Where do you stand? I’m sceptical that there there is any moral or ethical stance that is absolutely true regardless of time, place or circumstance. And yet there are some situations where I feel there is no other possible ethical/moral stance other than the one I hold can ever be acceptable. So I ask myself is this because this is a case of ethical absolutism or is it that my experiences as an autistic person living in a largely secular and liberal society conditions me to be blind to any other perspective. I really don’t know.
According to ethical absolutism, there are objective moral values and principles that are always valid and correct, regardless of time, place, circumstance or people. For example, some people may believe that lying is always wrong, no matter what the situation is. Ethical absolutism is often associated with religious views, as it implies that moral law is grounded in the very being of a deity or deities.
There seems to be one moral principle that humans universally hold to be intuitively valid and correct, and that is the “Golden Rule”: that we should treat others as we would want to be treated. This appears to be true across recorded history regardless of culture or religion, and some might reasonably claim that this is an example of ethical absolutism. But is it?
Personal experience tells me otherwise. I have little doubt that other autistics have had similar experiences. Often when I have treated others as I want to be treated, I find myself in hot water, with responses ranging from annoyance to anger to physical violence. Similarly when others treat me the way they want to be treated I find myself between a rock and a hard place. If I act honestly, I also find myself in hot water with responses no different to those I have just mentioned, and if I hide my true self then I quietly allow myself to be subjected to treatment that ranges from unpleasant to extremely painful. So regardless of whether I apply the Golden Rule, or others apply it to me, I tend to suffer.
So I now apply my own golden rule: treat others how you believe they want to be treated, and if unsure ask. It’s one that I’m beginning to ask others to apply to me, although it’s taken me 70 years to learn how to ask. Of course there are some people who are offended by me asking – whether it’s asking how they would like to be treated or asking them to treat me how I like. But that’s another story for another day.
Getting back on topic: According to ethical relativism, there are no objective moral values or principles, but rather they are relative to some further instance, such as culture, society, individual, or situation. For example, some people may believe that lying is sometimes acceptable, depending on the context and the consequences. Ethical relativism is often associated with tolerance and diversity, as it acknowledges that different groups may have different moral standards.
It appears to me that both ethical absolutism and ethical relativism have some advantages and disadvantages (although I strongly favour relativism), and they raise many questions and challenges. Some of the issues that they deal with are:
How do we determine what is morally right or wrong?
How do we resolve moral conflicts or disagreements?
How do we account for moral diversity and change?
How do we justify our moral judgments and actions?
How do we balance our moral obligations and rights?
I’m not sure that these questions have easy answers, and perhaps they don’t have an answer even after careful reflection and dialogue. Some people may prefer one ethical perspective over another, while some may try to find a middle ground or a compromise. What I can say is that some of my ethical views have changed over time in response to new experiences or information, while others have become more entrenched. How about you?
I hope my readers won’t find this music video as controversial as it was in Aotearoa way back in 1971. The song Come to the Sabbat was originally performed by Black Widow, a British rock band that formed in 1969. The song was part of their debut album Sacrifice, which reached No. 32 on the UK Albums Chart in 1970. The song was also released as a single, but did not chart in the UK or elsewhere.
The song was covered by Timberjack, a New Zealand pop rock band, in 1971. Their version was a top seven hit in New Zealand, reaching that ranking for three weeks in October 1971. The music video presented below was recorded specifically for Timberjack’s entry in the 1971 Loxene Golden Disc Award. The song was considered controversial – so much that at it’s first airing TV1 audiences jammed the switchboard with complaints. Some of the negative black and white imagery was reversed for its airing the following week, but still caused so many complaints that again the TV1 switchboard was jammed. That was the last time the video was played on NZ television. As well as the nudity, the song also shocked many with its chorus of “Come, come, come to the Sabbat/ Come to the Sabbat – Satan’s there!”
If I recall correctly, Come to the Sabbat was still at number 7 the week I left New Zealand for Japan and marriage. I remember this song being stuck in my head during the journey. Possibly it played on one of the audio music channels during the Auckland – Sydney leg of the trip on Air New Zealand. I doubt it would have been played on the QANTAS leg from Sydney to Tokyo, for as far as I know the Timberjack version didn’t play outside Aotearoa.
I believe that Come to the Sabbat did not make it into the charts anywhere apart from New Zealand. Pehaps one of my readers would like to correct me if I am mistaken. The song did not receive much attention in the USA, and was not widely played or distributed there. The song’s satanic and occult imagery would have likely been met with hostility and condemnation by the conservative Christian groups in the Bible belt, being a region of the southern and central USA that is known for its strong religious beliefs and practices.
Timberjack broke up around the same time as I returned to New Zealand in late 1971. According to the NZ History website:
Timberjack had grown out of the Wellington band Dizzy Limits, which had enjoyed moderate success in late 1969 before heading to Britain in 1970. The band returned with its new name, and its record label, Ode, announced that ‘Black Magic and its music has finally arrived in New Zealand.’ ‘The name sounds heavy and the music is heavy, reflecting the latest trends in progressive music.’ Timberjack was promoted as a group that ‘can surpass overseas artists’. ‘Come to the Sabbat’ was to be both the beginning and the end for the band. It split up in late 1971.
Help me in my search for knowledge, I must learn the Secret Art. Who dares to help me raise the one Whose very name near stills my heart? ASTAROTH Discard your clothes and come on foot, Through streams and fields and moonlit moors, Your bodies soaked in secret oils, Perfumed herbs will heal your sores. Join me in my search for power. Wives and husbands bring your kin. We'll be as one within the hour. Let the Sabbat now begin. Come, come, come to the Sabbat. Come to the Sabbat - Satan's there!
I wasn’t going to bother with Musical Monday today as nothing really inspired me, but then I read Jill’s post Auld Lang Syne over on Filosofa’s Word, and thought “We have our own farewell song, so why not share that?” So I am.
The origins of Pō Atarau/Haere Ra are uncertain and what fact are known, are often in dispute. It is generally thought that the tune was originally composed in 1913 by the Australia Albert Saunders under the pseudonym of Clement Scott as a piano piece called Swiss Craddle Song. Like most Kiwis. I’m not going to let the possibility that the tune was composed by an Aussie spoil a song we like to claim as our own.
The song was adapted by Maori soldiers during the First World War as a farewell song, with the title “Pō Atarau” and lyrics in Maori. In 1920, Maewa Kaihau, a Maori songwriter, wrote an English verse for the song, starting with “This is the hour”, and modified the tune and the Maori lyrics. She called it “Haere Ra Waltz Song” and it became popular as a wharfside farewell song for ships leaving New Zealand.
Then in 1945, Gracie Fields, a British singer, learnt the song during her visit to New Zealand and sung it on a BBC radio show in July 1947. It quickly rose to top placing on England’s hit parade where it remained for 23 weeks. It’s popularity resulted in the label London Records thinking that this was just the song to break into the lucrative US records market. So in January 1948, 24,000 records (weighing 6 tons) were shipped from the UK to the US.
At the time, it was the biggest shipment of foreign records ever to hit the U.S market. It proved to be a hit in America, and the song was recorded by several American singers in early 1948. Most notably, the song was recorded by Bing Crosby and entered the US charts in February 1948. It became Crosby’s 42nd song to enter the US charts, and perhaps appropriately (as it is a farewell song after all) his last.
Given its international popularity over the years, it’s perhaps not surprising that it became the first New Zealand song to sell a million records, although none of the profits nor royalties from those sales came back to Aotearoa.
The song is widely recognised and appreciated as part of the Kiwi culture and identity. It is often mistakenly considered as a traditional Maori song, but it is actually a blending of Maori and European traditions to produce a song that could be understood and appreciated by both the Maori and Pākehā. Today Pō Atarau/Haere Ra is often sung in Aotearoa where Auld Lang Syne might be appropriate elsewhere.
I’ve included two versions of Pō Atarau/Haere Ra. The first is taken from a 78 rpm recording released in 1927. That’s 96 years ago!! It’s doubtful that i’ll ever play a recording older than that! The next is a recording by Hayley Westenra released in late 2008 – a mere 15 years ago. Finally I’ve included the Bing Crosby version of Now is the Hour from 1948, although it is my least favourite of the three by far being sung only in English.
Ana Hato and Deane Waretine – Po Atarau (Now Is the Hour) 1927
Pō Atarau/Haere Ra (Now is the Hour) – Hayley Westenra (2008)
Pō Atarau/Haere Ra
Pö atarau E moea iho nei E haere ana Koe ki pämamao
Haere rä Ka hoki mai anö Ki i te tau E tangi atu nei
Now is the hour When we must say goodbye Soon you'll be sailing Far across the sea While you're away Oh please remember me When you return You'll find me waiting here
Now is the hour When we must say goodbye When you return You'll find me waiting here When you return You'll find me waiting here
I’m not one for demanding others live as I do, in fact I really appreciate the diversity of the human condition. And I don’t mind how others celebrate the bringing in of a new year. As Aotearoa is the first nation in the world to bring in the New Year (if one excludes from tiny Kiribati, population 120,000), perhaps we have more reason than others to celebrate. But what I don’t appreciate is how obtrusive some folk are when they celebrate.
Fireworks can be purchased by the general public only on a few days before November 5 each year. I won’t go into the reason why here, but there seems to be a trend away from lighting them on that day, which more often than not is wet and windy, and instead putting them in storage until New Year’s Eve. Then on the stroke of midnight setting them off terrifying pets and waking the neighbourhood.
Apart from the hazards of storing gunpowder in one’s house or garage for almost two months, have any of the folk who celebrate the New Year by letting off fireworks at midnight thought about how it affects animals and humans? I really don’t appreciate being woken at that time by the sounds of exploding fireworks. Nor does our cat Frankie. Admittedly from our home perched at the top of a hill overlooking our township, the spectacle is quite amazing to watch, and if I’d been awake at that time I might have actually enjoyed it. But I wasn’t and I didn’t.
At the time of publishing, this post, the New Year arrived 12 hours and 6 minutes ago, but i’m still feeling no better now than I did when rudely woken at midnight.
A tangata Tiriti reflects on Te Tiriti o Waitangi | the Treaty of Waitangi and how it can guide how we all live together in this place now and in the future.
Staying true to the foundation of combining Jesus and justice, Red Letter Christians mobilizes individuals into a movement of believers who live out Jesus’ counter-cultural teachings.
Another Spectrum 