in tow, then write a report on the experience.</p><p>&#8220;It&#8217;s really an assignment to be attentive to someone and reflect on the experience,&#8221; he said, adding that the papers submitted by students regularly site the experience as better than when smartphones were in play.</p><p>Generally, the institute has demurred when asked to advocate for any one position. Curran said that would often defeat the purpose.</p><p>&#8220;To what degree does it do more harm than good, once you align with one side or another?&#8221; he asked. &#8220;I think that&#8217;s what&#8217;s happening in our society. People aren&#8217;t talking.&#8221;</p><p>The goal is to find common ground &#8220;and build from there,&#8221; he added. &#8220;Does the world need another group advocating for a particular position or a group trying to create dialog and bring people together.&#8221;</p><p>One way to do that, Curran suggested, is to go back to an old Christian &#8212; and, indeed, Aristotelian &#8212; position. &#8220;Ethics is really about happiness. Ethical behavior is behavior that promotes happiness and human well being,&#8221; Curran said.</p><p>&#8220;Why are people so unethical? It&#8217;s not because they don&#8217;t want to be happy and fulfilled; they have trouble identifying a way of living that helps them be happy and fulfilled. And that requires rigour thinking, it requires challenges.&#8221;</p><p>By still doing what Finley did 30 years ago, bringing people of very diverse backgrounds and traditions together to seek common ground regardless of the shifting issues, he and the others said the institute will remain relevant for a long time.</p><style>
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<div class="neFile"><img class="neImage" src="https://www.timesleader.com/wp-content/uploads/2017/07/web1_Curran-Joe.jpg">
<div class="neCaption">Curran </div></div><div class="metaInfo"><photo0>https://www.timesleader.com/wp-content/uploads/2017/07/web1_Curran-Joe.jpg</photo0><caption0>Curran </caption0><photoCredit0></photoCredit0></div><div class="neFile"><img class="neImage" src="https://www.timesleader.com/wp-content/uploads/2017/07/web1_Calderone-Rev-JimCMYK.jpg">
<div class="neCaption">Calderone </div></div><div class="metaInfo"><photo1>https://www.timesleader.com/wp-content/uploads/2017/07/web1_Calderone-Rev-JimCMYK.jpg</photo1><caption1>Calderone </caption1><photoCredit1></photoCredit1></div><div class="neFile"><img class="neImage" src="https://www.timesleader.com/wp-content/uploads/2017/07/web1_Gelso-Kathy-CMYK.jpg">
<div class="neCaption">Gelso </div></div><div class="metaInfo"><photo2>https://www.timesleader.com/wp-content/uploads/2017/07/web1_Gelso-Kathy-CMYK.jpg</photo2><caption2>Gelso </caption2><photoCredit2></photoCredit2></div><div class="neFile"><img class="neImage" src="https://www.timesleader.com/wp-content/uploads/2017/07/web1_sister-1.jpg">
<div class="neCaption">Sister Siena Finley, who died in 2014 at the age of 92, founded the Misericordia University Ethics Institute in 1987. The University marks the 30th annivresary of the institute this year. </div></div><div class="metaInfo"><photo3>https://www.timesleader.com/wp-content/uploads/2017/07/web1_sister-1.jpg</photo3><caption3>Sister Siena Finley, who died in 2014 at the age of 92, founded the Misericordia University Ethics Institute in 1987. The University marks the 30th annivresary of the institute this year. </caption3><photoCredit3></photoCredit3></div></div>
<div class="metaInfo"><subheadMeta>Misericordia Ethics Institute celebrates anniversary</subheadMeta></div><div class="metaInfo"><bylineMeta><p>By Mark Guydish</p><p>mguydish@www.timesleader.com</p></bylineMeta></div><div class="metaInfo"><shirttailMeta><p>Reach Mark Guydish at 570-991-6112 or on Twitter @TLMarkGuydish.</p></shirttailMeta></div>

Misericordia Ethics Institute turns 30