Progress and Ethics

 A human life ethicist scholar in the Diagnosis of Current Events' Column in the Catholic Peace Weekly gives us some thoughts to ponder.

 Progress means to improve or increase to some degree or level; always considered good thanks to the nuances that come from the word. Pope Benedict XVI once said in an interview that from the concept of progress we attain both knowledge and power.

Tremendous knowledge has been accumulated in many areas— the mystery of the human body and nature. Knowledge gives birth to power. Knowledge has brought power, and it has been used in the name of progress with great indulgence. We have used power in ways that can destroy nature and humans. The result is revealed by the current corona 19 and the climate crisis.

Pope Benedict XVI points out that the present concept of progress, which combines knowledge and power, is fundamentally missing one perspective. It is the aspect of the 'good'. What is good? Where should knowledge lead to power? Should it just be used, or should we question the internal standards to measure what is good for humans and the world? If the ethical aspect is omitted and only the power through knowledge is cultivated, such progress will inevitably be destructive. Also, one thing to consider along with the concept of progress is the concept of freedom. Freedom is often understood as being able to do what you want, but freedom has its limits, and with all freedom comes responsibility. So, progress and freedom must be balanced with ethical reflection.

On December 23, 2020, the Ministry of Science and the Information and Communication Policy Institute set human-centered ethical standards to be pursued in the development of artificial intelligence. The highest value was to be an aid to Humanity. In other words, all artificial intelligence should be developed and utilized not only to be useful to humans, but also to preserve and cultivate without damaging human nature, and not to harm the human mind and body. Artificial intelligence is for humanity. It should be developed in a direction that contributes to a flourishing life, happiness of individuals and leads to positive changes in society.

In addition, artificial intelligence should contribute to resolving social inequality, used for a given purpose,   should be ethical, developed and utilized to ultimately contribute to the quality of life, and social well-being.

"Artificial Intelligence Ethics Standard" presents three basic principles and ten core requirements. However, this ethical standard is not a binding law or guideline but a moral and autonomous norm. It respects corporate autonomy, encourages the development of artificial intelligence technology, and forms an ethical discourse that can flexibly respond to technological and social changes.

Some questions are raised with the above standards. In other words, a fundamental reflection on whether our society and business ethics have the capacity to comply with this ethical standard and whether it has the maturity to do so. In addition, a sufficient review of the alternatives to this is insufficient. Setting ethical standards does not strengthen ethical competencies. Rather, the ethical standards of artificial intelligence can be effective through strengthening ethical competencies. Consequently, the government should also actively seek ways to cultivate ethical reflection.

Smoking and Health in North Korea

 

Each year, at the New Year, many pledge to quit smoking and make plans to take care of their health. However, even when one quits smoking, many times the hands go to the forbidden item because of stress and other temptations. So begins an article in the Nation's Reconciliation Column of  the Catholic Weekly.

In North Korea, there is also a concern for smoking issues. A warning message was posted on the cigarette pack and a smoking cessation campaign was launched, but with little success. It seems that the recent 'Non-Smoking Act' was created to renew their efforts and conduct a major crackdown.
 
Smoking was banned in public places by enacting the "Non-Smoking Control Act" in 2005, and on December 4, 2020, a reinforced amendment was prepared at the plenary meeting of the Standing Committee of the Supreme People's Assembly. Public places such as theaters, childcare institutions, educational institutions, medical and health facilities, restaurants, and public transport facilities were designated smoking prohibited places, and penalties were enacted for violations of the smoking order.
 
In fact, the North is a smoker's paradise. Even in public places, he could see men smoking frequently; there were many types of cigarettes. It is known that there are about 50 brands in the South, compared to 200 in the north.
 
The writer at one time collected cigarette butts that fell on the floor during the "Kaesong Industrial Complex Environmental Beautification Day" to see how many types of cigarettes in the North were available. He remembers the names: Mt. Geumgang, Cheonji, Red Star, Chollima, Dawn, Hometown, Bees, and Kraben.  
 
The smoking rate among North Korean men was 54.7% in 2015, which is very high compared to the world average of 48%. On the other hand, according to a 2018 survey, the smoking rate of men in the South was 36.7%, 20 years ago, it was 66.3%.
 
The topic that always comes to mind when it comes to smoking is 'The Vicious Cycle of Tobacco and Poverty'. In the case of low-income people, investment in health is low, which widens the gap with the health of high-income people.
 
Differences in health levels and mortality rates can also occur between countries. Smoking can be fatal for people in the North who are undernourished due to food shortages and the like. According to Eugene Bell Foundation, which has been conducting medical aid projects for North Korea, the rate of tuberculosis in the North ranks first in the world. You can feel that vulnerability enough just by looking at the firmness in responding to the recent coronavirus infection-19. He prays that the North, which is in a state of crisis, will amend the 'No Smoking Act' and enforce a strong crackdown.
 
The reason we should be interested in the health and sanitation efforts in the North is that although there is a human rights aspect, we hope the members in North Korea will become one with the South someday and remain healthy.

A New Year's Resolution

 

In the Eyes of the Believer's column of the Catholic Times the director of the Korean Theological Research Institute has some thoughts on New Year's Resolutions.

 

At the beginning of the year, she thinks of what she wants to achieve during the year. However, seeing the momentum of the Corona 19 virus throughout last year, impossible to predict anything, she finds it difficult to make plans for the New Year. She hopes the vaccine will work, so she can go back to her usual routine. Rather than thinking about what she will do, it will be rather how she will live. 

 

While looking for something that could be a guide for the New Year, she noticed the message that Pope Francis announced on January 1st for "World Peace Day." The theme: A Culture of Care As a Path to Peace.

 

God's plan in Genesis suggests that humans have a 

call to care for the world God created, and to guard and care for our brothers and sisters. Jesus showed love and care for us by giving Himself to others, and his disciples imitated this and practiced love for the poor. In this discourse, the Pope added a new dimension "protection of creation" to the main principles of social justice, "promoting the dignity of all humans, solidarity with the poor and the powerless, the pursuit of the common good", helping our Christians achieve a culture of social care. The Pope asks us to take the lead. 

 

This Peace Day message contains contents from the Encyclical "Fratelli Tutti" that came out last fall on brotherhood and social friendship. The Encyclical introduces the parable of the Good Samaritan who helped a stranger who was robbed. It does not reduce our lives to narrow relationships, my family or small group but goes beyond ourselves to relationships with others. The encyclical invites us to restore the virtue of “kindness,” the gift of the Holy Spirit. If we work every day to develop a kind habit of showing interest in others, smiling, listening, and speaking encouraging words, our relationships with our neighbors and our attitude toward the world will take a new path. 

 

The Encyclical says the story of the Good Samaritan is constantly repeated, and that we will sooner or later meet a suffering person, more so today. In fact, an incident that reminds the writer of this was reported in the news a while ago. A mother of a disabled man was found five months after her death. The son, who had a developmental disability, stayed homeless on the street after his mother died, not knowing what to do. He spent months begging in front of the subway station, the countless people who passed him paid no notice.

 

Several months later, a social worker stopped and talked with him. He took out a note which said: "My mother is dead, Help me." She contacted the police and found his mother who died 5 months before. Perhaps if the social worker hadn't stopped and didn't see the note, his mother wouldn't have been discovered and the homeless man would be wandering this cold winter on the streets. The social worker was a good Samaritan, what person are we in the parable of the Samaritan?

 

Her New Year's resolution in 2021 is to live 'kindly'. Respond to the pain of the Earth, where we give friendly smiles and greetings to those we meet, not only hope for the health and well-being of herself and family, but also pay attention to the realities of the world, listen to the voices of people in pain, share comfort, solidarity, and compassion. She wants daily, one step at a step, to practice the way of kindness.

Economic Jubilee Year for Korea

A Catholic university priest professor, with a doctorate in economics, acquaints the readers of the Kyeongyang magazine on some of the economic problems faced by Korean society in this New Year.

 

In Oct. of last year, the Bank of Korea reported that the Piketty index was 8.6 the highest it has been. In 2010 it was 7.6. The index for Germany 4.4, United States 4.8, France 5.9, England 6.0, Japan 6.1, Spain 6.6. According to Piketty, the index shows the economic inequality in society and consequently its dissatisfaction. 

Thomas Piketty is a French Economist who originated this index: the assets of a country compared to how many more times this exceeds the total income of the citizens. When the index increases the power of capital increases compared to the income from labor; according to Piketty, we have a situation for dissatisfaction. 

In Korea, a big reason for the increase of the index comes from the increase in the prices of real estate property. The income from labor in comparison to the income from capital decreases. Not a good sign for society. Simply expressed the value from capital is usually 4 to seven times greater than the total income from labor. This money increase will be going for the most part to the wealthy.

The writer seeing the situation in Korea reminds him of the Jubilee Year of the Old Testament. After the last of the seven sabbatical years on the 50th year, they celebrated the Jubilee Year. One was not to sell their land, God was the landowner and they were only pilgrims on God's land. All had 'equal land rights' so they could enjoy life. 

The distribution of land after entering Canaan was done with great care. Joshua selected three from each tribe to explore the area and make a map. They distributed the land according to this map. To be fair it was done by lot. The Jewish historian Josephus said it was not done by the amount of land but the quality of the land.

The Jubilee Year expressed simply was a reset of society—a new start, going back to the beginning. All debts remitted if the original land that had been allotted had been sold it would be returned to the owner.

 

The writer introduces to the readers, Henry George and his book: Progress and Poverty, published in 1879. George had the same idea that land was for the benefit of all and argued that taxes on land should replace all other taxation, ending unemployment, poverty, and inequality.

 

Since in our modern society the distribution of land is no longer a reasonable possibility the taxing is possible with the distribution to society. This would be a modern-day Jubilee Law benefiting all.

In Korea after liberation in 1950, the government abolished the land tenure system, transferring the land ownership from the absentee landlords to the tenant farmers. This enabled the farmers to care for their families and put aside money for the education of their children which helped the country to quickly develop. 

After 1970 the 'equal land rights' policy began to weaken because of industrialization and the growth of cities. And we had the city land prices increase, speculation, and the growth of unearned income. This became the vision of many, to make easy money without the toil and sweat of the past.

The continual increase of property prices is a problem and few are in the know on how to stop this kind of speculation. He ends the article with the thought that we are going in the opposite direction from the Jubilee Year way of thinking. In his eyes, the Jubilee is not a farfetched way of looking for the solution to our economic problems.

The Color of Corona19

 

The Current Event column of the Catholic Peace Weekly wants to discover the color of the Coronavirus 19 and give readers something to reflect on during the New Year.

Color is expressed through the harmony of light and objects. Various colors are recognized according to the wavelength of light, the angle of reflection, and the complex process recognized by our sense of sight. There are a lot of things young children ask their parents about color. Why is the sky blue? Why are the autumn leaves red?
 
According to each one's experience and knowledge, one discerns the colors they like and the colors they dislike. And in some cases, a simple color may reveal a certain meaning or even the psychological state of a person.
 
The writer likes blue. It is reminiscent of the sea and reminds him of the sky. It is said that Chinese people like red. Is it because of the tradition that says it prevents bad luck? Yellow is the color of gold that brings wealth, and purple is said to be a complex and mysterious color. Each color is unique, but the primary colors: red, yellow, and blue can be mixed to achieve the secondary colors and this can continue making other colors.
 
The coronavirus that has plagued us in 2020 also has been given the color blue. In English, 'blue' is not just the color blue, but is used as a word that expresses depression. We have recently expressed the feeling of loss in our daily life, the emptiness, the lost comfort, the encouragement we experienced through human relationships with the corona blue.
 
However, Corona Red appeared. Changes in human emotions in the face of pain often lead to feelings of embarrassment, depression, anger, desperation, and despair.  Red means one was very angry because of the corona. Why shouldn't stressed people not be angry? However, if anger caused by natural events is directed in the wrong direction, there is a high risk of leading to antisocial behavior. When the virus expands from a personal level to a social level, this hurts many members of the social community and begins to destroy relationships.
 
And the next step is Corona Black. You can fall into a dark situation where you pass through depression and anger, and even feel desperate. Black is the color of darkness, the color that expresses the night, and the color that seems to be reminiscent of a tunnel. In this way, Corona covered us in a blue-stained melancholy, made us angry, and eventually drove our spirits into pitch-black darkness.
 
The stress caused by corona has spread to corona trauma. It is serious in that there is a real panic that leads to the collapse of the household economy, and these are not only psychological and symbolic expressions. This shouldn't be. 2020 is over, but time is not over and it has brought us into the unknown 2021.
 
Now the color of the corona should go white. The white light at the end of the tunnel is the vaccine. A game-changer appeared. Beginning with the UK and the US, the corona train of fear passed through the tunnel. Will finally, Corona Green, a clean forest, a harmonious ecosystem, and a green and safe daily life be restored? He believes so.
 
However, blue, red, black, white, are merely symbolic colors, figurative expressions of our human feelings, but in fact, the colors themselves are only phenomena not bad or good, right or wrong. We hope with the New Year's morning our hearts are strengthened with subtle sunlight of hope, a beautiful sunrise. Let light now shine in a bruised heart, stained with corona.

Recovering What We Lost in the Pandemic

 

The  New Year is about to begin and we are looking forward to leaving the   Coronavirus tunnel with which we have lived in 2020. In an article in the Kyeongyang magazine a priest with a background in education and working in that field gives the readers some thoughts on what we may have lost because of the virus.

Every morning before anything else,  he wants to know how many cases of the virus were discovered the previous day. The news is not good.  In many parishes, the priest says Mass alone in an empty church. The world has changed; the church needs to change. We no longer live in a community, the new normal.

The writer wants the readers to understand how we are overcome with the waves of secularization— separation from religious or spiritual concerns— at a faster rate than before. We have weakened the hold that religion has on our thinking. Some of the reasons are the irrational actions of some of the religions and also the actions and words of some Christian groups and persons have made religion less able to find a place to stand in our pandemics times.

Because of the virus instead of God, material things are the idols many are following. Love and mercy and the belief in God have become what the Danish philosopher Kierkegaard mentioned in a parable.

The parable is about a fire that began before a circus performance. The stage manager sends out one of the performers who was dressed in his clown custom to warn the audience to leave immediately because of the fire. But the audience sees this as part of the show; the more he shouts and gesticulates the more they laugh and the fire engulfs the whole theater.

When the church keeps on shouting the same message, Kierkegaard says, without any change to meet the people where they are, the world will continue to accept the words as part of a familiar show and fail to see a need do something. How do people see Jesus? Does the church convey a correct image of Jesus to the world?

In these times of corona 19, we have empty churches but even before the pandemic, we had a decrease in attendance. We have lost our passion as followers of Jesus. We need to rediscover the merciful and loving Jesus and live his life.

 " Let us not forget that Jesus asked his disciples to pay attention to details. The little detail that wine was running out at a party.
 The little detail that one sheep was missing.
 The little detail of noticing the widow who offered her two small coins.
 The little detail of having spare oil for the lamps, should the bridegroom delay.
 The little detail of asking the disciples how many loaves of bread they had.
The little detail of having a fire burning and a fish cooking as he waited for the disciples at daybreak.

A community that cherishes the little details of love, whose members care for one another and create an open and evangelizing environment, is a place where the risen Lord is present, sanctifying it by the Father’s plan" (Pope Francis Apostolic Exhortation: Gaudete et Exsultate 144-145).

When the Catholic community is a sign of God's love to the worldwide community we have little to worry about. It's not making so many more believers for that is God's doing we make known his love, witness to the Gospel, and live his life. If we don't believe this we are bound to some other mission.

We are experiencing many life changes.The situation we are in is because of the destruction of our environment. In this coronavirus situation, we don't give up—a defeatist attitude is worst than the pandemic for we forget the graces we have and continue to receive. Happy New Year!

Mysticism and the Liturgy

 

In his column, in the Catholic Times, a priest working in the field of spirituality explains the place of mysticism in our understanding of the liturgy.

Mysticism is the belief that union with the divine may be attained through contemplation, prayer, and self-surrender. Through certain spiritual exercises, we can gain a deeper understanding and relationship with the divine.
 

In the traditional Catholic teaching, we have three levels which are continually operative: Purgative, abandoning sin and attachments; Illuminative, practicing the virtues, meditation; and the Unitive Way, detachment from temporal things, enjoying peace not moved by various desires and sinful passions. Union with God experiencing his love and responding.
 
Karl Rahner the German theologian said: "The Christian of the future will be a mystic or will not exist at all." They will have to have an experiential relationship with God or be without faith.
 
For the liturgy to become reality, not magic there is a need to understand mysticism. The fundamental purpose of the liturgy is to bring forth the fruit of faith. One must understand the mystery of Christ from the reality of symbols.
 
In Romania a large orphanage reopened in 1990, William Snyder photographed the conditions of the children held there and informed the world. The orphanage 'Cradle' he called a "human storehouse". Many children were growing up in a spiritless state; shaking their bodies, pounding their heads against the wall, frowning strangely, they didn't even notice when persons approached them. They had never been abused or hungry, but children were growing up without any communication skills necessary in society— they were neglected.
 
What was the problem? The food provided by the workers did not give them the trust they needed. Children need parents. You cannot grow properly without knowing your parents. Usually, the food giver is the parent. However, the Cradle lacked the necessary workers, so one nanny had to take care of 20 to 30 children. The nanny's job was to distribute food, she couldn't give the children any warm contact or care. The children were able to survive by eating food but did not grow up properly because they couldn't find anyone they could trust.
 
The same can be said of any liturgy that does not bear the fruit of 'faith'. The primary purpose of the liturgy is to show how grace allows us to believe in God as a father so that we can live like children of God. However, no matter how many times one receives the Eucharist if one does not realize its meaning, faith will not grow.
 
The liturgy is not magic. Liturgy is a reality that changes people. In order for the liturgy to become real, catechesis for the liturgy is necessary to lead people to understand its meaning.

The liturgy is made up of 'symbols'. Liturgical catechesis aims to initiate people into the mystery of Christ (it is 'mystagogy') by proceeding from the visible to the invisible, from the sign to the thing signified, from the 'sacraments' to the 'mysteries' (CC 1075). (The liturgy is the summit toward which the activity of the Church is directed; it is also the font from which all her power flows)(1074).
 
This is why education is essential in order to participate in the living liturgy that bears the fruit of faith. Sunday we celebrated the Feast Day of the Holy Family and followed, in Korea, was a week spent learning ways to sanctify the family. Would not the desire to become a mystic be a good start?